Publications

This paper evaluates the role of mobile phone-based advice in improving managerial practices of small-scale cotton farmers in Gujarat, India. Demand for the service, “Avaaj Otalo,” is strong, even among farmers with very low levels of education. The service... View Details

January 2005 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Zipcar: Influencing Customer Behavior

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

At Zipcar, customers share the use of cars and, as a result, rely on each other for their service experience. Customers are required to keep the car clean and the gas tank full and to return the car on time. Told from the perspective of two customers: Sal Fishman, who... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Governance Controls; Behavior; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Consumer Behavior; Leasing; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States

February 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

YouTube: Time to Charge Users?

By: Anita Elberse and Sunil Gupta

In January 2010, YouTube, the world's largest online video aggregator, was still seeking to become profitable. Was the time right for Google, YouTube's parent company, to charge users seeking to upload content, as some analysts had suggested—and if so, who should be... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Business Model; Cost; Profit; Revenue; Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

George Serafeim is the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He co-leads a Lab, within Harvard's Digital, Data, Design Institute, and serves on the faculty steering commitee of Harvard University's Salata Institute. He... View Details

Keywords: asset management; insurance industry; automobiles; industrial goods; fashion; food; green technology

19 Oct 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Supply Learning on Customer Demand: Model and Estimation Methodology

Keywords: by Nathan Craig, Nicole DeHoratius & Ananth Raman; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion

2010
Working Paper

Do Call Centers Promote Education? Evidence from India

By: Emily Fair Oster and Mary Bryce Millett

Over the last two decades in India there have been large increases in outsourced jobs and large increases in schooling rates, particularly in English. Existing evidence suggests the trends are broadly related. In this paper we explore how localized these impacts are;... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Education; Training; Geographic Location; Technology Industry; India

February 2023
Case

Adyen: Reshaping the Payment Ecosystem

By: Marco Di Maggio, Antonio Moreno and Elena Corsi

A payment services company rethinks its strategy to reach out to a different customer base. View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Entrepreneurship; Service Operations; Market Entry and Exit; Financial Services Industry; Europe

March 2016
Case

M-Pesa: Financial Inclusion in Kenya

By: Rajiv Lal, Lisa Cox and Sarah McAra

M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer service launched in 2007 in Kenya by telecommunications company Safaricom, allowed people to send money via mobile messaging to contacts, such as friends and family, or even to pay for goods and services, such as groceries or a taxi... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Money Transfer; Market Transactions; Emerging Markets; Developing Countries and Economies; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Kenya

27 May 2021
News

Facebook-backed report calls Apple privacy features anticompetitive

July 2012 (Revised January 2014)
Case

HGRM: Bringing Back High Touch Hospitality

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Gabriele Piccoli

The case centers on the dilemma faced by Carlo Fontana, the owner-operator of a small chain of two four-star urban hotels located in Lugano, Switzerland, and the other in Milan, Italy. Having developed an extensive customer service and operations information system,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Customer Relationship Management

September 2010 (Revised December 2011)
Case

WildChina: Taking the Road Less Traveled

By: Mukti Khaire, Daniel Isenberg, Victoria Song and Shirley Spence

This case deals with supplier difficulties faced by WildChina—a travel service provider in China. WildChina is a classic case of a company that is trying to bring a local, within-country product to a market outside the country (in this case, travelers to China from... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Customer Focus and Relationships; Local Range; Globalized Markets and Industries; Supply Chain Management; Conflict Management; Travel Industry; China

October 2001 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Pilgrim Bank (A): Customer Profitability

By: Frances X. Frei and Dennis Campbell

Provides a context in which students can explore managerial decision making that is critically informed by data analysis. The setting is a retail bank and the decision making relates to the bank's policy toward online banking. The management team is evaluating whether... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Customers; Profit; Banking Industry

May 2016 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model

By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride as opposed to the 20-30%... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Transportation; Business Startups; Business Model; Transportation Industry; Boston

14 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Veteran Financial Aid Outlook

services have, or fulfilling a pre-assignment requirement to teach at one of the Service Academies or to be a strategist, my advice is to brace yourself for some loans. This is not unique to Harvard, though.... View Details

September 2007 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Partners in Health: The PACT Project

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Josh Friedman

Partners in Health is a Boston-based, not-for-profit that provides health care to people in some of the poorest regions of the world, including Haiti, Malawi, Rwanda, and Peru. In 1998, PIH established a program (PACT) in Boston to bring care to AIDS and TB patients... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Nonprofit Organizations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Developing Countries and Economies; Service Delivery; Health Industry

2013
Tool

Harvard Business Review's Go to Market Tools: Pricing for Profit

By: Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery

What price is right? Figuring out the best price for your product or service can be nerve-wracking. Your new product launch or marketing campaign's success—perhaps even your career advancement—may hinge on the price you choose. So how do you select a price that's... View Details

Keywords: Quantitative Analysis; Tools; Pricing; Profitability Analysis; Pricing Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Marketing

August 2002 (Revised December 2002)
Case

AOL Europe vs. Freeserve (A)

By: David B. Yoffie and Mary Kwak

AOL Europe must decide how to respond to Freeserve, a free Internet Service Provider (ISP) that has signed up 1.6 million British customers in its first six months. After becoming the leading ISP in the United States, AOL has formed a joint venture with Bertelsmann to... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; France; Germany; United Kingdom; United States