Publications

Program

Advancing Women of Color in Leadership

that deliver results Inspire others and foster their development and impact Take charge of your career growth Become more agile at navigating organizational politics Develop View Details

March 2024
Supplement

Madrigal: Conducting a Customer-Base Audit

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

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; Retail Industry; United States

March 2002
Case

AOL, Cisco, Yahoo!: Building the Internet Commons

By: James E. Austin

Since the spring of 2001, AOL, Cisco, and Yahoo! had collaborated on ways to improve the effectiveness of using the Internet to benefit society. Each company considered itself strongly committed to philanthropy, making significant charitable donations, and fostering a... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry

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January 1995 (Revised September 1997)
Case

TV Guide (B)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

TV Guide, the nation's most profitable and largest magazine, attempts entry into the world of electronic publishing. The crux of TV Guide's strategy is to transform the magazine's content into a centralized database that can be accessed by new businesses, like... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Service Delivery; Information Technology; Marketing; Information Publishing; Service Industry; Publishing Industry

13 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

The Subconscious Mind of the Consumer (And How To Reach It)

proposition and becomes a more profound basis for developing marketing strategy than, say, technical superiority or long-lasting benefits. While the latter attributes are important, it is because they serve... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

2018
The Significance of Race Research in the 21st Century

Harvard Business School AASU50 Research Findings

Web

Teaching by the Case Method - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

Teaching Questions for Class Discussions Teaching Quantitative Material Strategies and Tactics for Sensitive Topics Curriculum Innovation The case method has evolved so students may act as decision-makers in... View Details

April 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Transitions Asia: Managing Across Cultures

By: Roy Y.J. Chua and Dawn H. Lau

The director of an interim executive search firm, Chee Lung Tham, faced a clash of culture and management styles when his mainland Chinese client threatened to fire the American interim manager that Tham had assigned. The client, Wong Lung, ran a family-owned garment... View Details

Keywords: China; Cross-cultural Management; Management Style; Conflict Management; Family Business; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Service Industry; China

March 2011 (Revised May 2011)
Case

China Construction America (A): The Road Ahead

How did a Chinese state-owned construction company strike one deal after another in South Carolina despite political backlash and in New York where well-established competitors dominate? The case examines the U.S. market entry strategy of the CSCEC, China's leading... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Global Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Negotiation Deal; State Ownership; Construction Industry; China; United States

April 2010
Case

Bill Nichol Negotiates with Walmart: Hard Bargains over Soft Goods (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

CEO Bill Nichol must somehow negotiate a surprise ultimatum from Walmart, his largest customer, about his largest and most profitable product line: “We're dropping it.” Among its hosiery products, the Kentucky Derby Hosiery Co. produces and sells a branded line of... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Crisis Management; Negotiation Tactics; Conflict Management; Apparel and Accessories Industry; North America

February 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Mona Sinha

Describes the Mumbai-based Dabbawala organization, which achieves very high service performance (6 Sigma equivalent or better) with a low-cost and very simple operating system. The case explores all aspects of their system (mission, information management, material... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Logistics; Alignment; Management Systems; Human Resources; Innovation and Invention; Mumbai

Fall 2014
Article

How to Win in an Omnichannel World

By: David R. Bell, Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno

The omnichannel environment presents new challenges and opportunities for both information and product fulfillment. While all retailers need to effectively and efficiently manage fulfillment and information provision, there are important nuances to how this happens,... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; United States

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June 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Creating World-Class Board Governance at SECO

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Emer Moloney

In Spring 2023, SECO CEO Massimo Mauri had the ambition to grow the €200 million revenue technology company to a €1 billion company by 2030. Founded in Italy in the 1970s, the family-owned company had gone through a period of growth and internationalization,... View Details

14 Feb 2017
News

Want to build better patient relationships? Take a page from consumer marketers, advises Harvard fellow

September 2019
Teaching Note

Boxed

By: Laura Huang and Andy Wu

Boxed.com (“Boxed”) is an ambitious e-commerce retailer start-up, founded by visionary CEO Chieh Huang in 2013. From starting in Huang’s garage in 2013, to winning Emerging E-Retailer of the Year in 2016, to having 4 operational distribution centers in 2018, Boxed used... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Business Startups; Leadership; Strategy; Success; E-commerce; Retail Industry

29 May 2018
News

A Study of NASA Scientists Shows How to Overcome Barriers to Open Innovation

March 2024
Supplement

Madrigal: Conducting a Customer-Base Audit

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

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; Retail Industry; United States

Web

Global

School’s innovative online programs are focused on business fundamentals and strategy for a worldwide audience. Our faculty have developed these online programs, leveraging the case method learning model,... View Details

May 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Lincoln Financial Meets the Financial Crisis

By: Robert C. Pozen and Peter Goodspeed Spring

In March of 2009, Lincoln Financial Group's CEO Dennis Glass was facing a difficult decision as to how he would replenish his company's capital, which could quickly fall to dangerously low levels as a result of the financial crisis. Though the cost of raising capital... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Financial Crisis; Capital; Private Equity; Crisis Management; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Insurance Industry