Publications

February 2022 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Resident 2020

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Thomas O. Jones

Launched in 2016, Resident was a leading player in the direct-to-consumer bed-in-a-box mattress market, where it was one of at least 175 venture-backed companies competing in the space. By late 2020, it had realized over $500 million in revenue, profitability in the... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Operations; Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy; Initial Public Offering; Decisions; Marketing Strategy; Cash Flow; Demand and Consumers

30 May 2007
Research & Ideas

Health Care Under a Research Microscope

players, poor customer service, and regional variations in quality of care. "By virtually any standard, it's an underperforming industry," says Richard Hamermesh, faculty chair of Harvard Business School's recently formed... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health; Biotechnology

December 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

DoubleTwist, Inc.

By: Joseph L. Bower and Christina L. Darwall

John Couch, CEO of DoubleTwist, has transformed a software products company into an Internet application service provider, racing to provide databases and tools for those working to explore the human genome. Crafting strategy and building organizational capability are... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Information Technology Industry

September 1994 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Citibank: Launching the Credit Card in Asia Pacific (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Consumer Bank pondered the possibilities of launching a credit card in the Asia Pacific region. The bank's New York headquarters, and several of its country managers in the region, were not enthusiastic. But others were supportive because of the opportunity to expand... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Service Operations; Value Creation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Trade; Business Strategy; Expansion; Laws and Statutes; Banking Industry; Asia; New York (city, NY)

December 2017
Article

Discordant vs. Harmonious Selves: The Effects of Identity Conflict and Enhancement on Sales Performance in Employee-Customer Interactions

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Nancy Rothbard and Steffanie Wilk

Across multiple studies, we examine how identity conflict and enhancement within people affect performance in tasks that involve interactions between people through two mechanisms: role-immersion, operationalized as intrinsic motivation, and role-taking,... View Details

Keywords: Identity; Interpersonal Communication; Sales; Performance

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November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 8: Linking Performance to Markets

By: Robert Simons

This module reading shows how to link profit plans and other performance measurement systems to both internal and external markets. Starting with the transfer of goods and services within a firm, the module discusses the different methods of designing transfer pricing... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Transfer Pricing; Activity Based Costing; Return On Investment; Residual Income; EVA; Strategy; Cost Accounting; Activity Based Costing and Management; Markets; Investment Return

October 2014
Supplement

Quiet Logistics (B)

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details

January 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Microfinance International Corporation: No, Not Another Microfinance Case

CEO and founder Atsumasa Tochisako (52) sat in his Washington D.C. headquarters, looking with pride at the copy of a press release that would announce the latest in a broadening line of financial services that Washington D.C.-based Microfinance International... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Social Entrepreneurship; Microfinance; Globalized Firms and Management; Financial Services Industry

13 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

Picture the Jamaican bobsled team going for the gold at the Winter Olympics. Or competitors in what seem fundamentally unbalanced battles: the Chicago Cubs versus the New York Yankees, Apple versus Microsoft, and Southwest Airlines versus United. In the public eye, the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 2008 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Cyworld: Creating and Capturing Value in a Social Network

By: Sunil Gupta and Sangman Han

In May 2008, the new CEO of Cyworld, a social network company in Korea, had to decide how to create and capture value from his rapidly growing user base. Cyworld was founded in 1999, and in 2003 it was acquired by SK Telecom, a leading mobile service provider in Korea.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Segmentation; Value Creation; South Korea

18 Dec 2018
Blog Post

"There's No Substitute For Finding The Right Role": James Correa, MBA 2015

When James Correa was coming to the conclusion of his military service as a logistics officer (Captain) in the US Army, "There was only one desire for a professional career that I was sure of -- to continue a career in... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technology

January 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Best Buy's Corie Barry: Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case examines the leadership of Corie Barry, the new CEO of Best Buy, with a focus on actions the company took in 2020 to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case includes a history of Best Buy’s strategy and leadership, including the transitions between the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change; Disruption; Volatility; Communication; Competency and Skills; Customers; Decision Making; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Goods and Commodities; Corporate Governance; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Executive Compensation; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Jobs and Positions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Job Design and Levels; Job Interviews; Job Offer; Labor; Employment; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Law; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Management Succession; Management Systems; Management Teams; Risk Management; Operations; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Outcome or Result; Personal Development and Career; Retirement; Work-Life Balance; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Science; Strategy; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United States; Minnesota

February 2024
Case

Tabby: Winning Consumers' Digital Wallets

By: Eva Ascarza and Fares Khrais

Hosam Arab (MBA 2009), cofounder and CEO of Tabby, a Saudi-based fintech startup, raised its Series D funding round in October 2023, four years after its inception, valuing it as a regional unicorn. Tabby's core product, a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) service, allowed... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Risk Management; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Saudi Arabia

Rohit Deshpandé is a Baker Foundation Professor and Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing, Emeritus at Harvard Business School, where he has been teaching in the Advanced Management Program,... View Details

Keywords: financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services

John A. Deighton

John Deighton is The Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard Business School. He is an authority on consumer behavior and marketing, with a focus on digital and direct marketing. He teaches in the area of Big Data in Marketing,... View Details

Keywords: financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services

19 Apr 2016
Blog Post

First Minutes are Critical in New-Employee Orientation

which new call agents must demonstrate proficiency in English, as well as an aptitude for following standard procedures during customer calls. Individuality was not just discounted; in some ways it was expressly discouraged. "As a... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

April 2021
Case

ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Ashiana Jivraj and Jane Barrow

The case illustrates the application of value-based health care to dental medicine. ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers was a rapidly-growing network of dentist-owned independent implant clinics. The targeted market included 23 million people, 15% of the US adult... View Details

Keywords: Value-based Health Care; Dental Medicine; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Business Strategy; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Focus and Relationships; Health Industry; United States