Publications

Article

Does Your Company Need a Chief Medical Officer?

By: Tsedal Neeley

With the Covid-19 pandemic still raging but businesses trying to remain operational, organizations now have a life or death role to play in protecting the health of employees, customers, and the public. That means they need a new executive in the C-suite: a chief... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Health; Health Pandemics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Safety; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Working Conditions

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May 1986
Supplement

Gillette Co.: Dry Idea Advertising (A), Video

Presents an audiovisual account of the five year struggle to solve creative problems on the Gillette Co.'s Dry Idea brand antiperspirant. The Dry Idea creative review is divided into three parts: 1) review of early advertising, 2) reenactment of a 1983 meeting attended... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Consumer Products Industry

31 May 2018
News

Starbucks’ racial bias training has another goal

February 2007 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Li Ning - Anything is Possible

A leading sporting goods company in China competes aggressively against global brands Nike and Adidas, with marketing strategies adapted to geographic segments. In the main cities, where competition takes place at a very conceptual level, Li Ning has chosen to adopt a... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Global Strategy; City; Consumer Products Industry; Sports Industry; China

07 Mar 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Calculators for Women: When Identity Appeals Provoke Backlash

Keywords: by Tami Kim, Kate Barasz, Leslie John, and Michael Norton

January 1989 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Du Pont Freon Products Division (A)

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Forest L. Reinhardt

In 1988, the Du Pont Co. is abruptly confronted with solid scientific evidence that chlorofluorocarbons are destroying the earth's ozone shield. Du Pont, with its Freon brand product line serving markets for foam insulation, electronics solvents, and especially... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Policy; Management; Brands and Branding; Production; Service Operations; Natural Environment; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Environmental Sustainability

12 Feb 2015
Video

Comeback Kids: How the Boston Red Sox went from last place to World Series

20 Aug 2024
Interview

Angel City Football Club: A New Business Model for Women’s Sports

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Brian Kenny and Nicole Tempest Keller

Angel City Football Club (ACFC) was founded in 2020 by venture capitalist Kara Nortman, entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, and actor and activist Natalie Portman. As outsiders to professional sports, the all-female founding team had rewritten the playbook for how to build a... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Gender; Franchise Ownership; Business Model; Sports Industry

February 2015 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Quincy Apparel (A)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lisa Mazzanti

Quincy Apparel designs, manufactures and sells work apparel for young professional women that offers the fit and feel of high-end brands at a lower price. In late 2012, Quincy's cofounders are debating how to approach a crucial board meeting. Their seed-stage startup... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Failure; Online Retail; Women's Apparel; Business Startups; Business Plan; Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Production; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; Fashion Industry; New York (city, NY)

October 2016
Case

Yili Group: Building a Global Dairy Company

By: William C. Kirby and Nancy Hua Dai

From its humble beginnings as a local Chinese dairy company, the Inner Mongolia Yili Group has become one of the largest dairy companies in the world. To achieve this, Yili has aggressively expanded its footprint overseas including building the world’s largest... View Details

Consumers have always had relationships with brands, but sophisticated tools for analyzing customer data are finally allowing marketing organizations to personalize and manage those relationships. With this new power comes a new challenge: People now expect companies... View Details

December 2018
Teaching Note

The Swedish Academy #MeToo Scandal and the Reputation of the Nobel Prize

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Mats Urde

A classroom guide to teaching the case, “The Swedish Academy #MeToo Scandal and the Reputation of the Nobel Prize” (HBS No. 5-919-410). A fictional case protagonist must present his evaluation to the Nobel Foundation of the scandal affecting one of the Nobel... View Details

Keywords: Nobel Prize; Swedish Academy; Scandal; Reputation; Brands and Branding; Crisis Management

Rajiv Lal, is the Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of Retailing at Harvard Business School. He is currently teaching an elective MBA course on the Business of Smart Connected Products/IOT. He has been responsible for the retailing curriculum and has served as the course... View Details

29 Oct 2021
News

Eight Companies That Changed Their Names to Signal a Strategy Shift

September 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (A)

Debra Taeschler, CEO of Grafica, is considering how to structure her agency's bid for the New Jersey Lottery account. The Lottery is facing declining sales in all major categories and plans to slash its 1999 marketing budget by 32%. Taeschler is debating whether to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Decision Making; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; New Jersey

08 Jul 2014
News

Harvard Alumna and Milli Millu Founder in Her Own Words

Keywords: Retail Trade

February 2023
Supplement

The Swatch Group (B): Omega X Swatch

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Daniela Beyersdorfer

In March 2022, the Swatch Group launched the MoonSwatch, born out of a secret in-house collaboration among its street Swatch and its luxury Omega brand, in tribute to one of Omega’s most legendary watches. The launch created a frenzy among watch fans worldwide, with... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Europe; Switzerland

February 2001
Case

BarnesandNoble.com (C)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dickson Louie and William A. Sahlman

At the end of 1999, Steve Riggio, the vice chairman and acting CEO of barnesandnoble.com, wonders what his company should do next against Amazon.com, the online retailer who is the leading online book seller in the United States. While barnesandnoble.com has been... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Internet and the Web; Diversification; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry