Publications

December 2000
Background Note

Online Retailers

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alastair Brown

Describes online retailers, companies that use the Internet to sell physical goods. Defines online retailers and describes different ways to categorize them. Explores their economic model and value proposition for consumers in comparison with offline retailers. Next,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet; Retail Industry

04 Dec 2018
News

We’re No Longer in Smartphone Plateau. We’re in the Smartphone Decline.

01 May 2018
HBS Seminar

Davidson Heath, University of Utah

Working Conditions in Supply Chains microsite

This microsite is a new resource for managers of global supply chains, including brands who want to source products from suppliers that avoid problematic working conditions, auditors who assess factory working conditions, and NGOs focused on this area. The site... View Details

November 2016
Case

But, It's For a Good Cause

By: Elizabeth Keenan and John Gourville

Companies have long tried to enhance consumers’ perceptions of their firms and the products they sell in a variety of ways. Such efforts include the development of a brand image that the public views favorably, as in the case of Apple. It extends to the development of... View Details

Keywords: Social Change; Marketing And Society; Social Marketing; Brands and Branding; Customers; Perception; Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Partners and Partnerships; Trends; Environmental Sustainability

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Priceline WebHouse Club

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jon K Rust

Priceline empowered consumers to "name their own price" for airline tickets and hotel rooms; then it shopped these offers to marketers. Priceline's founder Jay Walker described the resulting transactions as a new ecosystem, that helped consumers realize lower prices... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry

April 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

AI Wars

By: Andy Wu, Matt Higgins, Miaomiao Zhang and Hang Jiang

In February 2024, the world was looking to Google to see what the search giant and long-time putative technical leader in artificial intelligence (AI) would do to compete in the massively hyped technology of generative AI. Over a year ago, OpenAI released ChatGPT, a... View Details

Keywords: AI; Artificial Intelligence; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation

03 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Marketing Your Way Through a Recession

Must-have features of yesterday are today's can-live-withouts. Trusted brands are especially valued and they can still launch new products successfully, but interest in new brands and new categories fades.... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

August 2010 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Herborist

By: John Deighton, Leora Kornfeld, Yanqun He and Qingyun Jiang

Global brands such as L'Oreal and Oil of Olay dominate China's skin care market. A Chinese domestic brand, after some success in partnership with Sephora in Europe, aspires to challenge the French and U.S. brands' hold on the China market. It must decide how to segment... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Demand and Consumers; Competitive Strategy; Segmentation; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; China

22 Jun 2018
News

Harvard Business School Welcomes Dwyane Wade As Executive Fellow

06 Apr 2018
News

Skills Over Degrees: Harvard Business School’s Joe Fuller Shares How Employers and Educators Can Find and Foster Skills for the Future

18 Dec 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 18, 2018

519-011 Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

October 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Academia Barilla

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

Barilla, the world's largest pasta company, has introduced a new high-quality, high-priced product line that features a range of authentic Italian food products sourced from artisan producers. Management believes the line will appeal to consumers seeking healthier... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Brands and Branding; Decision Choices and Conditions; Family Ownership; Nutrition; Product Development; Investment; Food and Beverage Industry; Italy

November 2003 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Flextronics International, Ltd.

By: Robert S. Huckman and Gary P. Pisano

Describes Flextronics' evolution from providing outsourced manufacturing services for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the electronics industry to developing entire unbranded products for purchase by OEMs. In 2001, Flextronics began a development program that... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Production; Service Operations; Performance Effectiveness; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry

November 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Digital Angel

By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman

Digital Angel is considering the appropriate marketing plan for the launch of its new locator device. The device, a watch and pager worn in combination, provides GPS location information and monitors heart rate and body temperature via body sensors. Parents of young... View Details

Keywords: Information; Safety; Rights; Market Entry and Exit; Ethics; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Product Development

Pietro Satriano is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. He sits on the boards of CarMax, the largest omni-channel used car retailer in the U.S. and Metro, a large regional grocery retailer in Canada. Pietro advises a number of food-tech startups and acts... View Details

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

John A. Quelch is Executive Vice Chancellor and Distinguished Professor of Social Science at Duke Kunshan University. He is also John DeButts Professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Between 2017 and 2023 he was the Leonard M. Miller University... View Details

Keywords: advertising; broadcasting; consumer products; e-commerce industry; fashion; fast food; federal government; financial services; food; food processing; health care; high technology; marketing industry; media

2016
Working Paper

Alternative Paths of Green Entrepreneurship: The Environmental Legacies of The North Face's Doug Tompkins and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard

By: Geoffrey Jones and Ben Gettinger

This working paper examines the impact of two entrepreneurs who offered alternative paths to reach their shared goal of a more sustainable world. Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins were respective founders of the prominent outdoor apparel brands Patagonia and The North... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry