Co-Chair, Driving Digital Strategy
Sunil Gupta is the Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration and co-chair of the executive program on Driving Digital Strategy at Harvard Business School. He served as the head of the Marketing Unit from 2008-2013 and was the Chair of the General Management Program from 2013-2019.
Co-Chair, Driving Digital Strategy
Sunil Gupta is the Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration and co-chair of the executive program on Driving Digital Strategy at Harvard Business School. He served as the head of the Marketing Unit from 2008-2013 and was the Chair of the General Management Program from 2013-2019.
Sunil's current research is in the area of digital technology and its impact on consumer behavior and firm strategy. The primarily goal of his research is to understand how digital technology is disrupting existing industries and how incumbents should transform their businesses in this new environment. His book on this topic, Driving Digital Strategy, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in August 2018. Sunil’s previous research focused on customer management, pricing, and return on marketing investment. His book, Managing Customers as Investments, captures some of the findings from his research on customer management, and it was selected as the 2006 winner of the annual Berry-AMA book prize for the best book in marketing.
Sunil has published three books and over 110 articles, book chapters, cases and notes on these topics. His research has been well recognized and his articles have won several national and international awards.
Sunil is an advisor to several startup firms and serves on the board of US Foods. He has conducted seminars and consulted with many companies including Abbott, ADIA, Adidas, Adobe, American Express, Amway, AT&T, AutoTrader, Avon, Bacardi, BJ Wholesale Club, Duracell, IBM, GfK Academy, Heineken, Henkel, Johnson and Johnson, Kaiser Permanente, L.G. Electronics, MasterCard, McKinsey & Company, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, NPD Group, Pfizer, PwC, SK Telecom, Sanofi, TD Bank, Telefonica, Turkcell, Unilever and Vodafone.
As a business expert, Sunil has frequently appeared on several national and international radio and television programs, such as CBS, CNN, NPR and BBC, and has been quoted in Forbes, The Fast Company, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.
Sunil holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Disruption and transformation get a lot of hype, and for good reason. Digital technologies have disrupted entire industries and incumbents have often struggled in this new world. Typical approaches used by legacy players such as using technology to improve efficiency, encouraging business units to do digital experiments, or launching independent units to spur innovation have met with limited success. These players have to strengthen their core and build for the future at the same time. It is like changing the engine of a plane while it is flying.
Based on almost ten years of research, this book provides a framework for companies to reimagine their business. Using rich case studies and rigorous research, it shows how the rules of business have changed and why it is no longer enough for firms to be better or cheaper to gain competitive advantage. These new rules make it essential for companies to reexamine four fundamental aspects of their business to thrive in the digital era – their strategy, value chain, customer engagement, and organization structure. Done right, digital technology can be a tremendous opportunity for established players as demonstrated by Best Buy, New York Times, Weather Company and others.
The fact that digital technology disrupts existing businesses is no longer news. We have seen and heard many case studies of incumbents struggling in the digital age as new and nimble players emerge with innovative business models. How should large established companies respond to these changes and how should they transform their businesses in this dynamic environment? My research addresses this fundamental question to help large established companies transform their businesses for the digital era.