Publications

02 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Good Deeds Invite Bad Publicity

robust direct link between CSR and financial performance” It is true that in areas such as environmentally sustainable practices, customers have been willing to pay responsible producers a premium for products; take organic cotton, for... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy

15 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of New-Market Disruption

performance. That initially led managers inside both companies to resist devoting scarce resources to developing those technologies because their lead customers were saying they wanted additional performance... View Details

Keywords: by Clark Gilbert; Technology

February 2011 (Revised November 2013)
Case

The Cheezburger Network

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Cheezburger Network was a Web publisher of humorous, user-contributed content, using social media for dissemination, and selling advertising against the traffic of 1 billion page views per quarter. In January 2011, it raised $30 million in venture capital for the... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Digital Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Venture Capital; Emerging Markets; Strategic Planning; Sales; Internet and the Web; Publishing Industry; Web Services Industry

01 Oct 2001
What Do You Think?

Will Information Technology Really Turn Organizations Upside Down This Time?

do you think? Original Article Periodically, somebody comes up with the idea of turning the organization upside down, with the customer on top. Those serving customers in the frontline come next, and top... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

17 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?

delivered to my house tonight, where it will be set up and ready to go. Lal: Furniture is often sold that way today. It's a showroom where your order is customized and delivered in six weeks. Q: What retail segments are most vulnerable to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

June 2016
Case

The Wealthfront Generation

By: Luis Viceira and Allison Ciechanover

Keywords: Automated Investment Advisor; Millennials; Fintech; Customers; Asset Management; Internet and the Web; Age; Investment; Business Startups; California

14 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Rewriting the Rules of Service Competition

Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professors James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, and Leonard A. Schlesinger literally wrote the book on service industry management with The Service Profit Chain. Now the trio is back with What Great... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser & Leonard A. Schlesinger; Retail

December 2003 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Rein Chemical Company: Specialty Division

By: Francis Aguilar

This case describes corporate management's recent discovery of widespread unethical pricing transactions in one division and key managers' different views on how to respond. Students are asked to evaluate management's position and decide who should do what to resolve... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Price; Ethics; Business Divisions; Chemicals; Crisis Management; Chemical Industry

May 2018
Case

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation's Answer Fund

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Matthew G. Preble

January 2008
Teaching Note

Pilgrim Bank (A): Statistics Review with Data Desk

By: Frances X. Frei

Teaching Note for 602104. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Policy; Banks and Banking; Management Teams; Motivation and Incentives; Customers; Mathematical Methods; Service Operations; Banking Industry

02 Aug 2024
HBS Case

How a Mission to Cut Food Waste Launched a Multimillion-Dollar Venture

On a hectic Friday in October 2016, Josh Domingues wondered if he had made a mistake quitting the security of a well-paying job managing contracts for professional hockey players to start a new venture selling nearly expired groceries at discount prices. After all, a... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Technology; Information Technology

26 May 2009
Research & Ideas

Improving Market Research in a Recession

most firms are reducing spending on the market research that would help manage that uncertainty. In the United States, spending on market research has dipped for four consecutive quarters, and chief marketing officers don't expect the... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

21 May 2007
Research & Ideas

Fixing the Marketing-CEO Disconnect

problem is that these managers don't know what metrics to measure or how to interpret the results. They may collect all manner of plausible marketing-performance metrics, from customer satisfaction to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

06 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 6, 2008

deputies. Several months earlier, Swanborough, then vice-president of Marketing, had been named vice-president for Sales Effectiveness atop a transformed sales division. The previous week, the team had presented to top management the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

General Electric Medical Systems 2002

By: Tarun Khanna and James Weber

Discusses one of General Electric's flagship divisions--the world's leading provider of medical diagnostic imaging equipment. Provides an opportunity to examine a multinational confronting massive technological and demographic changes around the world. Genomics has... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Business Model; Change Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Genetics; Customer Value and Value Chain; Age; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; China; United States