Publications

27 Dec 2009
News

China manifesto

19 Jun 2014
News

Dress down to move up

2018
Working Paper

Ethical Hedonism? How Consumers' Prosocial Behavior Varies Along the Utilitarian-Hedonic Product Spectrum: Evidence from a Survey Experiment

By: Kristin Sippl

The marketing literature classifies products along a spectrum from utilitarian (e.g. rice) to hedonic (e.g. cannabis), and additionally using terms such as “luxury” and “illicit.” Research in business ethics has proposed a counter-intuitive mismatch between ethics and... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Luxury; Consumer Behavior; Environmental Sustainability

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25 Oct 2012
News

The Silent Killer of Big Companies

December 2018 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters

By: Alexander MacKay and Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

At the end of 2016, the leadership team of Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters—Robert Peck, Chase Damiano, and Jeremy Martin—had begun an ambitious retail expansion strategy in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for their specialty coffee business. That October, they... View Details

Keywords: Cold Brew Coffee; Specialty Coffee; On-premise Coffee Market; Retail Expansion Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Strategy; Decision Making; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

October 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Marketing Chateau Margaux

By: John A. Deighton, Leyland Pitt, Vincent Marie Dessain, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Anders Sjoman

Chateau Margaux, luxury brand or connoisseur brand? Although France is awash with unsold wine, demand has never been stronger for the very finest Bordeaux. How should Margaux sustain and grow its business? The Chateau management team is wondering if it can take more... View Details

Keywords: Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Distribution; Luxury; Food and Beverage Industry; France

July 2003 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Mitchells/Richards

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Corey B. Hajim

Describes a small, luxury retail chain's operational sophistication achieved through the use of technology and high-touch customer service. A family-run business, Mitchells has built its success with a customer service strategy know internally as "hugging." The term is... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Expansion; Family Business; Attitudes; Organizational Culture; Luxury; Customer Focus and Relationships; Retail Industry

02 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Indulgence vs. Regret: Investing in Future Memories

to convince consumers to buy luxury goods." The Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe promotes the idea that its products can be handed down from one generation to the next, for example. With such a limitless time frame for enjoyment, and... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

July 2002 (Revised July 2008)
Case

Value Retail

By: Arthur I Segel and Ani M Vartanian

Scott Malkin, CEO of Value Retail, a developer and operator of European outlet villages serving luxury brands, is planning on developing a 18,503 m2 open-air outlet village to be built 98 kilometers south of Milan on land he was about to acquire for 7.26 million lira.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Investment; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Retail Industry; Milan

01 Jun 2012
News

Nightclubs: Getting down globally

September 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

An Innovative Anti-bribery Commitment?

By: Eugene Soltes

Reebonz, an online luxury goods platform based in Singapore that operates across the Asia-Pacific region, offers its investors the opportunity to redeem shares if either the firm or its founder are investigated by the U.S. or U.K governments with regard to complying... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; United Kingdom Bribery Act; Law; Leadership; Moral Sensibility; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; United States; United Kingdom; Asia

July 2023
Case

Crocs: Using Community-Centric Marketing to Make Ugly Iconic

By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne V. Wilson

In 2022, the Crocs Classic Clog was the best-selling item of clothing on Amazon, the brand was one of the fastest growing brands in the U.S., and global net revenue had increased to approximately $3.6 billion. By most accounts, Crocs had become the “it” shoe. Crocs... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product Development; Growth and Development; Customer Value and Value Chain; Digital Marketing; Digital Strategy; Segmentation; Advertising; Consumer Products Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

Research Summary

Simultaneous Distinction, Democratization and Omnivorism Effects: A Longitudinal Analysis of Dynamic Symbolic Boundaries in Counterfeit Consumption Networks

Sociologists have long examined the interactive relationship between social structure, taste and power. This literature has overwhelmingly fallen into three, ostensibly competing, theoretical “camps”: Distinction, where high-status consumers use... View Details

July 11, 2024
Article

Research: New Hires’ Psychological Safety Erodes Quickly

By: Derrick P. Bransby, Michael J. Kerrissey and Amy C. Edmondson

Across industries, from manufacturing to health care, the luxury of waiting years to benefit from new talent is long gone. Thriving in today’s dynamic economy means bringing new hires up the learning curve faster than ever. Yet, the authors’ latest research suggests... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Learning; Interpersonal Communication; Employees

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July 2022
Case

FIJI Water: Carbon Negative? (Abridged)

By: Michael W. Toffel, George Serafeim, Francesca Gino, Stephanie Van Sice and Tom Quinn

In the midst of increasing press scrutiny of the bottled water industry’s environmentally harmful practices, FIJI Water made a series of sustainability promises. The boldest of these was a pledge to go “carbon negative.” The company said that not only would they offset... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Footprint; Carbon Offsetting; Environmental Accounting; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Pollution; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Non-Governmental Organizations; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry; Fiji; United States

November 2004 (Revised September 2007)
Case

The Mitchell Family and Mitchells/Richards

By: Amy C. Edmondson, John A. Davis, Corey B. Hajim and Kelly Mulderry

Describes a small, luxury retail chain's operational sophistication achieved through the use of technology and "high-touch" customer service. A family-run business, Mitchells has built its success with a customer service strategy known internally as "hugging." The term... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Customer Relationship Management; Knowledge Management; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Expansion; Information Technology; Retail Industry

20 Nov 2010
News

Why are Asian women aspiring to Western ideals of beauty?

23 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research: May 23, 2017

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/517069-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 517-032 Shang Xia: The Creation of a Chinese Luxury Lifestyle Brand The case traces the birth of Shang Xia, a joint venture between the Hermès Group and... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

February 2016 (Revised February 2020)
Teaching Note

Oberoi Hotels: Train Whistle in the Tiger Reserve

By: Ryan W. Buell and Ananth Raman

Celebrated as one of the world's premiere luxury hotel brands, Oberoi Hotels attracts and serves some of the most quality sensitive guests in the world. The case considers the challenge of how an organization with a standardized service model can repeatedly delight... View Details

Keywords: Service Quality; Service Management; Service Quality Competition; Customer Management; Customer Service Excellence; Employee Empowerment; Employee Engagement; Employee Training; Hospitality; Hotel Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Employees; Training; Quality; Accommodations Industry; India