Publications

March 2004
Case

L.L. Bean: A Search for Growth

By: Rajiv Lal, Walter J. Salmon and James Weber

In mid-2003, CEO Chris McCormick felt L.L. Bean was in a good position to begin to grow again. For nearly 90 years, the company sold clothing and gear for outdoor enthusiasts through its catalogs and a single retail store in Freeport, Maine. In the three decades prior... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Restructuring; Growth and Development Strategy; Cost Management; Sales; Performance Improvement; Diversification; Distribution Channels; Resignation and Termination; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry

November 2018 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Almarai Company: Milk and Modernization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

By: Kristin Fabbe, Safwan Al-Amin, Esel Cekin and Natalie Kindred

With SAR 14 billion ($3.7 billion) in 2017 revenues, Almarai was Saudi Arabia’s largest dairy producer, distributor, and marketer, with a large portfolio of branded dairy products, juices, bakery goods, and infant formula and a sales presence across the Gulf region,... View Details

May 2013
Case

Altius Golf and the Fighter Brand

By: Robert J. Dolan and Sunru Yong

Altius Golf is the clear leader in the golf ball market despite a long-term decline in the number of golfers and a drop in sales following the financial crisis. The firm has maintained its position by introducing generations of advanced, super-premium golf balls that... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Competitive Advantage; Decision Choices and Conditions; Distribution Channels; Sports; Financial Crisis; Brands and Branding; Segmentation; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Das Narayandas is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Technology degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB), a Post-Graduate... View Details

Keywords: advertising; beauty products; biotechnology; computer; electrical equipment; electronics; entertainment; federal government; high technology; industrial goods; information technology industry; internet; management consulting; manufacturing; marketing industry; professional services; retailing; telecommunications; transportation

26 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way to Go to Market

supplier thinks about ways to get the product/service out to the customer. If the company achieves its sales goals, it lulls the company into the assumption that the channels must be right. For all you know... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Profile

Minal Mehta

When did you and your cofounders come up with the idea of a Bollywood-inspired dance and fitness program? "I grew up splitting my time between swimming pools and dance studios. When I wasn't choreographing synchronized swimming routines, I was immersed in my next... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Services

13 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: Dec. 13

whether, when, and for which type of customer the introduction of a new channel helps and hurts sales in existing channels. Our framework separates short- and long-run effects by analyzing underlying View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

21Seeds: Taking Shots at Breakout Growth

By: Elie Ofek, Julian De Freitas, Michael Moynihan and Nicole Tempest Keller

21Seeds, a female-founded flavor-infused tequila startup launched in 2019, had made inroads into the alcoholic beverage industry by focusing on an underserved consumer segment in spirits—women, primarily in their 30s and 40s, many of whom were moms—and by following a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution Channels; Sales; Food and Beverage Industry

2018
Working Paper

Trade Creditors' Information Advantage

By: Victoria Ivashina and Benjamin Iverson

Using information on the sales of debt claims for 132 U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, we show that large trade creditors’ decisions to sell receivables of a distressed company in bankruptcy are predictive of lower recovery rates, and that in such cases these... View Details

Keywords: Trade Credit; Distress; Bankruptcy; Credit; Information; Insolvency and Bankruptcy

Kash Rangan is the Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing at the Harvard Business School. Formerly the chairman of the Marketing Department (1998-2002), he is now the co-chairman of the school's Social Enterprise Initiative. He has taught in a wide variety of MBA... View Details

Keywords: advertising; agribusiness; apparel; automobiles; computer; consumer products; e-commerce industry; high technology; industrial goods; marketing industry; pharmaceuticals

21 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Incentives versus Reciprocity: Insights from a Field Experiment

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung & Das Narayandas

August 2022
Exercise

Joy4Home Brands: Pricing Matters

By: Elie Ofek, Oded Koenigsberg and Marco Bertini

Joy4Home Brands, the maker of novel houseware items, was gearing up for its launch. The company would be introducing two lines: kitchenware products and storage containers. The initial go-to-market plan called for a direct to consumer (DTC) channel strategy. While... View Details

Keywords: DTC; Pricing Decisions; B2B; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Marketing Strategy; Business Model; Opportunities; Consumer Products Industry

September 2018
Case

Hunley, Inc.: Casting for Growth

By: John A. Quelch and James T. Kindley

Hunley, Inc. manufactures rods for the niche sport of fly fishing. It specializes in freshwater rods that are perceived as "middle-market" products, targeted at "avid" fly fishers. In the face of declining revenue and a decreasing price per unit sold, the company's... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Sports; Marketing Channels; Distribution Channels

September 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Going Mobile-First? The Digital Transformation of Davivienda Bank in Colombia

By: Jorge Tamayo and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Set in 2017, this case describes the digital transformation strategy of Davivienda— a leading player in Colombia’s commercial banking and one of the companies belonging to Grupo Bolívar, a major Colombian financial conglomerate. The case also describes the pioneer role... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Technology; Digital Strategy; Digital Transformation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Banking Industry; Latin America; Central America; South America; Colombia

September 1986
Case

BOC Group: Ohmeda (A)

The president of Ohmeda, a wholly owned company of the BOC Group, plans to grow the company's medical equipment sales from $95 million in 1985 to $158 million in five years by focusing on the sale of "high-tech" equipment. At the same time, the president expects to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communications; Salesforce Management; Marketing Channels; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

August 1997
Case

Orbital Sciences Corporation: ORBCOMM

By: Das Narayandas and John A. Quelch

In late 1993, Orbital Communications Corp. (OCC), a subsidiary of Orbital Sciences Corp., is developing a global two-way wireless data communications system, called "ORBCOMM," based on a 26-satellite constellation in low earth orbit. Service is scheduled to begin in... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Business Model; Business Startups; Price; Global Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Salesforce Management; Telecommunications Industry

August 2019
Case

Apex Ski Boots

By: Kate Barasz and John T. Gourville

Apex Ski Boots has introduced a new ski boot that, due to its radical design, is meeting resistance in the marketplace from many retailers, ski experts, and consumers. The company must decide how best to drive sales in the face of this resistance. View Details

Keywords: Go-to-market Strategy; Strategic Change; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Sales; Change Management; Sports Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry