Publications

02 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Indulgence vs. Regret: Investing in Future Memories

being toovirtuous and hard-working. She also presents a strategy to correct this behavior. Aside from influencing how people choose to live their lives, Keinan's findings have implications for marketers hoping to convince consumers to... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

August 2023
Case

Reimagining Hindustan Unilever (A)

By: Sunil Gupta and Rachna Tahilyani

In the fall of 2019, the CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm, is wondering what to do about their experiments to digitize distribution. Despite three years of intense efforts, their apps to empower retailers... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Leading Change; Distribution; Decisions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Consumer Behavior; E-commerce; Competition; Performance; Business Strategy; Marketing; Transformation; Consumer Products Industry; Asia; India

Research Summary

Overview

Hisano’s research addresses the social and cultural implications of technological development and economic changes mainly in the twentieth-century United States. By analyzing the regulation, manipulation, and presentation of food color, her current book project links... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Consumer Behavior; Agribusiness; Food And Environment; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Business And Government; Advertising; Goods and Commodities; Food; History; Government and Politics; Marketing; Business and Government Relations; Advertising Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Chemical Industry; United States

June 2022
Case

The SAH Group: The Time is Right

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, cofounder and CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019,... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Expansion; Business Divisions; Product Positioning; Brands and Branding; Competition; Presentations; Consumer Products Industry; Tunisia; Kenya

Research Summary

Internet Auctions for Close Substitutes

(with Eric Budish)

This is mainly an experimental project where we compare many auction designs in a market for close substitutes. We hypothesize some information will not get to market if there is sequential bidding and/or a hard close, and that this will... View Details

January–February 2014
Other Article

Barriers to Health Care Innovation: Regina Herzlinger Warns That Innovators Need to Know What Obstacles They Face and How to Overcome Them

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Health care in the United States and in most other developed countries is ailing, says Regina E. Herzlinger. A chaired professor of business administration specializing in health care at Harvard Business School, Herzlinger says that although the world has witnessed... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Healthcare IT; Innovation; Health Care and Treatment; Health; Information Technology; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

March–April 2013
Article

Expected Firm Altruism, Quality Provision, and Brand Extensions

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

A setting is considered where consumers keep track of the extent to which brands care about them, which is modeled as altruism of brands towards their target consumers. Consumers who purchase an experience good of high quality reasonably deduce that the supplier of... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Quality; Consumer Behavior; Attitudes; Brands and Branding

Find at Harvard

21 Mar 2016
HBS Case

Can Customer Reviews Be 'Managed?'

influence that the industry is making on providing various levels of inauthentic reviews. When you talk to consumers, most of them say, “I’ve gotten pretty good at selecting which ones are inauthentic and just using the authentic ones.”... View Details

Keywords: by Brian Kenny; Advertising; Travel

March 2016
Supplement

Advertising Experiments at RestaurantGrades

By: Weijia Dai, Hyunjin Kim and Michael Luca

This exercise provides students with a data set consisting of results from a hypothetical experiment, and asks students to make recommendations based on the data. Through this process, the exercise teaches students to analyze, design, and interpret experiments. The... View Details

Keywords: Experimental Methods; Analytics; Web Technology; Marketing; Digital Marketing; Analysis; Performance Effectiveness; Social Media

16 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Seven Tips for Managing Price Increases

exclusive global luxury brands hold up pretty well regardless of price. Especially challenged are marketers of goods and services for which consumers don't necessarily understand the input costs: decorative... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

Research Summary

The Consumer-Direct Channel: "We've Come Full Spiral"

Professor Lemon is currently engaged in a field research project investigating the extent to which new "channels" such as the Internet and home grocery delivery represent a dramatic shift in consumer buying behavior. She is working with a consortium of global... View Details

22 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Control Your Inventory in a World of Lean Retailing

perspective of actual consumer buying patterns, a blazer in an atypical size actually has more in common with a fashion-driven product than with the same style jacket in a popular size. For example, sales for 46-regular, one of the most... View Details

Keywords: by Frederick H. Abernathy, John T. Dunlop, Janice H. Hammond & David Weil; Consumer Products

June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Nestlé SA: Nutrition, Health and Wellness Strategy

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson

In 1997 Nestlé committed to a strategic vision of becoming the leading nutrition, health and wellness (NHW) company in the world. Over the next 13 years, the NHW strategy guided strategic decisions and choices at Nestlé including merger and acquisition choices,... View Details

Keywords: Nutrition; Health; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Goals and Objectives; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry

October 2022
Supplement

The SAH Group: The Time is Right, Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019, it expanded... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Decisions; Growth Management; Vertical Integration; Distribution; Competition; Strategy; Supply Chain; Presentations; Market Entry and Exit; Product Positioning; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Tunisia

2017
Working Paper

Cellophane, the New Visuality, and the Creation of Self-Service Food Retailing

By: Ai Hisano

This working paper examines how innovations in transparent packaging, specifically cellophane in the mid-twentieth century United States, helped retailers create full self-service merchandising systems, including selling perishable food. While self-service stores began... View Details

Keywords: Food; Product Marketing; Business History; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

SSRN

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October 2022
Supplement

The SAH Group: The Time is Right, Instructor Spreadsheet

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019, it expanded... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Decisions; Growth Management; Vertical Integration; Distribution; Competition; Strategy; Supply Chain; Presentations; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Tunisia

September 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Keroche (A): Fighting for Share in the Kenyan Alcoholic Drinks Market

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding

This case discusses the challenges faced by Kenyan alcoholic drinks producer Keroche Industries Limited in 2003, when the Kenyan government accused the company of manufacturing and selling substandard alcoholic drinks, revoked its liquor licenses, and shut down its... View Details

Keywords: Keroche; Alcohol; Wine; Manufacturing; Informal Market; Regulation; Illicit; Illegal; Shutdown; Factory; Low-income Consumers; Multinational; Local; Government; Allegations; Accusations; Negative Press; EABL; Tusker; Beer; SAB; Chang'aa; Naivasha; Rift Valley; East Africa; Lawsuit; Legal Battle; Business Ventures; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Production; Safety; Quality; Distribution; Small Business; Family Business; Crime and Corruption; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Income; Demographics; Geographic Scope; Geographic Location; Goods and Commodities; Government Legislation; Growth and Development; Business History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Laws and Statutes; Lawfulness; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Behavior; Market Entry and Exit; Problems and Challenges; Social Issues; Poverty; Strategy; Competition; Entrepreneurship; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Kenya; Nairobi; Africa