Publications

June 2022
Case

The SAH Group: The Time is Right

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, cofounder and CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019,... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Expansion; Business Divisions; Product Positioning; Brands and Branding; Competition; Presentations; Consumer Products Industry; Tunisia; Kenya

22 Jun 2018
News

Harvard Business School Welcomes Dwyane Wade As Executive Fellow

2010
Book

Unilever'i Yenilemek: Dönüşüm ve Gelenek [Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition]

By: Geoffrey Jones

Unilever's brands can now be found in one out of every two households in the world. This arresting and impressive fact shows the scope and scale of this unique global corporation. Geoffrey Jones, a leading business historian from the Harvard Business School, takes us... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business Growth and Maturation; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Culture; Globalization; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry

21 Jan 2020
News

When Community Becomes Your Competitive Advantage

07 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis

media, would need to be rethought. Recognizing that their existing brand creative might strike the wrong tone with people fearful for their own and their community’s health, and anxious about their personal... View Details

Keywords: by Jill Avery and Richard Edelman

March 2020
Technical Note

Influencer Marketing

By: Jill Avery and Ayelet Israeli

Despite a heavy barrage of advertising, most consumers declare that their purchases are most influenced by the experiences, advice, and recommendations of others, and not by marketers. Interpersonal communication between and among consumers serves as a potent path for... View Details

Keywords: Influencers; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Advertising Industry; Consumer Products Industry

October 2022
Supplement

The SAH Group: The Time is Right, Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019, it expanded... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Decisions; Growth Management; Vertical Integration; Distribution; Competition; Strategy; Supply Chain; Presentations; Market Entry and Exit; Product Positioning; Consumer Products Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Health Industry; Tunisia

October 2022
Supplement

The SAH Group: The Time is Right, Instructor Spreadsheet

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019, it expanded... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Decisions; Growth Management; Vertical Integration; Distribution; Competition; Strategy; Supply Chain; Presentations; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Consumer Products Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Health Industry; Tunisia

October 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

MasterCard: Driving Financial Inclusion

By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga was investing significant time and attention to increase financial inclusion among individuals with historically no access to banking or financial services in countries around the world with large underserved populations. The effort included... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Financial Services; Financial And Social Return; Financial Inclusion; Strategic Management; South Africa; Nigeria; Ajay Banga; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; South Africa; Nigeria

February 1989 (Revised August 1989)
Case

Portman Hotel Co.

A brand new hotel has opened with a new service strategy: import to America Asian-style service using a butler-like employee group called the personal valets. To achieve this high level of service, the hotel has paid great attention to its human resource policies,... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Service Delivery; Employees; Accommodations Industry; Asia; North America

07 Nov 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Sir Alex Ferguson--Managing Manchester United

Alex, I jumped at the chance. I figured I would undoubtedly learn a great deal about what it takes to lead and manage a sports team, and that indeed proved to be the case. Q: The case reads as if you were able to attend some matches in View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation

February 2013
Case

18 Months in a Startup: Zaggora.com

By: Tom Nicholas

The founders of Zaggora reflected back on a tumultuous year-and-a-half in which they had generated, from just $40,000 in personal savings, a multi-million dollar sportswear enterprise selling Hotpants to women. These were hotpants not of the 1960s hipster variety, but... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Growth Management; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Brands and Branding; Innovation and Invention; Corporate Finance; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry

31 Aug 2020
Blog Post

Five Important Steps before Taking the Entrepreneurial Leap

Dia&Co as well as their private label business. At Hilma, Nina leverages her expertise launching innovative products in the DTC and retail space, her Harvard MBA, and personal experiences of being raised by two doctors. Nina... View Details

December 2014 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Bhutan: Governing for Happiness

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Thomas Humphrey and Benjamin Safran

Unique among the world’s countries, the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan had abandoned the traditional policy goal of increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in favor of pursuing Gross National Happiness (GNH). Famously, Bhutan ranked highly on lists of the happiest... View Details

Keywords: Happiness; Economic Growth; Governance; Cost vs Benefits; Bhutan

January 2011
Case

AIC Netbooks: Optimizing Product Assembly

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Sunru Yong

AIC Systems, located in Taichung, Taiwan, is a manufacturer of printed circuit boards, primarily for motherboards and video cards for personal computers. The firm is considered an original design manufacturer (ODM) and takes an active role in innovating and designing... View Details

Keywords: Performance Management; Quantitative Analysis; Manufacturing; Production Planning; Production Management; Diversification; Production; Performance Efficiency; Product Design; Performance Improvement; Mobile Technology; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Taiwan