Custom - Publications - Faculty & Research

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Industrial Giant

GMBuyPower.com, which enables customers to order cars online. The second is the development of its OnStar technology, which, according to the company's 1999 annual report, will enable the first "Web car." 72 The third change is... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, Davis Dyer & Frederick Dalzell; Manufacturing

01 Mar 2018
News

Money (Actually) Can Buy Happiness

found that when you get a $25 bonus for yourself, not much happens. But if you get $25 to spend on a teammate, it makes you happier, and in some cases, it can also improve the coordination of the team. On the customer side, we’ve done... View Details

Keywords: April White

Web

Paul Baier | Baker Library

Paul Baier MBA 1994, PurchasingCenter.com, Excara Play Video duration: 57:53 Paul Baier, HBS 1994. Interview conducted in June 2002 Paul Baier, HBS 1994, launched several entrepreneurial ventures. His first, Compare.com, enabled customers... View Details

01 Sep 2008
News

Say “Green Cheese”

be shared. Newsweek noted that about three-quarters of Shutterfly’s customers are women because they typically serve as their families’ “chief memories officer.” View Details

Keywords: News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Printing and Related Support Activities; Manufacturing

May 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Allison J. Wigen and Emily Tedards

Michael Ku joined Pfizer in 2011, after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. His mission was to drive the digital transformation of the company’s clinical supply chain, but he knew he had to start with the culture. Over the next eight... View Details

Citation

Educators

Purchase

08 Mar 2012
Research & Ideas

Unplugged: What Happened to the Smart Grid?

efficiency, remote troubleshooting, and customer personalization—has been delayed despite wide acceptance by many experts that the existing power system is falling far short of America's energy needs. In 2009, energy demand in the United... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Energy; Utilities

11 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Adding Time to Activity-Based Costing

McKinsey to found Acorn Systems where he developed software to incorporate time equations into ABC. The software modeled how, for example, the time to process a customer order would vary depending on whether it was a standard or a View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

01 Oct 2001
News

Q&A: Orin Smith

revolutionized the way Americans drink coffee. In his spare time, he enjoys golf and skiing, and names a Seattle Starbucks location in his Capitol Hill neighborhood as his favorite store. Customers might even enjoy a double-tall-nonfat... View Details

Keywords: Hanna, Julia; Hospitality; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

Clarence Saunders

Having made a name for himself as a grocery wholesaler, Saunders decided to embark on a plan of revolutionizing the common supermarket. Removing unnecessary clerks, creating elaborate aisle displays and rearranging the store to force View Details

Keywords: Retail

Cedric H. Rieman

Rieman posted ten consecutive years of top level financial performance as head of Gardner-Denver. Under his leadership, Gardner-Denver expanded its base of industrial machinery customers and doubled both revenues and earnings. While it... View Details

Keywords: Fabricated Goods

01 Dec 2017
News

2017 in Finance: Helping Consumers Improve Their Financial Life

Large consumer banks have historically collected a lot of data on their customers, which they have used to sell standardized products. Increasingly, however, we have seen new entrants using customer data to help the consumer and provide... View Details

Keywords: Omer Ismail (MBA 2007), chief commercial officer, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, the firm’s digital consumer financial services business; Finance

01 Mar 2018
News

What I Do: Philippe Hellich (MBA 1996)

Founded in Sweden in 1943, IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer, outfitting dorm rooms and designer homes around the globe. A company that engages nearly a billion customers every year and employs over 194,000 workers in 49... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; illustrations by Peter and Maria Hoey

27 Sep 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Large-Scale Demand Estimation with Search Data

Keywords: by Tomomichi Amano, Andrew Rhodes, and Stephan Seiler; Retail

Article

Product Positioning in a Two-Dimensional Vertical Differentiation Model: The Role of Quality Costs

By: Dominique Lauga and Elie Ofek

We study a duopoly model where consumers are heterogeneous with respect to their willingness to pay for two product characteristics and marginal costs are increasing with the quality level chosen on each attribute. We show that while firms seek to manage competition... View Details

Keywords: Duopoly and Oligopoly; Customers; Quality; Product Positioning; Competition; Management; Cost; Product

Citation

Find at Harvard

Purchase

October 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

New Economy Ethics: YouKnowIt.com

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Kim Slack

Entrepreneur Janice Schwartz is hoping to grow her start-up company by creating a technical advisory board and compensating members with discounted company stock. Schwartz is considering six candidates that can help her online education company in a variety of ways: as... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Crime and Corruption; Customers; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Governing and Advisory Boards; Media; Networks; Internet

Citation

Educators

Purchase

diversified financial services enterprise with over $30 billion in assets. His deep commitment to customer service and concern for employee satisfaction were recognized by industry analysts who often ranked USAA as the best managed... View Details

Keywords: Finance

Albert H. Gordon

internationally when he opened Kidder, Peabody offices in Hong Kong and Japan. Known for his integrity, commitment to employees, and customer dedication, Gordon was considered one of the most respected icons on Wall Street for half a... View Details

Keywords: Finance

November 2016
Case

Pete & Gerry's

By: Jose Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

Citation

Educators

Purchase

McConnell was a pioneer in door-to-door selling. With Avon, he created a significant earning opportunity for housewives and other women before they won the right to vote. His products were sold by women in the communities where they and their View Details

Keywords: Personal Care & Home Products

December 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Bunge: Poised for Growth

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

As CEO of the world's largest oilseed processor, Alberto Weisser of Bunge must not only decide how quickly to expand in fast-growing markets of Eastern Europe and Asia, but also how best to leverage the firm's global footprint and leadership position. The firm is... View Details