Publications

June 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Back to the Roots

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Leslie K. John

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

Back to the Roots (BTTR) is a start-up with a social mission to “undo food”—to reconnect people to where their food comes from. In late 2017, Back to the Roots cofounders... View Details

Keywords: Organic Food; Startup; Crowdfunding; Sustainability; Transparency; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Product Development; Product Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Making; Food; Food and Beverage Industry

September 2010 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Chances Are? Course Selection at HBS and at Kellogg

By: Hanna Halaburda and Aldo Sesia

The case describes two alternative elective course assignment procedures: Harvard Business School's lottery-based system and Kellogg Graduate School of Management's bidding-based system. The case has been designed to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each system... View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Curriculum and Courses; Higher Education; Auctions; Marketplace Matching; Groups and Teams; Strategy; Education Industry; Sports Industry; United States

August 2010 (Revised May 2015)
Teaching Note

Bank of America: Mobile Banking and Bank of America: Mobile Banking (Abridged)

By: Sunil Gupta

Teaching Note for 510063 and 512082 View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Strategy; Customers; Technology Adoption; Decisions; Product Launch; Mobile Technology; Banking Industry

March 1999 (Revised June 2004)
Case

United States Agency for International Development (USAID): Campfire Program in Zimbabwe

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Jay Sinha

Raises the issue of customer definition in economic development. Because of the multiple stakeholders and their varying interests, understanding where and how value is created is critical to understanding the customer. View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Development Economics; Marketing Strategy; Programs; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Value Creation; Zimbabwe; United States

10 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

Working for a Shamed Company Can Hurt Your Future Compensation

bear more responsibility for whatever scandal occurred. And executives are penalized more if the infractions were recent. For companies in the market to hire, taking a closer look at these candidates could represent a hidden opportunity,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

29 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Helping Women in Mexico to Live Fulfilled and Healthy Lives

for a Mexican health care startup called Moons, leading market entry, in-house production, and operations for Colombia, and interned at SAGANA, an impact investing fund, where she had the opportunity to lead an investment thesis on... View Details

Web

Challenges and Opportunities in the Restaurant Industry - Course Catalog

valuation. It will consider growth potential and exit strategies for successful restaurants and emerging chains, including the advantages and disadvantages of franchising, institutional investment and leverage. We will consider the... View Details

January 1997
Background Note

Buy Low, Sell High: Creating and Extracting Customer Value by Enhancing Organizational Performance

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Provides an integrated framework for creating customer value and managing the firm profitably. Focuses on the use of product/service line management and effective customer service to achieve customer satisfaction and high profitability. View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Framework; Performance Efficiency; Sales; Business Strategy; Customer Satisfaction; Profit; Product Marketing; Business or Company Management

01 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 1

mind-set and will be expected to offer your CEO deep insights on key business decisions. This article explores those developments in more detail and explains other findings about the latest requirements in each of seven C-level jobs: CIO, chief View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Apr 2001
News

The Small Business Difference: How Smaller Companies Manage with Less

Slayton (MBA 1990) discussing the situation he faced in 1997 when he took over as president and CEO of a small company called MySoftware. The firm was a struggling Silicon Valley business that developed and sold software for a variety of small-business needs such as... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

03 Sep 2020
Op-Ed

Why American Health Care Needs Its Own SEC

Commission. Why health care needs an SEC equivalent For more than eight decades, the SEC has brought transparency to the financial system, policing the market to ensure robust disclosure that complies with Generally Accepted Accounting... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger; Health

08 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 8

to the company's future. I argue that there may be a geographic solution to this dilemma. In such a solution, a fast-growing emerging market plays a central role in orchestrating a complete strategy for... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2002 (Revised January 2010)
Case

BP and the Consolidation of the Oil Industry, 1998-2002

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and David J Hanson

Examines the economics of the oil and gas industry with a focus on 1998 through 2001. Discusses the rationale behind using a growth in scale as a means to increase profitability and to gain competitive advantage. Also examines the classic strategic implications of... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Structures; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Energy Industry

17 Nov 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

How Activist Investors Became Respectable

online well before any regulatory filing disclosed his holdings in the company. These tactics may have been designed for drama, but the investment strategy and its scale are nothing unusual today. Activist shareholders and the hedge funds... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller; Financial Services; Banking

05 Dec 2006
First Look

First Look: December 5, 2006

success contrast with anecdotes where the diffusion of CRM into organizations continues to be a slow process and/or where CRM implementation outcomes have fallen short of expectations. Successful implementation depends on a number of factors such as fit between a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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

17 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 17, 2007

literature. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-058.pdf Media Markets and Localism: Does Local News en Español Boost Hispanic Voter Turnout? Authors:Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Joel Waldfogel Abstract Since the dawn of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2004 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Nectar: Making Loyalty Pay

By: John A. Deighton

Loyalty Management UK (LMUK) manages British supermarket chain Sainsbury's frequent-shopper card program, called Nectar. LMUK uses Sainsbury's sponsorship as the magnet to attract other retailers into a profitable, multisponsor loyalty network. Examines the economics... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Business or Company Management; Supply Chain Management; Marketing Strategy; Networks; Marketing Channels; Advertising Campaigns; Outcome or Result; Growth and Development; Retail Industry; Great Britain