Publications

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July 2010 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Customer Lifetime Value Analysis (2024)

By: Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery

Customers are increasingly being viewed as assets that bring value to the firm. Customer lifetime value is a metric that allows managers to understand the overall value of their customer base and relate it to three customer strategies firms employ: asset... View Details

Keywords: Customer Lifetime Value; Return On Investment; Customer Acquisition; Customer Retention; Customer Churn; ＂Marketing Analytics＂; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Value

February 2016 (Revised August 2017)
Case

Battle Over a Bank: Defining the Limits of Federal Power Under a New Constitution

By: David Moss and Marc Campasano

In late February, 1791, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton submitted a report to President Washington defending his recent proposal for a national bank, which he hoped would bolster the American economy and assist the federal government in managing its finances.... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Central Banking; Laws and Statutes; Government and Politics; History; Public Administration Industry; United States

04 Aug 2021
News

This Technology Will Have A Profound Effect On The Fashion Industry

July 2018
Article

Marketplaces, Markets, and Market Design

By: Alvin E. Roth

Marketplaces are often small parts of large markets, and both markets and marketplaces come in many varieties. Market design seeks to understand what marketplaces must accomplish to enable different kinds of markets. Marketplaces can have varying degrees of success,... View Details

Keywords: Labor Market; Pricing; Market Design; Markets; Economics

Find at Harvard

18 Jun 2019
News

How to Scandal-Proof Your Company

April 2010 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Soren Chemical: Why Is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking?

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sunru Yong

Topics include distribution channels, pricing, and new product marketing. Jen Moritz, the marketing manager for Soren Chemical Co. is struggling with the poor sales performance of Coracle, a new clarifier for residential swimming pools. The performance is puzzling... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Mix; New Product Marketing; Pricing; Branding; Price; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Communication Strategy; Chemical Industry

09 Mar 2022
News

A New Iron Curtain Is Falling

June 1977 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Railroads and the Beginnings of Modern Management

Consists of three selections by the most innovative of the early American railroad managers which describe the organizational structures and control systems they created. Questions to be asked are: why and how such managerial techniques were created, how well they... View Details

Keywords: Rail Transportation; Organizational Structure; Management Systems; Rail Industry; United States

March 1999 (Revised April 1999)
Case

Environmental Risk Management at Chevron Corporation

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Monica M Mandelli and Jennifer Burns

Chevron Corp., headquartered in San Francisco, manages a worldwide, vertically integrated value chain from the oil well to the gasoline station. Mishandling of oil at any stage of production can damage the natural environment, human health, corporate profitability, or... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Generation; Supply Chain Management; Metals and Minerals; Management Systems; Management Teams; Trade; Vertical Integration; Energy Industry; Mining Industry

January 2018
Case

Trian Partners' Proxy Contest at Procter & Gamble

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

In July 2017, activist hedge fund Trian Partners announced that it was launching a proxy fight at U.S. consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble. P&G would be the largest company ever subjected to a proxy fight, as Trian sought to have its CEO, Nelson Peltz, elected to the... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

June 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Railroads and the Beginnings of Modern Management (Abridged)

By: Thomas K. McCraw

Consists of three selections by the most innovative of the early American railroad managers describing the organizational structures and control systems they created. Questions to be asked are: why and how such managerial techniques were created, how well they worked,... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Rail Transportation; Organizational Structure; Management Systems; Rail Industry; United States

26 Sep 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Dangerous Expectations: Breaking Rules to Resolve Cognitive Dissonance

Keywords: by Celia Moore, S. Wiley Wakeman & Francesca Gino

Michael E. Porter

Michael Porter is an economist, researcher, author, advisor, speaker and teacher. Throughout his career at Harvard Business School, he has brought economic theory and strategy concepts to bear on many of the most challenging problems facing corporations, economies... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; e-commerce industry; health care; information; information technology industry; internet; nonprofit industry; service industry; state government

September 2022
Case

BancoSol: Financial Inclusion in the Perfect Storm

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

In the pandemic, financial inclusion icon BancoSol faces a government-mandated year-long deferral of all loan payments, followed by the sudden Covid death of its CEO. In a Bolivia mired in political turmoil following a failed presidential election, with clients not... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Crisis Management; Management Succession; Business Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Restructuring; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; Bolivia

November 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Lincoln Electric

By: Jordan I. Siegel

The case describes Lincoln Electric's business strategy and incentive system, and it discusses the global strategy choices that the company faces going forward. Lincoln Electric is deciding whether a strong push into India should be the next step in the company's... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Expansion; India

September 1998 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Ethics and Business Practices (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine

Becton Dickinson's Global One-Company Operations Group must decide on the company's global policy on gifts, gratuities, and business entertainment. A central issue is whether the policy should be established centrally and made uniform worldwide or whether it should be... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Ethics; Law; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Global Strategy; Trade; Business or Company Management