Publications

SSRN

August 2018 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Predicting Purchasing Behavior at PriceMart (A)

By: Srikant M. Datar and Caitlin N. Bowler

This case follows VP of Marketing, Jill Wehunt, and analyst Mark Morse as they tackle a predictive analytics project to increase sales in the Mom & Baby unit of a nationally recognized retailer, PriceMart. Wehunt observed that in the midst of the chaos that surrounded... View Details

Keywords: Data Science; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis; Consumer Behavior; Forecasting and Prediction

05 Aug 2010
What Do You Think?

What Is Customer Opinion Good For?

or less important (because) customers had no sense when it came to entertaining tradeoffs (between features and cost)." Phil Clark commented that, regardless of method or purpose, "It is important to know your View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Technology

13 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

5 Weight Loss Tips From Behavioral Economists

week in advance of delivery. Looking to determine how personal decisions made for tomorrow differ from decisions made for several days from now, researchers from Harvard Business School and the Analyst Institute evaluated a year's worth of View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

January 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Course Overview Note

Managing Customers for Growth: Course Overview for Students

By: Eva Ascarza

Managing Customers for Growth (MCG) is a 14-session elective course for second-year MBA students at Harvard Business School. It is designed for business professionals engaged in roles centered on customer-driven growth activities. The course explores the dynamics of... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Decision Making; Analytics and Data Science; Growth Management; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry; Travel Industry

Article

Strategic Management of Product Recovery

By: Michael W. Toffel

Manufacturers of an expanding range of durable products are facing regulatory and market pressures to manage the products they manufactured upon their end of life (EOL). In part, this attention is motivated by a growing number of countries—especially across Europe and... View Details

Keywords: Product; Environmental Sustainability; Cost Management; Government Legislation; Logistics; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy; Europe; Asia; United States

Read Now

December 2008
Article

Behavioral Frontiers in Choice Modeling

We review the discussion at a workshop whose goal was to achieve a better integration among behavioral, economic, and statistical approaches to choice modeling. The workshop explored how current approaches to the specification, estimation, and application of choice... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Integration; Goals and Objectives; Decision Choices and Conditions; Problems and Challenges; Business Processes; Customers; Behavior; Economics

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October 2023
Article

Coordination and Bandwagon Effects: How Past Rankings Shape the Behavior of Voters and Candidates

By: Riako Granzier, Vincent Pons and Clémence Tricaud

Candidates’ placements in polls or past elections can be powerful coordination devices for both parties and voters. Using a regression discontinuity design in French elections, we show that candidates who place first by only a small margin in the first round are more... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Voting; Coordination; Bandwagon Effect; Regression Discontinuity Design; French Elections; Voting; Political Elections; Behavior; France

2010
Article

The Strategic Use of Brand Biographies

By: Jill Avery, Neeru Paharia, Anat Keinan and Juliet Schor

We introduce the concept of a brand biography to describe an emerging trend in branding in which firms author a dynamic, historical account of the events that have shaped the brand over time. Using a particular type of brand biography, "the underdog," we empirically... View Details

16 May 2011
Research & Ideas

What Loyalty? High-End Customers are First to Flee

Businesses that offer their customers the highest levels of service might like to believe that all their efforts to pamper and please will pay off with an extremely loyal following. “Customers you might expect to be the most 'stuck' are... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

September 2002
Teaching Note

Strategic Planning at NFTE

By: Allen S. Grossman and Daniel F. Curran

Teaching Note for (9-302-002). View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Strategic Planning; Change; Organizational Design; Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Partners and Partnerships

January 2003 (Revised September 2007)
Background Note

A Note on Racing to Acquire Customers

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Examines factors that motivate a firm's race to acquire customers in newly emerging markets and explores conditions under which racing strategies are likely to yield attractive returns. Provides a definition of racing behavior, introduces the notion of an optimal level... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Price Bubble; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Behavior; Competition

08 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way To Hire a Sales Team

with engineering on custom applications, and up-selling or cross-selling additional services. Allocation of sales talent should change. Focus on behaviors in selection. In many firms, this means upgrading... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

November 1994 (Revised May 1998)
Background Note

Strategic Sales Management: A Boardroom Issue

By: Benson P. Shapiro, Stephen X. Doyle and Adrian J. Slywotsky

Explains why sales management has become an increasingly important and complex topic for top managers. Demonstrates the financial impact of a superior salesforce and then describes a way to gain superiority. The focus is on a salesforce that is responsive to customer... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Strategy

24 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Busting Six Myths About Customer Loyalty Programs

percent price advantage. For Asda, short-term profits don't seem to top its list of objectives. Loyalty Systems And Infrequently Purchased Goods Another myth is that loyalty programs do not work in categories that are purchased infrequently or do not affect the View Details

Keywords: by Marcel Corstjens & Rajiv Lal; Retail; Consumer Products

04 Sep 2013
What Do You Think?

How Relevant is Long-Range Strategic Planning?

Summing Up How Can Strategic Planning be Adapted to Changing Needs? Strategic planning concepts and the notion of long-range planning will continue to be integral parts of responsible management. But they... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2000 (Revised January 2001)
Background Note

Customers in Health Care, The

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer

Reviews the current literature on the consumers of health care, primarily patients. Discusses their stated preferences, the sources of information they use in making their selections of plan and provider, and their behavior. View Details

Keywords: Customers; Health Care and Treatment; Information; Planning; Behavior; Health Industry

July 2010
Supplement

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Customer Lifetime Value Analysis (CW)

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery

Customers are increasingly being viewed as assets that bring value to the firm. Customer lifetime value is a metric which allows managers to understand the overall value of their customer base and relate it to three customer strategies firms employ: asset acquisition -... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Decisions; Framework; Management Practices and Processes; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Strategic Planning; Mathematical Methods; Value

June 2023
Article

Gaining Organizational Adoption: Strategically Pacing the Deployment of Digital Innovations

By: Rebecca Karp

Scholars have long suggested that to foster adoption for their innovative products and services, entrepreneurs should engage with customers to better understand their unmet needs. Yet, customers frequently reside in organizations, and organizational members may not be... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship And Strategy; Digital Innovation; Healthcare; Work And Organizations; Organizational Adoption; B2B; Customers; Technology Adoption; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation

March 2011
Background Note

Customer Loyalty Schemes in the Retail Sector

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Aldo Sesia

Customer loyalty schemes (or programs) are explicit efforts by retailers to gain long-term patronage from customers. Loyalty schemes are developed for a variety of reasons: to reward loyal customers, to generate more robust information about customer behavior, to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; United Kingdom; United States