Customers - Publications - Faculty & Research

07 Nov 2017
News

Best Business Books 2017: Innovation

March 2019
Case

Wattpad

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

How to run a platform to match four million writers of stories to 75 million readers? Use data science. Make money by doing deals with television and filmmakers and book publishers. The case describes the challenges of matching readers to stories and of helping writers... View Details

Citation

Educators

Purchase

October 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank

Shinsei Bank was rebuilt from the ashes of a failed predecessor, and pioneered new levels of customer service in retail banking in Japan. The bank's information technology, however, was vestigial at best and not well suited to the new service models Shinsei was... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Banks and Banking; Innovation and Invention; Banking Industry; Japan

Citation

Educators

Purchase

March 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Syncra Systems

Syncra Systems makes Internet-based software that allows supply chain partners to compare disparate forecasts and production plans, to uncover any discrepancies among them, and to address these issues. However, many potential Syncra customers perceive that they will... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Internet and the Web; Supply Chain Management; Applications and Software; Sales

Citation

Educators

Purchase

May 1994 (Revised January 1995)
Case

Warner Cable (A) and (B) (Condensed)

The new general manager of Warner Cable's Medford, Massachusetts complex faces a number of turnaround challenges in 1985, including service deficiencies, customer complaints, high turnover, and low employee morale. By 1988 he has turned the situation around, but some... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Change Management; Performance Improvement; Telecommunications Industry; Massachusetts

Citation

Educators

Purchase

02 Apr 2013
Video

Plexx - Episode 2 - New Name, New Challenges

Web

Managing the Future of Work

Solutions By: Shai Bernstein, William R. Kerr, Christopher Stanton, Raymond Kluender, & Mel Martin 7 FEB 2024 Chime Solutions, a customer contact firm focused on hiring from underserved communities, faced major challenges when the... View Details

Program

Leading and Building a Culture of Innovation

chief technology officers, chief information officers, and chief HR executives Leaders from corporate strategy, finance, legal, human resources, marketing, manufacturing, customer service, and sales Individuals and teams are welcome to... View Details

August 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Chateau Winery (A): Unsupervised Learning

By: Srikant M. Datar and Caitlin N. Bowler

This case follows Bill Booth, marketing manager of a regional wine distributor, as he applies unsupervised learning on data about his customers’ purchases to better understand their preferences. Specifically, he uses the K-means clustering technique to identify groups... View Details

Keywords: Clustering; Data Science; Analytics and Data Science; Customers; Marketing; Analysis

Citation

Educators

Purchase

* Top 10 Technology Books of 2020 (Forbes)
* 10 Best Business Books of 2020 (Inc. Magazine)
* Top Shelf Pick of Best Business Books 2020: Technology & Innovation (Strategy + Business)
* 9 Best Business Books for 2020... View Details

04 May 2021
Book

Best Buy: How Human Connection Saved a Failing Retailer

“But, do you think that was standard operating procedure? No! What happened that day is that the two blue shirts found it in their hearts to do this, and felt they had the latitude to do it.” Stopping Best Buy’s freefall Creating such a human-centered connection among... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

26 Apr 2023
In Practice

Is AI Coming for Your Job?

represent. Ayelet Israeli is the Marvin Bower Associate Professor in the Marketing Unit and cofounder of the Customer Intelligence Lab at the Digital, Data, and Design (D) Institute at HBS. Iavor Bojinov: Those who resist AI risk falling... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Technology

29 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Beyond Goals: David Beckham's Playbook for Mobilizing Star Talent

with customer lifecycles and product lifecycles, but if their business relies on talent, they need to consider talent lifecycles as well,” says Elberse. “It’s inevitable as players get older, they’ll lose performance on the field. Even a... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

August 2008
Article

Economic Links and Predictable Returns

By: Lauren Cohen and Andrea Frazzini

This paper finds evidence of return predictability across economically linked firms. We test the hypothesis that in the presence of investors subject to attention constraints, stock prices do not promptly incorporate news about economically related firms, generating... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Price; Assets; Analytics and Data Science; Customers; Stocks; Equity; Strategy; Investment Return; Forecasting and Prediction

Citation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

Article

When Talk Is "Free": The Effect of Tariff Structure on Usage Under Two- and Three-Part Tariffs

By: Eva Ascarza, Anja Lambrecht and Naufel Vilcassim

In many service industries, firms introduce three-part tariffs to replace or complement existing two-part tariffs. In contrast with two-part tariffs, three-part tariffs offer allowances, or “free” units of the service. Behavioral research suggests that the attributes... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Nonlinear Pricing; Discrete/continuous Choice Model; Three-part Tariffs; Free Products; Price; Consumer Behavior; Analysis; Learning; Risk and Uncertainty

Citation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

03 Nov 2015
HBS Seminar

Avi Goldfarb, University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management

11 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

When Business Competition Harms Society

Competition Corrupts Business Practices, suggests that many organizations in highly competitive markets are likely to bend the rules if doing so will keep their customers from leaving for a rival firm. "Competition is generally... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Auto

01 Aug 2023
What Do You Think?

As Leaders, Why Do We Continue to Reward A, While Hoping for B?

frequently cited Wells Fargo fiasco in which employees were incentivized to cheat (and alienate customers) in an effort to expand and deepen customer relationships, continue to plague business today. As leaders, why do we continue to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

July 2021
Case

A Close Shave at Squire

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Zoë B. Cullen, William R. Kerr, Benjamin N. Roth and Michael Norris

In 2020, just after closing a $34 million Series B financing round, Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon consider how to adjust their business, Squire Technologies, to the new realities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their barbershop technology, including tools to run a shop... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Pandemics; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Technology Industry; New York (city, NY); San Francisco

Citation

Educators

Purchase

April 2019
Case

Boxed

By: Laura Huang, Andy Wu and Jiayi Bao

Boxed.com (“Boxed”) is an ambitious e-commerce retailer start-up, founded by visionary CEO Chieh Huang in 2013. From starting in Huang’s garage in 2013, to winning Emerging E-Retailer of the Year in 2016, to having 4 operational distribution centers in 2018, Boxed used... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Business Startups; Leadership; Strategy; Success; E-commerce; Retail Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase