Publications

August 2018 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

By: Jill Avery and Ayelet Israeli

As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a valuation of $200 million and debating... View Details

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

26 Apr 2024
Blog Post

How I Spent my 2+2 Deferral: Matthew Young

at McKinsey as a consultant working primarily in their Mergers & Acquisitions and Financial Services group before making a career pivot. In 2021, I joined the NFL’s Washington Commanders for the last two years of my deferral. I... View Details

09 May 2017
What Do You Think?

Should Management Be Primarily Responsible to Shareholders?

align managers’ interests with those of shareholders), a reduction in the defenses against hostile takeovers (that typically increase short-term value for owners of the acquired company), increased merger and acquisition activity,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Web

Advisory Board - Entrepreneurship

the company's infrastructure caching business, which grew to make up 60 percent of Inktomi's revenues prior to their acquisition by Yahoo!. He was also part of the original business team at Akamai. In addition, Steve was a venture capital... View Details

20 Oct 2023
News

Highlights from the Fall 2023 Alumni Board Meeting

On the evening of Wednesday, October 11, Alumni Board members joined with current HBS students in the Spangler Center for "A Conversation about Life Lessons", which was led by Leslie Perlow, the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership. This October, more than 75... View Details

19 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Is Wikipedia More Biased Than Encyclopædia Britannica?

For more than a century, the long, stately rows of Encyclopædia Britannica have been a fixture on the shelves of many an educated person's home—the smooshed-together diphthong in the first word a symbol of old-world erudition and gravitas. So it was a shock to many... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Publishing

01 Jun 2023
News

Pet Project

data will confirm. The relative investment in driving new customer acquisition via retail is much lower than ecommerce, where driving site traffic is costly, and even SEO and referrals require investment. So a true apples-to-apples... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade; Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores; Retail Trade

Web

Schwartz Art Collection | About

Schwartz Art Collection Displayed throughout the campus to inspire students to think creatively and incorporate art into their lives. About the Collection View the Art Play The Schwartz Art Collection: Portal to the World video Play Video duration: 3:06 2023 View Details

March 2014
Case

Jurlique: Globalizing Beauty from Nature and Science

By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrew Spadafora

Considers the marketing and strategic challenges faced by natural beauty brands using the case of Australian-based Jurlique, which was acquired by Pola of Japan in 2011. The case opens two years later in July 2013 when Sam McKay, the chief executive officer, on a visit... View Details

Keywords: Australia; China; Environmental Strategies; Green Business; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; China; Australia; United States

February 2008 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Weber Shandwick: The Client Relationship Leader Program

By: Robert G. Eccles and Kerry Herman

In 2002 Weber Shandwick, a leading global public relations agency, instituted a Client Relationship Leader (CRL) Program for its top 32 global accounts. The purpose of the program is to ensure that all of the firm's resources across geographies, practice areas, and... View Details

Keywords: Blogs; Competency and Skills; Customer Relationship Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competitive Advantage; Public Relations Industry

David Thomas is H. Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. His research addresses issues related to executive development, cultural diversity in organizations, leadership and organizational change. He recently served as a... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; consulting; consumer products; education industry; financial services; media

01 Dec 2023
News

Case Study: Staking a Claim

rented, leased, or borrowed cars). Because other agencies aren’t chasing these young people, Surround enjoys a low cost of customer acquisition for a customer that has “the highest lifetime value of any insurance customer out there, if... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Insurance Carriers and Related Activities; Finance

July 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

What Happened at Citigroup? (A)

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

What went wrong at Citigroup? In 1998, the Travelers Group and Citicorp merged to create Citigroup Inc., considered the first true global "financial supermarket" and a business model to be envied, feared, and emulated. By year-end 2006 the firm had a market... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Globalized Firms and Management; Leadership; Risk Management; Failure; Financial Services Industry

27 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

IPO or M&A? How Venture Capital Shapes a Startup's Future

And far more people will remember that Parasite won for best picture. Sound editing is like a sale, whereas best picture is akin to an IPO. “We asked a lot of VCs how they thought about acquisitions and IPOs, and a quote that stuck with... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

04 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

How a Juicy Brand Came Back to Life

Even now, mere mention of Quaker Oats' acquisition of Snapple causes veteran dealmakers to shudder. For good reason. In 1993, Quaker paid $1.7 billion for the Snapple brand, outbidding Coca-Cola, among other interested parties. In 1997,... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Food & Beverage

25 Jul 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: July 25, 2017

forthcoming Journal of Political Economy Reserve Design: Unintended Consequences and the Demise of Boston's Walk Zones By: Dur, Umut, Scott Duke Kominers, Parag A. Pathak, and Tayfun Sönmez Abstract—Admissions policies often use reserves to grant certain applicants... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

February 2016 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Bankruptcy at Caesars Entertainment

By: Kristin Mugford and David Chan

Caesars Entertainment was a large casino operator in the United States that had been purchased in a 2008 leveraged buyout by Apollo and TPG. In January 2015, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC), its largest subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11. This set up a... View Details

Keywords: Gaming; Chapter 11; Fraudulent Conveyance; Apollo; TPG; Bankruptcy; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Financial Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Negotiation; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Las Vegas