Publications

November 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Amazon: Cult or Culture?

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott and Tricia Gregg

Amazon was one of the first entrants in e-commerce. Under the leadership of founder Jeff Bezos, Amazon had expanded beyond books to manufacturing and selling a wide range of products and services globally. Bezos had built a customer-centric culture that permeated all... View Details

Keywords: Culture; Technology Companies; Retail; Human Resource Practices; Growth; Founder; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Growth Management; Information Technology; Human Resources; Talent and Talent Management; Retail Industry; Technology Industry

13 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

Negotiating Challenges for Women Leaders

Women don't have a problem developing an effective leadership style. What they do struggle with more than men, however, is claiming the authority to lead, according to Hannah Riley Bowles and Kathleen L. McGinn. The gender gap in leadership is the focus of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

15 Jul 2015
News

Greece bailout includes a €50 billion asset fund. Here’s how to avoid wasting it

September 2011
Case

Driving Profitable Growth at US Auto Parts

USAP faces extraordinary opportunities to change the way that automobiles are serviced in the US by selling parts at fair prices though online channels. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Business Model; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Machinery and Machining; Cost Management; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States

December 2019
Article

Invest in Information or Wing It? A Model of Dynamic Pricing with Seller Learning

By: Guofang Huang, Hong Luo and Jing Xia

Pricing idiosyncratic products is often challenging because the seller, ex ante, lacks information about the demand for individual items. This paper develops a model of dynamic pricing for idiosyncratic products that features the optimal stopping structure and a seller... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Pricing; Idiosyncratic Products; Item-specific Demand; Demand Uncertainty; Active Seller Learning; The Value Of Information; Price; Information; Value; Learning

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July 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Icebreaker: The US Entry Decision

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Dan Heath

Jeremy Moon, CEO of Icebreaker, merino wool, outdoor apparel manufacturer, believed the company could be a big hit in the United States, despite the presence of entrenched rivals. But Icebreaker clearly needed a new distribution approach. One option was to position... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; New Zealand; United States

November 1992 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Deere & Co. (A): The Computer Aided Manufacturing Services Division - A Window to the World (Abridged)

By: Robert H. Hayes

The Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) Services Division of John Deere has just received approval to sell their software and computer systems to external customers. These tools, initially developed for internal use, have been widely used throughout Deere. Still,... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Machinery and Machining; Technological Innovation; Markets; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Outcome or Result; Computer Industry; Manufacturing Industry

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October 2005 (Revised July 2009)
Case

MD Beauty, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes some of the issues confronting the entrepreneurial team responsible for creating a highly successful natural beauty and skin care company. They are considering selling all or some portion of the company's stock. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Management Teams; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

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16 Nov 2016
News

Is Your Company Committed to Being "Healthy"?

Dionisio Garza Medina

Keywords: Diversified

25 Jul 2022
News

Modern, Research Based B2B Sales Strategies From Harvard Professor And Sales Author Frank Cespedes

25 Feb 2020
News

Pricing Policies That Protect Your Brand

22 Jun 2017
Cold Call Podcast

ShotSpotter: A Gunfire Detection Business Looks for a New Market

Keywords: Re: Mitchell B. Weiss; Technology

March 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Boston Scientific Corporation (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Charlie Attlan

Boston Scientific Corporation just bought Guidant at a record breaking price to expand their cardiovascular franchise. They need to rationalize their product portfolio to make the acquisition work. What should they sell and why? View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development; Product Marketing; Product Development; Franchise Ownership; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

August 2022 (Revised March 2023)
Technical Note

Real Estate iBuying

By: Michael Luca, Jesse M. Shapiro and Julia Kelley

This note provides an overview of real estate iBuying, or instant buying, a business model that involves buying homes and then reselling them at a profit. Introduced in the mid-2010s, iBuying streamlined the process of selling a home by offering instant, all-cash... View Details

Keywords: iBuying; Profit; Business Model; Technological Innovation; Real Estate Industry

June 1994 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Marcia Radosevich and Health Payment Review--1989 (A)

Martha Radosevich, president of Health Payment Review, a small software start-up, confronts a serious cash-flow problem: Health Payment Review has built a PC-based prototype but has run out of funds to build a commercially acceptable mainframe product. As a stop-gap... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Cash Flow; Entrepreneurship; Applications and Software; Sales; Information Technology Industry