Custom - Publications - Faculty & Research

January 2019 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-011. As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a... View Details

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February 2019 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Where to Grow Next at Online Marketplace OLX

By: Thales Teixeira, Leandro A. Guissoni and Samy Dana

The CEO of OLX Brazil, an online classifieds platform business, is debating among multiple paths to grow sustainably (i.e., profitably) without the need for investor money. The options under consideration are (1) penetration growth by focusing on the core, (2) new... View Details

Keywords: Online Marketplace; Growth; Customer Acquisition; Facebook; Two-sided Network; E-commerce; Classifieds; Naspers; Schibsted; Innovation; Startup; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Brazil

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Article

Consumer Neuroscience: Advances in Understanding Consumer Psychology

By: Uma R. Karmarkar and Carolyn Yoon

While the study of consumer behavior has been enriched by improved abilities to generate new insights, many of the mechanisms underlying judgments and decision making remain difficult to investigate. In this review, we highlight some of the ways in which our... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Neuroscience; Neuroscience; Neuroeconomics; Consumer Psychology; Customer Behavior; Predictive Analytics; Neural Prediction; Neuroimaging; fMRI; Eye-tracking; Consumer Behavior; Marketing

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August 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Supplement

InsideSales.com (B)

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Keywords: Business Organization; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Design; Salesforce Management; Talent; Talent Management; Sales; Growth and Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entrepreneurship; Technology Industry; United States

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26 Jun 2023
Research & Ideas

Want to Leave a Lasting Impression on Customers? Don't Forget the (Proverbial) Fireworks

way of leaving an impression. “A strong ending can have a big impact on people’s evaluations when they look back on an experience,” says De Freitas, coauthor of the working paper “Summarizing the Mental Customer Journey.” “We ended up... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Entertainment & Recreation

Web

Programs for Organizations

Harvard Business School Executive Education partners with leading organizations to deliver the learning and development solutions they need for successful transformation. Our live online programs—whether custom or topic-focused for... View Details

February 2017
Case

Yemeksepeti: Growing and Expanding the Business Model through Data

By: William R. Kerr, Gamze Yucaoglu and Eren Kuzucu

In October 2016, Nevzat Aydin, co-founder and CEO of Yemeksepeti, the Turkish online food-ordering company, was looking over the company's quarterly results and projections for the upcoming year with his management team. It had been almost a year and a half since Aydin... View Details

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July 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Propel

By: Mitchell Weiss and Sarah McAra

In 2014, Jimmy Chen, a former product manager at Facebook, founded the start-up Propel to build software for low-income Americans. After conducting in-depth behavioral research, Chen and his small team in New York City began to develop technology to address the... View Details

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January 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

onefinestay: Building a Luxury Experience in the Sharing Economy

By: Jill Avery, Anat Keinan and Liz Kind

onefinestay was a two-sided marketplace that offered high-end home rentals to travelers who sought a more authentic and local experience than a typical upscale hotel might provide. After five years of rapid growth, it was time to do a comprehensive analysis of the... View Details

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Research Summary

Overview

According to McKinsey & Company, social interactions impact up to a third of all consumer purchases which accounts for US$940 billion in annual consumption in the US and Europe alone. Understanding social influence is important meeting consumer needs. In my research,... View Details

Keywords: Social Networks; Social Influence; Homophily; CRM; Mobile Gaming; Customer Lifetime Value; Forestry; Banking; Retail Banks

September 2014
Supplement

HGRM (B): Launching Hoxell, a New IT Venture

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Gabriele Piccoli and Arnold Peinado

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Strategy; Growth Strategy And Execution; Business Models; Disruptive Technologies; Customer Relations; International Business; Entrepreneurship; Management Systems; Operations; Competitive Strategy

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December 2014
Case

Groupon: A New CEO Takes Charge

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Arnold B. Peinado

On August 7, 2013, Eric Lefkofsky, the chairman and largest shareholder of Groupon was named CEO, replacing founder Andrew Mason, who had run the company since its inception in 2009. When Groupon had its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2011, the company's... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Disruptive Technologies; Growth Strategy; Customer Relations; Service Management; International Business; Business Models; Strategy Execution; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; United States

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January 2019 (Revised March 2021)
Case

SoundCloud: Subscription Streaming?

By: Ashish Nanda, Eric Van den Steen, Andy Wu, Jeffrey Boyar and Bonnie Bennett Slater

Established in 2007, SoundCloud already boasted the second largest number of active music listeners among all streaming services and was recognized as the go-to platform for new artists by early 2014. Yet, its founders were questioning the robustness of the firm’s... View Details

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February 2017
Supplement

The De Beers Group: Exploring the Diamond Reselling Opportunity

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Daniel P. Gross and Lauren G. Pickle

In September 2014, Tom Montgomery (SVP of strategic initiatives at the De Beers Group) and his team launched a pilot program in the United States to explore the $1 billion diamond market for pre-owned (recycled) diamonds. According to Montgomery, the motivation for the... View Details

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14 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

Clay Christensen’s Milkshake Marketing

price, or dividing the customer base into target demographics, such as age, gender, education, or income level. Unfortunately, neither way works very well, according to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, who notes that... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Service; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

July 2008 (Revised July 2020)
Case

Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley and Thomas J. DeLong

Greg James, a global manager at Sun Microsystems, Inc., sets out to meet with his entire 43-member customer implementation team spread across India, France, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America to resolve a dire customer system outage as required... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Global Range; Management; Customer Satisfaction; Service Delivery; Crisis Management; Conflict and Resolution; Technology Industry; India; United Arab Emirates; France; United States

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2021
Book

The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

Trust is the most powerful force underlying the success of every business. Yet it can be shattered in an instant, with a devastating impact on a company’s market cap and reputation. How to build and sustain trust requires fresh insight into why customers, employees,... View Details