Publications

09 Dec 2019
News

Identify Great Customers from Their First Purchase

National Customer Orientation: An Empirical Test across 112 Countries

Customer orientation is a central tenet of marketing. However, less is known about how customer orientation varies across countries and time. Mintz, Currim, and Deshpandé (Eur. J. Mark., 56: 1014–1041, 2022) propose a country-level construct, national customer... View Details

September 2022
Background Note

On CUE: The Quest for Optimal Customer Unit Economics

By: Elie Ofek, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller

Startups are often evaluated by how well they perform on unit economics, defined as the ratio of a customer’s lifetime value (LTV) to acquisition costs (CAC). A common target for unit economics, advocated by many VCs and analysts, is 3:1 (i.e., LTV/CAC=3). While there... View Details

Keywords: Unit Economics; Business Startups; Performance Evaluation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Relationship Management; Analysis

13 Mar 2017
News

Hiding Products From Customers May Ultimately Boost Sales

Awards

Berry-AMA Book Prize for the Best Book in Marketing

By: Sunil Gupta

Winner of the 2006 Berry-AMA Book Prize for the Best Book in Marketing for Managing Customers as Investments: The Strategic Value of Customers in the Long Run (Wharton School Publishing) with Donald R. Lehmann. View Details

February 2021
Supplement

Customer Lifetime Social Value (CLSV)

By: Elie Ofek, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller

February 2021
Teaching Note

Customer Lifetime Social Value (CLSV)

By: Elie Ofek, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller

January 2013 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Affinity Labs: Valuing Customer Growth

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Elizabeth Kind

In November 2006, Chris Michel left Military.com, which he founded in 1999, to start Affinity Labs, a global network of online communities. That month, Michel raised a Series A round of venture funding and established a partnership with Monster, which he had sold... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Social and Collaborative Networks; Online Technology

5 Jul 2012
Conference Presentation

Social Networks and Customer Strategy

By: Vineet Kumar

Keywords: Social Networking; Social Platforms; Social and Collaborative Networks

April 2012
Teaching Note

EMC2: Delivering Customer Centricity (TN)

By: Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery

February 1991
Case

Techsonic Industries, Inc.: Customer Service

Find at Harvard

01 Dec 2008
News

Wooing Customers With Social-Good Efforts

11 May 2010
News

Build Organizations Around Customer Needs

Conference Presentation

Building and Leading Customer Centric Organizations

By: Ranjay Gulati

Keywords: Organizations; Customer Focus and Relationships

17 Jun 2016
News

Companies Need to Start Marketing Safety to Customers

March 2000 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Hewlett Packard--Computer Systems Organization: Selling to Enterprise Customers

By: Das Narayandas and Robert C. Dudley

In late 1996, Manuel Diaz, head of Worldwide Sales for Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Computer Systems Organization (CSO), is reviewing the results of an audit of HP's enterprise customer management approach with the objective of identifying market and organizational... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Transformation; Customer Relationship Management; Cost vs Benefits; Marketing Strategy; Sales; Computer Industry

21 Feb 2017
News

It is NOT the Year of the Customer

May 2024
Background Note

Net Revenue Retention: Unpacking the Dynamics of Customer Monetization

By: Elie Ofek, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller

Firms and investors alike are beginning to recognize the importance of tracking how revenues from existing customers are evolving over time and to appreciate the value in understanding what might explain changes in these revenues. Consequently, in addition to looking... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Revenue; Measurement and Metrics; Customer Value and Value Chain