Publications

November 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

EbonyLife Media (A)

By: Andy Wu, Feng Zhu, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal

Founded by Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu in 2012 with a mission to bring high-quality African stories to the world, EbonyLife was the company behind many of Nigeria’s biggest films and TV shows. The company began as a television channel on the Africa-wide direct broadcast... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Consumer Behavior; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Nigeria; Africa

August 2013
Article

Customer-Driven Misconduct: How Competition Corrupts Business Practices

By: Victor Manuel Bennett, Lamar Pierce, Jason A. Snyder and Michael W. Toffel

Competition among firms yields many benefits but can also encourage firms to engage in corrupt or unethical activities. We argue that competition can lead organizations to provide services that customers demand but that violate government regulations, especially when... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Crime and Corruption; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Consumer Behavior; Customer Satisfaction; Auto Industry; Service Industry

October 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

Cottle-Taylor: Expanding the Oral Care Group in India, Student Spreadsheet (Brief Case)

By: John A. Quelch and Alisa Zalosh

Keywords: Forecasting; Budgeting; International Marketing; Product Planning ＆ Policy; Sales Promotions; Marketing Plans; Products; Consumer Behavior; Marketing; Product Design; Emerging Markets; Forecasting and Prediction; Budgets and Budgeting

October 2018 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Sidewalk Labs: Privacy in a City Built from the Internet Up

By: Leslie K. John, Mitchell Weiss and Julia Kelley

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

By the time Dan Doctoroff, CEO of Sidewalk Labs, began hosting a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session in January 2018, he had only nine months remaining to convince the people... View Details

November 2001
Case

Gold Kist Inc.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Stephanie Oestreich

An oversupply of poultry causes a major decrease in margins for the company and the industry. How does the only cooperative in the industry respond to short-term and long-term economic pressures? View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Economics; Profit; Consumer Behavior; Supply and Industry; Strategic Planning; Business Strategy

October 2000
Background Note

Creating Value

By: Rohit Deshpande

Creating value involves understanding consumers/customers and bringing this knowledge into the organization. Market-driven and market-driving strategies are contrasted in the context of new product development. View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Use and Leverage; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Product Development; Value Creation

01 Dec 2007
News

Faculty Research Online

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5652.html. How Brand China Can Succeed A series of recent setbacks, including the Mattel toy recalls, threatens China’s new and improving image, says Professor John Quelch. There is just not enough preexisting brand equity among the world’s... View Details

Keywords: Arts, Entertainment; Finance; Broadcasting (except Internet); Information; Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services; Information; Manufacturing

25 Mar 2019
News

Rent The Runway Joins the Unicorn Club

milestone, CEO Jennifer Hyman (MBA 2009), told Forbes that the company “has created a new consumer behavior of dynamic ownership and clothing rental has become an essential utility in our members’ lives.”... View Details

Keywords: Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade

01 Dec 2010
News

Faculty Research Online

recent Mindful Leadership conference taught with a Buddhist meditation master. See http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6482.html. The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding Research by Assistant Professor Anat Keinan and colleagues explains how and... View Details

March 2006
Background Note

Customer-Introduced Variability in Service Operations

By: Frances X. Frei

Presents a typology of customer-introduced variability and offers guidance on how to manage each type. Central to the ideas developed is how to mitigate the effects of the apparent trade-off between reducing variability and diminishing the service experience or... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Six Sigma; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Performance Efficiency

October 1998 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Chantal Cookware Corp.

By: H. Kent Bowen, Paul W. Marshall and Stephanie Dodson

Chantal Cookware is a small, private company with a 15-year record of success in the design, assembly, and sale of high-end cookware. It experiences serious setbacks when consumers' tastes shift from colorful enamel-on-steel products to commercial-style cookware.... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Strategic Planning; Market Entry and Exit; Product Positioning; Trends; Manufacturing Industry

November 1987 (Revised March 1993)
Background Note

Global Semiconductor Industry--1987

By: David B. Yoffie

In 1987, the global semiconductor industry was coming out of the deepest recession in its 40 year history. The note examines the competitive dynamics of this industry over time, the nature of its technology, and the sources of competitive advantage. The role of buyer... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Globalization; Crisis Management; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Technology; Semiconductor Industry

Find at Harvard

05 Jul 2011
News

Driving Innovation

joining Google in 2006, the former head of digital marketing at DaimlerChrysler has been helping Google get its approach to consumer marketers up to speed by drawing on her auto industry experience and a previous ten-year stint at IBM. As... View Details

Keywords: News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

February 2007 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Li Ning - Anything is Possible

A leading sporting goods company in China competes aggressively against global brands Nike and Adidas, with marketing strategies adapted to geographic segments. In the main cities, where competition takes place at a very conceptual level, Li Ning has chosen to adopt a... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Global Strategy; City; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; China

01 Sep 2005
News

The Dark Side

Sun for five years, Yelland learned what his readers wanted, including fare such as scandalous pols and topless royals. “The Sun is probably more plugged into British consumers than almost any other business in the country,” said Yelland.... View Details

Keywords: Arts, Entertainment

January 2022
Supplement

Kornit Digital: The Amazon Warrants (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

As of 12/31/21, Amazon held $22 billion of equity and warrants in related companies. In fact, it often requests a free grant of warrants when it enters into a new commercial agreement with a supplier. Over the past 20 years, Amazon has gotten warrants almost 20... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Value Creation; Consumer Behavior; Negotiation; Distribution; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Equity; Distribution Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

01 Dec 2017
News

Research Brief: Better Brainstorming

having a high verbal fluency and a willingness to share). The budding entrepreneurs were then asked to work together to come up with new software products for the booming Indian wedding industry. The ideas generated by the teams were rated by Indian View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers

November 2024
Article

Price Discounts and Cheapflation During the Post-Pandemic Inflation Surge

By: Alberto Cavallo and Oleksiy Kryvtsov

We study how within-store price variation changes with inflation, and whether households exploit it to attenuate the inflation burden. We use micro price data for food products sold by 91 large multi-channel retailers in ten countries between 2018 and 2024. Measuring... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Inflation and Deflation; Price; Consumer Behavior; Personal Finance; Product Positioning