Buying Process - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Jan 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Mechanisms of Technology Re-Emergence and Identity Change in a Mature Field: Swiss Watchmaking, 1970-2008

Keywords: by Ryan Raffaelli; Consumer Products; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion

21 Nov 2023
Op-Ed

The Beauty Industry: Products for a Healthy Glow or a Compact for Harm?

In my recently published book Deeply Responsible Business, I write about business leaders since the 19th century who have acted responsibly, often by putting the welfare of their communities above the idea of maximizing profits. I make a sharp distinction between... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Beauty & Cosmetics

March 1998
Case

Bumper Acquisition (A2), A: Confidential Information for Medallion Capital, Inc.

By: James K. Sebenius and David T. Kotchen

Located in Mundelein, IL, Thermo-Impact, Inc. is a rapidly growing, private firm that manufactures automotive bumpers. In 1995, a number of large automotive supply companies and a private equity investment firm offer to buy Thermo-Impact. The cases in this series focus... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Valuation; Negotiation Participants; Decision Making; Negotiation Process; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Offer; Acquisition; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Illinois

Citation

Find at Harvard

08 Jul 2014
First Look

First Look: July 8

simply begin with the direction you want to go and take a small step. Thinking alone will never change your life-you must ACT. Then evaluate the lessons you learn from that first step, build on them, and take another step in your desired direction. Repeat this View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

practices are not light switches you can turn on or off,” says Sadun. “It’s not like you can order your employees to buy into these processes—it’s a much more complex process of influencing behavior and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

03 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 3, 2018

emerging economies. However, microlevel product development processes in these economies are relatively unexplored, and the mechanisms by which the emerging economy context might affect such processes are... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

29 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 29

non-fundamental risk. We define an asset to be fragile if it is susceptible to non-fundamental trading shocks. An asset can be fragile because of concentrated ownership or because its owners face correlated liquidity shocks, i.e., they must View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 17

Management (forthcoming) Abstract Consumers who buy a product intending to use an accompanying mail-in rebate often do not redeem the rebate. To explain this behavior, we argue that consumers use an anchoring and adjustment approach to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Entrepreneurs Can Find the Right Problem to Solve

times did you buy “X” in the last month?”) and data-centric (“How often do you order takeout for dinner?). Problem validation Early in the process, more important than interest tests are tests that validate there is a problem worth... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

Fall 2020
Article

Christo and Jeanne‐Claude: The Negotiation of Art and Vice Versa

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Over the past two decades the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON) has named thirteen people as Great Negotiators. The project, directed by my colleague Jim Sebenius, has given us the opportunity to commend our honorees’ outstanding work and to learn from... View Details

Keywords: Art; Negotiation; Arts

Citation

Find at Harvard

14 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

When a Vacation Isn’t Enough, a Sabbatical Can Recharge Your Life—and Your Career

live.” “It helped me process the possibility that the time at the company I had started could be finished, and that could be OK.” Even as he was feeling fulfilled by helping people, he felt himself crashing. “I didn’t think you could burn... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

24 May 2021
Op-Ed

Can Fabric Waste Become Fashion’s Resource?

COVID-19 has broken fashion’s supply chain. As a result, an already wasteful industry has become more wasteful. Even before the pandemic, the global apparel industry was producing about 92 million tons of textile waste a year. That’s about one garbage truck’s worth of... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones and Shelly Xu; Fashion

28 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 28

and the internal processes that create sustained advantage. Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/15-027_a00eeeb6-c5c6-41cc-b4f4-8047926c067a.pdf Cases & Course Materials Harvard Business School Case... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Research Summary

Overview

By: Jorge Tamayo

Professor Tamayo’s research focuses on theoretical modeling and structural estimation of firm decision-making and productivity.

Professor Tamayo studies dynamic competition for customer membership. Generally, firms that implement a membership model charge a... View Details

Keywords: Industrial Organization, Industrial Development; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Management Style; Energy Generation; Performance Efficiency; Market Design; Crime and Corruption; Manufacturing Industry; Energy Industry

10 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Technology and COVID Upended Tipping Norms. Will Consumers Keep Paying?

If you’ve recently ordered food or coffee on an app, you’re probably familiar with the prompt to tip your barista, delivery driver, or sandwich maker. Or even more commonly, when ordering at a casual dining counter, you’ve been asked to leave a tip on the screen used... View Details

Keywords: by Anna Lamb, Harvard Gazette

26 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 26, 2017

the United States, the time, cost, and complications of patent suits provide openings for opportunistic assertions of infringement. This article proposes a way to address information problems that facilitate opportunistic assertion: an automatic View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Bernie Madoff Explains Himself

service of buying shares; now Madoff had turned the practice upside down and was paying them to trade. That innovation diverted trading away from the New York Stock Exchange floor, and by the early 1990s, Madoff’s firm was handling... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

13 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Picture This: Why Online Image Searches Drive Purchases

In a visual world, most online retailers still rely on consumers to define and enter their own search keywords. But using images to help shoppers sharpen their queries could push them to buy more, spend more, and feel happier about their... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology; Technology; Consumer Products; Retail

13 Feb 2020
Book

Open Your Organization to Honest Conversations

buying Alstom, GE’s chief energy competitor, but ignored warnings from wary board directors and senior executives who claimed Alstom had made bad deals and otherwise performed poorly. Since the acquisition, Alstom has struggled—and today... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

clearly epitomized by the advent and affirmation of the electronic processing and sharing of data at a magnitude and speed that in no way we have seen before. The digital age is enabled by the emergence and adoption of four key... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

Publications