Publications

March 2005
Case

Henkel Iberica (A)

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

In 2002, Esteban Garriga, customer service director at Henkel Iberica, questions whether Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) would help manage retail promotions and limit their impact on the stock-outs and obsolete inventory. Describes the... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Forecasting and Prediction; Price; Distribution Channels; Strategic Planning; Commercialization; Valuation; Rail Industry; Germany; Spain

July 2023
Case

Crocs: Using Community-Centric Marketing to Make Ugly Iconic

By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne V. Wilson

In 2022, the Crocs Classic Clog was the best-selling item of clothing on Amazon, the brand was one of the fastest growing brands in the U.S., and global net revenue had increased to approximately $3.6 billion. By most accounts, Crocs had become the “it” shoe. Crocs... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product Development; Growth and Development; Customer Value and Value Chain; Digital Marketing; Digital Strategy; Segmentation; Advertising; Consumer Products Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

customer values of convenience, availability, product or service functionality, and relationship, creates a reason for the customer to buy. But, you also must eliminate reasons... View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

01 Dec 2023
News

Thinking Ahead

As we wind down 2023, there’s talk everywhere of generative AI and how it will fundamentally alter the world as we know it; but how does that translate for your corner of the business world? Is TikTok something you need to take seriously? (Is it time to dance?) We... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Illustrations by Chris Gash; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

Web

HBS - The year in Review

Students 18 Applications 896 Acceptance Rate 4% More Key Enrollment Statistics Full-Tuition Scholarships Offered In an effort to make the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree more affordable and accessible to a wider array of students, HBS began providing... View Details

January 2002 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Computer Associates International, Inc.

In late 2000, Computer Associates (CA) changed its business model and the way it recognized revenue, ostensibly to better serve its stakeholders. The new subscription-based license model offered customers greater flexibility. Clients could subscribe to any CA software... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Valuation; Corporate Disclosure; Revenue Recognition; Corporate Governance; Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

March 1993 (Revised April 1995)
Case

IBM After-Sales Service

By: Janice H. Hammond

IBM has established a service delivery system to provide service and maintenance parts for its installed base of computers. The case outlines the competitive pressures IBM faces from alternative providers of maintenance services (e.g. other OEMs, third-party... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Logistics; Operations; Distribution; Customer Focus and Relationships; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry

10 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 10

by having servers ask customers if they wanted to downsize portions of three starchy side dishes at a Chinese fast-food restaurant. We consistently found that 14-33% of customers accepted the downsizing... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Web

Technology & Innovation - Faculty & Research

segments and creating a staggering array of business opportunities and threats. The digitization of tasks and processes has become essential to competition. General Electric, for example, was at risk of losing many of its top customers to... View Details

2010
Other Unpublished Work

Saving Face by Making Meaning: The Negative Effects of Brand Communities' Self-serving Response to Brand Extensions

By: Jill Avery

An ethnographic study of a brand community following the launch of the Porsche Cayenne SUV finds that brand extensions can negatively affect the value of their parent brands. By studying the collective response to brand extensions of existing consumers and by... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Brand Equity; Internet; Social Media; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Auto Industry