Publications

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03 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 3, 2007

Working PapersCan Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia Authors:Nava Ashraf, James Berry, and Jesse M. Shapiro Abstract The pricing of health products in the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2000 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Dell's Working Capital

By: Richard S. Ruback and Aldo Sesia

Dell Computer Corp. manufactures, sells, and services personal computers. The company markets its computers directly to its customers and builds computers after receiving a customer order. This build-to-order model enables Dell to have much smaller investment in... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Working Capital; Manufacturing Industry; Computer Industry

January 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Digital Transformation at Tata Steel

By: Krishna Palepu, Das Narayandas, Radhika Kak and Rachna Tahilyani

T.V. Narendran, CEO of Tata Steel, India’s oldest steel manufacturing firm, had taken concrete business and cultural transformation steps to future-ready the firm since taking over in 2013. He had deleveraged and instilled financial discipline, acquired new businesses,... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Change Management; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Steel Industry; Asia; India

November 2009
Article

Finding Missing Markets (and a Disturbing Epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya

By: Nava Ashraf, Xavier Gine and Dean Karlan

Farmers may grow crops for local consumption despite more profitable export options. DrumNet, a Kenyan NGO that helps small farmers adopt and market export crops, conducted a randomized trial to evaluate its impact. DrumNet services increased production of export crops... View Details

Keywords: Export Crop; Field Experiment; Food Safety Standards; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Trade; Profit; Marketing; Standards; Failure; Non-Governmental Organizations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Kenya; European Union

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29 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

For Entrepreneurs, Blown Deadlines Can Crush Big Ideas

One might expect first-time entrepreneurs to pick up speed as they churn out more products, but new research finds that nascent firms typically launch second products six weeks later than originally planned.... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Runa

By: Paul Gompers and Carla Larangeira

In early 2022, Courtney McColgan, founder and CEO of Runa, a human resources and payroll Software-as-a-Service platform, faced an unexpected tech market downturn. Founded in 2018, Runa catered to small and medium-sized businesses in Mexico, offering an affordable and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Volatility; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Leadership; Management; Venture Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; Latin America

18 Apr 2022
HBS Case

Dick’s Sporting Goods Followed Its Conscience on Guns—and It Paid Off

societal issues, according to two new Harvard Business School case studies. “Increasingly, business leaders are expected to take stands on societal issues—to do societal good. It’s gone beyond ‘do no harm,’” says George A. Riedel, the... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

November 2005 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Leading Change at Simmons (A)

By: Tiziana E. Casciaro, Amy C. Edmondson, Stacy McManus and Kate Roloff

Explores the challenge of managing large-scale organizational change at Simmons, an old and established company that manufactures and distributes mattresses. The new CEO, Charlie Eitel, hired to turn the organization's performance around, considers whether to implement... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Motivation and Incentives; Leading Change; Employee Relationship Management; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

23 Nov 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Growth Through Heterogeneous Innovations

Keywords: by Ufuk Akcigit & William R. Kerr; Technology

06 Dec 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Assortment Rotation and the Value of Concealment

Keywords: by Kris Johnson Ferreira and Joel Goh; Retail

William R. Kerr

William Kerr is the D’Arbeloff Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Bill is Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research, co-director of Harvard’s Managing the Future of Work initiative, and faculty chair of the... View Details

Keywords: communications; computer; consulting; high technology; information technology industry; management consulting; manufacturing; telecommunications; venture capital industry

TeachingInterests

FIELD Global Immersion

By: Allison H. Mnookin

The FIELD Global Immersion course sends student teams into global markets around the world, requiring them to develop a new customer experience, product or service concept for a global partner organization leveraging design thinking innovation techniques. View Details

04 Dec 2024
HBS Seminar

Mert Demirer, MIT Sloan School of Management

15 Aug 2016
Video

FIELD Global Immersions

March 2020
Case

Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery

Thingtesting, a brand discovery and testing digital community devoted to uncovering and exploring direct-to-consumer brands, had just received seed funding and was contemplating a second year of growth. The new year brought many challenges, as founder Jenny Gyllander... View Details

March 2010 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Dassault Systemes

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Dassault Systèmes, a leader in product lifecycle management software, has enjoyed a very profitable business model in 3D engineering design. In the past, it has successfully managed market disruptions and opportunities through acquisition and organic innovations. Its... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Product Marketing; Technology Industry

November 2023
Case

Apple Inc. in 2023

By: David B. Yoffie and Sarah von Bargen

Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple became the first trillion dollar market cap company, the first two trillion dollar company, and the first three trillion dollar company. Since the COVID pandemic, Apple gained over 20% of the world smartphone market and 50% of the U.S. market,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Emerging Markets; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Revenue; Technology Industry

January 2014
Case

Tesco Group Food

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Damien P. McLoughlin and Mary Shelman

In 2010, the world's third largest retailer created a new centralized sourcing department for fresh food and store-brand grocery products in response to changes in global supply and to better meet the needs of a new multi-channel retail environment. The case, set in... View Details

Keywords: Food Retailing; Multichannel Retailing; Sustainable Supply Chains; Agribusiness; Food Marketing; Supply Chain Management; Marketing; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

August 1993 (Revised June 1994)
Case

21-Speed Gizmos, Inc.

In this hypothetical case, 21-Speed Gizmos, Inc., a manufacturer of electronic bicycle components for the serious cyclist, must decide what price to charge for a new product. Describes the product and includes cost and demand information available for making the... View Details

Keywords: Price; Decision Making; Product Marketing; Manufacturing Industry