Publications

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January–February 2018
Article

Some Customers Would Rather Leave Without Saying Goodbye

By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Bruce G.S. Hardie

We investigate the increasingly common business setting in which companies face the possibility of both observed and unobserved customer attrition (i.e., “overt” and “silent” churn) in the same pool of customers. This is the case for many online-based services where... View Details

Keywords: Churn; Retention; Attrition; Customer Base Analysis; Hidden Markov Models; Latent Variable Models; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior

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October 2024
Article

Canary Categories

By: Eric Anderson, Chaoqun Chen, Ayelet Israeli and Duncan Simester

Past customer spending in a category is generally a positive signal of future customer spending. We show that there exist “canary categories” for which the reverse is true. Purchases in these categories are a signal that customers are less likely to return to that... View Details

Keywords: Churn; Churn Management; Churn/retention; Assortment Planning; Retail; Retailing; Retailing Industry; Preference Heterogeneity; Assortment Optimization; Customers; Retention; Consumer Behavior; Forecasting and Prediction; Retail Industry

August 2017
Article

Relationship Between Labor and Delivery Unit Management Practices and Maternal Outcomes

By: Avery C. Plough, Grace Galwin, Zhonghe Li, Stuart R. Lipsitz, Shehnaz Alidina, Natalie J. Henrich, Lisa R. Hirschhorn, William R. Berry, Atul A. Gawande, Doris Peter, Rory McDonald, Donna L. Caldwell, Janet H. Muri, Debra Bingham, Aaron B. Caughey, Eugene R. Declercq and Neel T. Shah

OBJECTIVE: To define, measure, and characterize key competencies of managing labor and delivery units in the United States and assess the associations between unit management and maternal outcomes. METHODS: We developed and administered a management measurement... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Evaluation; Outcome or Result; United States

March 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Background Note

Winning Legally: Using the Law to Create Value, Marshal Resources, and Manage Risk

Describes the four components of legal astuteness: the attitudes, proactive approach, judgment, and knowledge necessary to manage the legal aspects of business effectively. Identifies a number of legal tools legally astute managers can use during different phases of... View Details

Keywords: Management; Law; Business Strategy

13 Mar 2012
News

Pepsi Chief Shuffles Management to Soothe Investors

September 2009
Case

The Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions, Inc.

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Stephen P. Bradley and Natalie Kindred

Through its uniquely proactive approach to medical malpractice risk management, the Risk Management Foundation (RMF) has decreased claims—and premiums—for the Harvard hospitals it insures. The RMF is the captive medico-legal insurer of the Harvard medical institutions... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Risk Management; Performance Improvement; Safety; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; Boston

06 Oct 2016
HBS Seminar

John Van Reenen, MIT Sloan School of Management

30 Apr 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Brand Management

disagrees. Key concepts include: Most B2B marketers cannot economically address thousands of small businesses using the traditional direct sales force. If left unattended, individual managers will each do their own ad hoc marketing. B2B... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Sports; Publishing; Auto

06 Mar 2013
What Do You Think?

Who Should Manage Our Work Time?

stuff." In much more detail Pozen advises us on such things as creating and following standard routines so that part of our working life is on "automatic" as well as proactively managing the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

04 May 2007
What Do You Think?

How Do Managers Think?

proactively seek out the doctor . A good manager needs to get more involved in 'preventative medicine .'" Akhil Mehta, before observing similarities, pointed out that " human life is almost never... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

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

13 Apr 2021
Book

How Inclusive Managers Create Glass-Shattering Organizations

most influence on group deliberation, even when white women or people of color in the group have more expertise. Making a proactive effort to tap into the knowledge of others, as these managers did, can... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

Web

Product Management - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Product Management Course Number 1765 Senior Lecturer Sara McKinley Torti Spring; Q3; 1.5 credits Exam Career Focus: This half course provides an introduction to product management, focused primarily on improving and... View Details

January – February 2012
Article

How Managers Use Multiple Media: Discrepant Events, Power, and Timing in Redundant Communication

By: Paul Leonardi, Tsedal Neeley and Elizabeth M. Gerber

Several recent studies have found that managers engage in redundant communication; that is, they send the same message to the same recipient through two or more unique media sequentially. Given how busy most managers are, and how much information their subordinates... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Media; Information; Groups and Teams; Projects; Management Style; Power and Influence; Motivation and Incentives; Technology

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06 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

18 Tips Managers Can Use to Lead Through COVID's Rising Waters

Since March, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge has posted more than 80 stories and research papers on the topic of COVID-19, most targeted at managers and the new challenges they face. That's a lot of information to digest. To... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 2016 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Essent: From a State-Owned Utility to a Commercial Company

By: Ananth Raman and Elena Corsi

Patrick Lammers, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for the Dutch energy company Essent NV, once a state-owned company, was pleased with the progress Essent’s consumer (“B2C”) business had made: Earnings Before Income Tax (EBIT) for B2C had gone from a loss of €18 million... View Details

Keywords: Lean Management; Operation Management; Service Management; Commercialization; Operations; Management; Energy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Performance; Energy Industry; Europe