Publications

26 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

Lipstick Tips: How Influencers Are Making Over Beauty Marketing

Maybe that’s because influencers don’t post only about makeup; they often provide glimpses into their personal lives through photos of the clothes they wear, the food they eat, the places they travel, and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products; Beauty & Cosmetics

July 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

elBulli: The Taste of Innovation

By: Michael I. Norton, Julian Villanueva and Luc Wathieu

Ferran Adrià, chef at elBulli, the highest-ranked restaurant in the world for two consecutive years, faces two related decisions. First, Adrià and his team must continue to develop new and different dishes for the ground-breaking cuisine at elBulli to guarantee a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Creativity; Food and Beverage Industry; Spain

*Joined Harvard Faculty: 1991
Prior Faculty Appointments: Northwestern University, 1968-75;
University of Pittsburgh, 1975-91

*Doctoral Degree in Sociology Received from: The John Hopkins University;
MBA Degree Received from: The University of... View Details

Keywords: beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage; beverage

26 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

Burgers with Bugs? What Happens When Restaurants Ignore Online Reviews

information. As such, the professors devised an algorithm to identify how review text on Yelp is associated with regulatory inspections. They found that food handling violations are predicted by words like “sick” View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage

Web

Clubs - Business & Environment

Club The Energy and Environment Club seeks to represent and promote the energy, clean tech, and environment-related industries at HBS. Visit the... View Details

August 2015 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Planters Nuts

By: Robert J. Dolan and Donald K. Ngwe

In 2012 Planters had about $1 billion in U.S. annual revenues, but had experienced declining unit sales and household penetration over the past six years. The snack nuts category was growing overall, but household spending was shifting away from peanuts, cashews, and... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

26 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Japanese Businesses Are So Good at Surviving Crises

delivers food to victims CEO Takeshi Niinami of Lawson, a chain of convenience stores, watched out his Tokyo office window as skyscrapers swayed. Just minutes before the tsunami reached the Tohoku shore, he sent an order to employees:... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Web

Connect with Clubs - Recruiting

Omole aomole@mba2025.hbs.edu Tim Kluska tkluska@mba2025.hbs.edu Club Email fnce@studentclubs.hbs.edu FinTech Club Co-Presidents Vishal Bhat vbhat@mba2025.hbs.edu Claire Feeley cfeeley@mba2025.hbs.edu Irtaza Ali iali@mba2025.hbs.edu Club Email... View Details

07 May 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Lessons in Business Innovation from Legendary Restaurant elBulli

Keywords: Re: Michael I. Norton; Food & Beverage

Web

Policies, Rules & Guidelines | About

Self-Catering Self-supplied food and non-alcoholic beverages is referred to as "self-catering". Sexual Harassment & Other Sexual Misconduct The School is committed to... View Details

August 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Luckin Coffee (A): Caffeine-fueled Growth?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the founding of Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee in 2017 and its path to surpassing Starbucks as the largest coffee chain in China (by number of stores) in 2019. Unlike Starbucks stores, which were designed to be welcoming “third places” for... View Details

2023
Working Paper

The Benefits of Revealing Race: Evidence from Minority-owned Local Businesses

By: Abhay Aneja, Michael Luca and Oren Reshef

Is there latent demand to support Black-owned businesses? To explore, we analyze a new feature that made it easier to identify Black-owned restaurants on a large online platform. We find that labeling restaurants as “Black-owned” increased customer engagement and... View Details

Keywords: Black-owned Businesses; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Ownership; Knowledge Dissemination; Digital Platforms; Consumer Behavior; Food and Beverage Industry

SSRN

Read Now

May 2016
Case

The Inexorable Rise of Walmart? 1988—2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2015, Walmart surprised investors by announcing that it expected flat sales growth for 2015 and growth of only 3% to 4% over the coming three years. Profits would also fall due to significant investments in people and technology. The company’s stock price... View Details

Keywords: Asda; Costco; David Glass; Convenience Stores; Discount Retailing; Dollar Stores; Doug McMillon; E-commerce; Online Retail; General Merchandise; Grocery; Lee Scott; Mike Duke; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Neighborhood Market; Sam Walton; Sam's Club; Store Formats; Supercenter; Supermarket; Warehouse Clubs; Merchandising; Walmart; Wal-Mart; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Banks and Banking; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Wages; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Web; Web Sites; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville

August 1974 (Revised November 1983)
Case

National Cranberry Cooperative

Requires an analysis of both the process flows and the production control system used in a cranberry receiving plant. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Production; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

December 2017
Case

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Sarah Mehta

It is July 2017, and Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, the director general of the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), is making progress toward two of his primary strategic objectives for the nonprofit research Institute: 1) to scale the impact... View Details

Keywords: Scaling Technologies; Youth Unemployment; Innovation In Nonprofits; Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Cash Flow; Labor; Employment; Commercialization; Problems and Challenges; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Nigeria

February 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Ample Hills Creamery

By: Tom Eisenmann, Lindsay N. Hyde and Tom Quinn

Ample Hills Creamery started in 2010 as a temporary ice cream pushcart in Brooklyn, New York City. On the strength of inventive flavors and clever marketing, husband-and-wife founders Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna built a premium, artisanal dessert empire of 16 retail... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Business Growth and Maturation; Partners and Partnerships; Logistics; Profit; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Food and Beverage Industry