Publications

30 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Use the Psychology of Pricing To Keep Customers Returning

speak. The net result is that consumers are more likely to consume when a price is vivid and fresh than when it is obscured or distant. In the case of a health club, this means... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

18 Aug 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Business Plan Contest: 15 Years of Building Better Entrepreneurs

impact on our trajectory." Last year, with three remaining locations in the Boston area, Finale's original lead investors acquired a majority ownership in the business, folding it into a Rhode Island-based... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education

November 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Roll-Ups and Surprise Billing: Collisions at the Intersection of Private Equity and Patient Care

By: Trevor Fetter and Kira Seiger

This case describes the increasing investment by private equity (PE) firms in patient care and other healthcare services. The case focuses on investments in physician staffing firms and roll-up strategy investments in physician practice management (PPM). Included in... View Details

08 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The Civic Benefits of Google Street View and Yelp

if city regulators wanted to see the impact of licensing three new businesses on a particular block, they could monitor changes in Google Street Views, cross-referencing that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products

13 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Picture This: Why Online Image Searches Drive Purchases

paths for smaller sellers competing on online marketplaces. “For a long time, consumers have been asking things like, 'When can I find a coat that I like by simply snapping a picture View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

The ABCs of Addressing Climate Change (From a Business Perspective)

It's Climate Week in New York City. The schedule features a UN Climate Summit, a People's Climate March, the Clinton Global Initiative, substantial criticism of the whole endeavor, and plenty of agitated interaction. There is a lot of noise here. How can businesses cut... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Energy; Utilities

11 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Financial Services 24/7

routine part of most people's lives, there is no doubt that technology—especially Internet technology—is having a huge impact on the financial services industry. With much hype... View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

May 2020
Case

Big Boom Beverages: Fight or Flight?

By: Stephen A. Greyser and William Ellet

Four college friends market a beverage that combines ingredients like those in a drink they consumed in college bars. It includes a caffeinated energy drink, malt liquor, and a soft drink flavoring. They launch the business, Big Boom Beverages (BBB), with their own... View Details

Keywords: Alcoholic Beverages; Energy Drinks; Regulation; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Marketing Communications; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Reputation; Communication Strategy; Decision Making

September 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

OPOWER: Increasing Energy Efficiency through Normative Influence (A)

By: Amy J.C. Cuddy, Kyle Todd Doherty and Maarten W. Bos

The case profiles OPOWER, an energy efficiency software company that applies Cialdini's principles of social influence to successfully encourage consumers to reduce their energy usage. OPOWER was co-founded in 2008 by two young Harvard graduates, Dan Yates and Alex... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Applications and Software; Attitudes; Entrepreneurship; Energy Conservation; Power and Influence; Growth and Development Strategy; Energy Industry; United States

Research Summary

Crowdsourced reviews

To determine whether online consumer reviews influence the way that reputation is formed, Professor Luca has combined reviews from the website Yelp.com with public restaurant data. He has shown that a one-star increase in Yelp ratings results in a 5- to 9-percent... View Details

22 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Important Management Trends of the (Still Young) Twenty-First Century

decade, and our growing list of followers on Facebook. We promise to keep you at the cutting edge of emerging business research and trends over the next 10 years. —Sean HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

December 2002 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Cargill (A)

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Jose M. M. Porraz

Cargill is one of the world's leading marketers, processors, and distributors of agricultural, food, industrial, and financial products. In 1998, the company decided to develop a strategic intent to restructure and refocus the company. It did so in response to the... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Agribusiness; Restructuring; Industry Structures; Global Strategy; Genetics; Demand and Consumers; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry