Publications

August 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

PROPECIA TM: Helping Make Hair Loss History

By: Marta Wosinska and Youngme E. Moon

In late 1997, Tom Casola, brand manager for Propecia, debates the best approach to market this breakthrough one-a-day pill for hair loss. This launch would be atypical for a prescription drug because of the key position of the consumer. As a result, the team's... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Communication Strategy; Customers; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product; Performance Effectiveness; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Pharmaceutical Industry

May 2000
Exercise

Tyrell Web Developers Inc. (B)

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Andrew P. McAfee

An integrated exercise culminating in a team project to design and develop a Web site for a fictitious company. Puts students in the position of designing a Web site for a demanding client (a local pizza company). Students are given a (purposefully) brief description... View Details

Keywords: Web Sites; Software; Product Development; Design; Internet

2001
Working Paper

The Malleability of Environmentalism

By: Kimberly A. Wade-Benzoni, Min Li, Leigh L. Thompson and M. Bazerman

In this paper, we predict and find that self-perceptions of environmentalism are changed by subtle manipulations of context and, in turn, affect environmental behavior. In Study 1, we found that people exhibit greater positive assessments of their environmental... View Details

Keywords: Perspective; Behavior; Identity; Environmental Sustainability

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20 Dec 2021
News

Social Studies: Partisan Mistrust; Taking Chances in Soccer; The Legacy of Malaria in America

Pre-colonial Ethnic Institutions and Contemporary African Development

We investigate the role of deeply-rooted pre-colonial ethnic institutions in shaping comparative regional development within African countries. We combine information on the spatial distribution of ethnicities before colonization with regional variation in... View Details

Article

Friends or Foes? Examining Platform Owners' Entry into Complementors' Spaces

By: Feng Zhu

As platform owners continue to expand their ecosystems, many of them have started to provide consumers with their own complementary applications. These moves position the platform owners as direct competitors to their complementors. This paper surveys empirical studies... View Details

Keywords: Platform; Complementors; Digital Platforms; Market Entry and Exit; Competition

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This paper examines the relative importance of platform quality, indirect network effects, and consumer expectations on the success of entrants in platform-based markets. We develop a theoretical model and find that an entrant's success depends on the strength of... View Details

07 Jun 2023
HBS Case

3 Ways to Gain a Competitive Advantage Now: Lessons from Amazon, Chipotle, and Facebook

advantage—one that captures more value than rivals’—will be positioned to prosper. In a new note, Karp breaks down three paths that companies use to gain an edge. “Without creating a competitive advantage,” Karp says, “it is difficult for... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

July 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Radiant Cosmetics: What's in a Pout?

By: Robert C. Pozen and Mary Ellen Webster Hammond

In 2006, Radiant Cosmetics president and CEO, Margaret Clark, was contemplating the launch of a new, lip-plumping product called "Four Carat Pout." Clark faced many decisions concerning the launch: marketing the product as a luxury brand or a retail item; how to... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Intellectual Property; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

June 2000
Case

Rebirth of the Swiss Watch Industry, 1980-1992 (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman and Daniel Radov

The Swiss watch industry has been devastated by new entrants from Asia in the low- and mid-priced watch segments. Japanese and Hong Kong firms have used quartz technology to lower costs dramatically. Nicolas Hayek, president of a Swiss consulting firm, is asked to help... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Product Development; Organizational Structure; Change Management; Alignment; Product Positioning; Brands and Branding; Management Teams; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Switzerland

Web

Latin America - Global

unique challenges and opportunities present in the Mexican setting. This gathering provided a platform for entrepreneurs to share their insights and experiences, promoting collaboration and networking among individuals dedicated to driving View Details

15 Feb 2022
Book

When Working Harder Doesn’t Work, Time to Reinvent Your Career

curse—and change your life. Two intelligences In 1971, Cattell published a book entitled Abilities: Their Structure, Growth, and Action. In it, he posited that there were two types of intelligence that people possess, but at greater... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

11 Apr 2024
In Practice

Why Progress on Immigration Might Soften Labor Pains

Business Administration at HBS and co-director of Harvard’s Managing the Future of Work initiative. Marco Tabellini: One negative scenario and one positive for firms Given the current political climate, it’s unlikely the US Congress will... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Web

Africa - Global

as well as borrowers’ self-reported income and employment. We further show that this positive impact is more pronounced when borrowers have limited access to credit, take loans for business purposes, and obtain more credit. May 2025 Case... View Details

Research Summary

Institutions and Firm Strategy at the Bottom of the Pyramid: The Case of Business Formalization in Vietnam

In this paper, written together with Edmund Malesky (UCSD), we test a series of hypotheses about how institutions shape a strategic decision of significant importance to the evolution of inclusive markets: registration as companies by previously informal businesses at... View Details

Research Summary

Inheriting Losers (with Li Jin)

New managers who take over mutual fund portfolios, typically proceed to sell off inherited momentum losers. Relative to continuing fund managers holding the same stocks, new managers tend to reduce their holdings of losers at a higher rate than of winners or stocks in... View Details

November 1992 (Revised November 1993)
Case

Anheuser-Busch and Campbell Taggart (Abridged)

In 1984, the SEC accused Paul Thayer and eight others of insider trading. Some of Thayer's inside information came from his position on the board of Anheuser-Busch, where he had learned about Busch's 1982 merger with Campbell Taggart before the merger was publicly... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Capital Markets; United States

December 1988 (Revised March 1989)
Case

Pabst Brewing Co.

At the end of 1984 the Pabst Brewing Co. was the object of a takeover contest for the second time in three years. Nearly two years after a reorganization in early 1983 Pabst still suffered from low margins and high debt service costs. This case describes the takeover... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Restructuring; Bids and Bidding; Acquisition; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

April 2023
Article

The Preference Survey Module: A Validated Instrument for Measuring Risk, Time, and Social Preferences

By: Armin Falk, Anke Becker, Thomas Dohmen, David B. Huffman and Uwe Sunde

Incentivized choice experiments are a key approach to measuring preferences in economics but are also costly. Survey measures are a low-cost alternative but can suffer from additional forms of measurement error due to their hypothetical nature. This paper seeks to... View Details

Keywords: Survey Validation; Experiment; Preference Measurement; Surveys; Economics; Behavior; Measurement and Metrics