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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(669)
- News (136)
- Research (470)
- Events (1)
- Multimedia (1)
- Faculty Publications (166)
- Research Summary
Current Research
Professor Chung models the effect of incentive compensation to study its impact on the sales force. Using data from a Fortune 500 company, he has developed a dynamic structural model of sales force response to a bonus-based compensation plan and examined how various... View Details
- 02 Feb 2016
- News
Hiring Star Salespeople Isn’t the Best Way to Grow
Motivating Diverse Salespeople Through a Common Incentive Plan
For practical reasons, many companies offer a common incentive plan to an entire sales force rather than offering customised plans for each individual. Doug J. Chung, Thomas Steenburgh, and K. Sudhir address how companies can design a single plan that motivates... View Details
- February 1993 (Revised September 1994)
- Case
Hewlett-Packard Imaging Systems Division: Sonos 100 C/F Introduction
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Marie Bell
The marketing manager for the Imaging Systems business unit (ISY) at Hewlett-Packard Medical Products Group is considering channel strategy and channel management issues raised by the upcoming introduction of a new cardiac imaging product. Product marketing's plans... View Details
Keywords: Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Distribution Channels; Sales; Competitive Strategy
Cespedes, Frank V., and Marie Bell. "Hewlett-Packard Imaging Systems Division: Sonos 100 C/F Introduction." Harvard Business School Case 593-080, February 1993. (Revised September 1994.)
- March 2021 (Revised March 2024)
- Case
M-KOPA: Empowering Lives
By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Wale Lawal and Pippa Tubman Armerding
The Pay As You Go solar power company in East Africa had sales of $71 million in 2019. It wished to grow to $300 million by 2025. M-KOPA, founded by three entrepreneurs in 2011, had grown nicely in Kenya and Uganda to reach nearly 750,000 households with an innovative... View Details
Keywords: Mobile Payment; Go-to-market Strategy; Business At The Base Of The Pyramid; Business Growth; Social Entrepreneurship; Renewable Energy; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Marketing Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Kenya; Uganda; Nigeria
Rangan, V. Kasturi, Wale Lawal, and Pippa Tubman Armerding. "M-KOPA: Empowering Lives." Harvard Business School Case 521-085, March 2021. (Revised March 2024.)
- April 1993 (Revised July 1994)
- Case
MathSoft, Inc. (A)
MathSoft's VP of sales has doubled the size of the company's direct field sales force to support the launch of a new, high-end workstation software product priced at almost $9,000. However, sales of the new product are far below plan. At the same time, the VP of... View Details
Keywords: Information Technology; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Applications and Software; Communication Strategy; Salesforce Management; Marketing Channels; Advertising; Product Launch; Information Technology Industry; Industrial Products Industry; United States
Rangan, V. Kasturi. "MathSoft, Inc. (A)." Harvard Business School Case 593-094, April 1993. (Revised July 1994.)
- March 2000 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Hewlett Packard--Computer Systems Organization: Selling to Enterprise Customers
By: Das Narayandas and Robert C. Dudley
In late 1996, Manuel Diaz, head of Worldwide Sales for Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Computer Systems Organization (CSO), is reviewing the results of an audit of HP's enterprise customer management approach with the objective of identifying market and organizational... View Details
Keywords: Accounting Audits; Transformation; Customer Relationship Management; Cost vs Benefits; Marketing Strategy; Sales; Computer Industry
Narayandas, Das, and Robert C. Dudley. "Hewlett Packard--Computer Systems Organization: Selling to Enterprise Customers." Harvard Business School Case 500-064, March 2000. (Revised February 2005.)
- 19 Apr 2004
- Research & Ideas
Birth of the American Salesman
"The development of modern sales management is an uniquely American story." Why do you think this is? Walter Friedman: In the early nineteenth century, many nations, certainly all the European ones, had traveling peddlers and... View Details
Keywords: by Laura Linard
- June 2018
- Case
Meridian Systems
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Michael J. Roberts
The Meridian Systems case focuses on a start-up in the restaurant point of sale (POS) systems market. In early 2018, Meridian is getting ready to roll out a POS system based on a new technology—a tablet-based, Wi-Fi-enabled POS system (the "tablet" system, or... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Sales; Strategy; Salesforce Management; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy
Cespedes, Frank V., and Michael J. Roberts. "Meridian Systems." Harvard Business School Brief Case 918-533, June 2018.
- January 2017 (Revised May 2019)
- Case
Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (A)
By: Doug J. Chung
Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company’s products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for its excellent customer service and a fair “one-for-all” HR policy. Historically, the salespeople had been compensated... View Details
Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Change; Decision Making; Electronics Industry; Sweden
Chung, Doug J. "Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (A)." Harvard Business School Case 517-090, January 2017. (Revised May 2019.)
- May 2019
- Supplement
Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (D)
By: Doug J. Chung
Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company’s products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for its excellent customer service and a fair “one-for-all” HR policy. Historically, the salespeople had been compensated... View Details
Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Change Management; Behavior; Electronics Industry; Sweden
Chung, Doug J. "Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (D)." Harvard Business School Supplement 519-096, May 2019.
- October 2015
- Teaching Note
Clef Company: Turnover
Clef Company sells keys and other products to retail outlets, which then sell these products to consumers. The case concerns turnover in Clef's sales force in the context of company strategy, financial performance, and a day in the life of a Clef salesperson. Among... View Details
- June 2017 (Revised May 2019)
- Supplement
Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (B)
By: Doug J. Chung
Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain founded in 1988 by brothers Marcus, Mikael and Fredrik Dahnelius. The company operated 84 stores, all company-owned, located mainly in the metropolitan areas of Sweden’s most popular cities: Stockholm, Gothemburg... View Details
Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Change Management; Behavior; Electronics Industry; Sweden
Chung, Doug J. "Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 517-133, June 2017. (Revised May 2019.)
- May 2019
- Supplement
Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (C)
By: Doug J. Chung
Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company’s products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for its excellent customer service and a fair “one-for-all” HR policy. Historically, the salespeople had been compensated... View Details
Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Change Management; Behavior; Electronics Industry; Sweden
Chung, Doug J. "Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 519-095, May 2019.
- January 1986 (Revised November 2006)
- Case
Peripheral Products Company: The 'Gray Market' for Disk Drives
In mid-1985, the vice president of marketing for a large manufacturer of disk drives is considering how to deal with a growing "gray market" for his company's products. The case provides good background material on the evolution of gray markets throughout the disk... View Details
Keywords: Price; Growth and Development; Code Law; Leadership; Marketing; Distribution; Production; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Distribution Industry
Cespedes, Frank V. "Peripheral Products Company: The 'Gray Market' for Disk Drives." Harvard Business School Case 586-124, January 1986. (Revised November 2006.)
- April 2022
- Case
The First Opium War and Global Free Trade
By: Jeremy Friedman and Allison Lazarus
The First Opium War (1839-1842) symbolized the peak of the era of European imperialism, with a political and cultural legacy that remains potent to this day. The British Empire, “acquired in a fit of absent-mindedness” as one observer famously claimed, seemed to be... View Details
Keywords: Imperialism; Narcotics; Importing; History; Globalized Markets and Industries; Trade; Social Issues
Friedman, Jeremy, and Allison Lazarus. "The First Opium War and Global Free Trade." Harvard Business School Case 722-052, April 2022.
- July 2012 (Revised November 2012)
- Case
Dragonfly Corporation
By: Howard H. Stevenson and Jim Sharpe
After 3 years of losses and under legal threats from their landlord, a husband and wife team are faced with shutting the company down, buying time with the landlord or turning to their parents for additional funds. Despite opening a new location and seeing that sales... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurial Management; Turnarounds; Bankruptcy; Bank Loan; Crisis Management; Family Business; Retail Trade; Financial Crisis; Financial Analysis; Entrepreneurship; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Retail Industry; United States
Stevenson, Howard H., and Jim Sharpe. "Dragonfly Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 813-042, July 2012. (Revised November 2012.)
- February 2001 (Revised January 2002)
- Case
Tracmail
By: Paul W. Marshall, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Suma Raju
Tracmail, an online customer service company based in India, is trying to handle support services (e-mail and chat) for companies worldwide. In its quest to break into global markets, Tracmail is contemplating a joint venture with a U.S. call center. Tracmail is also... View Details
Keywords: Salesforce Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Startups; Joint Ventures; Service Industry; Information Technology Industry; India; United States
Marshall, Paul W., Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Suma Raju. "Tracmail." Harvard Business School Case 801-037, February 2001. (Revised January 2002.)
- February 2003 (Revised February 2006)
- Case
Precise Software Solutions
When and how should a firm introduce an innovative new product? Introduce too early and functionality may not be there, too late and strong competition might appear. Precise Software Solutions, headquartered in Westwood, MA, is a small, growing company with a... View Details
Keywords: Applications and Software; Product Launch; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Sales; Information Technology Industry; Massachusetts
Godes, David B. "Precise Software Solutions." Harvard Business School Case 503-064, February 2003. (Revised February 2006.)
- April 1993 (Revised September 1996)
- Case
ABB Deutschland (B)
By: Hugo Uyterhoeven
Focuses in detail on implementing a corporate restructuring program in ABB's German subsidiary. Special attention is given to Germany's unique form of industrial governance. Two major problem areas--power plants and power transformers--are described in detail, as is a... View Details
Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Restructuring; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Governance; Leadership Style; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Sales; Opportunities; Energy Industry; Germany
Uyterhoeven, Hugo. "ABB Deutschland (B)." Harvard Business School Case 393-131, April 1993. (Revised September 1996.)