Publications

16 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 16

Cases & Course MaterialsChina Mobile's Rural Communications Strategy Harvard Business School Case 309-034 China Mobile was the world's leading mobile communications service provider with over 400 million customers. In some cities, its... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

Ureed.com: The Marketplace for Language

By: Ashley V. Whillans

This case explores the growth of Ureed, an online marketplace for translation services that is powered by a workforce consisting of remote freelancers who are based in the United Arab Emirates. Nour Al Hassan, the founder and CEO faced the challenge of how best to... View Details

Keywords: Language Translation; Freelancers; Remote Work; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Management; Motivation and Incentives; Job Design and Levels

January 2002 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Chapter Enrichment Program Teams at the American Red Cross (A)

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Anita Williams Woolley

The American Red Cross has a system for structuring, staffing, and leading teams to review its local chapters. Mirroring professional services firms that use teams to serve clients, this system provides detailed guidelines to increase individual team member's... View Details

Keywords: Planning; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Leadership; Organizational Structure

Adi Sunderam is the Willard Prescott Smith Professor of Corporate Finance at Harvard Business School, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Harvard Economics department. He teaches Finance 2 in... View Details

Keywords: financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services

July 1994 (Revised August 1998)
Case

The King-Size Company

By: David E. Bell and Dinny Starr Gordon

King-Size is a mail-order company specializing in apparel for big and tall men. The case describes their operations in some detail. Issues include appropriate marketing decisions and expansion strategy. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Marketing Strategy; Operations; Perception; Expansion; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry

May 2024
Supplement

Forest Park Capital (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Betsy Harbison formed the search fund Forest Park Capital with the intention of purchasing a small business. The case conveys the details of Betsy’s final decision at the terminus of her search, between a software company... View Details

Keywords: Search Fund; Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition; Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; North America; Missouri

March 2021
Article

Last Place Aversion in Queues

By: Ryan W. Buell

This paper documents the effects of last place aversion in queues and its implications for customer experiences and behaviors as well as for operating performance. An observational analysis of customers queuing at a grocery store, and four online studies in which... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Operations; Queues; Reference Effects; Last Place Aversion; Transparency; Customers; Behavior; Satisfaction; Service Operations

Find at Harvard

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April 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Best Buy Co., Inc.: Customer-Centricity

By: Rajiv Lal, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Irina Tarsis

With FY2005 sales of $27.3 billion, Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy Co., Inc. was the leading retailer of consumer electronics, home-office products, and related services in North America. Its operations included the distinct store formats Best Buy, Future Shop in... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Operations; Business Earnings; Financial Crisis; Failure; Business Model; Leadership; Segmentation; Value Creation; Electronics Industry; United States; Canada; Mongolia

01 Dec 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Modeling a Paradigm Shift: From Producer Innovation to User and Open Collaborative Innovation

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin & Eric von Hippel

Paige Tsai

Paige Tsai is PhD candidate in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. Her research broadly examines the effects of job design on employees. Her current projects explore the financial and well-being effects of holding multiple jobs,... View Details

Keywords: service industry; service industry; service industry; service industry

February–March 2013
Article

The Mobile Banking and Payment Revolution

By: Sunil Gupta

Mobile technology is revolutionizing the global banking and payment industry. It offers new opportunities for banks to provide added convenience to their existing customers in developed countries and reach a large population of unbanked customers in emerging markets.... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

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Dr. Jill Avery is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration and C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator in the marketing unit at Harvard Business School. She is a respected authority on branding and brand management, customer relationship... View Details

Keywords: consumer products; arts; advertising; automobiles; retailing; fashion; hotels ＆ motels; food; beverage

Michael Y. Yoshino

Professor Yoshino holds the Herman C. Krannert Chair in Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and is a Director of Research. He specializes in global strategy and management, competitive strategy, and general management. A founding member of the... View Details

April 2002
Background Note

Local Institutions and Global Strategy

By: Tarun Khanna

Explores how location affects a firm's strategy and identifies the different ways location affects industry structure, choice of a firm's position, and the sustainability of that position. The intellectual foundations lie in an appreciation of institutional economics.... View Details

Keywords: Global Range; Global Strategy; Product Positioning; Market Transactions; Industry Structures; Negotiation Deal; Organizational Design; Outcome or Result; Strategic Planning

April 2010 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Tremblant Capital Group

By: Robin Greenwood

Brett Barakett, CEO and founder of Tremblant Capital Group, a New York–based hedge fund, must decide what to do with his fund's position in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which has dropped in value by more than 40% in recent months. Tremblant is a hedge fund that... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Behavioral Finance; Stocks; Investment Funds; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)