Custom - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Apr 2001
News

William Fung: E-Commerce and Efficiency

Internet to improve efficiency and cater to new customers is a clear winner. Group managing director William K.L. Fung (MBA ’72) understands that e-commerce is revolutionary. “But it won’t change what our business is,” he insists. “We’re... View Details

Keywords: Alejandro Reyes; Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade

01 Jun 2022
News

Case Study: Glass Half Full

Amazon and relying instead on Shopify as an online storefront and on ShipBob for fulfillment. Then came the cold shower of reality: Customer acquisition beyond Amazon can prove very expensive. He decided to offer Neutrall’s products there... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Nonstore Retailers; Retail Trade

15 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

Deconstructing the Price Tag

itemizes what it spends on cotton, cutting, sewing, dyeing, finishing, and transporting each shirt, consumers become more attracted to the brand and more likely to purchase. “By unpacking the costs, you have the opportunity to explain everything you did for the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

24 Apr 2014
News

Taking direct action in a time of crisis

Scott Smith (MBA 1991), CEO of Cellect Technologies, talks about how he introduced his oil-spill-cleaning product to customers after the BP disaster in Louisiana (Published April 2014) View Details

September 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Epic: The Future of Health Information Technology

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Brian L. Walker

How should the founder and leadership team of a health IT company with more than 45 years of market leadership prepare for the future, while navigating founder transitions and industry changes? Founded by Judy Faulkner in the late 1970s, Epic pioneered electronic... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Private Ownership; Customer Focus and Relationships; Information Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Health Industry; Electronics Industry; Information Technology Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

Article

Putting Patients First: Social Marketing Strategies for Treating HIV in Developing Nations

By: Zoe Chance and Rohit Deshpandé

It is more than mere coincidence that the highest rates of HIV occur in the world's poorest countries. Of the over 40 million people currently living with HIV, 95 percent are in the developing world. The first part of this paper explores the economics of HIV and... View Details

Keywords: Health Disorders; Developing Countries and Economies; Poverty; Health Care and Treatment; Social Marketing; Perspective; Customer Focus and Relationships; Profit; Africa; Asia; South America

Citation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

October 2005
Case

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool 2005

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman

CEO Mayo Schmidt had just guided his firm through five difficult years. Survival had come with the difficult decision to change the 80-year-old agricultural cooperative into a Canadian business corporation. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP) now faced the future with a... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Capital; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Expansion; Technology Adoption; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada

Citation

Find at Harvard

2016
Working Paper

The Impact of Supplier Inventory Service Level on Retailer Demand

By: Nathan Craig, Nicole DeHoratius and Ananth Raman

To set inventory service levels, suppliers must understand how changes in inventory service level affect demand. We build on prior research, which uses analytical models and laboratory experiments to study the impact of a supplier's service level on demand from... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Forecasting and Prediction; Learning; Consumer Behavior; Service Delivery; Performance Expectations; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Service Industry

Citation

SSRN

Read Now

Web

AI Enhanced Learning: HBS IT and Faculty Collaborate on Research Navigator Bot | Information Technology

students conduct customer interviews, perform market analysis, and present their recommendations. Before Immersion Week can take place, however, students participate in “Industry Week,” conducting intensive research on the industry, the... View Details

01 Sep 2024
News

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Thirteen years ago, Marcelo Claure, founder of wireless services company Brightstar, discussed with a reluctant Steve Jobs the idea of launching a trade-in and recycling program for iPhones. It was a business move that expanded the market and created a new profit... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Meyers

25 Feb 2020
News

Case Study: The Credit Bureau

young professionals) select pieces from curated collections on the company’s website—think Scandinavian, mid-century modern, or industrial looks. Within a week, a white-glove team delivers preassembled pieces and arranges the room. When the lease is up, the View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Real Estate

2010
Chapter

Consumer-Driven Universal Health Care is the Best Solution

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

The best way to achieve universal health insurance coverage is to implement a consumer-controlled system rather than a government-controlled system. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Customers; System

Citation

Article

Consumer-Driven Health Care: Freeing Providers to Innovate

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Customers; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry

Citation

Find at Harvard

04 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Predictions, Prophets, and Restarting Your Business

awareness of cybersecurity issues. Combined with the ability to block ads, the growing costs of acquiring customers online, the experience of “Zoombombing,” and controls on consumer data by EU regulators and others, it’s unclear how much... View Details

Keywords: by Frank V. Cespedes

06 Dec 2017
News

Puzzle Master

towards digital experiences that enhance customer engagement. In an interview with Black Enterprise, Williams-Sonoma Vice President and Head of Strategy & Business Anddria Clack-Rogers Varnado (MBA 2014) said, “Technology has always been... View Details

January 1993 (Revised November 1993)
Case

FCB and Publicis (A): Forming the Alliance

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Two of the largest ad agencies form a partnership to be able to offer their clients global capabilities. After five years, how is the alliance faring? May be used with FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity and (C): The German-Led Network. View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Partners and Partnerships; Globalized Firms and Management; Advertising; Global Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Market Timing; Outcome or Result; Advertising Industry; United States; France; Germany

Citation

Find at Harvard

01 Apr 1999
News

Q & A: Confronting New Technologies: When Doing Right Is Wrong

technologies seldom make sense to managers, given their corporate perspective. There are two reasons for this. First, customers exert tremendous influence over managers' decisions and the directions they pursue. Since View Details

01 Jun 2016
News

How Do I Get Your Job?

units a year, but back when volumes were small, one full container of product would be everything I would have to sell for a quarter. And I had an entire container of goods that came damaged. I had to call up the customers who I fought so... View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Jun 2010
News

Green Dreams: Eco-Friendly Countertops

company’s product throughout its Seattle headquarters. Other customers include NASA, the Ritz-Carlton, Starbucks, Whole Foods, Amazon, Disney’s Epcot theme park, and Google. IceStone has come a long way since Magagnini’s dark day, and not... View Details

Keywords: Sarah Auerbach; Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing