Publications

02 Apr 2013
Video

Plexx - Episode 2 - New Name, New Challenges

August 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

BlueVine Capital: Growth Factors

By: Marco Di Maggio and Nathaniel Schwalb

The start-up, BlueVine Capital Inc. (BlueVine), used data and technology to help finance small businesses via factoring and lines of credit. The case explains the small business financing market in mid-2010s, how CEO Eyal Lifshitz identified the opportunity for... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Business Startups; Small Business; Financing and Loans; Innovation Leadership; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

December 2000
Background Note

Online Retailers

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alastair Brown

Describes online retailers, companies that use the Internet to sell physical goods. Defines online retailers and describes different ways to categorize them. Explores their economic model and value proposition for consumers in comparison with offline retailers. Next,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet; Retail Industry

29 Apr 2021
News

‘the Whole Milton Friedman Thing Is Dead’

24 Jul 2020
News

Corporate America was here for you on coronavirus until about June

July–August 2020
Article

Price Bargaining and Competition in Online Platforms: An Empirical Analysis of the Daily Deal Market

By: Lingling Zhang and Doug J. Chung

The prevalence of online platforms opens new doors to traditional businesses for customer reach and revenue growth. This research investigates platform choice in a setting where prices are determined by negotiations between platforms and businesses. We compile a unique... View Details

Keywords: Business-to-business Marketing; Platform Competition; Two-Sided Markets; Price Bargaining; Daily Deals; Structural Model; Digital Platforms; Competition; Price; Negotiation

Find at Harvard

July 2003 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Branding Citigroup's Consumer Business

By: Rohit Deshpande and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In Spring 1998, Citicorp and Travelers merged to create a financial powerhouse that united the bank with Travelers' consumer finance and brokerage businesses, including Salomon Smith Barney and Primerica. It was the first U.S. financial services company to combine... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Relationship Management; Decisions; Asset Management; Investment Banking; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Relationships; Business and Shareholder Relations; Banking Industry; United States

Web

Rock Summer Fellows - Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship. Founder applications will be evaluated based on the clarity and strength of the problem hypothesis, current status and milestones, strength of customer discovery findings, clarity and strength of key assumptions, and... View Details

February 2021 (Revised May 2021)
Case

SafeGraph: Selling Data as a Service

By: Ramana Nanda, Abhishek Nagaraj and Allison Ciechanover

Set in January 2021, the CEO of SafeGraph, a four-year-old startup that sold Data as a Service, looked to the future. His aim was to become the most trusted source for data about a physical place. The company provided points of interest (POI) and foot traffic data on... View Details

Keywords: Data As A Service; Monetization; Pricing; Business Startups; Analytics and Data Science; Consumer Behavior; Analysis; Business Model; Health Pandemics; Information Industry; United States

16 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Seven Tips for Managing Price Increases

sticker shock? 1. Understand Your Customers. There are at least four ways in which customers can respond to higher gas prices: downgrade from premium to regular; take fewer trips by car, consolidate errands, switch to public... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

11 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

The First 90 Hours: What New CEOs Should—and Shouldn't—Do to Set the Right Tone

whether they’re staying or leaving. Also, schedule introductory conversations with key customers and employees. You may even want to approach some former employees or board members and ask for their insights. When you arrive, you should... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

October 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Fantuan

By: Feng Zhu and David Lane

In 2023, CEO Randy Wu was considering the optimal growth strategy for Fantuan, a restaurant food delivery platform that had expanded from its 2014 founding in Vancouver, Canada to serve the Chinese demand for Asian cuisine in urban markets across Australia, Canada, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Focus and Relationships; Diasporas; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Growth Management; Business Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Canada; United Kingdom; Australia

December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Managing Diversity at Cityside Financial Services

By: Robin J. Ely and Ingrid Vargas

Cityside Financial Services, a disguised consumer bank, serves both a largely African-American urban community and a more affluent, predominantly white clientele. To match the gender and racial makeup of its staff to that of its customers, Cityside's sales division... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Situation or Environment; Race; Employees; Gender; Customer Satisfaction; Diversity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

05 Feb 2024
What Do You Think?

How Do You Hire for Attitude?

learning? What do you want to learn on this job? What do you feel you can teach others on this job? Of course, every organization is different. Hiring practices have to be customized accordingly. Teaching and learning have to be a part of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

May 2020
Article

Sales Leadership During and After the Crisis

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Because customer acquisition and retention are the lifeblood of a for-profit enterprise, sales activities establish foundational conditions for a business. In turn, sales managers’ responsibilities in a crisis extend beyond keeping the lights on. Their leadership makes... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Leadership; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management

20 May 2016
Other Presentation

Competing to Change the World: Creating Shared Value

By: Michael E. Porter

The principle of shared value involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. Shared value is becoming an integral part of strategy and is defining a whole new set of best practices that companies... View Details

Keywords: Society; Shared Value; Value Creation; Strategy; Civil Society or Community

18 May 2016
Other Presentation

Competing to Change the World: Creating Shared Value

By: Michael E. Porter

The principle of shared value involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. Shared value is becoming an integral part of strategy and is defining a whole new set of best practices that companies... View Details

Keywords: Society; Shared Value; Value Creation; Strategy; Civil Society or Community; United States

2008
Working Paper

Performance and Control across Multiple Markets

By: Tatiana Sandino, Dennis Campbell and Shelby Yu

Chain organizations typically operate units across different types of markets, with significantly diverging customer bases. Such market-type dispersion potentially influences performance through two channels: it makes performance a noisier indicator of store manager... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Organizational Design; Markets; Franchise Ownership; Performance; Retail Industry

February 2011
Case

Chegg: Textbook Rental Takes Flight

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, William A. Sahlman and Evan W. Richardson

In late 2010, Silicon Valley-based Chegg, the leading online college textbook rental company, is scaling rapidly. The case recounts Chegg's history from its origins as a distant competitor to Craigslist in college classified listings through a pivot into textbook... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Books; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Service Operations; Renting or Rental; Online Technology; Education Industry; Service Industry; California