Mass Customization - Publications - Faculty & Research

14 Aug 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 14, 2018

emerged from its first sales season with two distinct customer segments: the High Net Worth (HNW) woman and the High Earner, Not Rich Yet (HENRY) woman. As it began to scale its operations, it had to decide which View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

10 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Is Groupon Good for Retailers?

would sign up en masse to buy the same product, and the price of the product would fall as more and more customers signed up. After about a year and a half, Mercata shut its doors. Other than timing, what is... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising; Technology

25 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model

information technology to directly match consumer demand to dispersed production by a collection of factories in China. This method of reaching customers should inspire any business that provides products or services that come from many... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Fashion; Retail; Consumer Products

Research Summary

Social Innovation

My intellectual agenda addresses this question: How to innovate to solve the world’s toughest challenges? Out of the earth’s population, about 2 billion can afford good products whereas the remaining 5 billion are poor and therefore are nonconsumers.... View Details

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

It Came in the First Ships: Capitalism in America

became moderately wealthy, then that might be a sign of God's grace, so long as customers were not cheated or overcharged. The line between virtuous profit and damnable avarice was blurry then, as it remains today. But the Puritans had an... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas K. McCraw

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

even excluding COVID-19 deaths) Mental health crises Secondary health problems from neglect/postponement of routine/preventative care Mass unemployment Dining, entertainment, arts, tourism industries—the whole experiential... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Building a Better Buyer-Seller Relationship

increased sales over time. "If you get in with fewer customers for a long time, you get a greater share of wallet from the fewer customers" (as opposed to more mass market customers), he said. 2)... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

12 Apr 2016
First Look

April 12, 2016

customers rather than take possession of and responsibility for the products or services in question, they have inherently low cost structures and fat gross margins. They are highly defensible once established, owing to network effects.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 14, 2017

world’s largest long-distance carpooling company—reflected on the evolution of their venture and the way forward. BlaBlaCar had reached critical mass and size; yet staying still was not going to be enough to be relevant and competitive in... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Birth of the American Salesman

were rooted in craftwork traditions, seldom exhibited a similar interest in mass selling campaigns. Salesmanship flourished in America for cultural reasons as well. In a country that, from the outset, held democratic elections and had no... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

18 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

Hazard Warning: The Unacceptable Cost of Toxic Workers

data to decipher traits belonging to toxic workers. The result was anonymized personal data of almost 60,000 workers from 11 firms, about 70 percent of which were based in the United States. The positions were similar front-line, customer... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

make raising restaurant employee wages nearly impossible absent increased menu prices, which customers hard hit by the crisis are likely to reject. "The most important thing we are all facing is really the confidence and comfort that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

21 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 21

been engaged in a large-scale, centrally coordinated national anti-Malaria campaign, which has become a model in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper aims at quantifying the individual and macro-level benefits of this campaign, which involved View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 2, 2019

are being caused by rapid technological changes on the one hand and tectonic shifts in customer preferences and societal behaviour on the other. Marketing knowledge and practices have to advance at a significantly higher pace to address... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

30 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Racial Bias Might Be Infecting Patient Portals. Can AI Help?

care knowledge and technological capabilities among patients, according to Stern and her coauthor, HBS doctoral researcher Mitchell Tang. “There is more to unpack here and potentially something to remedy,” Tang says. The article, written with Rebecca Mishuris, Chief... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Health

30 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

The Future of IT Consulting

expertise in designing and coding complex computer applications. SAP and Seibel have developed unique package software, and have provided specialized consulting services to assist in the implementation of the package software. A third driver has been the building to... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston; Consulting

12 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 12, 2019

study how transparency into the levels and changes of relative sustainability performance affects consumer choices. Our work considers two forms of transparency: process transparency, in which customers receive information about the... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Porter’s Perspective: Competing in the Global Economy

with the local economy. Another approach to cluster development is to attract multinationals that will become demanding customers of local suppliers. After that, it's essential to create specialized training programs in the local... View Details

Keywords: Re: Michael E. Porter

January 2016
Case

Haiti Hope: Innovating the Mango Value Chain

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

This case study examines a market-based approach to economic development through the eyes of NGO TechnoServe's project manager, implementing a US$9.5 million five-year public-private partnership between Coca-Cola, IDB, and USAID. The case ends at the beginning of the... View Details

Citation

Educators

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21 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

The Pandemic Conversations That Leaders Need to Have Now

top-down, generic approaches to communicating their plans with their employees. Although mass emails and newsletters are not problematic in and of themselves, they are no substitute for the kind of communication this moment calls... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams, and Katherine Connolly Baden

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