Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,716)
- Faculty Publications (469)
- July 2004 (Revised December 2004)
- Case
RelayHealth
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Elizabeth Kind
RelayHealth provides secure, online communications for doctors, patients, and health plans. The company's services include online consultations, prescription renewals, and appointment scheduling. RelayHealth's business model derives subscription revenue from doctors... View Details
- May 2004 (Revised July 2004)
- Case
Clarence Saunders: The Comeback King
By: Nitin Nohria and Bridget Gurtler
Follows the rise and fall of the founder of the modern supermarket, Clarence Saunders. Prior to 1915, all staple shopping took place in the market or general store, where a clerk behind a counter pulled items from shelves for customers , measured them from a barrel, or... View Details
- January 2004
- Background Note
Why Developers Don't Understand Why Consumers Don't Buy
Looks at the psychological biases developers bring to the new product development process. Identifies three reasons why developers may do a poor job of identifying the demand for an innovative, new concept or product: (1) the self-selection bias, (2) differing initial... View Details
- December 2003 (Revised May 2004)
- Case
Sears Auto Centers (A) (Abridged)
By: Lynn S. Paine
In the early 1990s Sears faced and allegations by the California Department of Consumer Affairs that the company's auto repair centers had been overbilling customers and making unnecessary repairs. Top management must evaluate the problem and come up with a plan to... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised April 2004)
- Background Note
Why Consumers Don't Buy: The Psychology of New Product Adoption
Looks at the consumer psychology of new product adoption. Identifies a key reason why consumers do not adopt innovations as quickly as developers think they should--an irrational resistance to behavioral change. Identifies strategies for firms to manage and overcome... View Details
- October 2003 (Revised February 2004)
- Case
Cape Wind
By: John T. Gourville and Kerry Herman
Cape Wind has proposed placing a 170-tower wind farm, with each tower more than 400-feet tall, in Nantucket Sound. Not surprisingly, public reaction is mixed. Some view the wind farm as clean, renewable energy. Others view it as an eyesore and a desecration of a valued... View Details
- January 2003 (Revised September 2007)
- Background Note
A Note on Racing to Acquire Customers
Examines factors that motivate a firm's race to acquire customers in newly emerging markets and explores conditions under which racing strategies are likely to yield attractive returns. Provides a definition of racing behavior, introduces the notion of an optimal level... View Details
- August 2002 (Revised January 2003)
- Case
Siebel Systems: Anatomy of a Sale, Part 1
By: John A. Deighton and Das Narayandas
How does a $2 million software sale happen? This case traces efforts by Siebel Systems to sell lead management software to discount broker Quick & Reilly. The buying process is mapped out over four years. Covers in detail the last six months—from Siebel's initial... View Details
- August 2002 (Revised February 2003)
- Case
Siebel Systems: Anatomy of a Sale, Part 2
By: John A. Deighton and Das Narayandas
How does a $2 million software sale happen? This case traces efforts by Siebel Systems to sell lead management software to discount broker Quick & Reilly. The buying process is mapped out over four years. Covers in detail the last six months--from Siebel's initial... View Details
- August 2002 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Gillette Company (B): Leadership for Change
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and James Weber
Describes the actions and behavior of a new CEO in his first days and weeks as he sets expectations for his top management team and introduces processes and disciplines to begin the turnaround of a global consumer products company. View Details
- August 2002 (Revised June 2006)
- Case
Great Dakota Bank: Online Banking
By: Frances X. Frei, Youngme E. Moon and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar
In 2002, Great Dakota Bank's retail division is considering how heavily it should be promoting the company's online banking service. A recent promotional campaign appears to have significantly increased enrollments in online banking, but it is unclear whether the bank... View Details
- July 2002
- Case
Introducing ... The XFL!
By: Susan M. Fournier, Stephen A. Greyser and Seth Schulman
When the XFL professional football league debuted on February 3, 2001, it generated a Nielsen rating of 10.1, higher than any nationally televised program in a Saturday evening time slot. The next week, ratings plummeted, and by week nine the XFL game earned the title... View Details
- February 2002 (Revised October 2005)
- Case
BMWFilms
By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman
Jim McDowell, VP of marketing at BMW North America, is debating how to follow up the success of his latest marketing campaign, "BMWFilms." This campaign features five short films for the Internet, directed by some of the hottest young directors in Hollywood. By all... View Details
- February 2002 (Revised April 2011)
- Case
The Future of Hybrid Electric Vehicles
By: John T. Gourville, Alice Tzou and David Lane
Set in 2002, this case looks at the potential for hybrid electric vehicles in the United States. Looks at the pressures on the automotive industry to produce a commercially viable, environmentally friendly vehicle and the consumer behavior surrounding purchase of those... View Details
- January 2002 (Revised September 2022)
- Case
Aqualisa Quartz: Simply a Better Shower
By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman
Harry Rawlinson is managing director of Aqualisa, a major U.K. manufacturer of showers. He has just launched the most significant shower innovation in recent history: the Quartz shower. The shower provides significant improvements in terms of quality, cost, and ease of... View Details
- November 2001
- Case
Gold Kist Inc.
By: Ray A. Goldberg and Stephanie Oestreich
An oversupply of poultry causes a major decrease in margins for the company and the industry. How does the only cooperative in the industry respond to short-term and long-term economic pressures? View Details
- October 2001 (Revised March 2002)
- Background Note
Implicit Predictors of Consumer Behavior
By: Gerald Zaltman, Nancy Puccinelli, Kathryn A. Braun and Fred W Mast PHD
An important distinction is drawn in psychology between explicit and implicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge refers to consciously held beliefs about an individual or object that often draws on the remembering of experiences in the past. In contrast, implicit knowledge... View Details
- August 2001 (Revised November 2001)
- Case
Vicinity Corporation: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic
By: Frances X. Frei, David Margalit and Amanda Yelsh
Vicinity uses its Internet and m-commerce technology to help drive traffic into its customers' physical distribution outlets. The company has terrific technology and is seemingly successful in getting more consumers into its customers' stores, yet it is in a precarious... View Details
- February 2001 (Revised September 2005)
- Case
Howard Schultz and Starbucks Coffee Company
By: Nancy F. Koehn
Investigates the entrepreneur's strategic initiatives to develop a mass market for specialty coffee in the 1980s and 1990s. These initiatives included the development of premium products, rapid expansion of company-owned stores--each with attractive retail environments... View Details
- December 2000 (Revised March 2001)
- Background Note
Strategic Use of Music in Marketing, The: A Selective Review
By: Gerald Zaltman and Nancy Puccinelli
Summarizes selected research on music and its impact on mood and shopping behavior, and its impact on the communication of ideas. View Details