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Don't Underestimate China's Luxury Market

Harvard Business Review

China's luxury market — and the global phenomenon of " trading up " — are well known. Yet when China's consumer markets recently experienced short terms blips, several doubters promptly questioned the pace of their long term growth. By 2010, the number had risen to 221 million. But times are changing.

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Dressing China

Harvard Business Review

All the world's apparel manufacturers and retailers have joined the race to clothe China. Meanwhile, the number of people agreeing with the statement "I build my wardrobe around different occasions and needs" rose from 36% in 2010 to 45% in 2011. Unsurprisingly, apparel spending in China has been growing by a robust 16% per annum.

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Everyone Loses in a US vs. China Trade War

Harvard Business Review

China is America's third-largest export market, behind Canada and Mexico, accounting for 7% of US exports as of August 2011. As China's soybean production is constrained by land availability, the alternatives would be to import from Brazil and Argentina, which accounted for 27% and 16% respectively of China's soybean supply in 2010.

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When a Mid-Career Move Falls Flat: The Story of Stripedshirt

Harvard Business Review

” So in 2010, after a successful 18-year-career in high-tech PR, she quit her job to launch Stripedshirt , a company selling fashionable, feminine shirts in team colors. The first was about inventory, which is especially hard in apparel. She’d dutifully don a Red Sox jersey, but she’d quietly seethe. What went wrong?

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Why Hippies Make Great Business Leaders

Great Leadership By Dan

Guest post from Michael Klassen : After three decades of working in marketing, I thought I had heard or read nearly every story of innovation and entrepreneurship out there. He is a marketing professor at the University of Northern Iowa, business consultant, and the author of five books and over fifty journal articles.

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Why CEOs Should Watch the Royal Wedding

Harvard Business Review

costofweddings.com estimates that the average couple spends $24,000 per wedding, probably an underestimate once one adds up a year's worth of planning for apparel, beauty treatments (including weight loss), officiants and music, venues and catering, and numerous other services. In the U.S.,

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Is Your Company Ready for the Circular Economy?

Harvard Business Review

So in 2010, I started this foundation and coined the "circular economy" term to help frame the concept. The marketing model changes. So we went to McKinsey in 2010 to ask them to help us and write a report , focused on the European Union, that answered three questions. That was totally different from any other point of view.

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