Publications

June 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Ducati

Focuses on the turnaround and strategic repositioning of Ducati, an Italian maker of high-end sport motorcycles, and describes the current concerns with the growth prospects of the company. Federico Minoli, the CEO and strategic mind behind the turnaround, knew that... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Product Positioning; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Motorcycle Industry

23 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

COVID-19 Shines New Light on Working Conditions in Supply Chains

boycotts at universities by students who go to their own administrators and say, “You have to ensure that our sportswear isn’t made with sweatshop labor.” All those companies and organizations with brands to protect have to focus on this... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Apparel & Accessories

01 Jun 2021
What Do You Think?

Are Employers Ready for a Flood of 'New' Talent Seeking Work?

important to them, and they make those positions part of their consideration set when exploring brand loyalty. So CEOs have no choice but (to) become activists to maximize shareholder value.” This still leaves us with the question: When... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

11 Sep 2000
Research & Ideas

Riding the Internet Fast Track

a series of six "filters" to answer this critical question. If a company is going to make the investment required to aggressively pursue an Internet opportunity, management needs to believe in each of the following: Online shopping will quintuple in the next... View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

02 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 3, 2018

218-001 Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese—the Australian dairy company—was considering a bid for Mondelez International’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business, which included several leading... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Nov 2015
First Look

November 10, 2015

Strengthening the Brand with Digital Marketing Accor, the world's leading hotel operator with a portfolio of fourteen hospitality brands (including Sofitel and Novotel) in 92 countries, prided itself on... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

Big Hits: The Best of the 2018 Super Bowl Ads

salves to help relieve them. Brands were looking to reassert traditional American values like inclusion and the celebration of differences in the face of more negative recent trends like anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment. That... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Telecommunications

26 May 2009
Research & Ideas

Improving Market Research in a Recession

recession, it's essential to get a clear read on existing core customers, including those who are most loyal to the brand and those who are most profitable, rather than fritter away research resources on potential or peripheral consumers.... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

07 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 7, 2008

overstretch ARK's organizational capacity and risk failing to maintain the highest quality of delivery? Purchase this case: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/ b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=309036 Allston: Brand vs.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

31 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Stories of 2012

Published: March 5, 2012 The stuffy department store chain has become emboldened under new CEO Ron Johnson, with plans for an innovative store upgrade, simplified prices, and a brand polish. Professor Rajiv Lal discusses whether Johnson... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

March 2010
Case

Target: Responding to the Recession

By: Ranjay Gulati, Rajiv Lal and Cathy Ross

Within 10 months of Gregg Steinhafel's taking over as CEO at Target, the U.S. was mired in the most significant economic downturn in 50 years. Top competitor Wal-Mart had positioned itself well for the crisis, while Target's same store sales began to slide. While... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Strategy; Operations; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Competition; Retail Industry; United States

December 2006
Case

Vipp A/S

By: Robert D. Austin and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Rapidly growing Vipp sells highly differentiated (and expensive) "designer" versions of a product that most buyers think about in purely functional terms: Trash bins. Examines how the company successfully produces and positions a trash bin so that it is regarded as an... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Creativity; Product Design; Luxury; Brands and Branding

May 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Marketing Antidepressants: Prozac and Paxil

By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman

Describes the marketing of Prozac and Paxil, two of the best-selling mental health drugs in history. Set in 2001, several months before the expiration of Prozac's patent, Eli Lilly (Prozac's manufacturer) and GlaxoSmithKline (Paxil's manufacturer) must decide how to... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Product Positioning; Competition; Ethics; Value; Health Care and Treatment; Brands and Branding; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

September 1996 (Revised March 1999)
Case

EMDICO (A)

By: John A. Quelch

The general manager of Fuji Film's Saudi distributorship must decide on a relaunch strategy for Fuji film and cameras in Saudi Arabia. View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Saudi Arabia

March 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Newell Rubbermaid: Strategy in Transition

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery, Rhonda Kaufman and Carole Winkler

Describes the transformation of a company's corporate-level strategy. Begins by laying out the strategy that brought the Newell Co. stunning success for nearly three decades. The highly integrated, internally consistent strategy was tailored for manufacturing and... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Acquisition; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; United States

2007
Article

Pharmacovigilance and the Missing Denominator: The Changing Context of Pharmaceutical Risk Mitigation

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

In the wake of Vioxx, Avandia, and other recent prominent cases of drugs found to cause side effects after marketing, the safety of pharmaceuticals has come to the forefront of American public policy. Press attention, congressional investigations, and legislative... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Policy; Risk Management; Government Legislation; Risk and Uncertainty; Goals and Objectives; Customers; Pharmaceutical Industry; Health Industry; United States