Publications

July 2010 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Customer Lifetime Value Analysis (2024)

By: Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery

Customers are increasingly being viewed as assets that bring value to the firm. Customer lifetime value is a metric that allows managers to understand the overall value of their customer base and relate it to three customer strategies firms employ: asset... View Details

Keywords: Customer Lifetime Value; Return On Investment; Customer Acquisition; Customer Retention; Customer Churn; ＂Marketing Analytics＂; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Value

September 2001 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Rapid Rewards at Southwest Airlines

By: Frances X. Frei and Corey B. Hajim

Southwest Airlines is well known as the low-fare airline that has achieved ongoing financial success in one of the most financially troubled industries in the United States. Told from the perspectives of two Southwest customers--a frequent flier and a more typical... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Air Transportation; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Air Transportation Industry

2022
Working Paper

Where the Cloud Rests: The Location Strategies of Data Centers

By: Shane Greenstein and Tommy Pan Fang

This study provides an analysis of the entry strategies of third-party data centers in the United States. We examine the market before the pandemic in 2018 and 2019, when supply and demand for data services were geographically stable. We compare with the entry... View Details

Keywords: Cloud Computing; Location Strategies; Data Centers; Information Infrastructure

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October 2008
Article

Evaluating the CEO

By: Stephen P. Kaufman

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. After Kaufman became a CEO, he was struck by how perfunctory the board was in its... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives

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November 2005 (Revised November 2011)
Background Note

Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital in Healthcare Fall Term 2011: Course Outline and Syllabus

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Robert F. Higgins

Provides an overview of the second-year MBA elective course Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital in Healthcare. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Health Care and Treatment

February 2003 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Analyzing Edison Schools Inc. (A)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

Provides the background information for Edison Schools, Inc. and the 2001 financial statements and footnotes. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Statements; Education Industry; United States

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December 2001
Case

Dairy.com

By: Ray A. Goldberg and James M Beagle

Dairy.com's ecommerce exchange attempts to provide value to the dairy industry through price discovery mechanisms. View Details

Keywords: Food; Innovation and Invention; Business Strategy; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Price; Value Creation

June 1984 (Revised October 1988)
Background Note

Introduction to Cases

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Introduces students and executives to the case method and provides a generalized approach to cases. View Details

Keywords: Cases

2021
Book

Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional Performance

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

In nearly every business segment and corner of the world economy, the most successful companies dramatically outperform their rivals. What is their secret? In Better, Simpler Strategy, Harvard Business School professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee shows how these... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Strategic Planning; Value; Analysis; Competitive Advantage; Performance Effectiveness

February 2021
Tutorial

T-tests: Theory and Practice

By: Michael Parzen, Natalie Epstein, Chiara Farronato and Michael Toffel

This video provides an introduction to hypothesis testing, sampling, t-tests, and p-values. It provides examples of A/B testing and t-testing to assess whether difference between two groups are statistically significant. This video can be assigned in conjunction with... View Details

Keywords: Data Analysis; Data Analytics; Experiment Design; Experimentation; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis

August 2009
Case

Intuit

By: Frank V. Cespedes

This case study provides an overview of Intuit's growth and, in particular, the sales and service initiatives that historically fueled the company's growth from start-up to a corporation. It also outlines certain processes and cultural values, as well as specific... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Product; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Sales; Business Strategy

December 1982 (Revised November 2006)
Background Note

Note on Futures Contracts

By: David E. Bell

Provides an introduction to futures contracts, what they are, what their use in hedging is, and their usefulness in providing forecasts. Also covers basic risk. Includes a list of commodities currently traded in futures markets and the necessary properties of a... View Details

Keywords: Futures and Commodity Futures