Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(5,111)
- Faculty Publications (1,401)
- March 2006 (Revised November 2006)
- Case
China: To Float or Not To Float? (D)- Bank of America's Strategic Investment in China Construction Bank
By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel
With its $3 billion investment in Chinese state bank China Construction Bank, Bank of America--the second U.S. bank behind Citigroup in terms of assets and market capitalization--was one of several foreign banks directly participating in China's banking sector reform.... View Details
- February 2006 (Revised September 2007)
- Background Note
Winner-Take-All in Networked Markets
Discusses platform structure in new networked markets, that is, whether a market that exhibits network effects will be served by a single platform or by rival platforms. Defines "platforms" and "platform structure"; describes factors that influence the odds that a... View Details
- January 2006 (Revised August 2006)
- Case
Four Products: Predicting Diffusion (2006)
One of the critical tasks in the marketing of new innovations is predicting demand and rates of diffusion for those products. Focuses on four innovative products from different domains. Although one can speculate on the scope and rate of diffusion for each of these... View Details
- January 2006 (Revised October 2007)
- Background Note
Managing Networked Businesses: Course Overview for Students
Provides an overview for students of the MBA elective course Managing Networked Businesses (MNB). MNB focuses on management challenges in businesses that exhibit network effects. The first section of the note explains that such businesses comprise a large and growing... View Details
- December 2005 (Revised July 2006)
- Case
Bunge: Poised for Growth
By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman
As CEO of the world's largest oilseed processor, Alberto Weisser of Bunge must not only decide how quickly to expand in fast-growing markets of Eastern Europe and Asia, but also how best to leverage the firm's global footprint and leadership position. The firm is... View Details
- December 2005 (Revised August 2006)
- Case
Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Vincent Marie Dessain, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Anders Sjoman
The Dutch "Verenigde Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer Cooperative" (VBA) was on of the world's largest flower exchanges. Around 6,300 flower growers, one half of them located in the Netherlands, used the auction to sell cut flowers and plants to more than 1,000 wholesalers. In... View Details
- December 2005 (Revised January 2007)
- Case
Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand within Unilever
By: James E. Austin and James Quinn
In the months after Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever, Ben & Jerry's head social mission faces challenges and opportunities unique in the company's history, including: how to manage employee morale; whether to include synthetic ingredients to meet consumer... View Details
Keywords: Brands and Branding; Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Value Creation; Corporate Governance; Employee Relationship Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Retail Industry; United States
- December 2005 (Revised April 2011)
- Case
C.W. Post
By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo and Mark Benson
In 1906, C.W. Post had to move his latest breakfast product--corn flakes--from store shelves into cereal bowls nationwide. Post genuinely believed his corn flakes and other breakfast foods would make people well. Through sampling and other innovative sales and... View Details
- December 2005 (Revised February 2019)
- Case
Brighter Smiles for the Masses--Colgate vs. P&G
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis Yao and Filipa Azevedo Jorge
In 2000, Procter & Gamble Co. introduced Crest Whitestrips, a new, revolutionary product that allowed consumers to whiten their teeth at home. With Whitestrips, P&G created an entire new category in oral care, worth $460 million in 2002. Whitestrips sent P&G's main... View Details
- November 2005 (Revised September 2007)
- Case
Beijing Hualian
By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman
China's fifth largest domestic retailer faced intensifying competition from Wal-Mart and Carrefour with the opening of China's fast-growing retail market in January 2005. In response, Beijing Hualian developed a new "Family Store" format targeted at the nation's... View Details
- November 2005 (Revised February 2006)
- Module Note
Rethinking Branding
By: Youngme E. Moon
The classical branding paradigm assumes that brands should be built to last and that the role of the brand manager is to protect the long-term sustainability of the brand. Outlines the structure and content of an eight-session module that offers a more expansive... View Details
Keywords: Brands and Branding
- November 2005 (Revised August 2007)
- Case
ConAgra Foods: The Next Chapter
By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman
In 2005, CEO Bruce Rohde has almost completed the integration of ConAgra Foods' collection of 90 independent operating companies into a focused, value-added firm and was beginning to think about his successor. ConAgra had become the second largest food company and No.... View Details
Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Leading Change; Management Succession; Strategic Planning; Brands and Branding; Food; Agribusiness; Product Marketing; Management Teams; Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States
- October 2005
- Case
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool 2005
By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman
CEO Mayo Schmidt had just guided his firm through five difficult years. Survival had come with the difficult decision to change the 80-year-old agricultural cooperative into a Canadian business corporation. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP) now faced the future with a... View Details
- October 2005 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
Ripe 'n Ready
By: Ray A. Goldberg and Laura Winig
Stoned fruit has quality variations, reducing consumption. Five independent growers formed a cooperative to provide quality control and a brand name--Ripe 'N Ready--that enabled retailers to differentiate their stores and producers to differentiate the products they... View Details
- October 2005 (Revised August 2006)
- Case
Haier: Taking a Chinese Company Global
By: Krishna G. Palepu, Tarun Khanna and Ingrid Vargas
In 2005, Haier, China's leading appliance manufacturer, had over $12 billion in worldwide sales and was the third-ranked global appliance brand behind Whirlpool and GE. Describes Haier's rise from a defunct refrigerator factory in China's Qingdao province to an... View Details
- October 2005 (Revised September 2006)
- Case
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell
One of Boston's main cultural attractions, the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), has experienced a steady decline of its core audience over the last decade. The museum's executive director attempted to bridge the shortfall by staging new, innovative, special exhibitions,... View Details
- September 2005 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
Angels and Devils: Best Buy's New Customer Approach (A)
In November 2004, The Wall Street Journal reported that consumer electronics retailer Best Buy's new customer approach was to shun the "devils" among its customers. The "customer centricity" initiative, which was led by Best Buy's CEO Brad Anderson, was based on an... View Details
- September 2005 (Revised July 2006)
- Case
Kingsford Charcoal
By: Das Narayandas and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Since the 1980s, Kingsford had continued to enjoy steady, moderate growth of 1% to 3% in revenues each year. During most of this time, the charcoal category as a whole grew as well. However, the summer of 2000 represented the first softening in the category in several... View Details
- August 2005 (Revised January 2012)
- Case
McKinsey and the Globalization of Consultancy
By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Alexis Lefort
Considers McKinsey's strategy during the first stage of the globalization of the management consultancy industry between the 1950s and 1973. Briefly reviews the history of management consulting before considering the factors that led McKinsey to open its first... View Details
- July 2005 (Revised March 2010)
- Case
Foreign Direct Investment and Ireland's Tiger Economy (A)
By: Laura Alfaro, Vinati Dev and Stephen McIntyre
Describes Ireland's transformation from one of Europe's poorest countries to one of its richest in just 10 years, earning it the title Celtic Tiger. The spectacular story of growth and recovery is attributed, in large part, to foreign direct investment (FDI),... View Details