Publications

January 2011
Case

Clean Edge Razor: Splitting Hairs in Product Positioning

By: John A. Quelch and Heather Beckham

After three years of development, Paramount Health and Beauty Company is preparing to launch a new technologically advanced vibrating razor called Clean Edge. The innovative new design of Clean Edge provides superior performance by stimulating the hair follicles to... View Details

Keywords: Project Management; Interdepartmental Relations; Organizational Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Conflict Management; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Relationships; Product Development; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

22 May 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

A Luxury Industry Veteran Teaches the Importance of Aesthetics to Budding Business Leaders

Pauline Brown joined the HBS faculty following a tenure as Chairman of North America at the French luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. (Photo credit: Albert Cheung) To future CEOs who want to succeed in the business of making and marketing... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics

15 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

The New Global Business Manager

just wrote a case on Procter & Gamble in Japan. They understand that Japanese women are incredibly sophisticated, demanding customers who spend more money on cosmetics than anyone else in the world. Instead of saying, "Well,... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

January 2019
Case

First Aid Beauty

By: Karen Mills and Annie Dang

In 2008, Lilli Gordon, an experienced financial and skincare entrepreneur, founded First Aid Beauty (FAB). She had discovered a white space in the prestige beauty market: high-end skin solutions that were suitable for sensitive skin. After initial success through... View Details

Keywords: Prestige Beauty; Skincare; Preferred Shares; Common Stock; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

10 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Do You Have Change Fatigue?

properly, decides just to make it look superficially better and move on. And the typical result of this misguided cosmetic effort? The bulldog's "appearance hasn't improved, but now it's really angry," says Kanter. Instead, she... View Details

Keywords: by Nick Morgan

10 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink

near 20 percent online market share. Apparel, greeting cards, party supplies, and office products have reached double-digit penetration as well while sporting goods and cosmetics will likely reach double-digit share in 2011. Pet products... View Details

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Jose B. Alvarez; Retail

13 Apr 2021
Book

How Inclusive Managers Create Glass-Shattering Organizations

critical dimensions to organizations that want to work toward parity, not for cosmetic reasons, but to improve performance and value: Attraction and recruitment. Actively seek candidates outside managers’ networks, and assess the language... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

February 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Technical Note

The Art and Science of Brand Valuation

By: Jill Avery

Brand valuation, the art and science of calculating the economic value accruing to a firm from its use of an intangible brand asset, yields frustratingly inconsistent, discrepant, and, therefore, controversial results. While it is widely accepted that brands are... View Details

November 2017 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Brandless: Disrupting Consumer Packaged Goods

By: Jill Avery

Brandless, an online direct-to-consumer seller of upscale private-label consumer packaged goods, offered consumers a limited assortment of values-conscious products delivered directly to their homes with the simplicity of one fixed $3 price point that promised an... View Details

September 2013 (Revised August 2015)
Background Note

Leadership and Teaming

By: Ethan Bernstein

Small differences in the leadership of teams can have large consequences for the success of their efforts. Many initiatives fail not because of a fatal error in judgment or insufficient ideas, knowledge, motivation, or capabilities to deliver a solution. They fail... View Details