Publications

April 2021
Teaching Note

Drinkworks: Home Bar by Keurig

By: Sunil Gupta and Jonathan Levav

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 521-010. In the summer of 2018, Drinkworks CEO Nathaniel Davis needed to make a number of go-to-market decisions ahead of his company’s upcoming product launch. Formed through a joint venture between Keurig Dr. Pepper and Anheuser-Busch... View Details

23 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

Creative Entrepreneurship in a Downturn

new ventures, this creates huge possibilities for an entrepreneur to identify the opportunities, get creative about assembling resources, and go after them with the knowledge that the potential for competitive advantage will be greater... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

June 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Membership Rewards® from American Express

By: Shelle Santana, Frances X. Frei and Lauren G. Pickle

Credit and charge card issuer American Express (Amex) had developed a strong reputation among consumers due in part to its Membership Rewards (MR) loyalty program, first established in 1991. Through MR, all Amex cardholders could accumulate and redeem “points” based on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services; Customer Loyalty; Credit Cards; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Customer Value and Value Chain; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; North America; United States

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

customer values of convenience, availability, product or service functionality, and relationship, creates a reason for the customer to buy. But, you also must eliminate reasons for the customer not to purchase. Various adjunct services,... View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

18 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 18, 2007

activity to distance themselves from competitors. Microfinance: Business, Profitability, and the Creation of Social Value Author:Michael Chu Publication:Chap. 28 in Business Solutions for the Global Poor: Creating Social and Economic... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

27 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 27

model for explaining how network resources contribute to organizational performance. Reach is the extent to which an organization's network connects it to diverse and distant partners. Richness represents the potential value of the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2022 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Lyra Health: Transforming Mental Health

By: Rembrand Koning and Nicole Keller

In January 2022, Lyra Health was deciding between several different alternatives to grow the business. Founded in 2015, Lyra Health was a digital mental health platform that combined technology with human therapists and coaches to deliver high quality mental health... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Health Care and Treatment; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Customer Value and Value Chain; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Health Industry; Technology Industry; San Francisco

August 2020
Case

Zoom Video Communications: Eric Yuan's Leadership During COVID-19

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Christopher Stanton, Andy Wu and George Gonzalez

In the first half of 2020, worldwide lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic brought explosive growth to the Zoom Video Communications platform, as people replaced in-person work and social events with videoconferencing. Months into the pandemic, CEO Eric Yuan... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Communication Technology; Customer Value and Value Chain; Values and Beliefs; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Working Conditions; Strategy; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Health Pandemics; Technology Industry; United States; California

08 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged and Motivated

productive. Sincere, informed acknowledgement of these efforts can go a long way. Recognize outstanding accomplishments during meetings or some other way. For example, gifts and services are appreciated by people more than ever before. Gifts of consumable items are... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

Publication:American Economic Review (forthcoming) Abstract The central insight of asset pricing is that a security's value depends on both its distribution of payoffs across economic states and state prices. In fixed-income markets, many... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Common Strategy Mistakes

about the value chain (the supply side). You can't have competitive advantage without both. “The granddaddy of all mistakes is competing to be the best, going down the same path as everybody else and... View Details

Keywords: by Joan Magretta

01 Mar 2023
What Do You Think?

How Much Does 'Deep Purpose' Matter to the Bottom Line?

by thinking about how it might have changed an important decision, had we had it in place when we made the decision. My experiences in researching and putting a value on an effective culture tell me that if notions concerning deep purpose... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

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

07 Jul 2021
Book

Good News for Disgraced Companies: You Can Regain Trust

investigating its own supply chain for worker exploitation. The authors say companies that are adept at building trust focus on four key elements: Competence: While every company needs to be competent—capable of creating and delivering... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

14 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

their value proposition to reflect ever-evolving demand conditions and discover new growth opportunities. They adapt their approach toward HR management to preserve business viability while maintaining employees’ safety and well-being.... View Details

Keywords: by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

28 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

What's a Boss Worth?

them look better. But how much of an effect does a good or bad boss have on workers, really? Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Christopher Stanton sets out to ask that question in The Value of Bosses, a paper recently published... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Service

06 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

The Right Way to Manage Customer Churn for Maximum Profit

It’s a sad fact of doing business: customers leave. “You’d like to have 100 percent of customers stay 100 percent of the time,” says Harvard Business School Professor Sunil Gupta. “But that’s just not the case.” There can be plenty of reasons why a once-loyal customer... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail; Service; Financial Services

November 2007
Article

A Model of Consumer Learning for Service Quality and Usage

By: Raghuram Iyengar, Asim Ansari and Sunil Gupta

In many services, e.g., the wireless service industry, consumers choose a service plan based on their expected consumption. In such situations, consumers experience two forms of uncertainty. First, consumers may be uncertain about the quality of their service provider... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Value and Value Chain; Learning; Price; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Service Delivery; Quality; Risk and Uncertainty; Service Industry