Luxury is a three faceted word. It refers first to a concept, very subjective thus always hotly debated. It is also a very lucrative macro-economic sector that has been growing over the last 25 years. Finally, it also designates a very specific strategy, distinct from other strategies such as a fashion strategy, a premium strategy or a masstige strategy. Any company can adopt a luxury strategy even if it does not produce the classical goods or services traditionally associated with the luxury sector. Apple is a typical example.
Can studying fake news be good? At least two professors at HEC Paris think so. Ludovic François and Dominique Rouziès explain why and how in their recent Harvard Business Review article entitled “The Real Story of the Fake Story of One of Europe’s Most Charismatic CEOs”. In this article they recount how HEC Paris offered a seminar to teach students how to manage corporate crisis by using the internet. In the process, the seminar taught the students the impact of fake news. Here is the story.
The conference focused on the challenges facing 21st century salesforce management. New players with disruptive strategies are forcing many major companies to reinvent their salesforces. The internet and cloud services are altering the nature of customer relations and there is a sharp rise in the technical competencies required by today’s salespeople. These are driving big changes in the role of marketing and sales requiring new attitudes, tools, and competencies to effectively manage sales performance. Director General of HEC Paris, Peter Todd, gave an exceptionally insightful keynote speech signifying that business schools were aware of these trends and working to create and share the knowledge necessary for successful salesforces in the 21st century.
Any parent can remember the subtle mix of excitement and anxiety accompanying the choice of their baby’s first name. This first name will follow the child their whole life, and in a study recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , we show that the stereotype that a given society has (for example, French society) of a first name (for example, Véronique) influences…the facial appearance of Véroniques living in France. Yes, we look like our first name. Literally. Our first name manifests itself in our face.
The purchasing of fake luxury goods has increased dramatically in recent years and counterfeiting now functions as a parallel market to the luxury industry itself. But what are the real reasons for the emergence of this shadow market and how big a threat does it pose for luxury brands?
In their latest paper “Global Business Travel Builds Sales and Stress: The 7 Stages of Business Travel Stress” (featured in the HBR Blog Network of the Harvard Business Review), HEC Paris professors Michael Segalla, (Management and Human Resources) and Dominique Rouziès, (EDF Chair Marketing) explain how business travel is essential to firms and should not be viewed as a cost. It is an investment.
