Publications

25 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

How Transparency Sped Innovation in a $13 Billion Wireless Sector

suppliers have lots of business partners, you eventually see benefits,” says Greenstein. “With more business options, you see a different variety and a bigger variety of products available. Everybody benefits at the end of the day.” Tracking a View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Technology

21 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 21

relationships with their competitors affect consumers' preferences. Through a series of experiments, we show that the competitive context in which a brand operates can affect consumers' purchase interest and purchase frequency. We show... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel & Sean Silverthorne

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Top Ten Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs

unpatentable in Japan. The same is true with trademarks. A tremendous amount of money might be spent in developing a brand in the United States, yet when the product is shipped overseas it could violate trademarks of companies dealing in... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

19 Jul 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Signaling to Partially Informed Investors in the Newsvendor Model

Keywords: by Vishal Gaur, Richard Lai, Ananth Raman & William Schmidt

June 2025
Case

Assessing the Offers for Seven & i Holdings

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

In the fall of 2024, the board of Seven and i Holdings Company (7&i, the parent company of 7-Eleven convenience stores in the US, Japan, and other countries) received multiple offers to buy the company. Two successive (and unsolicited) offers came from Alimentation... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Valuation; Value Creation; Bids and Bidding; Financial Strategy; Negotiation Offer; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Finance; Business Conglomerates; Leveraged Buyouts; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan; Canada

2020
Working Paper

Social Influence in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Community Establishments’ Closure Decisions Follow Those of Nearby Chain Establishments

By: Abhishek Nagaraj, Mathijs de Vaan, Saqib Mumtaz and Sameer Srivastava

As conveners that bring various stakeholders into the same physical space, firms can powerfully influence the course of pandemics such as COVID-19. Even when operating under government orders and health guidelines, firms have considerable discretion to keep their... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Peer Influence; Closure Decisions; Health Pandemics; Business Ventures; Decisions; Business and Community Relations

Read Now

July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Property Finder's Strategy for Online Classifieds in the MENA Region

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Gamze Yucaoglu and Fares Khrais

The case opens in 2020 as Michael Lahyani, founder and CEO of Property Finder, Dubai’s leading online real estate classifieds portal, contemplates the company’s five-year growth strategy.
Since its founding in 2005 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Property... View Details

Keywords: General Business; Real Estate; Entrepreneurship; Property; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Growth Management; Online Technology; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; United Arab Emirates; Saudi Arabia; Egypt; Turkey

April 2004 (Revised September 2004)
Case

IKEA Invades America

By: Youngme E. Moon

In 2002, the IKEA Group is the world's top furniture retailer, with 154 stores worldwide. In the United States, IKEA operates 14 stores, all of which have been enormously popular despite their self-service requirements. The company's goal is to have 50 stores in... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Goals and Objectives; Competitive Advantage; Globalized Firms and Management; Retail Industry; United States

January 2012 (Revised August 2020)
Case

The Swatch Group

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Karol Misztal and Daniela Beyersdorfer

In March 2011, Nicolas Hayek, the CEO of the leading Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch Group, reflected on the positioning of Omega, its revived flagship brand. Which marketing strategy would best allow it to confront its main competitor Rolex? And how would potential... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Segmentation; Product Positioning; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

13 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, June 13

May 2017 American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings Immigration and the Rise of American Ingenuity By: Akcigit, Ufuk, John Grigsby, and Tom Nicholas Abstract—We build on the analysis in Akcigit, Grigsby, and Nicholas (2017) by using U.S. patent and census data to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Design Driven Innovation

By: Roberto Verganti

Firms, managers and scholars have often balanced between two approaches to innovation: user centered (where incremental innovation is pulled by the market) and technology push (where innovation comes from breakthrough development in technologies). However there is a... View Details

July 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Ron Johnson: A Career in Retail

By: Das Narayandas, Joshua D. Margolis and Ryan Raffaelli

In April 2013, Ron Johnson (HBS '84) stepped down after just 18 months as CEO of J.C. Penney. In his brief tenure, Johnson, an acclaimed retailer respected for his innovation and success in shaping the retail image at Target and Apple, introduced dramatic departures... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Leadership Development; Legal Industry; Procurement; Professional Service Firms; Pricing; Organizational Behavior Modification; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Situation or Environment; Failure; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Competition; Retail Industry; United States

September 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Costco Companies, Inc.

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Costco Companies, one of the major players in the wholesale club industry, has developed a new class of membership that offers discounted services--auto, health, and home insurance, business credit card processing, real estate services--in exchange for a higher annual... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Cost Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Supply and Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Risk and Uncertainty; Retail Industry

December 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Supplement

ANA (B)

By: Doug J. Chung and Mayuka Yamazaki

All Nippon Airways (ANA) became the largest airline in Japan in 2013. Having been designated as a domestic carrier by the Japanese government till the mid-1980s and Japan being the sixth largest domestic airline market, two-thirds of ANA’s passenger revenue came from... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Analysis; Economics; Price; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Product; Policy; Air Transportation Industry; Japan

28 Jun 2022
Book

The Moral Enterprise: How Two Companies Profit with Purpose

How can government and business work together in this fractious political moment, when finding solutions to pressing problems like inequality and climate change are more urgent than ever? Rebecca Henderson, Harvard University’s John and Natty McArthur University... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

09 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Organizations

employees. For example, most firms depend on the continuing high regard of their customers. Repeat sales are essential. To achieve this the product or service needs to engage customers in terms of all four drives. Hence firms need to cultivate identifying View Details

Keywords: by Paul Lawrence & Nitin Nohria

January 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.: The "Talk to Chuck" Advertising Campaign

By: John A. Quelch

Schwab management is evaluating the success of the recently launched "Talk to Chuck" advertising campaign. This campaign aims to differentiate Schwab in the cluttered financial services marketplace. Test market results facilitate discussion of advertising objectives,... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Communication Strategy; Brands and Branding; Media; Performance Evaluation; Financial Services Industry