Publications

Educators

April 2013
Article

Business Model Innovation and Competitive Imitation: The Case of Sponsor-Based Business Models

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Feng Zhu

This paper provides the first formal model of business model innovation. Our analysis focuses on sponsor-based business model innovations where a firm monetizes its product through sponsors rather than setting prices to its customer base. We analyze strategic... View Details

Keywords: Business Model Innovation; Imitation; Sponsor-based Business Model; Strategic Revelation; Strategic Concealment; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Price; Competitive Strategy; Adoption; Value; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Product; Customers; Market Entry and Exit; Monopoly

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development

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01 Mar 2010
News

Slum for Sale

area. Written with the assistance of Namrata Arora, a research associate at the HBS India Research Center, the case considers the potential risks and rewards of approaching an area like Dharavi with a new... View Details

September 2024
Article

Sales Coaching and Value Creation

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Despite the prevalence of “coachability” in firms’ stated hiring criteria, managers over-estimate the amount of time they actually devote to coaching their people. For example, research indicates that only 15% of sales managers even spend as much as 25% of their time... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Employee Relationship Management; Management Practices and Processes

01 Apr 1998
News

Deals For Sale

often become obsolete in as little as six months, a firm can seldom predict accurately how much of its inventory will actually sell. A company like Compaq, for example, may suddenly find itself with three thousand extra modems on hand.... View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

19 Nov 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Do Bonuses Enhance Sales Productivity? A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Bonus-Based Compensation Plans

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung, Thomas Steenburgh & K. Sudhir

2002
Other Unpublished Work

The Effect of Editorial Discretion Book Promotion on Sales at Amazon.com

By: Benjamin Edelman

A new dataset collected by the author allows estimation of the effect on book sales of promotional listing on Amazon's editorial discretion pages. Following Goolsbee and Chevalier (2001), sales quantities are inferred from sales rank data freely available on Amazon's... View Details

Keywords: Online Advertising; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Web Sites; Competition; Books

22 Mar 2022
News

Frank from Harvard Talks Sales

October 2013 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Myomo: Getting Sales in Motion

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Shikhar Ghosh and Matthew Preble

In late 2012, the management team of Myomo, a startup which had designed a unique myoelectric arm brace for patients with dysfunctional arms, was deciding which of the three sales models the company had tested to pursue as its sales strategy going forward. Each model... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Care and Treatment; Business Startups; Sales; Growth and Development Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry

Educators

19 Jul 2013
News

Reinvigorate a Disengaged Sales Force

May 3, 2023
Article

What Top-Performing Sales Managers Do Differently

By: Mike Schultz and Frank V. Cespedes

Sales managers hire reps, influence their training, provide (we hope) feedback and so reinforce good selling behaviors, and are key in the execution of growth and change initiatives. In a study of more than 1,000 sales managers and sellers across industries, we found... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Sales; Performance Effectiveness

April 2018
Exercise

Stoy Foods: Role Information for Danijela Stoyanovic

By: John Beshears

In this simulation exercise, four family members must negotiate over the future of the family business. Should the business be sold to a strategic buyer, or should the family retain control? If the business is sold, how should the proceeds of the sale be distributed... View Details

Keywords: Succession; Sale Of Business; Understanding Interests; Value Creation; Family Business; Business Exit or Shutdown; Negotiation; Perspective; Agreements and Arrangements

April 2018
Exercise

Stoy Foods: Role Information for Petja Stoyanovic

By: John Beshears

In this simulation exercise, four family members must negotiate over the future of the family business. Should the business be sold to a strategic buyer, or should the family retain control? If the business is sold, how should the proceeds of the sale be distributed... View Details

Keywords: Succession; Sale Of Business; Understanding Interests; Value Creation; Family Business; Business Exit or Shutdown; Negotiation; Ownership Stake; Perspective; Agreements and Arrangements

September 20, 2021
Article

The Puzzle of OpenSea Private Sale Fees

By: Scott Duke Kominers

February 2025
Article

Sale of Private Equity–Owned Physician Practices and Physician Turnover

By: Victoria Berquist, Lev Klarnet and Leemore Dafny

Private equity (PE) ownership of physician practices is increasing, with owners targeting sales, or exits, in 3 to 7 years. Little is known about the association of exit with physician retention and subsequent employment. Using panel data over the period 2014-2020, we... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Retention; Health Industry

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July 2024
Article

AI, ROI, and Sales Productivity

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now a loose term for many different things and at the peak of its hype curve. So managers hitch-their-pitch to the term in arguing for resources. But like any technology, its business value depends upon actionable use cases embraced by... View Details

Keywords: ROI; AI and Machine Learning; Sales; Investment Return

November 2019
Article

How Do Sales Efforts Pay Off? Dynamic Panel Data Analysis in the Nerlove-Arrow Framework

By: Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim and Byoung G. Park

This paper evaluates the short- and long-term value of sales representatives’ detailing visits to different types of physicians. By understanding the dynamic effect of sales calls across heterogeneous physicians, we provide guidance on the design of optimal call... View Details

Keywords: Nerlove-Arrow Framework; Stock-of-goodwill; Dynamic Panel Data; Serial Correlation; Instrumental Variables; Sales Effectiveness; Detailing; Analytics and Data Science; Sales; Analysis; Performance Effectiveness; Pharmaceutical Industry

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2011
Book

Capitalism at Risk: Rethinking the Role of Business

By: Joseph L. Bower, Herman B. Leonard and Lynn S. Paine

The spread of capitalism worldwide has made people wealthier than ever before. But capitalism's future is far from assured. The global financial meltdown of 2008 nearly triggered another Great Depression, economies in Europe are still teetering, and powerful... View Details

Keywords: Business And Society; Economic Systems; Economic Growth; Leading Change; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business Strategy

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