Publications

June 2020
Background Note

Customer Management Dynamics and Cohort Analysis

By: Elie Ofek, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller

The digital revolution has allowed companies to amass considerable amounts of data on their customers. Using this information to generate actionable insights is fast becoming a critical skill that firms must master if they wish to effectively compete and win in today’s... View Details

Keywords: Cohort Analysis; Customers; Analytics and Data Science; Segmentation; Analysis; Customer Value and Value Chain

January 1991 (Revised January 1993)
Case

Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program

In August 1990 the president and executive vice president of Xerox are reviewing the progress made on its customer satisfaction program. The emphasis placed on the program, the success of the program to date, and the drive to achieve the corporate goals of customer... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

September 2020
Article

Customer Supercharging in Experience-Centric Channels

By: David R. Bell, Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno

We conjecture that for online retailers, experience-centric offline store formats do not simply expand market coverage, but rather, serve to significantly amplify future positive customer behaviors, both online and offline. We term this phenomenon “supercharging” and... View Details

Keywords: Retail Operations; Marketing-operations Interface; Omnichannel Retailing; Experience Attributes; Quasi-experimental Methods; Operations; Internet and the Web; Marketing Channels; Consumer Behavior; Retail Industry

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September 1969 (Revised June 1976)
Case

Control Data Corp. (D)

Set in 1965, at a time when the company's mix of "sales" was shifting increasingly to customer leasing of its computers, the student is asked to evaluate possible revisions in the policies for depreciating the cost of a leased computer. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Leasing

October 2018
Case

BreezoMeter: Making Air Pollution Data Actionable

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Allison M. Ciechanover and Margot Eiran

The case focuses on an Israeli startup that provides actionable air pollution data and forecasts. The company has over 50 enterprise customers and its tool reached a million people daily in 67 countries. The co-founders wrestle with which markets and customers to focus... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Pollutants; Analytics and Data Science; Sales; Marketing; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Israel; United States

2006
Working Paper

The Value of a 'Free' Customer

By: Sunil Gupta, Carl F. Mela and Jose M. Vidal-Sanz

Central to a firm's growth and marketing policy is the revenus and profit potential of its customer assets. As a result, there has been a recent proliferation of work regarding customer lifetime value. However, extant research in this area is silent regarding how to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Auctions; Network Effects; Business Strategy

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Article

One Obstacle to Curing Cancer: Patient Data Isn't Shared

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Kathy Giusti

Precision Medicine requires large datasets to identify the mutations that lead to various cancers. Currently, genomic information is hoarded in fragmented silos within numerous academic medical centers, pharmaceutical companies, and some disease-based foundations. For... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Cancer Treatment; Precision Medicine; Personalized Medicine; Data Sharing; Technological Innovation; Analytics and Data Science; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties; Research and Development; Customization and Personalization; Health Industry; United States

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February 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Supplement

Bancaja: Developing Customer Intelligence (B)

In 1996, CEO Fernando Garcia Checa wanted to make customer analytics a part of Bancaja's new strategy. Bancaja, a savings bank based in Valencia, Spain, was expanding and wanted to exploit customer information to increase commercial effectiveness. At the same time, it... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Credit Cards; Analytics and Data Science; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Marketing Strategy; Banking Industry; Spain

February 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Agero: Enhancing Capabilities for Customers

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This case illustrates the importance of choosing a primary customer as the basis for organization design. Cross Country Group managers adjusted resource allocation, organization design and performance measures over time to transform Cross Country Group from an... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurial Gap; Entrepreneurship; Auto Industry; Insurance; Performance Management; Performance Measurement; Performance Measures; Performance Pressure; Decisions; Family Business; Resource Allocation; Organizational Design; Customer Focus and Relationships; Performance Evaluation; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry

January 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Course Overview Note

Managing Customers for Growth: Course Overview for Students

By: Eva Ascarza

Managing Customers for Growth (MCG) is a 14-session elective course for second-year MBA students at Harvard Business School. It is designed for business professionals engaged in roles centered on customer-driven growth activities. The course explores the dynamics of... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Decision Making; Analytics and Data Science; Growth Management; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry; Travel Industry

16 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

The Outside-In Approach to Customer Service

Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business (Harvard Business Press). Gulati, whose research explores leadership and strategic challenges for building high growth organizations in turbulent markets, is the... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products

January 2020
Case

Banorte Móvil: Data-Driven Mobile Growth

By: Ayelet Israeli, Carla Larangeira and Mariana Cal

In mid-2019, Carlos Hank was deliberating over the results for Banorte Móvil—the mobile application for Banorte, Mexico’s most profitable and second-largest financial institution. Hank, who had been appointed as Banorte´s Chairman of the Board in January 2015, had... View Details

Keywords: Data Analytics; Customer Lifetime Value; Financial Institutions; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Customers; Technology Adoption; Communication Strategy; Banking Industry; Mexico; Latin America

September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
Exercise

Artea (B): Including Customer-Level Demographic Data

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The... View Details

Keywords: Targeting; Algorithmic Bias; Race; Gender; Marketing; Diversity; Customer Relationship Management; Demographics; Prejudice and Bias; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States

March 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Amperity: First-Party Data at a Crossroads

By: Elie Ofek, Hema Yoganarasimhan and Alexis Lefort

In the summer of 2023, Amperity management was facing a critical decision on its future direction. Given the dramatic changes occurring within the digital advertising ecosystem, as concerns over consumer privacy placed limits on the ability to engage in third-party... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Business Strategy; Digital Marketing; Price; Product; Business or Company Management; Advertising Industry

16 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million

soliciting feedback from its most loyal and vocal customers” As impressive as that accomplishment was, 1,000 customers is hardly enough to ensure long-run success. For that, these companies had to scale up dramatically, from 1,000 to over... View Details

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira and Michael Blanding; Retail; Transportation; Accommodations

January 2002
Case

Relational Data Models in Enterprise-Level Information Systems

Provides an overview of some important aspects of the relational data models that underlie today's enterprise-level information technologies, such as enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management. Key concepts covered include relational data and... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology

09 Dec 2019
Research & Ideas

Identify Great Customers from Their First Purchase

School. By incorporating data most companies discard, Ascarza and her co-researcher devised an algorithm capable of quickly analyzing more than 40 variables to create a “first impression” of the customer... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail; Service

April 2022
Teaching Note

Banorte Móvil: Data-Driven Mobile Growth

By: Ayelet Israeli and Carla Larangeira

In mid-2019, Carlos Hank was deliberating over the results for Banorte Móvil—the mobile application for Banorte, Mexico’s most profitable and second-largest financial institution. Hank, who had been appointed as Banorte´s Chairman of the Board in January 2015, had... View Details

Keywords: Data Analytics; Customer Lifetime Value; Financial Institutions; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Customers; Technology Adoption; Communication Strategy; Banking Industry; Mexico; Latin America

July–August 2014
Article

Unlock the Mysteries of Your Customer Relationships

By: Jill Avery, Susan Fournier and John Wittenbraker

Consumers have always had relationships with brands, but sophisticated tools for analyzing customer data are finally allowing marketing organizations to personalize and manage those relationships. With this new power comes a new challenge: people now expect companies... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; CRM; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; United States