Publications

Read Now

21 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 21

B2C and B2B methods. But in seeking to grow and scale the business, they now must make decisions about the relative emphasis on building their consumer brand or its B2B partnerships as well as the... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

05 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

Radical Change, Entrepreneurial Opportunity

others to buy into your perspective? Is a digital camera a substitute for an analog camera? Is it a PC peripheral? Is it something like a camcorder? And how do consumers make sense of it? What features do... View Details

Keywords: by Michael J. Roberts; Technology

March 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Dell Online

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Dell started online commerce for its PCs in 1996, and by 1997 had achieved a sales rate of $3 million a day. The case describes the internal process that led to these dramatic results and poses the question of how the firm should leverage this activity to meet Michael... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Market Transactions; Goals and Objectives; Business Processes; Distribution Channels; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Advantage; Computer Industry; Retail Industry

March 2011 (Revised October 2011)
Case

If We Ran the World

By: Hanna Halaburda, Radka Dohnalova and Aldo Sesia

Cindy Gallop launched IfWeRanTheWorld (IWRTW) in February 2010, as what the tech world called minimum viable product, in order to real-world test Gallop's "business of the future" concept while development was ongoing. IWRTW was conceived to bring together human good... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Outcome or Result; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Network Effects

14 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Should You Bring Advertising Expertise In-House?

managers to give serious consideration to the internalization of at least some advertising and marketing services," Silk says in this Q&A. Sarah Jane Gilbert: Can you... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising

June 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Revlon India's Turnaround: Navigating Online-Offline Decisions Using a Balanced Scorecard

By: Tatiana Sandino and Samuel Grad

Revlon India was founded as a joint venture in 1995, pairing the industrial conglomerate UMG with the global beauty brand Revlon, Inc. to bring international color cosmetics to India. After growing rapidly and pioneering the Beauty Advisor (BA) model in India, the... View Details

20 May 2020
Blog Post

Jeff Surette and Mike Peters: A Winning Team at TB12

multiple sectors were managing through crisis, while building his own business acumen. Post HBS, Surette rejoined Parthenon for four years focusing on education and consumer goods consulting. Then when it came time View Details

January 2015 (Revised July 2019)
Case

CVS Health: Promoting Drug Adherence

By: Leslie John, John Quelch and Robert Huckman

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

The case describes a program that CVS Health recently implemented to improve medication adherence, an important problem from a societal, public policy, and firm... View Details

2016
Working Paper

The Impact of Supplier Inventory Service Level on Retailer Demand

By: Nathan Craig, Nicole DeHoratius and Ananth Raman

To set inventory service levels, suppliers must understand how changes in inventory service level affect demand. We build on prior research, which uses analytical models and laboratory experiments to study the impact of a supplier's service level on demand from... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Forecasting and Prediction; Learning; Consumer Behavior; Service Delivery; Performance Expectations; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Service Industry

SSRN

Read Now

November 2008 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Cyworld: Creating and Capturing Value in a Social Network

By: Sunil Gupta and Sangman Han

In May 2008, the new CEO of Cyworld, a social network company in Korea, had to decide how to create and capture value from his rapidly growing user base. Cyworld was founded in 1999, and in 2003 it was acquired by SK Telecom, a leading mobile service provider in Korea.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Segmentation; Value Creation; South Korea

09 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

The Manager in Red Sneakers

clothes rather than an elegant outfit to a luxury boutique, or wearing sneakers to a professional event. In The Red Sneakers Effect: Inferring Status and Competence from Signals of Nonconformity—an article... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

23 Jul 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Innovation Is Magic. Really

product and service experiences that exceed customer expectations and the offerings of competitors. What's the secret? Success in business as well as magic has less to do with clever marketing and more View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products

09 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

A Diagnostic for Disruptive Innovation

pricing trends. Read product reviews in industry journals. Quick-and-dirty market research can also help identify the dimensions along which customers are overserved. The other group of customers to look for... View Details

Keywords: by Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson & Matt Eyring

29 May 2017
Blog Post

The Diverse Community at HBS

Before I came to HBS, I worked at Disney in a consumer insights role with the Corporate Brand Development and Studio Marketing teams. Tracking evolving View Details

March 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Pandora Radio: Fire Unprofitable Customers?

By: Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia Tecco

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Satisfaction; Music Entertainment; Venture Capital; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

28 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 28, 2018

scant direct empirical research on how human interaction patterns change as a result of these architectural changes. In two intervention-based field studies of corporate headquarters transitioning to more... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

February 2008 (Revised September 2010)
Case

LeapFrog Enterprises

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Explores the success factors leading to the company's rise to the number three ranking in the aggressively competitive toy industry. LeapFrog has made the strategic decision to expand beyond the toy industry and enter the educational technology and services industry.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry