Customer Focus - Publications - Faculty & Research

12 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 12, 2017

others—have become “hub firms” because they control access to billions of mobile customers coveted by all kinds of product and service providers. These hubs drive increasing returns to scale and claim a disproportionate share of the value... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

06 Nov 2013
What Do You Think?

Is Top-Down Resource Allocation on the Rise?

reallocates resources to go after those 'cracks', they will be missed." At the end of the day, he wrote, "most investors are looking at total cash flow return on total investment. An agile corporate center can better focus on... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

17 Jul 2006
Lessons from the Classroom

Developing a Strategy for Digital Convergence

between Microsoft and Intel. Tech companies contend with high, upfront fixed costs and low marginal costs. They deal with the effect of standards in locking in customers and raising switching costs. With the unique aspects of the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Computer; Education

16 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Confronting the Reality of Web Services

challenge comes as all stakeholders get together and hammer out common definitions. This might not seem like the kind of work that leads to disputes, but it is. In most companies, questions like the following would lead to heated discussions: Who's got the real View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant

Web

Print View - Course Catalog

Discussions: Engaging case discussions will be the primary format, complemented by workshops where we will analyze customer data. · Important: No technical skills are required; a data scientist will be present in class to assist with any... View Details

01 Mar 2010
Op-Ed

A Golden Opportunity for Ford and GM

to move aggressively to secure their market share gains by investing windfall profits to make their auto lineups more competitive for the next decade. That means introducing new designs that offer attractive features, improved fuel efficiency, and better View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto

06 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 6

founder of JetBlue, is forced to confront a crisis in customer confidence following operational difficulties on February 14, 2007. This becomes a vital test of his leadership. Purchase this case:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Jun 2020
Blog Post

Delivering Solutions During a Crisis: an Interview with Hans Kristian Furuseth

at Zalando would both come into play in a major way for Furuseth later in this career. The HBS Advantage As Furuseth made plans to continue building his career, HBS was the right choice for many reasons including his desire to focus on... View Details

23 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: ‘Talk, Inc.’

caused by information overload, and an increase in employees' ability to respond readily to customer needs. Inclusion: At its best, interpersonal conversation is an equal-opportunity proposition. It invites all participants to put their... View Details

Keywords: Re: Boris Groysberg

25 Aug 2022
News

Open Market

into account a lot of different inputs. Once you’re able to identify what you’re building and who you’re building it for, then you can focus on execution. We consider a few things when we’re executing, including asking ourselves: Have we... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; illustration by Keith Negley; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance

14 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Right Fit for Software Testing

part-time consultants are considered best-in-class—they are paid industry-competitive wages, and customers include LEGO, Microsoft, and Oracle—75 percent of them live with what others might consider a handicap: They have Asperger syndrome... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Video Game; Web Services; Computer

29 Aug 2018
Blog Post

From the Classroom to the Workplace: How I Applied Learnings to my Internship

interesting to note how culturally sensitive Zalando has to be as a company due to operating so closely to the customer in so many different countries. It often feels like Europe can be treated as one country, but for a digital disruptor... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

03 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

5 New Year's Resolutions You Can Keep (With the Help of Behavioral Science Research)

order and devour a pepperoni pizza at midnight, try tackling next week’s grocery list instead. Researchers from Harvard Business School and the Analyst Institute evaluated a year's worth of customer orders from an online grocer. Their... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

16 Jul 2021
Op-Ed

For Entrepreneurs, the Benefits of Slowing Down

race. "Make the effort to meet up face to face, spend unscheduled long stretches of time, and (gasp) just hang out." Here are a few of the benefits of slowing down, and where entrepreneurs may want to focus their energies this summer: 1.... View Details

Keywords: by Jeffrey Bussgang

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

exporting, learning from competitors, users, and alliance partners. In this paper we focus attention on another locus of learning that has received less attention from academics despite popular interest: learning by supplying. Using a... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

16 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research, May 16

Performance By: Li, Shelley Xin, and Tatiana Sandino Abstract—Many service organizations empower frontline employees to experiment with different ways to meet diverse customer needs across different locations. We conducted a field... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

13 Sep 2019
Blog Post

An Uncommon Summer: Project Management at an Education Non-Profit

my HR colleagues were working for, the importance of my work really hit home. By helping the HR Team better manage change and customer service, I was helping the 12th grade math teacher I met get his paycheck on time and benefits for his... View Details

13 Mar 2018
First Look

March 13, 2018

systematically examined. This contempt for business groups in mature market settings stands in sharp contrast to the intensive research that has been conducted on other major models of large modern enterprises in those economies, such as functionally organized firms... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 19, 2007

rental customers over a period of four months. We predict and find that people are more likely to rent DVDs in one order and return them in the reverse order when should DVDs (e.g., documentaries) are rented before want DVDs (e.g., action... View Details