Publications

18 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

Identify Emerging Market Opportunities

example, because the data sources and credit histories that firms draw on in the West don't exist in emerging markets. Market research and advertising are in their infancy in developing countries, and it's difficult to find the deep databases on consumption patterns... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu & Jayant Sinha

26 Jun 2000
Research & Ideas

Presentation Round-Up

noted that telecommunications has traditionally been a very segmented market, but from a macro standpoint it is consolidating as well. The prospective merger between Internet portal Lycos and Spanish Internet service provider Terra... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Kenneth Liss; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

15 Nov 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

Connecting Goals and Go-To-Market Initiatives

the industry you compete in, the market segments where you do (and do not) choose to play, and the nature of the customers that you sell and service. These factors help to determine required sales tasks—that is, what your go-to-market... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

February 2003 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Brioni

By: David E. Bell

Should Brioni, an internationally known, exclusive men's suit manufacturer and retailer extend its line to include women's apparel? The opportunity is to enter a much larger and profitable market. The dangers are: 1) compromising the existing image, and 2) failing to... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Segmentation; Expansion; Profit; Risk Management; Demand and Consumers; Fashion Industry

18 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

Open Innovation Contestants Build AI-Based Cancer Tool

Radiation therapy can be lifesaving for lung cancer patients. The first step, though, is having a trained, skilled oncologist who knows how to best segment or mark off the tumor for radiation. This expertise is vital for targeting the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health; Medical Devices & Supplies

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Setting the Stage: A Young Scholar at HBS

University of Pennsylvania? Wadhwani: My research focuses on the historical development of banking services for ordinary Americans. In the early nineteenth century, banks primarily served the commercial financing needs of merchants, and a relatively small View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard; Banking; Financial Services

January 2000
Case

Talbots - A Classic

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

This case traces why the $1 billion women's clothing retailer decided to attract younger customers, what went wrong, and the actions taken to recover. By the end of 1999, the company has reestablished itself and faces several growth opportunities and must decide on the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Crisis Management; Product Positioning; Problems and Challenges; Segmentation; Fashion Industry

October 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Boston Beer Company: Samuel Adams, Brewmaster Leading a Revolution

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mollie H. Carter

Boston Beer Co. revolutionized the beer industry by identifying and responding to a new consumer segment. Using the excess capacity in the brewing industry to establish contract brewing arrangements and an extremely capable sales force, the company opened the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Leadership; Product Marketing; Product Development; Production; Quality; Salesforce Management; Segmentation; Food and Beverage Industry

November 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

CMR Enterprises

By: Das Narayandas and Mary N. Caravella

Sam Marcus recently purchased a small cabinet-making company, and is looking for dramatic growth. The company competes in commercial and residential construction markets; shortly after the acquisition, the company gains a large new residential customer. The case traces... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Marketing Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Relationships; Segmentation; Construction Industry

01 Mar 2004
What Do You Think?

Are Customer Loyalty Initiatives Worth the Investment?

program, but on whether or not the program is providing significant value to the segment for which it is intended." A third line of thought concerned the impact of rising customer expectations on loyalty initiatives. As Wendy Jameson... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

16 Jul 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Obamacare

segment consumers into four different groups: Confident Rejecters, Cautious Optimists, Stoic Skeptics, and Stressed and Strained. The agency then created different messages for each one—for example, emphasizing affordability for the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

26 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way to Go to Market

where the product is predominantly "digital," the Internet can replace traditional channels at a fraction of the cost. One has to be nuanced about the possibilities provided by the Internet. The selection of the market segment... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 2010 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Bridge International Academies: A School in a Box

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Katharine Lee

Bridge International was founded in 2007 as a for-profit social enterprise to address the educational needs of poor children in Africa. Ten schools were operational in Kenya by 2010. The plan was to franchise nearly 3,000 schools all over Africa. The case is meant to... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Education; Growth and Development; Franchise Ownership; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Social Enterprise; Segmentation; Education Industry; Africa; Kenya

December 1990 (Revised December 1993)
Case

Australian Paper Manufacturers (A)

By: David M. Upton and Joshua D. Margolis

Describes a company which has broken an unwritten cordial agreement amongst the three Australian paper manufacturers to split the domestic market three ways by market segment. The company invades another's "territory" with advanced technology, quality, and,... View Details

Keywords: Agreements and Arrangements; Production; Information Technology; Ethics; Situation or Environment; Product Development; Segmentation; Expansion; Financial Strategy; Pulp and Paper Industry; Australia

17 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?

delivered to my house tonight, where it will be set up and ready to go. Lal: Furniture is often sold that way today. It's a showroom where your order is customized and delivered in six weeks. Q: What retail segments are most vulnerable to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

17 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

Beyond Pajamas: Sizing Up the Pandemic Shopper

the new shoppers aren’t “higher quality” in terms of basket size. The takeaway for apparel retailers With the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures, a segment of new online customers has emerged in the apparel industry. These customers... View Details

Keywords: by Ayelet Israeli, Eva Ascarza, and Laura Castrillo; Retail

20 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, March 20, 2018

Harbour Group invested in Babcock & Wilcox, an energy and construction company. Blue Harbour developed an investment thesis around Babcock & Wilcox spinning off its non-nuclear, coal-based energy segments and focused on being a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Dec 2004
Research & Ideas

How an Order Views Your Company

profitable parts of their business. It also enabled them to segment different types of order to improve their efficiency. Taken together, the improvements in efficiency and the greater focus on highly profitable orders lowered costs and... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston

September 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

QuickBase

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Mark Szigety

Describes the challenge that engineers and marketing executives at Intuit Corp. faced when finding markets and applications for their QuickBase product. The breakthrough occurred when they abandoned their conventional modes of market segmentation, and instead strove to... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Engineering; Product Marketing; Segmentation; Jobs and Positions; Consumer Behavior; Information Technology Industry