Publications

May 2003
Module Note

Managing Product Development

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Introduces students to the managerial aspects critical to conceiving, designing, and developing innovative products and services. Considers the full range of activities required: learning about customer needs, understanding and managing experimentation and problem... View Details

Keywords: Product Design; Product Development; Service Operations; Business or Company Management; Projects; Management Practices and Processes; Experience and Expertise; Customers; Research; Management Skills; Integration

09 Jul 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Brand Building

Keywords: Re: Scott Duke Kominers; Technology

September 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Case

The Pokémon Company: Evolving into an Everlasting Brand

By: Tomomichi Amano and Masaki Nomura

Super Bowl 50, the fiftieth annual championship game of the American National Football League played in February 2016, featured 52 commercials, and brands spent more than six million dollars each for a 30-second commercial slot. Surprisingly, the commercial that... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Growth and Development Strategy; Video Game Industry; Japan

August 14, 2005
Article

Charities Begin at Home—Then They Develop a Brand Name That Corporates Can Only Dream of

By: John A. Quelch

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04 May 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for the Big Financial Brands

(Editor's note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge.) Recent news coverage of the cosmetic name change... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Banking; Financial Services

April 2014 (Revised July 2017)
Case

The Park Hotels: Revitalizing an Iconic Indian Brand

By: Jill Avery and Chekitan S. Dev

Priya Paul, chairperson of The Park Hotels, an award-winning portfolio of thirteen boutique hotels scattered across India, was in the midst of a brand revitalization program. Landor Associates, a leading brand consultancy had identified three areas of concern: the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Positioning; Competition; Brands and Branding; Accommodations Industry; India

04 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

How a Juicy Brand Came Back to Life

marketing, having developed Gatorade into a powerhouse national brand by skillfully executing a plan drawn straight from the marketing textbooks. After purchasing the sports drink from Stokely-Van Camp in... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Food & Beverage

April 2013
Article

In Search of a Second Act: Riding the Popularity of a Great First Product Is Easy; Finding the Next One Is Hard

By: Elie Ofek and Jill Avery

The article presents a fictional case study on new product development and improvement after the successful launch of a first breakthrough product. Topics include business planning for brand name products, finance and investment for the development of educational toys,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Growth Strategy; Consumer Marketing; Marketing; Brand Management; Market Research; New Product Development; Marketing Management; Technology Commercialization; Technology; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Technology Industry; North and Central America; United States

Find at Harvard

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June 2016 (Revised January 2025)
Case

China: The New 'New Normal'

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

Keywords: Economic Development; Politics; Development Economics; Government and Politics; China

March 2020
Case

Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery

Thingtesting, a brand discovery and testing digital community devoted to uncovering and exploring direct-to-consumer brands, had just received seed funding and was contemplating a second year of growth. The new year brought many challenges, as founder Jenny Gyllander... View Details

Research Summary

Automotive Product Development

At present, my primary research focus is studying product development in the auto industry. I am working with Stefan Thomke (HBS) and Takahiro Fujimoto (University of Tokyo) on the 4th Round of the Global Automotive Development Study. The first round of this... View Details

December 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand within Unilever

By: James E. Austin and James Quinn

In the months after Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever, Ben & Jerry's head social mission faces challenges and opportunities unique in the company's history, including: how to manage employee morale; whether to include synthetic ingredients to meet consumer... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Value Creation; Corporate Governance; Employee Relationship Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Retail Industry; United States

2007
Chapter

Creativity in Product Development

Managing new product development is a key area of management, straddling strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship and macro-organizational behaviour. All of the contributors in the Handbook of New Product Developmet Management are well-known and leading exponents to... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Research; Creativity

2010
Chapter

Identity-Based Leader Development

By: Scott Snook, Herminia Ibarra and Laura Ramo

Despite the wealth of managerial and scholarly attention paid to leadership development, only recently has a new perspective emerged that explicitly links leadership and identity. Research and theorizing on leadership development have yet to specify the processes that... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Identity; Transition; Transformation; Perspective; Managerial Roles; Business Processes; Personal Development and Career

2001
Chapter

Tacit Knowledge, Unarticulated Needs, and Empathic Design in New Product Development

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

Keywords: Product Development; Product Design; Knowledge; Human Needs; Demand and Consumers

November 2006 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta

By: Elie Ofek and Ron Laufer

Anticipating the expiration of its Prozac patent, Eli Lilly has to make tough decisions regarding the development of its next-generation antidepressant drug. In particular, the company needs to decide whether to first establish that once-a-day dosing for Cymbalta... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development; Research and Development; Pharmaceutical Industry

May 4, 2003
Article

As the Global Brands Retrench, a New Force Is Gathering in the East

By: John Quelch

January 2008
Case

Lenovo: Building A Global Brand (Multimedia case)

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Announced in December 2004, the $1.75 billion acquisition of IBM's PC division by Lenovo, China's largest PC maker, made headlines around the world. A relative upstart in the business, Lenovo acquired the division of IBM that invented the PC in 1981. While Lenovo was... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Information Infrastructure; Global Strategy; Acquisition; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Computer Industry; China