Publications

03 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Marketing Your Way Through a Recession

generous return policies motivate distributors to stock your full product line. This is particularly true with unproven new products. Be careful about expanding distribution to lower-priced channels; doing so can jeopardize existing View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

28 Oct 2021
News

The Toxic Effects of Branding Your Workplace a “Family”

22 Jun 2021
News

How to Re-Onboard Employees Who Started Remotely

June 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

ACHAP (African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships): the Merck/Gates Initiative in Botswana

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

By June 2004, ACHAP, a three-way partnership of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Merck, and the Botswana government, had committed nearly $60 million of the $100 million toward various AIDS education, prevention, and treatment programs. It was time to evaluate... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Evaluation; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

August 1991 (Revised September 1994)
Background Note

What Is Industrial Marketing?

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Discusses the key distinguishing aspects of industrial as compared to consumer marketing. These differences are highlighted for organizational as well as marketing mix aspects. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Marketplace Matching; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Core Relationships; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry

Career Coach

Vincent Dessain

Vincent (HBS MBA’87) draws on more than 25 years of experience as a higher education senior executive at HBS and INSEAD and in the corporate world both in the US and in Europe to counsel students and alumni as they evaluate, prepare for and pursue their career options.... View Details

November 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

PureCircle

By: David E. Bell and Aldo Sesia

In December 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that high-purity Rebaudioside A (Reb A), a natural and calorie-free product that a young company named PureCircle manufactured from the Stevia plant, could be used in beverages, foods, and as a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Investment; Globalization; Leadership; Risk Management; Product Launch; Production; Performance Productivity; Business and Shareholder Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

03 Mar 2014
HBS Case

Decommoditizing the Canned Tomato

long-running family agricultural businesses: emphasizing high-quality raw materials, building close relationships with farmers, and spending on vigorous marketing and advertising. Born To Innovate Born in 1968, Francesco was full of... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Food & Beverage; Retail

22 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Negotiation is Like Jazz

substantive dimension and sidestepping the relational dimension of the manager's statement, the sales rep helped the negotiation proceed smoothly. Managing a negotiation at the micro level means identifying and directing the multiple... View Details

Keywords: by Kathleen L. McGinn

04 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

Jumpstarting Innovation: Using Disruption to Your Advantage

More importantly, when the CEOs were asked "What's your past level of success in managing significant change?" only 15 percent said they had been "very successful." Another 15 percent said they had had "little or... View Details

Keywords: by Lynda M. Applegate

June 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Case

South Africa – a 'Just Energy Transition'

By: Richard Vietor

South Africa, like most other countries, is in the process of reducing its carbon emissions to comply with COP26 and, hopefully, reach net zero emissions by 2050. However, because South Africa relies almost wholly on coal (93%) for electricity, and on coal for... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Economic Development; Climate Change; Coal Mining; Emission Reduction; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Law; Labor and Management Relations; Labor Unions; Natural Resources; Energy Policy; Energy Sources; South Africa

August 2010 (Revised October 2012)
Exercise

To Catch a Vandal: A Power & Influence Exercise

By: Amy J.C. Cuddy, Ruwan Tharindu Gunatilake and Meredith Hodges

This exercise is based on the "Mafia" game created by psychologist Dimma Davidoff, and is designed to give students a broad introduction to multiple theories of influence and to challenge their instincts about which techniques are the most powerful and how they may be... View Details

Keywords: Nonverbal Communication; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Skills; Groups and Teams; Power and Influence; Trust

August 2011
Teaching Note

Before the Fall: Lehman Brothers 2008 (TN)

By: Clayton Rose and Sally Canter Ganzfried

Teaching Note for 309-093. View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Problems and Challenges; Management; Change; Performance; Rank and Position; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Investment Funds; Capital Structure; Service Industry

31 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

A Scholarly Crowd Explores Crowdsourcing

the people who use them. In this area researchers are studying such topics as how manufacturers can best work with users, the organizational strains such relationships create, and the role of "lead users" in identifying... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Jun 2018
News

Ask the Expert: Star Search

retailer Wayfair. “They want to know, ‘Do I feel like I can add value and make a difference?’” Gulliver manages a 300-person team at Wayfair dedicated to helping the growing e-commerce company recruit and retain talent. Her role is... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

February 2008
Case

EFI, Inc. (A)

By: David B. Godes and Lauren Barley

EFI has a unique sales compensation challenge. They cannot allocate sales credit for their core product to individual salespeople. So, they've historically paid the sales force as a team. This has worked out fine, since they've been a near-monopoly seller of a single... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Compensation and Benefits; Performance Evaluation; Groups and Teams; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives

March 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

America Online: Using Information Technology to Better Serve the Customer

By: James I. Cash Jr. and Judy E. Stahl

Mike Connors, president of AOL Technologies, examines several efforts to correct operational problems inhibiting the company's growth. What will need to be done to support growth and counter competition from Prodigy, Compuserv, and Internet-related services? View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Technology Industry