Publications

02 Jun 2022
Research & Ideas

Blissful Thinking: When It Comes to Finding Happiness, 'Your Dreams Are Liars'

and a former professional French-horn player, Brooks came to the subject of happiness by way of art. His early research focused on why people produce and consume art and beauty as well as the motives behind human generosity. He discovered... View Details

Keywords: by Dan Morrell

04 May 2021
Book

Best Buy: How Human Connection Saved a Failing Retailer

organization. To find out what drove each member of Best Buy’s executive team, I organized a dinner in 2016, in a room overlooking Minneapolis’s beautiful Lake Bde Maka Ska. It was part of one of our regular quarterly retreats. Everyone... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

06 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

Skills and Behaviors that Make Entrepreneurs Successful

that increase confidence in a person’s entrepreneurial abilities. Like the conviction of Marla Malcolm Beck and husband Barry Beck that high-end beauty retail stores and spas, tightly coupled with online stores, was the business model of... View Details

Keywords: by HBS Working Knowledge

12 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Swiping Right: How Data Helped This Online Dating Site Make More Matches

tell if these online matches came to fruition in real life.) Defining desirability To sort matches, the researchers measured desirability, though not in the “supermodel” sense. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: The team determined... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

25 Jan 2017
HBS Case

How Should Advertisers Respond to Consumer Demand for Whiter Skin?

fairer, while many European and American women prefer a dark tan. “This is an issue that manifests in many different societies,” Deshpandé says. “Although this case study originated in India, the issues it deals with are universal issues that business leaders have to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Beauty & Cosmetics

07 Jul 2019
HBS Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

annual revenue at those stores from $142.5 billion in 2009 to 97.7 billion in 2018. During the same time period, revenue at Walmart’s “supercenters” (larger stores that also sell groceries and often include services such as eye care, View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

21 Mar 2019
HBS Case

The Ferrari Way

As the head of design told Thomke: “Form follows function, but there is always a large margin for artistic freedom. The difference between an efficient shape and a beautiful and efficient shape can be quite large.” Then there is that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Auto

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care; Startup; Brand Equity; Brand Valuation; Brand Value; Brand Storytelling; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States; Japan

13 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

been a very strong theme in our politics. And I've always believed it's because historically, we've had these two big, beautiful oceans protecting us from the rest of the world. And so we could say it's all about my liberty. It's not... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Pharmaceutical

August 2021 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Perfect Diary (完美日记)

By: Shunyuan Zhang and Sunil Gupta

Jinfeng (David) Huang founded Yatsen Holding Limited in 2016 and launched the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) cosmetic brand, Perfect Diary, in 2017. Perfect Diary used social influencers or key opinion leaders (KOL) to successfully build brand awareness and to grow... View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Social Influencers; Marketing; Digital Marketing; Competitive Strategy; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Asia

May 2014 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Unilever's Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Unilever's new Global Brand VP must not only revitalize Lifebuoy soap's sagging market performance, but simultaneously impact the health of one billion people worldwide. The latter challenge comes from Unilever's new CEO who has introduced the Unilever Sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Management; Corporate Social Responsibility; Strategy Implementation; Marketing Strategy; Mission And Purpose; Change Management; International Business; Global; Fast-moving Consumer Goods; Soap; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Health Care and Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Global Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Health Industry; India

14 Mar 2019
Cold Call Podcast

How Helena Rubinstein Used Tall Tales to Turn Cosmetics into a Luxury Brand

Keywords: Re: Geoffrey G. Jones; Beauty & Cosmetics

November 1994
Case

Dow Corning and the Breast Implant Controversy (A)

By: Willis M. Emmons III, Monica Brand and Greg Keller

In early 1994, Dow Corning Corp. debates whether to participate in a proposed $4.2 billion product liability settlement. Specifically, the firm must decide whether to contribute $2 billion to end a class action suit filed by women suffering from connective tissue... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Ethics; Health Disorders; Government Legislation; Crime and Corruption; Legal Liability; Risk and Uncertainty; Business Strategy; Communication Strategy; Lawsuits and Litigation; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

January 1981
Case

Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.

By: John P. Kotter

Introduces the student to Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc., its business, its strategy, and its organization. Provides the necessary background for understanding the contributions of Mary Kay Ash, the company's founder and chairman. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Business Strategy; Organizations; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry