Publications

14 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

Clay Christensen’s Milkshake Marketing

an entire brand around a particular job-to-be-done. Quite simply, purpose branding involves naming the product after the purpose it serves. Kodak, for example, has seen great success with its FunSaver brand of single-use cameras, which... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Service; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

29 Nov 2022
Cold Call Podcast

How Will Gamers and Investors Respond to Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard?

Keywords: Re: Joseph Pacelli; Technology; Media & Broadcasting

June 2013
Article

What Is Privacy Worth?

By: Alessandro Acquisti, Leslie K. John and George Loewenstein

Understanding the value that individuals assign to the protection of their personal data is of great importance for business, law, and public policy. We use a field experiment informed by behavioral economics and decision research to investigate individual privacy... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Rights; Valuation; Ethics; Identity

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Article

Know Your Customers' 'Jobs to Be Done'

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon and David S. Duncan

Firms have never known more about their customers, but their innovation processes remain hit-or-miss. Why? According to Christensen and his coauthors, product developers focus too much on building customer profiles and looking for correlations in data. To create... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management

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December 2012
Case

Delwarca Software Remote Support Unit

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Paul E. Morrison

Delwarca Software provides business software to large corporate clients around the world. The firm serves customers who prefer to assemble corporate solutions using a combination of software programs from various suppliers rather than implementing a single enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Service Delivery; Mathematical Methods; Applications and Software; Problems and Challenges; Customer Satisfaction; Information Technology Industry

June 2023
Article

The Salary Taboo: Privacy Norms and the Diffusion of Information

By: Zoë Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia

The limited diffusion of salary information has implications for labor markets, such as wage discrimination policies and collective bargaining. Access to salary information is believed to be limited and unequal, but there is little direct evidence on the sources of... View Details

Keywords: Search Costs; Privacy; Norms; Compensation; Financial Industry; Field Experiment; Knowledge Dissemination; Equality and Inequality; Gender; Compensation and Benefits; Societal Protocols

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David Ager is a Senior Lecturer in Executive Education. He engages CEOs, CHROs, and their teams to design and deliver customized executive development experiences for executive, senior and high potential leaders. The companies hail from diverse sectors including... View Details

2008
Simulation

Strategic Innovation Simulation: Back Bay Battery

By: Willy C. Shih and Clayton Christensen

This online simulation allows students to play the role of a business unit manager at Back Bay Battery Company who faces the dilemma of balancing a portfolio of investment strategies across products in the rechargeable battery space. Players have to manage R&D... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Investment; Product Development; Research and Development; Battery Industry

06 Nov 2021
News

Employers Partner with Community Colleges to Fill the Talent Pipeline

July 2009 (Revised September 2009)
Case

The Blackstone Group: Merlin Entertainment

The Blackstone Group had conducted a roll-up of theme parks and attractions business in Europe. It was considering how to generate liquidity for its investors. Blackstone entered the theme parks and attractions business in Europe by acquiring a majority stake in... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost vs Benefits; Private Equity; Financial Liquidity; Investment Return; Risk Management; Leasing; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

March 2008
Article

Are Accruals Mispriced? Evidence from Tests of an Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing Model

By: Mozaffar N. Khan

This paper proposes a risk-based explanation for the accrual anomaly. Risk is measured using a four-factor model motivated by the Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing Model. Tests of the model suggest that a considerable portion of the cross-sectional variation in... View Details

May – June 2006
Article

Choose the Right Measures, Drive the Right Strategy

By: Dennis Campbell

Metrics overload is a common problem that can have serious consequences: Specifically, it can make it difficult for employees to see what actions they should take to execute strategic objectives. Having too many metrics dilutes the focus and invariably means many are... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Strategy; Employees; Customer Satisfaction

April 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

KPMG Peat Marwick U.S.: One Giant Brain

Demonstrates how organizations can move toward creation of processes and information technology infrastructures for effective knowledge management in order to enhance performance and productivity. More specifically, describes the knowledge management strategy of KPMG... View Details

Keywords: Internet; Information Technology; Knowledge Management; Service Industry; Consulting Industry; United States

22 Jul 2021
News

What’s the Purpose of the Office – and Do We Still Need It?

TeachingInterests

Leading Change and Organizational Renewal

By: Michael L. Tushman

Market-leading organizations habitually innovate, adjust quickly to new business conditions, and seize emerging opportunities before competitors do. They perform efficiently today while continuing to explore new sources of value for tomorrow. Such companies don't just... View Details

Deep Purpose

Deep Purpose argues that a revolutionary approach to business does exist, one that delivers game-changing results for both companies and society alike: the serious and deep pursuit of purpose. In this practical book, Gulati... View Details

May 2011
Case

Baria Planning Solutions, Inc.: Fixing the Sales Process

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and William Schmidt

Baria Planning Solutions (BPS) is a consulting firm that specializes in using spend analysis to help companies identify savings through reduced procurement costs and improved supplier performance. Management is concerned about the disappointing performance of the sales... View Details

Keywords: Quantitative Analysis; Technology; Operations Management; Product Lines; Manufacturing; Capacity Planning; Production Planning; Production; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Supply Chain Management; Salesforce Management; Planning; Consulting Industry; North and Central America