Publications
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- 2021
- Book
The Heart of Business—Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism
By: Hubert Joly and Caroline Lambert
A remarkable turnaround by a leader with a remarkable philosophy: Find your noble purpose. Put people at the center. Unleash human magic.
"It was fall in Minnesota. It was getting cold and we were supposed to die." This is how Hubert Joly describes the early,... View Details
"It was fall in Minnesota. It was getting cold and we were supposed to die." This is how Hubert Joly describes the early,... View Details
- June 2020 (Revised October 2020)
- Case
Muddy Waters vs. eHealth: The Debate of a 'Lifetime'
By: Jonas Heese and Cristo Liautaud
In May 2020, an analyst was assessing eHealth’s performance. eHealth was an online / tele-sales broker of health insurance products. The stock had recently hit all-time highs, closing at a peak of $146 on March 4, 2020. But now, May 4, 2020, eHealth traded at $103. The... View Details
- Article
Sales Methodologies and Selling
Sales methodologies play an important role. A common approach in a sales force allows for consistency, dissemination of best practices, acceleration of learning, and it helps the firm to scale because management then has common metrics to monitor and evaluate. However,... View Details
- Article
Can Big-Box Retailers Provide Local Health Care?
National retailers, most notably Walmart and Best Buy, are making big bets on their ability to fill this need for local health care. At first glance, these moves are a bit surprising given that these companies have not traditionally been focused on health care... View Details
- 2017
- Book
HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company
By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff
Find, acquire, and run your own business. Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own start-up seem too risky? There is a radical third path open to you: you can buy a small business and run it as CEO. Purchasing a small... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurs; Small Companies; Small Business Finance; Negotiation; Due Diligence; Sourcing; Search Funds; Search; Deal Sourcing; Deal Structuring; Funnel; Debt Financing; Small And Medium Enterprises; Small Business; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Deal; Ownership; Equity; Borrowing and Debt
- December 2016
- Article
Health Care Needs Real Competition
By: Leemore S. Dafny and Thomas H. Lee
The U.S. health care system is inefficient, unreliable, and crushingly expensive. There is no shortage of proposed solutions, but central to the best of them is the idea that health care needs more competition. In other sectors, competition improves quality and... View Details
- 2015
- Book
What Great Service Leaders Know and Do: Creating Breakthroughs in Service Firms
Based on decades of collective field experiences, the authors present anecdotal evidence in support of eight things that great service leaders know and do. Great service leaders know that (1) leading a breakthrough service is different, and they take steps to ensure... View Details
- Blog Post
Health Care Transparency: The Fox Is Guarding the Chicken Coop in Washington Again
Now that more people can shop directly for their own health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, they have been transformed from potential patients to consumers, and like any other consumers of goods or services, they want to know if what they're buying is any... View Details
- 2013
- Book
The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World
By: Michael Wheeler
A member of the world-renowned Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School introduces the powerful next-generation approach to negotiation. For many years, two approaches to negotiation have prevailed: the "win-win" method exemplified in Getting to Yes by Roger... View Details
Keywords: Negotiation
- 2013
- Tool
Harvard Business Review's Go to Market Tools: Pricing for Profit
By: Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery
What price is right? Figuring out the best price for your product or service can be nerve-wracking. Your new product launch or marketing campaign's success—perhaps even your career advancement—may hinge on the price you choose. So how do you select a price that's... View Details
- June 2012
- Class Lecture
Why You're Not Buying Venezuelan Chocolate: The Provenance Paradox
By: Rohit Deshpandé
A product's country of origin establishes its authenticity. This is the provenance paradox. Consumers associate certain geographies with the best products: French wine, Italian sports cars, Swiss watches. Competing products from other countries - especially developing... View Details
Keywords: Global Business; Branding; Strategic Planning; Strategic Positioning; Emergent Countries; Consumer Perception; Developing Markets; Brands and Branding; Geographic Location; Globalized Markets and Industries; Perception; Emerging Markets; Product Positioning; Global Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Venezuela
- June 2010 (Revised December 2013)
- Supplement
Hang Lung Properties and the Chengdu Decision (B)
By: John D. Macomber, Michael Shih-Ta Chen and Keith Chi-Ho Wong
Second phase of auction for a prime retail development parcel in Chengdu, China. Competition forces the firm to revisit all of its land purchase criteria. Hang Lung Properties is known for rigorous due diligence, for discipline in buying property, and for good... View Details
- December 2009
- Article
Negotiation? Auction? A Deal Maker's Guide
What's the best way to buy or sell an asset? Should you hold an auction and accept the most attractive offer? Or should you identify the most likely prospects and negotiate with them privately? Auctions became increasingly popular after the internet opened wide the... View Details
- June 2009
- Teaching Note
Best Buy Co., Inc.: Customer-Centricity (TN)
By: Rajiv Lal
Teaching Note for [506055]. View Details
- April 2009 (Revised May 2010)
- Case
Urbi and the City Licensee Managers
By: John D. Macomber and Regina Garcia-Cuellar
A leading low income housing builder in Mexico decides which prospective new local partner best extends its advantages in managing twin production lines of homes and clients. URBI has built substantial competitive advantage in the technology and culture that matches... View Details
Keywords: Mortgages; Government and Politics; Housing; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Market Entry and Exit; Production; Supply Chain; Organizational Culture; Franchise Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Advantage; Real Estate Industry; China; India; Mexico; United States
- April 2006 (Revised October 2006)
- Case
Best Buy Co., Inc.: Customer-Centricity
By: Rajiv Lal, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Irina Tarsis
With FY2005 sales of $27.3 billion, Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy Co., Inc. was the leading retailer of consumer electronics, home-office products, and related services in North America. Its operations included the distinct store formats Best Buy, Future Shop in... View Details
- November 2005
- Supplement
Best Buy (B): The Journey Accelerates
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey
Keywords: Electronics Industry
- September 2003 (Revised November 2005)
- Case
Best Buy Co., Inc. (A): An Innovator's Journey
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey
The CEO of Best Buy, a hugely successful retailing company, has hired consulting firm Strategos to imbue the company with an improved innovative capability. The six-month program of experimental learning yields new business ideas and also trains Best Buy employees as... View Details
- December 2001 (Revised April 2003)
- Case
Financing PPL Corporation's Growth Strategy
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Carrie Ferman
PPL Corp., an electric utility in Pennsylvania, needs to finance $1 billion of peaking plants as part of its new growth strategy. In February 2001, Steve May, director of finance for PPL's Global Division, is responsible for recommending a finance plan. After... View Details