Publications

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March 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Neck & Neck: Leveraging the Club Neck Information

Commercial Director Prado wonders how to leverage the loyalty card information to prepare the fall 2008 budget. The case discusses the value of subjective and objective information for profit-planning purposes. Spanish children's apparel retailer Neck & Neck uses... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Profit; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Retail Industry

July 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Dynamic Pricing at Wendy's: Where's the Beef?

By: Elie Ofek, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

In early 2024, Wendy’s new CEO announced on an earnings call that the company would install digital menus in its US locations so it could begin testing dynamic pricing—changing prices up or down in response to shifts in supply and demand – as well as allow engaging in... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Pricing; Marketing Strategy; Price; Technology Adoption; Consumer Behavior; AI and Machine Learning; Customer Focus and Relationships; Policy; Food and Beverage Industry

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Articles of 2023

People Get Ahead?Society seems to reward people with particular facial features. Research by Shunyuan Zhang and colleagues uses machine learning to analyze traits that people associate with charisma. The... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

March 1999 (Revised January 2000)
Background Note

A Note on Microeconomics for Strategists

By: Kenneth S. Corts and Jan W. Rivkin

Summarizes the core ideas about the microeconomics of markets that are most relevant to business strategy. Sections I and II develop two basic building blocks of any market, demand and supply. Section II discusses how demand and supply interact to determine the... View Details

Keywords: Microeconomics; Cost; Cost of Capital; Market Entry and Exit; Business Strategy; Competition; Corporate Strategy

November 2008
Case

The StarNight Hotel Construction Bid: Real Time Competition on Schedule, Scope, and Cost

By: John D. Macomber

The case is intended for use with the HBS Educational Technology Group "Construction Bidding Simulation." Material that can be taught includes quantity survey methodology (from the case); analyzing preliminary estimated costs per building trade (from the discussion... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Construction; Cost; Contracts; Bids and Bidding; Real Estate Industry

01 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

Companies, Cultures and the Transformation to the Transnational

controls in all three of the American companies we studied. GE's use of strategic planning systems became the model for companies worldwide, as... View Details

Keywords: by Christopher A. Bartlett & Sumantra Ghoshal

24 Jul 2013
Op-Ed

Detroit Files for Bankruptcy: HBS Faculty Weigh In

economist Edward Glaeser argues in The Triumph of the City that "our greatest invention [i.e.,cities] makes us richer, smarter, greener,... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber, Robert C. Pozen, Eric D. Werker & Benjamin Kennedy; Auto

20 Jan 2022
Blog Post

Lessons Learned from My HBS Career Journey in Environmental Sustainability

second semester I worked with him to develop a market research report for a battery startup that he was advising. This, along with the conversations I had with CPD Career Coaches Oscar Mak and Ryan Kim,... View Details

25 Aug 2022
News

Up on the Corner

she had mustered. Local leaders, meanwhile, found in Dlodlo a partner who was willing to listen and who shared their vision for the future. Which was not at all what they were View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Melissa Golden; Real Estate

22 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

“Too Big To Fail”: Reining In Large Financial Firms

issued a dissenting minority report. The partisan clash of views foreshadowed the political debate now echoing in the corridors on Capitol Hill.... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Banking; Financial Services

1981
Article

A Consumer Based Approach for Establishing Priorities in Consumer Information Programs: Implications for Public Policy

By: Rohit Deshpandé and S. Krishnan

Although there exists substantial research on the style and format of consumer information programs, little attention has been devoted to the critical issue of whether consumers need new information at all. A conceptual approach to systematically assess this... View Details

Keywords: Information; Consumer Behavior; Research

Read Now

24 Feb 2022
Op-Ed

Want to Prevent the Next Hospital Bed Crisis? Enlist the SEC

During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, many US hospitals could not provide enough beds to meet demand. Solving the problem of... View Details

Keywords: by Regina Herzlinger and Richard Boxer; Health

01 Oct 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Systemic Risk and the Refinancing Ratchet Effect

Keywords: by Amir E. Khandani, Andrew W. Lo & Robert C. Merton; Construction; Real Estate

23 May 2011
Op-Ed

Leading and Lagging Countries in Contributing to a Sustainable Society

reporting is the combination in a single document of the material measures of financial and nonfinancial—environmental, social, and governance (ESG)—performance and View Details

Keywords: by Robert G. Eccles & George Serafeim

2024
Case

EPCorp: Convincing the C-Suite

By: Jacob M. Cook

In EPCorp: Convincing the C-Suite, Shivani Bahl is attempting to sell EPCorp's CEO, Debbie Sullivan, on her ideas for not only a new website upgrade but also a more expansive vision on how data and Generative AI can be used to grow the company. Debbie is understandably... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; E-commerce; Growth and Development Strategy

06 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

The Problem with Hedge Funds

rallies, while through the hedge fund a richer investor is free to go either long or short. The ordinary investor can make money in only one way—an up market—while View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

04 May 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for the Big Financial Brands

headquarters reminds us that a brand is a precious asset. The value of any brand asset depends upon whether it has delivered on its past promises and is believed likely to do so View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Banking; Financial Services

01 Mar 2006
News

The Producers

vertically integrated,” he notes. “Studios used to be stand-alone companies that were run like fiefdoms. Now they’re run like major corporations answering to shareholders.” Skyrocketing fees for star actors coupled with View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; Information

February 1988 (Revised August 2000)
Background Note

Note on the U.S. Freight Transportation Industry

By: Janice H. Hammond and John E. P. Morrison

Describes the major modes of domestic freight transportation (motor carrier, rail, air, water, and pipelines). Examines the characteristics of the transportation service that each mode provides and discusses changes in the industry that have resulted from recent... View Details

Keywords: Change; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Industry Structures; Logistics; Service Operations; Transportation; United States