Publications

Find at Harvard

15 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

IT Job Wages Are No Longer 'Exceptional'

engineering, and mathematics) labor market trends. And in geographic regions where competition is fiercest for IT talent, superstar performers do not earn the same high premium they once did over their average-performing peers. In short,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology

October 2021
Article

Overcoming the Cold Start Problem of CRM Using a Probabilistic Machine Learning Approach

By: Nicolas Padilla and Eva Ascarza

The success of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs ultimately depends on the firm's ability to understand consumers' preferences and precisely capture how these preferences may differ across customers. Only by understanding customer heterogeneity, firms can... View Details

Keywords: Customer Management; Targeting; Deep Exponential Families; Probabilistic Machine Learning; Cold Start Problem; Customer Relationship Management; Programs; Consumer Behavior; Analysis

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November 1991 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Motorola, Inc.: Bandit Pager Project (Abridged)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes the development of a fully automated production line for manufacturing radio pagers. The company regarded the project as highly successful; it becomes clear in the case, however, that there were some shortcomings as well. Some marketing issues were not... View Details

Keywords: Time Management; Marketing; Product Development; Production; Success; Projects; Technology; Telecommunications Industry

November 2024
Case

Innovation at Master Kong Beverages

By: David E. Bell and Shu Lin

Hong-Chen Wei (HBS MBA 2014), Chairman of KSF Beverage Holding Co., Ltd. (KSFB), was steering the company toward the premium segment with the launch of “InheriTea,” a premium, sugar-free tea product. Traditionally, KSFB’s flagship brand, Master Kong, catered to the... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Trends; Behavior; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Product Launch; Product Development; Segmentation; Organizational Culture; Product Positioning; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Asia; China

Research Summary

Concentrated Capital Losses and the Pricing of Corporate Credit Risk

By: Emil N. Siriwardane

In studying the U.S. credit default swap (CDS) market, Professor Siriwardane has discovered that the selling of CDS protection is extremely concentrated, with five sellers accounting for nearly half the market. Further, in contrast to what neoclassical theory... View Details

Research Summary

The Commercialization of Internet Infrastructure

By: Shane M. Greenstein

Why did commercial Internet service initially develop in some geographical areas and not others? What determines the success of businesses? What determines the value of Internet services? The research stream developed the first analysis of the Internet access... View Details

February 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Korea Venture Investment Corporation

By: Paul A. Gompers and Billy Chan

Financial service sector Korea Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC) is the venture capital arm of the Korean government with a founding mission to build a domestic startup ecosystem that would be as competitive as Silicon Valley. KVIC manages a basket of... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Society; Investment; Venture Capital; Mission and Purpose; State Ownership; Financial Services Industry; Asia; South Korea

March 2015 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Bonitas

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred

Bonitas, a South African medical scheme (i.e., health insurer), must navigate highly restrictive regulations that make it difficult for Bonitas to innovate, grow, and compete with market leader Discovery as well as providers of alternative insurance products. Bonitas... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance; Health Care; South Africa; Medical Scheme; Public Policy; Bonitas; Bonitas Medical Fund; National Health Insurance; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Policy; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; South Africa; Johannesburg; Africa

August 2008 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Polanco: A Fashionable Opportunity

By: Arthur I Segel and Ben Creo

Roberto Charvel is a young MBA graduate making his first personal real estate investment in his native Mexico City. Charvel is planning to purchase and renovate a nine-unit apartment building. Is the market good? Should he sell or lease the units? How should he handle... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Housing; Leasing; Property; Real Estate Industry; Mexico City

March 1998 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Beta Golf

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael J. Roberts and Laurence E. Katz

The Beta Group is a technology incubator in Menlo Park, CA that has successfully built a portfolio of businesses in the medical, consumer products, and industrial technology sectors by systematically matching proprietary technologies to unmet market needs. Beta has... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Investment; Financial Strategy; Information Technology; Commercialization

October 1984 (Revised July 1988)
Case

Mark Twain Bancshares, Inc.

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Describes the history, management, and organization of an extremely successful bank holding company. The company has had a very charismatic chairman, has made MBAs bank presidents at very early ages, and has a long record of innovation. Now deregulation and a coming... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Financial Services Industry

23 Dec 2019
News

The gender gap in self-promotion

22 Dec 2015
News

Algorithms Need Managers, Too

September 2017
Case

NBCUniversal Telemundo: Transforming Latino Television

By: Henry W. McGee, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Christine Snively

In August 2017, Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCUniversal International Group and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, considered how the Miami-based Spanish-language TV network Telemundo could succeed in a rapidly shifting media landscape. Over the past few years,... View Details

Keywords: Television Industry; Television Advertising; Broadcasting; Telecommunications; Internet; Television Entertainment; Internet and the Web; Advertising; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Miami

18 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Industrial Decarbonization: Confronting the Hard Challenges of Cement

Cities like Cairo; Chongqing, China; Delhi; and Kinshasa, Congo are experiencing population explosions accompanied by unprecedented demand for homes, offices, factories, and infrastructure. In the United States, the Biden Administration’s policy-driven infrastructure... View Details

Keywords: by by Janelle Conaway; Green Technology; Energy; Industrial Products; Manufacturing

December 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

CUC and HFS: Corporate Identity for a "Merger of Equals"

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Robert J. Crawford

In the wake of a major $20 billion market capitalization "merger of equals," two large consumer service firms must determine a new name for the new entity. Neither CUC nor HFS is well known among consumers. The CUC Services (e.g., shopping, travel, credit card... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital; Brands and Branding; Identity; Customization and Personalization; Value; Service Industry

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Professor Vietor is Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He teaches courses on the international political economy. Before coming to the Business School in 1978, Professor Vietor held faculty appointments at Virginia... View Details

Keywords: energy; oil ＆ gas; petroleum; railroad; shipping

04 Mar 2019
What Do You Think?

What’s the Antidote to Surveillance Capitalism?

Googles of the world use our information. The primary goal is the protection of privacy. Unfortunately, as we are seeing in the Facebook controversies, this is difficult to implement even by well-meaning business leaders. Others have suggested a View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Advertising; Consumer Products

March 2010 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Major League Baseball Advanced Media: America's Pastime Goes Digital

By: Anita Elberse and Brett Laffel

In January 2010, Bob Bowman, chief executive officer of Major League Baseball Advanced Media -- MLB's digital arm -- is facing a number of decisions related to its 'app' for Apple's new iPad. What are the best name, price, and set of features for MLBAM's iPad app? The... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Sports Industry