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14 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 14

launch of new products. A series of questions are presented that companies should keep in mind when poised to launch a product. Questions about advertising, pricing, and branding are explored, as well as who in a product's supply View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

The Next Marketing Challenge: Selling to ’Simplifiers’

sales depend on two things: the launch of new, higher-priced, higher-featured, often customized products that persuade consumers to trade in their existing appliances before they break down (think cellphones), as well as household... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Retail; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation

November 2008 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Omron: Sensing Society

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ethan S Bernstein

"Leading profitable growth is only part of the goal. We cannot live without breathing, but we do not live in order to take a breath,” said Omron's President and CEO, Hisao Sakuta, in 2008. Omron, a $7B global supplier of sensors, control system components, advanced... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Competitive Advantage; Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Globalized Firms and Management; Innovation and Invention; Values and Beliefs; Mission and Purpose; Electronics Industry

01 Mar 2023
News

Clearing the Air

value chain. What are the other opportunities? More broadly, the opportunity is carbon capture, sequestration, storage, and reuse. We’ve talked a bit about why we need to capture CO2, View Details

Keywords: April White and Dan Morrell; Illustrations by Richard Borge

13 Mar 2019
News

The First Five Years: Sierra Smith and Taylor Wiegele (both MBA 2017)

(but growing!) company, which means that every day is a new adventure. On the ‘typical’ side, there are the must-dos: order fulfillment, customer service, and paying the bills. Beyond that, on any given day... View Details

29 Aug 2024
Blog Post

Leni Peterson R. (MS/MBA 2023): Solving Big Problems Through Entrepreneurship

with a population of 23 million people. The city simultaneously has every possible water issue including scarcity, flooding, sinking, poor quality, and unequal access. It is here I realized how water touches every aspect of our lives,... View Details

February 2016 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Janalakshmi Financial Services' HR Dilemma

By: Doug J. Chung and Radhika Kak

Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS), an Indian microfinance institution, had grown rapidly by providing financial products to its main customer base, the urban poor. However, the company was facing several challenges. JFS’s productivity was declining, and it was... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Sales; Strategy; Financial Services Industry

February 2008 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Digital Music: From MP3 to Streaming

By: Willy Shih

The emergence of the MP3 file-based music format not only disrupted the market for portable audio players, it also impacted the business models of major record labels. Modularity, and the commoditization spillover enabled by modularity in the personal computer... View Details

Keywords: Recording; Digital Devices; Digital Media; Digital Music; Digital; Digital Economics; Consumer Electronics; Customer Value and Value Chain; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Music Industry; Technology Industry; Electronics Industry; United States

01 Apr 2001
News

New Ventures New Gains

and conducted customer research. “We learned that we needed to provide more than just services,” explains Rhyne, who added prestige cosmetics sales to the mix and wrote a solid... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna and Susan Young; Martin Dubilier (MBA 1952); Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

April 1998 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Arrow Electronics, Inc.

By: Das Narayandas

Deals with the issue of cross-selling and managing a portfolio of products and services in business markets. Arrow/Schweber (A/S), a subsidiary of electronic parts distributor Arrow Electronics, has a portfolio of products that differ in the amount of value added by... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Internet and the Web; Problems and Challenges; Change Management; Electronics Industry

08 Sep 2015
First Look

September 8, 2015

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49543 Misconduct in Financial Services: Differences Across Organizations By: Brown, Jennifer, and Dylan Minor Abstract—We examine misconduct in financial services. We propose a theory in... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

February 1991
Case

Burlington Northern: The ARES Decision (A)

By: Julie H. Hertenstein and Robert S. Kaplan

Burlington Northern's decision whether to invest in ARES, an automated train control system, is a ($350 million) strategic investment in information technology. Although set in a service industry (railroad) the issues around this decision arise in many organizations... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Rail Transportation; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Performance Effectiveness; Cost vs Benefits; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Customers; Quality; Rail Industry

01 Apr 1996
News

Stewards of the Seventh Generation

million on energy conservation projects, cutting generation demand by 116 megawatts and saving 194,300 megawatt-hours of electricity, compared with the forecasts. The net value of the energy saved was $90... View Details

Keywords: Marguerite Rigoglioso, Garry Emmons, Linda Goodspeed, and Elaine Gottlieb

March 2024
Case

Madrigal: Conducting a Customer-Base Audit

By: Eva Ascarza, Bruce Hardie, Michael Ross and Peter S. Fader

This case presents a scenario where Madrigal, a U.S. retailer with a rich 20-year history and a solid loyalty program, faces a turning point with the arrival of a new CEO. This leadership change reveals a critical gap in understanding the customer base, prompting an... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; United States

March 2017 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Interline Brands: Don't Stop Believing

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Ricardo Andrade

Interline Brands, a leading distributor of residential housing maintenance and repair parts and equipment in the U.S., had just held its November 2014 board meeting. The meeting had been productive but not without some soul searching for both the company’s management... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Exit; Consumer Goods; IPO; Private Equity; Initial Public Offering; Decision Choices and Conditions

November 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Bayer Crop Science

By: David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin, Natalie Kindred and James Barnett

In mid-2019, a year after German conglomerate Bayer Group closed its acquisition of U.S.-based seeds giant Monsanto, the leadership of Bayer’s Crop Science division (which absorbed Monsanto) is reflecting on the opportunities ahead. Some observers have questioned... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consolidation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Change Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Germany