Publications

November 2010
Article

Capitalizing on the Underdog Effect

By: Anat Keinan, Neeru Paharia and Jill Avery

This article presents the results of a study that investigated the use of the underdog effect in marketing. The idea of triumphing over disadvantages by impassioned determination is said to be a powerfully positive image, which can lead consumers to choose a brand over... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brand Management; Brands; Brand Positioning; Competitive Positioning; Competition; Brands and Branding; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Advertising Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

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Career Coach

David Kay

David Kay was the first employee and Director of Communications at UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats). In his 7.5 years there he wore many hats including in PR, operations, business development, fundraising, marketing, government... View Details

25 Jan 2018
News

Living and Learning in a Local Context

As executive director of the Pine Mountain Settlement School in Kentucky, Geoff Marietta (MBA 2007) is incorporating local Appalachian culture into the education and daily lives of the rural community the school serves. In this interview,... View Details

25 Jun 2019
Blog Post

Learning the Language of Business and Science – The MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences Program

My path into the field of biotechnology began at a young age. I was largely influenced by my mother, who is a chemical engineer with an MBA, and by my upbringing in Boston, which exposed me to one of the top biotech/healthcare View Details

01 Mar 2007
News

Faculty Books

Capital Rules by Rawi Abdelal (Harvard University Press) How and why did the world shift from an orthodoxy of free capital movements in 1914 to capital controls in 1944 and back again by 1994? Contrary to conventional accounts, Associate Professor Abdelal argues that... View Details

Keywords: Administration of Economic Programs; Government; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

01 Sep 2008
News

Is Market Capitalism Headed for Trouble?

rich” and a highly visible wealth gap could mean for political stability. In Latin America, they’re concerned that economic progress may not be fast enough nor redistribution of income sufficient to forestall more Chavez-type leaders. Many distrust government. The U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

Article

Organizational Emplacement as a Response to Digital Threat: The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Ryann Noe

This study reveals how incumbent actors leverage physical place as source of differentiation in response to the threat of digital commoditization. Through a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of the U.S. independent bookselling industry from 1995 to 2019, we outline... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Place Making; Bookstores; Industry Evolution; Digital; Commoditization; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Digital Transformation; E-commerce; Distribution Channels; Civil Society or Community; Value Creation; Retail Industry

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January 2015 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Nasty Gals Do It Better

By: David Collis, Diane Chang, Matthew Shaffer and Ashley Hartman

In 2006, Sophia Amoruso started Nasty Gal, an eBay boutique selling vintage clothes. With a strong sense of style and personality, Amoruso poured herself into building the brand and developing relationships with her customers—typically the slightly edgy 18–24 year old.... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth; Brand Management; Online Retail; Clothing; Apparel; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Management; Marketing Strategy; Strategic Planning; Social Media; E-commerce; Digital Marketing; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

01 Dec 2011
News

Li & Fung's Global Footprint

average compounded growth rate over that time has been about 22 percent. Acquisitions have been an important part of your growth strategy since the mid-1990s. How do you manage to fold an acquired firm into Li & Fung? To be bigger, we... View Details

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

November 2007
Article

The Accidental Entrepreneur: The Emergent and Collective Process of User Entrepreneurship

By: Sonali K. Shah and Mary Tripsas

We develop a process model of how users, an understudied source of entrepreneurship, create, evaluate, share, and commercialize their ideas. We compare and contrast our model to the classic model of the entrepreneurial process, highlighting the emergent and... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Valuation; Business Model; Commercialization; Adoption; Adaptation; Product; Civil Society or Community

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December 1998
Case

NHL 1998: "The Coolest Game in Nagano"

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Kirk A. Goldman

Explores the National Hockey League's participation in the 1998 Winter Olympics, for which a "winter break" was taken from the regular schedule. The benefits and risks associated with the NHL's Olympic participation are one specific focus. In addition, the case address... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Opportunities; Competitive Strategy; Expansion

11 Feb 2021
News

Is Your Midsize Company Designed for a Post-Pandemic Future?

01 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

How IT Shapes Top-Down and Bottom-Up Decision Making

decision-making toward the bottom of the corporate ladder. Communication systems, such as e-mail and instant messaging applications, will push the decision-making process toward the top. And that means developing an IT View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

01 Jun 2015
News

Screen Grab

Illustrations by Josh Cochran When actor Jeffrey Tambor stepped to the podium at this year’s Golden Globe Awards to accept the honor of Best Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy, he did so for a show that didn’t premiere on HBO, Showtime, or CBS. Instead,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; HBO; Netflix; Hulu; Vimeo; YouTube; Telecommunications; Information; Arts, Entertainment

September 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Gong: Resonating Conversational Insights

By: Alison Wood Brooks and Trevor Spelman

In 2015, Amit Bendov was struck by a realization about a new technology that might be able to transcribe musical notation in real-time, which eventually became known as Gong. Gong’s business proposition was simple: provide software that automatically captures,... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Technological Innovation; Communication; Performance Effectiveness; Sales; Customer Satisfaction; Competitive Strategy

August 2018
Teaching Note

Magpie: Developing and Using Buyer Personas

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS No. 818-013. Magpie is a startup with a platform that allows publishers to natively tag the products discussed in their content and thus allows consumers to purchase those products without needing to leave that publisher’s web page. A key aspect... View Details

Keywords: Buying Process; Marketing; Sales; Distribution Channels; Segmentation; Entrepreneurship; Social Media; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; United States