Publications

January 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Hewlett-Packard: The Flight of the Kittyhawk (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Hewlett-Packard decided that, to grow more rapidly, it needed to design a revolutionary disk drive product that would create an entirely new market or application for magnetic recording technology. The company followed most of the "rules" good managers follow in such... View Details

Keywords: Management; Information Infrastructure; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Computer Industry; United States

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care; Startup; Brand Equity; Brand Valuation; Brand Value; Brand Storytelling; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Japan

Article

Positioning Brands Against Large Competitors to Increase Sales

By: Neeru Paharia, Jill Avery and Anat Keinan

We explore the effect of having a large dominant competitor and show the conditions under which focusing on a competitive threat, rather than hiding it, can actually help a brand. We demonstrate through lab and field studies that highlighting a large competitor's size... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Competitive Positioning; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

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25 Jun 2024
News

On the Move: Alexis DePree (MBA 2007)

When Nordstrom announced the promotion of Alexis DePree (MBA 2007) to COO in early June, media outlets noted DePree’s expanded, end-to-end role in managing operations and customer experience in an increasingly complex retail environment. DePree joined Nordstrom in... View Details

Keywords: retail; customer service; supply chain management; career experience; Retail Trade

October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Dulcie Madden (A)—Growth or Exit?

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Christopher Payton and Shweta Bagai

This is part of a three-case series that follows Dulcie Madden's journey as a founder over five years. Case (A) is about managing growth and cash flow; Case (B) is about the exit decision and conditions on a sale; Case (C) shows Madden dealing with adversity and the... View Details

Profile

Omowale Casselle

expectations of our consumers, retailers, and brand partners." "In addition to managing our product lines, I also lead our operations team, which means that I make sure that each retail partner... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Consumer Products

19 Aug 2021
Op-Ed

Don't Ignore Your Employees' Misery—TAKE Control

employees’ dismay. If nothing else, the pandemic has taught us that one-size-fits-all approaches can be extremely counterproductive. In fact, numerous surveys and news articles suggest that employees have been just as productive working... View Details

Keywords: by Hise O. Gibson and MaShon Wilson

2010
Article

The Strategic Use of Brand Biographies

By: Jill Avery, Neeru Paharia, Anat Keinan and Juliet Schor

We introduce the concept of a brand biography to describe an emerging trend in branding in which firms author a dynamic, historical account of the events that have shaped the brand over time. Using a particular type of brand biography, "the underdog," we empirically... View Details

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October 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Paez

By: Jill Avery, Maria Fernanda Miguel and Laura Urdapilleta

Paez, an Argentine start-up fashion brand, sold traditional alpargatas, a sleepy shoe category that suddenly woke up when U.S. company TOMS borrowed the traditional alpargata design, covered it with fashionable colors and prints, and tied it to a social cause. Paez's... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Entrepreneurship In Emerging Markets; Retailing; Fashion; Competitive Strategy; Marketing; Advertising; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Competition; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Argentina; Spain

August 2019 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Rand Fishkin at Moz (A)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

In 2016, senior management at Moz, a venture capital–backed startup providing software tools for digital marketing professionals, must decide how to address a looming cash flow crisis precipitated by failed efforts to broaden its product line. Seattle-based Moz had... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Business Startups; Diversification; Growth Management; Technology Industry

01 Dec 2019
News

Action Plan: Tapping into a Legacy

As the new managing director of Hall & Woodhouse, one of England’s leading regional breweries, Matt Kearsey (AMP 193, 2017) knows that the best-tasting beer requires more than premium hops and pure spring water. “We give the process the... View Details

Keywords: Leah Flickinger; manufacturing; craft beer; leadership; management; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing

January 2022 (Revised September 2022)
Teaching Note

White Claw: Defending Market Share as Competition Encroaches

By: Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 521-073. View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Competition; Growth Strategy; First-mover Advantage; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; North America

Third Quarter 2018
Article

Why and How Investors Use ESG Information: Evidence from a Global Survey

By: Amir Amel-Zadeh and George Serafeim

Using survey data from a sample of senior investment professionals from mainstream (i.e., not SRI funds) investment organizations, we provide insights into why and how investors use reported environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. Relevance to... View Details

Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Sustainability; Investment Management; Investment Strategy; Metrics; Standard Setting; Accounting Standards; Finance; Investment; Information; Environmental Sustainability; Governance; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy

SSRN

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August 2017 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Fuyao Glass America: Sourcing Decision

By: Willy Shih

In today's global economy, what are the factors that go into production location choice? This case is set in the world's second largest automotive glass producer as it expands from China into the United States. To meet a very aggressive cost target, management is faced... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chains; Globalization Of Supply Chain; Manufacturing Footprint; Manufacturing; Manufacturing Strategy; Global Strategy; Supply Chain; Globalization; Supply Chain Management; Production; Logistics; Strategy; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; China

February 2017
Teaching Note

Paez

By: Jill Avery

Paez, an Argentine start-up fashion brand, sold traditional alpargatas, a sleepy category that suddenly woke up when TOMS, a U.S. company, appropriated the traditional alpargata design, covered it with fashionable colors and prints, and tied it to a social cause.... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Competitive Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Retailing; Go To Market Strategy; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Argentina; Latin America; South America; Europe

December 1997
Case

Wriston Manufacturing Corporation

By: Janice H. Hammond

Wriston Manufacturing is a broad-line maker of components for the automotive industry. It has developed a network of nine plants as its product line has grown. Newer, higher-volume products tend to be made in newer, focused, high-volume plants, while older product... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost Management; Business or Company Management; Production; Performance Efficiency; Auto Industry