Publications

24 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

Tax Reform is on the Front Burner Again. Here’s Why You Should Care

things have gotten better. Primarily due to the 1986 Act, we have lower rates and larger bases. At the first approximation that's a good thing. That's the one thing that we've learned over the last 100 years about how to design these tax... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

ASOS PLC

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Launched in 2000, ASOS was one of the world’s largest online fashion specialists in 2018. Focusing on young consumers aged 16–25 years, the company offered over 85,000 items on its websites, many times more than the largest fashion stores, and added several thousand... View Details

Keywords: ASOS; AsSeenOnScreen; Online Fashion; Online Apparel; Nick Beighton; Nick Robertson; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Social Media; Marketplaces; Shipping; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Startups; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Age; Gender; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Revenue; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom; England; London

June 2019
Case

Mercedes and the Relaunch of Maybach: Reviving a Heritage Automobile Brand

By: Anat Keinan, Klaus Heine, Marie-Cecile Cervellon and Sandrine Crener

The case traces the growth of Maybach from its origins as a pioneer in car manufacturing to its relaunch by parent company Mercedes Benz AG (now Daimler AG). It covers the relaunch strategy implemented by the German car manufacturer and examines the challenges of... View Details

Keywords: Heritage Brand; Relaunch; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Product Launch; Strategy; Auto Industry

17 Jul 2006
Lessons from the Classroom

Developing a Strategy for Digital Convergence

other industry executives don't, including: The tech company's most valuable assets in the form of human capital walk out the door every day. Tech companies largely rely on components from other vendors, meaning that complementary assets... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Computer; Education

January 2009 (Revised March 2010)
Case

LeBron James

By: Anita Elberse and Jeff McCall

In 2005, to the astonishment of many sports industry insiders, superstar basketball player LeBron James fired his agent and established his own firm, LRMR, to handle all aspects of his business ventures and marketing activities and named his childhood friend Maverick... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Compensation and Benefits; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Sports; Sports Industry

09 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The Matchmaker of the Modern Economy

Boston has always been fueled by an Enlightenment belief in scientific progress and human perfectibility. It is home to America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and college, Harvard College... View Details

Keywords: by Spencer E. Ante

February 2017
Case

Shang Xia: The Creation of a Chinese Luxury Lifestyle Brand

By: Anat Keinan, Sandrine Crener, Jing Xu, Janet Borgerson, Jonathan Schroeder and Zhiyan Wu

The case traces the birth of Shang Xia, a joint venture between the Hermès Group and Chinese designer Jiang Qiong Er. Launched in 2009 in Shanghai, the new brand's core mission is to revive and promote China’s 5,000-year-old cultural heritage and leverage Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Luxury; China

September 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Case

3i Group plc: May 2006

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Since 2004, Philip Yea, the first outsider ever to lead 3i Group, one of Europe's largest publicly listed private equity firms, has been trying to help the far flung organization become more of a streamlined partnership even as it functions around the globe. As he... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Globalized Firms and Management; Alignment; Partners and Partnerships; Public Ownership; Employees; Goals and Objectives; Financial Services Industry

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Initiative Summit: Companies Must Forget—and Borrow

that's been going for a while and a new business trying to shake that up?" asked Winsor, who is Chief Innovation Officer at Havas. He said striking the right balance between established practices and new ideas remains an ongoing... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education; Advertising

Howard H. Stevenson

Howard H. Stevenson is Sarofim-Rock Baker Foundation Professor emeritus, former Senior Associate Dean, Director of Publishing, and Chair of the Harvard Business Publishing Company board. The Sarofim-Rock Chair was established in 1982 to provide a continuing base for... View Details

Keywords: broadcasting; communications; computer; construction; financial services; forest products; health care; high technology; industrial goods; insurance industry; investment banking industry; manufacturing; paper; professional services; real estate; service industry; software; venture capital industry

2021
Working Paper

Equilibrium Effects of Pay Transparency

By: Zoë B. Cullen and Bobak Pakzad-Hurson

The public discourse around pay transparency has focused on the direct effect: how workers seek to rectify newly-disclosed pay inequities through renegotiations. The question of how wage-setting and hiring practices of the firm respond in equilibrium has received... View Details

Keywords: Pay Transparency; Online Labor Market; Privacy; Wage Gap; Negotiation; Corporate Disclosure; Compensation and Benefits; Gender

17 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Can China Maintain Its Economic Power?

economic growth.” Blagg: What were your first impressions of China in the late 1970s? McFarlan: We were seeing a country that had missed the industrial revolution that happened in many other countries in the nineteenth century, and then... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg

November 2005
Case

Michael Ovitz and The Walt Disney Company (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Alexis Chernak

Faced with the need to hire a new president, The Walt Disney Co. pursued Michael Ovitz, a founder of the Creative Artist Agency. Although initially disinterested, Ovitz engaged in negotiations with Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Co., in the summer of 1995... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Management Teams; Selection and Staffing; Negotiation; Organizational Culture

September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

STARZPLAY: Shooting for the Stars

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini and Alpana Thapar

In mid-2021, Maaz Sheikh, cofounder and CEO of STARZPLAY, a Dubai-based subscription video on demand (SVOD) provider that catered to the Middle East and North Africa region, was wrestling with how to find the right balance between continued subscriber growth and... View Details

April 1998
Case

Jim Lyons and GenRad

Lyons, currently CEO of Harry Gray Associates, a consulting and investment firm, had just been approached by an executive recruiter representing GenRad, a 78-year-old electronics company headquartered in Concord, MA. The company, which manufactured integrated software... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Management Succession; Personal Development and Career; Consulting Industry; Massachusetts

Find at Harvard

November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Integrating Beam Suntory (A)

By: David G. Fubini, Rawi Abdelal and David Lane

The spring 2014 acquisition of U.S. alcoholic spirits maker Beam Inc. by Japan’s Suntory Holdings vaulted Suntory from 15th to third-largest international spirits company in the world. Yet Suntory had borrowed nearly the entire $16 billion purchase price, and relied on... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Communication; Borrowing and Debt; Globalization; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Retention; Leadership; Supply Chain; Organizational Structure; Ownership; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution; Integration; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan; United States; Chicago

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Faculty & Advisors | MBA

venture investor. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Arkitekt Ventures, an early stage Health + Bio investment firm with the mission to improve and advance human health. Recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the Top Ten... View Details

October 2001 (Revised February 2007)
Background Note

Accounting for Employee Stock Options

Employees who have been granted stock options have the right to purchase shares of their company's stock at a specified price within a specified time period. The accounting for such employee stock options has been a controversial and complex topic for decades. The... View Details

Keywords: Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Accounting