Publications

July 1994 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

The largest ski resort in Colorado must determine how to select customer segments to focus its promotional and service-delivery efforts. Making segmentation work depends on reordering its pricing policy and "service packages." View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Service Delivery; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Colorado

June 2003
Module Note

Managing Segments-Module Note

By: Das Narayandas

Describes the Managing Segments module of the Business Marketing course. View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Curriculum and Courses; Business Education

May 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

PepsiCo: A View from the Corporate Office

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Leonard A. Schlesinger

Describes the three business segments of PepsiCo (beverages, snack foods, and restaurants). It then explores the competitive environment within each segment and the response of PepsiCo's businesses. It seeks to show how PepsiCo CEO, D. Wayne Calloway, in a very... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Change; Governance Controls; Management Style; Organizational Structure; Situation or Environment; Competitive Strategy; Value; Food and Beverage Industry

May 2005 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Gallardo's Goes to Mexico

By: Clayton M. Christensen

The theories of market segmentation and brand building in Chapter 3, What Products Will Customers Want to Buy? in The Innovator's Solution by Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor suggest that when companies segment markets and build brands in ways that match how the... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Segmentation; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Mexico

September 2008 (Revised May 2010)
Supplement

GE's Imagination Breakthrough: The EVO Project

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Brian J. Hall and Nicole Bennett

This video features interviews with case protagonists John Dineen, Brett Begole, and Pierre Compte expressing their views on the decision framed by the case. In a second part of the tape the protagonists describe what they decided to do. A third segment features John... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Innovation and Management; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Outcome or Result; Green Technology Industry

14 Dec 2007
Op-Ed

When Your Product Becomes a Commodity

segments. Marketers can focus on providing applications expertise for less price-sensitive customer segments for whom the product is still important. However you approach commoditization, try to innovate at all costs. The most overlooked... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

November 1990 (Revised June 1993)
Background Note

The Economics of Product Variety

Examines the economic tradeoffs affecting a firm's decision to offer one or more versions of a product to a segmented market. Also presents some arguments for and against product variety. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Segmentation

November 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Rent the Runway

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Laura Winig

Two months after a successful launch in November 2009, the cofounders of Rent the Runway (RTR), a website that rented designer dresses, are debating whether to grow their startup at a measured pace and focus on improving operational effectiveness, or raise a new round... View Details

Keywords: Lean Startup; Electronic Commerce; Fashion; Expansion; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Fashion Industry

May 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Marks & Spencer: The Phoenix Rises

By: Joseph L. Bower

The great U.K. retailer fell on hard times in 1998. In 2001, a new CEO was recruited who appears to have succeeded in turning around this world-renown company. This case examines the steps he took (strategic, structural, and recruiting key people) and highlights a... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Recruitment; Leadership Development; Crisis Management; Supply and Industry; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Segmentation; Retail Industry

May 2015 (Revised September 2015)
Case

AIP Healthcare Japan: Investing in Japan's Retirement Home Market

By: John A. Quelch and Qing Xia

The CEO of a health care-based REIT is considering alternative nursing home investment strategies. Students must consider macro-industry trends, scale and scope issues and consumer segmentation data in making their recommendations. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Services; REIT; Marketing; Investment; Health Care and Treatment; Segmentation; Accommodations Industry; Health Industry; Real Estate Industry; Japan

December 1997
Case

Bluewater Aquaculture

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

An entrepreneurial shrimp farm in Belize is evaluating its future growth strategy in every segment of the vertical value-added food chain. View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Performance Evaluation; Expansion; Vertical Integration; Food and Beverage Industry

May 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

HubSpot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh, Jill Avery and Naseem Ashraf Dahod

This case introduces the concept of inbound marketing, pulling customer prospects toward a business through the use of Web 2.0 tools and applications like blogging, search engine optimization, and social media. Students follow the growth of HubSpot, an entrepreneurial... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Communications; Social and Collaborative Networks; Segmentation; Web

October 2004 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Product Team Cialis: Getting Ready to Market

By: Elie Ofek

Lilly and ICOS are preparing for the launch of a new drug, Cialis, to compete against Viagra. To position against the incumbent firm Pfizer, which developed and markets Viagra, and other newcomers into the erectile dysfunction market, they must determine how best to... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Segmentation; Pharmaceutical Industry

June 1997
Background Note

A Note on the Internet

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey A. Farrell

Examines the evolution and structure of the Internet. A particular focus is placed on various business segments and possible applications of Internet technology. View Details

Keywords: Industry Structures; Internet and the Web

November 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Patrimonio Hoy

By: Arthur I Segel, Michael Chu and Gustavo Herrero

Patrimonio Hoy is a program targeting the housing needs of the low-income population by CEMEX, a major Mexican company and a leading global cement producer. Originally conceived as a project to understand the customers in the self-construction segment better, a major... View Details

Keywords: Housing; Construction; Product Design; Globalized Firms and Management; Microfinance; Income; Market Entry and Exit; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Construction Industry; Mexico

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Selling Luxury to Everyone

and retailers keep the segment growing? Tahari said she and her husband have considered the idea of buying one of their retailers in an effort to get more information about how their products are selling, improve their margins, and better... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Consumer Products

Research Summary

Competitive Strategy

Anita M. McGahan and Michael E. Porter and are completing a series of statistical papers on the sources of company and industry profitability. Based on a large new database on the profitability of U.S. business segments between 1981 and 1994, their research examines... View Details

August 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Money Fellows: The Quest for Expansion

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui, Michael Chu and Ahmed Dahawy

This case explores the opportunities and challenges associated with expanding the operations of a complex entrepreneurial business model. It highlights how cultural aspects of different geographies impact a startup's operational and economic models. The case also... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Developing Countries and Economies; Geographic Scope; Business Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Business and Shareholder Relations; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; Egypt