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March 7, 2024
Article

Integrating Digital Tools into Every Stage of Your Sales Strategy

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Georg Krentzel

In their growth and customer-acquisition activities, most companies now face twin challenges: understanding and responding to omni-channel buying behavior and doing that without inadvertently decreasing sales productivity. Thirty years ago, Peter Drucker noted that... View Details

Keywords: Sales Management; Digital Tools; Sales; Marketing Channels; Technology Adoption; Brands and Branding

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September 2014 (Revised March 2016)
Case

Mayo Clinic: The 2020 Initiative

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Robert S. Huckman and Jenny Lesser

Describes the challenges facing Dr. John Noseworthy, President and CEO, in implementing a long-term strategy for the growth of the Mayo Clinic—a leading academic medical center with a reputation for excellence in tertiary and quaternary health care. The case highlights... View Details

Keywords: Health; Health Care Industry; Health Care Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

September 1992 (Revised July 1994)
Case

MEM Company, Inc.: English Leather

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Laura Goode

In 1992, the president of MEM (a producer of personal care products, including men's fragrances) considered a redeployment of field sales efforts and changes in sales compensation policies. Any changes, moreover, must consider the context of strategic decisions... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

Winter 2020
Article

Goodfellows: Men's Role and Reason in the Fight for Gender Equality

By: Debora L. Spar

The essay attempts to make the case for including—even embracing—men in the fight for gender equality. If men believe in equality, then expanding that belief to explicitly include women is not a leap of logic or an act of charity. It is instead a basic extension of a... View Details

Keywords: Gender; Diversity; Equality and Inequality

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01 Nov 2013
News

Adding Bricks to Clicks: On the Role of Physical Stores in a World of Online Shopping

02 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Investor Protection: The Czech Experience

When TV Nova launched in 1992 as the first new television channel in post-communist Czechoslovakia, few might have imagined the joint-venture drama unfolding behind the scenes. Distinguished for bringing Baywatch, soccer matches, and sexy... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Media & Broadcasting; Entertainment & Recreation

November 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Case

FleetBoston Financial: Online Banking

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

As the ninth largest bank holding company in the United States in 2000, FleetBoston Financial Corp. provided a myriad of financial services, including retail banking, loan origination, and brokerage accounts. This case explores how FleetBoston responded to the Internet... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Borrowing and Debt; Cost Management; Banks and Banking; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Competition; Online Technology; Banking Industry; United States

May 2013
Case

Altius Golf and the Fighter Brand

By: Robert J. Dolan and Sunru Yong

Altius Golf is the clear leader in the golf ball market despite a long-term decline in the number of golfers and a drop in sales following the financial crisis. The firm has maintained its position by introducing generations of advanced, super-premium golf balls that... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Competitive Advantage; Decision Choices and Conditions; Distribution Channels; Sports; Financial Crisis; Brands and Branding; Segmentation; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

26 Mar 2013
News

Is the Dell Stub the Right Investment for You?: Real M&A

06 Apr 2015
News

The Goldfish Conundrum

Clubs

Greater China Club

May 1993 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Vanity Fair Mills: Market Response System

Describes the "Quick Response" program developed by Vanity Fair Mills (VFM), a division of the VF Corp. Beginning in 1989, VFM reorganized its manufacturing systems, invested heavily in computer and telecommunications equipment, and formed "partnership" agreements with... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Logistics; Distribution Channels; Manufacturing Industry

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Jake Cook is a Lecturer of Business Administration in the Marketing Unit at Harvard Business School and an entrepreneur with a deep-seated passion for e-commerce, digital marketing, and AI.

As a Cofounder and CEO of... View Details

July 2016 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Entrepreneurial Sales and Marketing Vignettes

By: Mark Roberge and Frank Cespedes

Which sales candidate is a startup’s ideal first hire? What marketing channels are best to invest in? How aggressively should an executive team align sales with customer success? Early stage founders, sales leaders, and marketing executives often face one, and... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Entrepreneurial Sales; Business Startups; Talent; Talent Management; Growth Management; Marketing Communications; Social Marketing; Salesforce Management; Pricing; Sales; Marketing

March 2016
Case

IC Group A/S

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

IC Group owned several of Scandinavia's leading premium fashion brands. How should it respond to the decline of its primary wholesale distribution channels (independent fashion boutiques and department stores)? Should it open more physical stores or focus on... View Details

September 2001
Background Note

Financial Reporting Environment, The

By: Paul M. Healy, Amy P. Hutton, Robert S. Kaplan and Krishna G. Palepu

Provides a framework for understanding the role of financial reporting and various intermediaries as mechanisms for reducing both adverse selection and moral hazard problems in capital markets. Financial reports reduce adverse selection by providing basic information... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Capital Markets; Venture Capital; Corporate Disclosure; Conflict of Interests