Publications

March 2002 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Satellite Radio

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alastair Brown

In early 2002, XM and Sirius were fighting for control of the emerging U.S. market for satellite radio. Each company targeted consumers in automobiles, providing 100 channels of CD-quality audio for a monthly subscription fee of $10-$13. Wall Street analysts predicted... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Price; Risk and Uncertainty; Problems and Challenges; Network Effects; Partners and Partnerships; Information Technology; Business Model; Investment Return; Auto Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Federal Express: Early History

Describes key events in the start-up of Federal Express. Outlines the company's value proposition and provides an overview of key competitors in the air freight industry. This case is used with Teledesic (Abridged), HBS No. 9-804-096, which describes a failed project... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Network Effects; Business Startups; Transportation Industry; United States

March 2011
Background Note

Customer Loyalty Schemes in the Retail Sector

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Aldo Sesia

Customer loyalty schemes (or programs) are explicit efforts by retailers to gain long-term patronage from customers. Loyalty schemes are developed for a variety of reasons: to reward loyal customers, to generate more robust information about customer behavior, to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; United Kingdom; United States

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

trading volume, and more dispersion in analyst forecasts following the calls. Further, the capital market's response to linguistic complexity is limited to firms for which there is greater demand for English-language conference calls. Our... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

The Market for Prisoners: Business, Crime and Punishment in the "American Dream"

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Laura Winig

In 2010, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest private prison operator in the U.S., was considering expansion options. The company's largest customers, federal and state governments, were under economic pressure to reduce the incarceration rate and... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Crime and Corruption; Profit; Law Enforcement; Growth and Development Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; United States

01 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 1

activities of firms operating in more than 100 countries with input-output tables. In line with the model's predictions, we find that whether a firm integrates upstream or downstream suppliers depends crucially on the elasticity of demand... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Jun 2020
What Do You Think?

Is a Business School-Industry Collaboration Needed to Attract Black Talent to Campus?

day, challenging discussion, etc.) of typical business school study. We were confident that if we deployed our outstanding recruiters to Black and other college campuses across the United States, we would be flooded with students eager to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

30 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

India’s Ambitious National Identification Program

markets. Delivering on the ultimate goal, reaching and successfully identifying each and every Indian resident, is a daunting prospect. "This project is hugely audacious and has never been achieved anywhere before," says Khanna. "There is nothing in the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

10 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

American Auto’s Troubled Road

the United States was a highly protected market," declares HBS professor Malcolm Salter, who has tracked the auto industry for decades. "That wasn't because of trade barriers but because gasoline prices were so much lower than... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Manufacturing; Transportation; Auto

30 Jan 2006
HBS Case

The Case of the Mystery Writer’s Brand

success if it sold 200,000 copies. Today, the bar has been raised to 1.5 million copies, thanks in part to the dominance of "big-box" retailers (such as Wal-Mart and Costco) that only stock twenty or so bestsellers yet are responsible for 34 percent of book... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

July 1991 (Revised June 1992)
Case

Retail Promotional Pricing: When Is a Sale Really a Sale? (A)

Addresses the controversy that surrounds highly promotional retail pricing referred to as "high-low pricing" by the trade. High-low pricing involves setting prices at an initially high level for a brief period of time, then discounting off the so-called "regular" or... View Details

Keywords: Courts and Trials; Price; Ethics; Consumer Behavior; Product Marketing; Retail Industry; Colorado