Publications

Find at Harvard

March 2023
Case

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger and Sascha Mader

Founded in 2010, in just one decade, the Swiss company On had established itself as a main player in global sports footwear and apparel. Based on an unconventional strategy which one of the founders labeled as “obsessively distinct,” On grew its sales with a compound... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Product Positioning; Business Model; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

June 1983
Article

A Comparison of Tournaments and Contracts

By: Jerry R. Green and Nancy Stokey

Tournaments, reward structures based on rank order, are compared with individual contracts in a model with one risk-neutral principal and many risk-averse agents. Each agent's output is a stochastic function of his effort level plus an additive shock term that is... View Details

Keywords: Tournaments; Contracts

Find at Harvard

August 2000
Case

Monster.com

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Jeff Taylor, founder and CEO of Monster.com, ponders how his online site, the leading career site on the web, can continue its dominance (60% share in 1999) and growth on the Internet. Monster.com had just launched a nationwide branding campaign on television and... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Service Industry

May 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Headspace vs. Calm: A Mindful Competition

By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne Wilson

By 2021, the mindfulness app wars reached their apex. Over 2,000 meditation apps were available to consumers, but two apps, Headspace and Calm, dominated the space, jointly holding about 70% of the total market. Headspace had established itself as the approachable... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communication; Integrated Strategy; Brand; Brand ＆ Product Management; Brand Communication; Brand Differentiation; Brand Building; Brand Management; E-Commerce Strategy; Ecommerce; App; App Development; Applications; COVID; COVID-19; Pandemic; Pricing; Pricing Strategy; Subscription Model; Subscription; Partnerships; Strategic Partnerships; B2B Vs. B2C; B2B; Health ＆ Wellness; Wellbeing; Digitization; Commoditization; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Mobile Healthcare; Mobile Marketing; Digital Brand; Digital Health; Consumer Health; Apps; Online Business; Online Competition; Online Community; Online Entertainment; Entertainment And Leisure; Meditation; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Price; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Partners and Partnerships; Health; Well-being; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communication; Communication Strategy; Disruption; Consumer Behavior; Digital Marketing; E-commerce; Applications and Software; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Communications Industry; United States; North America; United Kingdom

June 2020
Case

Big Hit Entertainment and Blockbuster Band BTS: K-Pop Goes Global

By: Anita Elberse and Lizzy Woodham

Bang Si-Hyuk (‘Hitman Bang’) is the founder and co-chief executive officer of Big Hit Entertainment, the company behind BTS, a ‘K-pop’ band that has found unparalleled success around the globe—a remarkable feat given that most of their songs are in Korean. It is March... View Details

Keywords: Music; Entertainment; Superstars; Talent; Talent Development; Labor Economics; General Management; Music Entertainment; Media; Talent and Talent Management; Labor; Contracts; Marketing; Strategy; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

October 19, 2020
Article

Today's Leaders Need Vulnerability, Not Bravado

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Few myths are as pervasive as the notion that leaders ought to appear tough and confident. Or at least, that was the case prior to the current pandemic, which has exposed the many weaknesses of forceful, dominant leaders and highlighted the superiority of those who... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Leadership Style

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

13 Apr 2011
News

Why European funds are outgunning US rivals

20 Nov 2019
News

The CEO Who Saved Best Buy From Ruin Says Creating Meaning at Work Was Key to His Success

09 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Stock Options Are Not All Created Equal

Most of the companies I've studied don't pay a whole lot of attention to the way they grant options. Their directors and executives assume that the important thing is just to have a plan in place; the details are trivial. As a result, they let their HR departments or... View Details

Keywords: by Brian Hall

2007
Working Paper

The Ethical Mirage: A Temporal Explanation as to Why We Aren't as Ethical as We Think We Are

By: Ann E. Tenbrunsel, Kristina A. Diekmann, Kimberly A. Wade-Benzoni and Max H. Bazerman

This paper explores the biased perceptions that people hold of their own ethicality. We argue that the temporal trichotomy of prediction, action and evaluation is central to these misperceptions: People predict that they will behave more ethically than they actually... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Ethics; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking; Perception; Prejudice and Bias

Read Now

February 2000 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Forever: De Beers and U.S. Antitrust Law

By: Debora L. Spar and Jennifer Burns

For over a century, the international diamond market has been dominated by one of the most successful cartels on earth. Run by the legendary De Beers Corp., the cartel has managed to keep diamond prices increasing and to prevent the defection that dooms most other... View Details

Keywords: Lawfulness; Monopoly; Luxury; Business and Government Relations; Consumer Products Industry; Mining Industry; Africa; United States

February 1980 (Revised April 1981)
Case

Poland Spring Bottling Corp.

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Poland Spring is a small domestic bottler of mineral water trying to compete in a rapidly expanding market against Perrier, the dominant brand, and 20 other foreign and domestic waters. Company management must decide how to position and promote its product with limited... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Competition; Globalized Markets and Industries; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; United States

30 Nov 2011
News

Yelp's IPO Will Test the Flaws in Its Business Model

An Anatomy of Crypto-Enabled Cybercrimes

The advent of cryptocurrencies and digital assets holds the promise of improving financial systems by offering cheap, quick, and secure transfer of value. However, it also opens up new payment channels for cybercrimes. Assembling a diverse set of public on- and... View Details

June 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Inside Intel Inside

By: Youngme E. Moon and Christina L. Darwall

In early 2002, Pamela Pollace, vice president and director of Intel's worldwide marketing operations, is debating whether the company should extend its "Intel Inside" branding campaign to non-PC product categories, such as cell phones and PDAs. The "Intel Inside"... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Growth and Development; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Sales; Expansion; Competitive Advantage; Semiconductor Industry; Manufacturing Industry; California

November 2018 (Revised January 2022)
Case

JUUL and the Vaping Revolution

By: Michael W. Toffel, John Masko and Sarah Mehta

In late 2019, San Francisco-based electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) maker JUUL Labs (pronounced “jewel”) faced intense pressure. Sales of JUUL products exceeded $1 billion in 2018, dominating the e-cigarette category. While JUUL Labs’ stated goal was to help current... View Details

June 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Exploring Brand-Person Relationships: Three Life Histories (Condensed)

The idea that "relationships" exist between consumers and products has implicitly occupied a central place in brand marketing thought and practice. Now as relational (one-on-one) marketing is said to be replacing transactional (mass) marketing as the dominant paradigm... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Relationships; Brands and Branding