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  • 2009
  • Book

Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Organization

By: Ranjay Gulati
In an era of raging commoditization and eroding profit margins, survival depends on resilience: staying one step ahead of your customers. Sure, most companies say they're "customer focused," but they don't deliver solutions to customers' thorniest problems. Why?... View Details
Keywords: Competency and Skills; Customer Focus and Relationships; Profit; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Cooperation
Related
  • 2012
  • Book

Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business

By: Frances Frei and Anne Morriss
Most companies treat service as a low-priority business operation, keeping it out of the spotlight until a customer complains. Then service gets to make a brief appearance—for as long as it takes to calm the customer down and fix whatever foul-up jeopardized the... View Details
Keywords: Customers; Business Ventures
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  • September 2017 (Revised April 2022)
  • Case

Tempur Sealy International (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
This case explores the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms enjoyed a mutually beneficial and commercially prosperous... View Details
Keywords: Porter's 5 Forces; Bargaining Power; Buyer Power; Customer Power; Supplier Power; Negotiations; Value Capture; Consumer Durables; Consumer Discretionary; Mattresses; B-2-B; Industry Dynamics; Compensation; Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Competition; Cooperation; Private Equity; Distribution; Negotiation; Industry Structures; Customers; Relationships; Leadership; Distribution Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; South Africa
Related
  • 07 Apr 2020
  • Research & Ideas

What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis

crisis? Consumers expect quite a bit from their brand partners during a crisis, seeing them as critical partners to governments, non-profit relief organizations, and NGOs because of the powerful platform a strong brand delivers for... View Details
Keywords: by Jill Avery and Richard Edelman
  • 27 Sep 2010
  • Research & Ideas

Customer Experts Lose Influence When Teams are Pressured

for relevant customization and adaptation to specific client needs. This is a significant aspect of maintaining ongoing client relationships. I observed that teams under heightened pressure tend to shut out dissenting points of view and... View Details
Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert
  • February 2025
  • Supplement

Intenseye: Powering Workplace Health and Safety with AI (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Shane Greenstein and Sadika El Hariri
Intenseye used its $25 million series A funds to refine and expand its digital safety platform while refining its target markets and ideal customer profile. As the company implemented new approaches to create value for its clients, such as developing an AI-powered... View Details
Keywords: Safety Performance; Occupational Safety; Innovation; Safety; Operations; Health; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science; Digital Transformation; Supply Chain Management; Performance Improvement; Entrepreneurship; Product Development; Customer Relationship Management; Value Creation; Venture Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; United States; Europe; Middle East; Turkey
Related
  • September 2017 (Revised April 2022)
  • Supplement

Tempur Sealy International (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty
This case explores the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms enjoyed a mutually beneficial and commercially prosperous... View Details
Keywords: Porter's 5 Forces; Bargaining Power; Buyer Power; Customer Power; Supplier Power; Negotiations; Value Capture; Private Equity; Consumer Durables; Consumer Discretionary; Mattresses; B-2-B; Industry Dynamics; Leadership; Compensation; Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Competition; Cooperation; Distribution; Negotiation; Industry Structures; Customers; Relationships; Distribution Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; South Africa
Related
  • April 2022
  • Teaching Note

Tempur Sealy International (A, B & C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 718-422, 718-423, and 718-424. The cases explore the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms... View Details
Keywords: Porter's 5 Forces; Bargaining Power; Buyer Power; Customer Power; Supplier Power; Negotiations; Value Capture; Private Equity; Consumer Durables; Consumer Discretionary; Mattresses; B-2-B; Industry Dynamics; Leadership; Compensation; Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Competition; Cooperation; Distribution; Negotiation; Industry Structures; Customers; Relationships; Distribution Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; South Africa
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  • 21 Jul 2003
  • Research & Ideas

Don’t Get Buried in Customer Data—Use It

With the advent of customer relationship management (CRM) in the late 1990s, companies came to believe that by using technology to tailor their offerings to individual consumers' needs, customer loyalty—and... View Details
Keywords: by Jean Ayers
  • 12 Oct 1999
  • Research & Ideas

Bright Ideas: The Creative Power of Groups

The camel has long been the punch line of the riddle, "Name the animal designed by a committee." But taking a closer look at the features that allow this oddly shaped creature to survive in harsh desert conditions, one can draw a much kinder conclusion about... View Details
Keywords: by Laurie Joan Aron
  • December 1994 (Revised February 1995)
  • Case

Anne Livingston and Power Max Systems (A): Interviewing with the PowerPlayer Software Engineering Team

Follows the entry and early experiences of engineer Anne Livingston, an African American woman, as she joins Power Max Systems in 1991 as software engineering manager for the new product development group. Power Max is facing stiff competition and wants to be first to... View Details
Keywords: Race; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Culture; Gender; Information Technology Industry
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  • 2011
  • Book

The Ultimate Question 2.0: How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World

By: Fred Reichheld and Rob Markey
Defines the fundamental concept of Net Promoter, explaining its connection to your company’s growth and sustained success.
*Presents the closed-loop feedback process and demonstrates its power to energize employees and delight customers.
*Shares new and... View Details
Keywords: Customer Centric Initiative; Customer Defection; Customer Engagement; Customer Experience; Customer Focused Organization; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Network Effects
Related
  • September 2017 (Revised June 2021)
  • Supplement

Tempur Sealy International (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
Analyzes the commercial relationship between Tempur Sealy and Mattress Firm following the events discussed in the (B) case. View Details
Keywords: Porter's 5 Forces; Bargaining Power; Buyer Power; Customer Power; Supplier Power; Negotiations; Value Capture; Consumer Durables; Consumer Discretionary; Mattresses; B-2-B; Industry Dynamics; Compensation; Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Competition; Cooperation; Private Equity; Distribution; Negotiation; Industry Structures; Leadership; Customers; Relationships; Distribution Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; South Africa
Related
  • September 2017 (Revised June 2021)
  • Supplement

Tempur Sealy International (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
Analyzes the commercial relationship between Tempur Sealy and Mattress Firm following the events discussed in the (A) case. View Details
Keywords: Porter's 5 Forces; Bargaining Power; Buyer Power; Customer Power; Supplier Power; Negotiations; Value Capture; Consumer Durables; Consumer Discretionary; Mattresses; B-2-B; Industry Dynamics; Compensation; Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Competition; Cooperation; Private Equity; Distribution; Negotiation; Industry Structures; Customers; Relationships; Leadership; Distribution Industry; Manufacturing Industry
Related
  • 05 Jun 2019
  • Research & Ideas

If Your Customers Don't Care What You Charge, What Should You Charge?

An estimated 60 percent of retail gasoline customers return to the same gas station to refuel, without comparison shopping, according to a recent study. Driven by factors such as habit, brand loyalty, switching costs, and search (which... View Details
Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Energy
  • Blog

Tech Power at HBS: Faculty Boost Technology Ecosystem

HBS professors are widely recognized for their role as thought leaders. But recently, two of our faculty members were recognized for their role in advancing the technology sector itself: The Boston Globe included Youngme E. Moon and Frances X. Frei in a list of "Tech... View Details
  • 23 Apr 2001
  • Research & Ideas

Brand Power from Wedgwood to Dell: Part Two

capability and into powerful demand-side connections with consumers. One of the most interesting lessons of the recent fallout in dot-com companies concerns the demand side. No matter how efficient the technology, if it cannot be... View Details
Keywords: by Martha Lagace
  • 20 May 2019
  • Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

the risk of alienating employees and potential recruits who don’t hold the same beliefs. Activism can present an even more significant risk in terms of how customers will respond. Lessons for managers The results suggest that CEOs must... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
  • 06 Sep 2011
  • Research & Ideas

The Power of Leadership Groups for Staying on Track

Harvard Business School for 1,500 participants, and reviewed interviews of 50 group members, I have learned just how powerful these groups can be. They can make a meaningful contribution to developing a new generation of values-centered,... View Details
Keywords: by Bill George
  • 10 Oct 2018
  • Research & Ideas

The Legacy of Boaty McBoatface: Beware of Customers Who Vote

public. Boaty blowback highlights the potential danger of giving consumers the power to vote, even though customer engagement is a primary goal of almost every social media strategy. The problem: Even though... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising