Publications

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November 1999 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Webvan: Groceries on the Internet

By: John A. Deighton and Kayla Bakshi

What are the prospects for grocery shopping on the Web? This case invites a comparison of seven business models, with particular emphasis on Webvan. Why does the investment community value Webvan at $7.8 billion after less than six months of operating experience, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Experience and Expertise; Investment; Information; Marketing; Distribution Channels; Service Delivery; Cognition and Thinking; Internet and the Web; Retail Industry; Service Industry

Web

Online Business Analytics Course | HBS Online

Introduction to Business Analytics ENROLL NOW No application needed for our certificate programs. Start your journey today! Business Analytics $1,850 Next 8-week session starts August 6th Enroll Now Unlock actionable insights by mastering... View Details

March 1996
Case

Ernst & Young United Kingdom (A) (Abridged)

By: John J. Gabarro and Samantha Graff

Intended to be a robust example of the challenges encountered during the early stages of a large-scale organizational transformation effort in a professional service firm. Describes a massive change program initiated and led by the new managing partner along with a... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leading Change; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Problems and Challenges; United Kingdom; London

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July 1986 (Revised April 1989)
Background Note

Note on Sources of Comparative Advantage

By: David B. Yoffie and John J. Coleman

After Eli Heckscher and Bertil Ohlin's propositions about the sources of comparative advantage were empirically challenged by Wassily Leontief, scholars set out to explain the "Leontief paradox" by developing alternative theories on the sources of comparative... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage

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March 2025
Article

Optimal Illiquidity

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Christopher Clayton, Christopher Harris, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We study the socially optimal level of illiquidity in an economy populated by households with taste shocks and present bias with naive beliefs. The government chooses mandatory contributions to accounts, each with a different pre-retirement withdrawal penalty.... View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Financial Liquidity; Personal Finance; Saving

18 Dec 2007
First Look

First Look: December 18, 2007

interpretation is that this shows that emotions are affected by macroeconomic fluctuations. Contentment is, at a minimum, one of the important emotions that central banks should focus on. More ambitiously, contentment might be considered... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 1980 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Loctite Corp.: Industrial Products Group

By: John A. Quelch

A new product introduction strategy covering all elements of the marketing mix must be planned for equipment designed to dispense industrial adhesives. The equipment and adhesives are manufactured by the same company. View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry

2016
Working Paper

Signaling without Certification: The Critical Role of Civil Society Scrutiny

By: Susan A. Kayser, John W. Maxwell and Michael W. Toffel

In response to stakeholders' growing concerns, companies are joining voluntary environmental programs to signal their superior environmental management capabilities. In contrast to the literature's focus on certification programs that require a third-party audit, we... View Details

Keywords: United Nations; Labor Standards; Supplier Relationship; Procurement; Sustainability; Sustainability Management; Quality And Safety; Risk; Globalization; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Working Conditions; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Quality; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Reputation

SSRN

November 1995
Case

Ernst & Young United Kingdom (B)

By: John J. Gabarro and Samantha Graff

Discusses progress made by mid-1995 on the three challenges identified by the change leadership at the end of 1993. First, it describes the decision-making process that resulted in a general consensus to reorganize the huge London office, and it highlights certain... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leading Change; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Problems and Challenges; Decision Making; Adaptation; Perspective; United Kingdom; London

11 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 11

biased forecasts for potential future employers are more likely to face favorable career outcomes and bank executives appear to profit from the analysts' bias since the bias is associated with higher levels of insider trading. Our results highlight the bias created... View Details

21 Jun 2023
Blog Post

Building a Better World: The Harvard Builders Club

2022) and Tomer Avni (MS/MBA 2022) We – Yarden and Tomer – are graduates of Harvard’s MS/MBA Engineering Sciences program. The program was founded in 2018 by Harvard Business School and Harvard John A.... View Details

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Marketing Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Natural Experiment Involving Airbnb and Uber/Lyft” ( Journal of Marketing Research , 2022) with Dokyun Lee, Param Vir Singh, and Tridas Mukhopadhyay. 2023 Eva Ascarza : Selected as an AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium Faculty Fellow View Details

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Commodities, Currencies, and Balancing of the Trade Deficit - A Chronicle of the China Trade

Commodities, Currencies, and Balancing of the Trade Deficit Augustine Heard & Co.’s formation occurred during the First Opium War (1839–1842). The conflict broke out between the United Kingdom and China in part over the transport and sale of opium View Details

2015
Working Paper

The Business Model: Nature and Benefits

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and John Heilbron

This paper considers the nature of the business model and its strategic relevance to negotiations. We elaborate a substantive definition of the business model as decisions enforced by the authority of the firm; this definition enables the analysis of business models... View Details

Keywords: Business Models; Value Capture; Value-Based Business Strategy; Ambivalent Value; Business Model; Negotiation Deal

SSRN

June 1990 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Sorrell Ridge: Slotting Allowances

By: John A. Quelch

Management is attempting to penetrate the California retail grocery market with the company's line of all-fruit preserves. Substantial up-front fees (slotting allowances) have been requested by the chains. Management must decide how to respond. View Details

Keywords: Food; Distribution; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; California

May 2017
Supplement

Betfair (B)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, John Heilbron and Neil Campbell

Buoyed by success in the market for gambling contracts, Betfair attempts to enter the market for financial products using its exchange model. View Details

Keywords: Betfair; Exchange; Business Model; Betting; Leisure Industry; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Diversification; Financial Services Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

November 1976 (Revised July 1983)
Case

Nuclear Tube Assembly Room (A) (Condensed)

By: John J. Gabarro

Supervisory practices and social structure in an electronics company assembly room. To be used with the (B) case. Based on American Radiatronics Corp. (A) by M.J. Steckler and P.R. Lawrence. View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Groups and Teams; Social Psychology; Electronics Industry

February 1980 (Revised June 1984)
Case

Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp.

By: John J. Gabarro

Lower middle-level manager is faced with the need to bring about a change in the call patterns of the sales force selling her product. Based on an earlier case by P.R. Lawrence. View Details

Keywords: Change; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Salesforce Management; Steel Industry

October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Supplement

Bally Total Fitness (B): The Fall, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness clubs to 24 Hour Fitness in 2014 and disappeared from the industry top 100 rankings. After Bally was bedeviled by accounting... View Details