Publications
Publications
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(688)
- Faculty Publications (66)
- October 2004
- Case
Sales Force Training at Arrow Electronics (B)
By: Jason R. Barro, Brian J. Hall and Aaron Zimmerman
Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier supplement. View Details
- 2004
- Book
Birth of a Salesman: The Transformation of Selling in America
This book chronicles the remarkable metamorphosis of the American salesman from itinerant amateur to trained expert. From the mid-nineteenth century to the eve of World War II, the development of sales management transformed an economy populated by peddlers and... View Details
- September 2003 (Revised May 2006)
- Case
Eyeblaster: Enabling the Next Generation of Online Advertising
By: Elie Ofek
Eyeblaster management has to decide on the best course of action to sustain its momentum from enabling online rich media advertising. Pressure from competitors is forcing the company to re-evaluate its previous marketing strategy that focused primarily on getting... View Details
- December 2001 (Revised April 2002)
- Case
Synthes
Synthes is the recognized leader in the U.S. orthopedic implant market, with a 50% market share in the metallic plates, rods, and screws used to fix severe bone fractures. Synthes' marketplace strength lies in the strength of its sales force and in the quality and... View Details
- July 2001 (Revised October 2002)
- Case
Centra Software
By: John A. Deighton and Laetitia Pouliquen
Centra is a pioneer in software eLearning. It is debating how to modify its go-to-market strategy, adding telesales to improve sales force productivity. At the same time, its market is evolving, and management thinks it may be about to "cross the chasm" in Geoffrey... View Details
- February 2001 (Revised January 2002)
- Case
Tracmail
By: Paul W. Marshall, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Suma Raju
Tracmail, an online customer service company based in India, is trying to handle support services (e-mail and chat) for companies worldwide. In its quest to break into global markets, Tracmail is contemplating a joint venture with a U.S. call center. Tracmail is also... View Details
- October 2000 (Revised April 2005)
- Case
Z Corporation
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Matthew C. Lieb and Tom Clay
Tom Clay, president of Z Corp., and founder/CEO Marina Hatsopolous must decide between using a direct sales force or using a value-added reseller to begin selling the company's new 3-D printing prototype manufacturing system. View Details
- August 2000 (Revised September 2005)
- Case
Callaway Golf Company
By: Rajiv Lal and Edie Prescott
Describes a situation faced by Mr. Ely Callaway, the 80-year-old founder, chairman, and CEO of Callaway Golf Co., in the fall of 1999. After a decade of stunning success with the marketing concept, Callaway suffered a significant loss and witnessed a steep decline in... View Details
- March 2000 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Hewlett Packard--Computer Systems Organization: Selling to Enterprise Customers
By: Das Narayandas and Robert C. Dudley
In late 1996, Manuel Diaz, head of Worldwide Sales for Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Computer Systems Organization (CSO), is reviewing the results of an audit of HP's enterprise customer management approach with the objective of identifying market and organizational... View Details
- November 1999 (Revised July 2003)
- Case
Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
By: Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen
Pre-Paid Legal Services' business model reveals two key issues--managing the sales force and sales growth and managing claims. Students analyze the economics of the business and consider how to measure firm performance, how to evaluate and reward the sales force, and... View Details
- March 1998 (Revised July 2000)
- Case
InPart
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Michael J. Roberts and Jon Biotti
Stacey Lawson, HBS 1996, started a CAD parts representations database company to help designers and engineers with the design process. The company has completed its product and is starting to sell it. The case examines issues involving the organization of the sales... View Details
- March 1998 (Revised December 2000)
- Case
Siebel Systems (A)
By: Michael J. Roberts, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Nicole Tempest
The case describes the early evolution of Siebel Systems, a sales force automation software company, focusing on issues surrounding Siebel's use of systems integrators as implementation partners and the relationship between implementation and the selling function. View Details
- March 1998 (Revised June 1999)
- Case
DigitalThink: Building a Sales Force
By: Michael J. Roberts, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Christina L. Darwall
A broad set of issues faces a young company in the Internet-based training business as it begins to sell its product to corporate customers. Issues include: profile of attractive candidates, compensation, definition of territory, definition of quotas, and role of... View Details
- August 1996
- Case
Howard, Shea & Chan Asset Management (B); The Partnership Meeting
Continues the plot about growth and sales strategies, and adds interesting pricing and sales compensation elements. The partners' meeting sharpens the disagreements among the five partners, and forces Anne Howard, the managing partner, to develop a clear action plan. View Details
- January 1994
- Case
ABC Sales and Service Division: A Case Study of Personal and Organizational Transformation
By: D. Quinn Mills, Brock W. Orwig, Janet M. Pumo, Todd C. Stilson and Richard C. Wei
In the midst of dramatic changes in the information systems industry and declining profits at the ABC Co., the vice president in charge of the sales and service division, Jeff, and his managers attempt to transform their division. The transformation gets off to a good... View Details
- September 1993
- Supplement
Manufacturing at ALZA: The Right Prescription? (C)
ALZA, a drug delivery company, considers marketing its own and other companies' products. The primary issue is whether to build an internal sales force focused on a few niche markets, to finance a sales force through alliances, or to acquire a marketing company. View Details
- April 1993 (Revised July 1994)
- Case
MathSoft, Inc. (A)
MathSoft's VP of sales has doubled the size of the company's direct field sales force to support the launch of a new, high-end workstation software product priced at almost $9,000. However, sales of the new product are far below plan. At the same time, the VP of... View Details
- April 1991 (Revised March 2017)
- Teaching Note
Mary Kay Cosmetics: Sales Force Incentives (A) and (B)
By: Robert Simons
Teaching Note for (9-190-103) and (9-190-122). View Details
- September 1990 (Revised January 1992)
- Case
Procter & Gamble Japan (A)
Ten years after entering Japan, P&G had accumulated over $250 million in operating losses on declining annual sales of $120 million by 1983. The decision facing the president of P&G International: exit, retrench or rebuild the operation? Ironically, the initial entry... View Details
- March 1990 (Revised October 1999)
- Case
Mary Kay Cosmetics: Sales Force Incentives (A)
By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston
Describes the incentive system by which Mary Kay Cosmetics motivates the sales force of 200,000 independent agents who comprise the firm's only distribution channel. Illustrates the powerful effect on sales-force behavior that results when creative types of employee... View Details