Publications

Sep 20 2018
Testimonial

Learning From Managers in Other Industries

06 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

18 Tips Managers Can Use to Lead Through COVID's Rising Waters

focus are strategic issues, not only sales management tasks. Consider: when commerce resumes, what’s the impact on your business from shortening selling cycles and accelerating time-to-cash by one week, two... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2003
Background Note

Managing a Customer Relationship Over Time

By: Das Narayandas

Describes the different ways in which vendors can sell a portfolio of products to industrial customers. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Networks; Sales; Manufacturing Industry

2017
Working Paper

Inventory Management for Mobile Money Agents in the Developing World

By: Karthik Balasubramanian, David F. Drake and Douglas Fearing

Mobile money systems, platforms built and managed by mobile network operators to allow money to be stored as digital currency, have burgeoned in the developing world as a mechanism to transfer money electronically. Mobile money agents exchange cash for electronic value... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Mobile Technology; Market Platforms; Developing Countries and Economies

SSRN

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29 Oct 2007
HBS Case

Marketing Maria: Managing the Athlete Endorsement

saw potential in sports endorsements in the television age. McCormack informed Palmer that he was planning to start up a business revolving around personal business managers or "agents" handling professional golfers' affairs.... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Sports

08 May 2019
HBS Seminar

Mara Lederman, University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management

June 2013
Case

Comprosa

By: Jim Sharpe and Jose Luis Barbero

A Spanish manufacturer of packaging films has successfully returned to break even and is considering options to attain sustainable profitability. View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Turnarounds; Distressed Debt; Private Equity; Cash Flow Analysis; Supplier Relationship; Supply Chain Management; Unions; Global Competitiveness; Leadership And Managing People; Sales Force Management; Sales Compensation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Global Strategy; Salesforce Management; Cash Flow; Chemical Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Spain

January 2014 (Revised January 2014)
Supplement

GlaxoSmithKline in China (C)

By: John Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Keywords: China; Healthcare; Pharmaceutical Sales; Ethics; Multinational Firms and Management; Pharmaceutical Industry; China

November 2016 (Revised April 2017)
Case

Basecamp: Pricing

By: Frank Cespedes and Robb Fitzsimmons

A data analyst at Basecamp is evaluating the results of pricing research and its potential implications for the venture’s latest version of its project management software product. View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Entrepreneurial Management; Data Analysis; Marketing; Customer Acquisition; Customer Retention; Value Proposition; Sales Management; Product Management; Market Research; Life Time Value; Testing; Entrepreneurship; Analytics and Data Science; Customers; Value; Sales; Product Marketing; United States

September–October 1987
Article

Manage Customers for Profits (Not Just Sales)

By: Benson P. Shapiro, V. K. Rangan, Rowland T. Moriarty and Elliot Ross

Keywords: Customers; Profit; Management; Sales

Find at Harvard

August 2012 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Paul Thomson: Walker Insurance

By: Michael Roberts, Jim Sharpe and Sonia Nagala Change

Having just acquired Walker Insurance, Paul Thomson finds himself short of funds to support his original turnaround plan. He can request additional cash from his investor group, hunker down and grow at a slower rate or consider a proposal to buy his business. He has... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Acquisitions; Search Funds; Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurs; Insurance; Turnarounds; Boards Of Directors; Sales Force Management; Entrepreneurship; Insurance Industry; Florida

Web

Faculty & Researchers - Managing the Future of Work

Fellow with CESifo in Germany, and is affiliated with the Center for Economic Policy Research in the UK. Research Employee Responses to Compensation Changes: Evidence from a Sales Firm (pdf) , Management... View Details

2015
Working Paper

Incentives versus Reciprocity: Insights from a Field Experiment

By: Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas

We conduct a field experiment in which we vary the sales force compensation scheme at an Asian enterprise that sells consumer durable goods. With variation generated by the experimental treatments, we model sales force performance to identify the effectiveness of... View Details

Keywords: Sales Force Compensation; Field Experiment; Heterogeneity; Loss Aversion; Reciprocity; Motivation and Incentives; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits

Read Now

30 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Preparing to Sell

the family business. The portrait of the business would also typically represent more than 90 percent of the owners' wealth. “If this transition is not managed well, the family has a higher risk of losing its wealth through bad investment... View Details

Keywords: by Jonathan Pellegrin; Food & Beverage; Retail

February 2019
Case

Canibal—Play It Green!

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Joseph B. Fuller, Tonia Labruyere and Elena Corsi

In 2011, Canibal launched a machine that could sort and compress aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and cups. Users could play a jackpot-style game on the machine’s digital display, while disposing of their beverage containers and earning coupons or other rewards. The... View Details

Keywords: Sales Growth; Recycling; Start-up; Scaling; Market Selection; Sales; Marketing; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Segmentation; Product Positioning; Technology Industry; France

February 2013 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Elasto Therm: The Next Step

By: Jim Sharpe and James Weber

Julia and Nate Burstein were living their dream running their own business and balancing the demands between their work and family obligations while creating a company that was responsive to their employees' and their customers' needs. The Bursteins had joined a large... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurs; Pricing; Pricing Policies; Pricing Strategy; Pricing Structure; Sales Force Management; Acquisitions; Work/family Balance; Family-owned Business; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Work-Life Balance; Manufacturing Industry; Rubber Industry; United States

August 2017
Article

Incentives versus Reciprocity: Insights from a Field Experiment

By: Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas

We conduct a field experiment in which we vary the sales force compensation scheme at an Asian enterprise that sells consumer durable goods. With variation generated by the experimental treatments, we model sales force performance to identify the effectiveness of... View Details

Keywords: Sales Force Compensation; Field Experiment; Heterogeneity; Loss Aversion; Reciprocity; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits