Consumer Goods - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Jun 2022
News

Ink: Start Small, Rise Above

lives and we assume that difference means disagreement, but it doesn’t have to. It’s actually a good thing. Explain how the downfall of one startup, Nourish, was also a good thing, in that it led to your... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

01 Jun 2012
News

Made in the USA

companies that are case studies in surmounting competitive threats and fostering community pride. Jim Knott Sr. (OPM 17, 1991) relishes a good fight. During his first prep school wrestling practice, his coach put the inexperienced... View Details

Keywords: Blagg, Deborah; cheese; lobster fishing; Fishing, Hunting and Trapping; Agriculture; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing

01 Jan 2008
News

Meg Whitman, MBA 1979

growth rate. Clearly eBay was doing something right.” At the time, Whitman was a general manager of the Preschool Division of the Rhode Island–based toy company Hasbro, overseeing brands like Mr. Potato Head and Teletubbies. eBay’s ability to link View Details

01 Dec 2008
News

Career Services Shifts into High Gear

be transparent, but our information is only as good as the source — and most sources are confused right now.” Kierstead notes that an interesting trend has been an increase in the number of students accepting jobs overseas. In 2007, 47... View Details

01 Oct 2000
News

Raymond A. Baxter: Sweet Smell of Success

radically different company today," he says. "It's small enough that my fingerprints are everywhere -- you can get your arms around this place." Interbake's smaller size allows it to turn on a dime when it comes to supplying products to meet fickle View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

01 Dec 2011
News

Li & Fung's Global Footprint

When they returned to Hong Kong from the United States in the 1970s to work side by side with their father, the company’s future was uncertain. Under the brothers’ guidance, Li & Fung today is a global leader in consumer View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Wholesale Trade

10 Mar 2021
News

In My Humble Opinion: A Timely Tension

a successful business and doing the right thing for the planet is a source of immense innovation for Patagonia,” Thoren observes. Among the initiatives she’ll be involved with is the retailer’s long-standing work to convince consumers to... View Details

Keywords: April White

05 Aug 2015
News

Mobilizing the Public to Fight Bribery

Philippines to educate its 300,000 members about which government services customers shouldn’t be forced to pay for, such as health care and education. Bantay is also looking to widen its impact by reaching out to lower income people via SMS and creating a mobile app.... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman; Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government

30 Nov 2017
News

Happy Meals (Are Here Again)

orders and have them delivered to their tables—a service often performed by managers. “Now when I see a customer talking to a manager, it’s a good thing,” says Karavites, smiling. Traditionally, the bank of cash registers that separates... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; photographed by Saverio Truglia

01 Mar 2015
News

Ask the Expert: Inside the Fed

(MBA 1981) I wouldn’t say there’s a big focus on “media speculation” per se, but Fed officials have to be attuned to market sentiment, and they consume a great deal of information. Fed policies work through financial markets. Sometimes it... View Details

Keywords: Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government; Monetary Authorities-Central Bank; Finance

01 Mar 2007
News

The Joy of Work

AMABILE: A decade of research shows that to be creative, people need to feel good about their work. After thirty years of research, I am still passionate about creativity,” says Teresa M. Amabile, the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

01 Mar 2023
News

Case Study: Power Nappy

New Venture Competition. Parents are lining up. “We sold our inventory nine months faster than we’d expected,” Saigal says. The Question: Kudos has been selling directly to consumers through its website, in keeping with other eco-friendly... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing

01 Dec 2016
News

Case Study: Sweat the Technique

their apps (minimizing Nix’s customer acquisition costs), and then used and repurposed by vast communities of fitness consumers in novel ways that only escalate the value to them and to Nix. Yes, Nix still needs the physical product, but... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

01 Mar 2012
News

Get Creative

DNA of innovators. What they have to say might surprise you. Can people learn to be more innovative? Clayton Christensen Christensen Photo courtesy Harvard Business School I don’t want to overstate the case. I think about 40 percent of people just are not going to be... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons;Julia Hanna;Roger Thompson; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

24 Apr 2014
News

Using storytelling to transform the retail experience

Stories make sales. That’s the philosophy of Jennifer Lee Koss (AB 2001, MBA 2008), cofounder of BRIKA, an online shop for modern and elevated craft. BRIKA (from fabricá, the Spanish word for factory) enhances the appeal of its well-crafted View Details

01 Jan 2003
News

James E. Burke, MBA 1949

concerned about what I should do with my life. I knew I wanted a career in business, but it wasn't until I was at HBS that I grasped that business could be a force for good in society. We were constantly reminded of the importance of... View Details

01 Dec 2009
News

Hope for Reform Dims

excessive consumer and corporate debt. “Regulatory structures failed to keep up” with innovations in the marketplace, he added. Thain took the top spot at Merrill Lynch in December 2007, resigning as CEO of the NYSE Euronext. Previously,... View Details

Keywords: Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance; Administration of Economic Programs; Government

01 Oct 2000
News

Linda B. Kanner: All in the Family

true of her techno-savvy son Adam (MBA '98). "He's had a million ideas forever," Kanner laughs. "I was always Adam's sounding board." One of those ideas was for an e-commerce Web site that would offer discounted goods and services to... View Details