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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,427)
- People (4)
- News (416)
- Research (1,771)
- Events (4)
- Multimedia (13)
- Faculty Publications (1,062)
- November 2014 (Revised February 2016)
- Case
DoubleDutch
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Matthew G. Preble
Lawrence Coburn and Pankaj Prasad, co-founders of the event solution startup DoubleDutch, have to make a significant decision about their young company's sales function. DoubleDutch's key product was a mobile application (app) and event management platform that... View Details
Keywords: Sales Management; Selling; Marketing Management; Strategy Implementation; Business Marketing; Sales Force Management; Salesforce Management; Marketing; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Technology Industry; United States; Europe; Asia
Cespedes, Frank V., and Matthew G. Preble. "DoubleDutch." Harvard Business School Case 815-044, November 2014. (Revised February 2016.)
- October 1989
- Background Note
Aspects of Sales Management: Key Themes
Keywords: Salesforce Management
Cespedes, Frank V. "Aspects of Sales Management: Key Themes." Harvard Business School Background Note 590-042, October 1989.
- April 2013
- Case
Managing with Analytics at Procter & Gamble
By: Thomas H. Davenport, Marco Iansiti and Alain Serels
Senior management at P&G has put a strong emphasis on using data to make "better, smarter, real-time business decisions." The Global Business Services (GBS) organization has developed tools, systems and processes to provide managers throughout P&G with direct access to... View Details
Keywords: Analytics; Data Management; Forecasting; Shared Services; Procter ＆ Gamble; Laundry Detergent; Information Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Information Technology; Mathematical Methods; Consumer Products Industry; North America
Davenport, Thomas H., Marco Iansiti, and Alain Serels. "Managing with Analytics at Procter & Gamble." Harvard Business School Case 613-045, April 2013.
- April 2006
- Case
Nutricia Middle East: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness
Nutricia's Middle East and African region is transitioning from a trading to a customer focus. CEO Ernest Vandenbussche must decide how to market infant milk formula most effectively in a region where the information environment is much less rich than in other... View Details
Keywords: Management Teams; Salesforce Management; Customer Relationship Management; Emerging Markets; Nutrition; Performance Effectiveness; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Health Industry; Middle East; Africa
Martinez-Jerez, Francisco de Asis, and Rachel Sha. "Nutricia Middle East: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness." Harvard Business School Case 106-063, April 2006.
- August 2013
- Teaching Note
Nutricia Middle East: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness
By: F. Asis Martinez-Jerez
Nutricia's Middle East and African region is transitioning from a trading to a customer focus. CEO Ernest Vandenbussche must decide how to market infant milk formula most effectively in a region where the information environment is much less rich than in other... View Details
- April 2017
- Teaching Note
DoubleDutch
By: Frank Cespedes
This Teaching Note accompanies HBS No. 815-044 “DoubleDutch” in which the co-founders of the event management start-up, DoubleDutch, have to make a significant decision about their young company's sales function. The teaching note covers: Opportunity analysis,... View Details
- Article
How Real Sales Learning Happens: In the Flow of Work
By: Yuchun Lee, Mark Magnacca and Frank V. Cespedes
Most learning in sales is through peer learning in task-specific contexts, and the effects are cumulative because modeling behavior is a big driver of how salespeople develop. This is very different from the experience in most training seminars, especially if the... View Details
Lee, Yuchun, Mark Magnacca, and Frank V. Cespedes. "How Real Sales Learning Happens: In the Flow of Work." Learning Solutions (February 15, 2021).
- April 2019 (Revised January 2025)
- Case
Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Effects
By: Christopher Stanton, Richard Saouma and Olivia Hull
The importance of a good peer or coworker is widely discussed, but understanding the glue that makes coworkers valuable is less understood. This case sheds light on the importance of peers and the practices and environments that make a group greater than the sum of its... View Details
Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Interactive Communication; Experience and Expertise; Decision Making; Training; Design; Compensation and Benefits; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance; Performance Improvement; Research; Sales; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Telecommunications Industry; Utah; United States
Stanton, Christopher, Richard Saouma, and Olivia Hull. "Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Effects." Harvard Business School Case 819-072, April 2019. (Revised January 2025.)
- 21 Nov 2016
- Research & Ideas
It Matters That Your CEO Doesn't Know Much About Sales
Hence, the call criteria used in sales directly impact which projects the firm invests in. Yet, how many in the C-suite understand how compensation, deployment, and other core sales View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- November 1986 (Revised June 1987)
- Case
Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives
Focuses on the compensation plan for Fieldcrest sales representatives. Management is reviewing the structure of the plan and must decide how to establish compensation goals and guidelines for the following year so that sales efforts are allocated among products and/or... View Details
Cespedes, Frank V. "Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives." Harvard Business School Case 587-097, November 1986. (Revised June 1987.)
- August 2022 (Revised March 2025)
- Case
Wasabi Technologies (A)
By: N. Louis Shipley and Mel Martin
After launching a successful hot cloud storage company, Founder and CEO David Friend is ready to scale the venture rapidly. Wasabi Technologies had focused primarily on direct sales, but an opportunity to pivot to channel sales was on the horizon. The company’s major... View Details
Keywords: Direct Sales; Channel Sales; Information Management; Sales; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Divisions; Information Technology Industry; United States
Shipley, N. Louis, and Mel Martin. "Wasabi Technologies (A)." Harvard Business School Case 823-021, August 2022. (Revised March 2025.)
- 19 Nov 2010
- Working Paper Summaries
Do Bonuses Enhance Sales Productivity? A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Bonus-Based Compensation Plans
- October 2017 (Revised March 2020)
- Case
Medicetra Medtech Company, Inc.
By: Doug J. Chung
Medicetra MedTech Company is a dental equipment distributor, and senior management is deciding whether to implement a new incentive compensation program for the sales force. For many years, Medicetra had paid salespeople only a fixed salary. Although the current plan... View Details
Keywords: Sales Compensation; Sales Force Retention; Employee Fairness; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Retention; Fairness; Performance Improvement
Chung, Doug J. "Medicetra Medtech Company, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 518-049, October 2017. (Revised March 2020.)
- February 2018
- Case
Qualtrics (A)
By: Doug J. Chung and James M. Lattin
Qualtrics was an online survey research platform and since the beginning, the company had relied entirely on an inside sales model—sales done remotely without face-to-face contact with clients. The low-cost inside sales model, along with an emphasis on a strong sales... View Details
Keywords: Sales Strategy; Inside Sales Model; Sales; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation
Chung, Doug J., and James M. Lattin. "Qualtrics (A)." Harvard Business School Case 518-082, February 2018.
- May 2011
- Teaching Note
Baria Planning Solutions, Inc.: Fixing the Sales Process (Brief Case)
By: Steven C. Wheelwright and William Schmidt
Teaching Note for 4568. View Details
- March 1990 (Revised March 1992)
- Supplement
Mary Kay Cosmetics: Sales Force Incentives (B)
By: Robert L. Simons
Details the changes made to the VIP automobile plan. View Details
Simons, Robert L. "Mary Kay Cosmetics: Sales Force Incentives (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 190-122, March 1990. (Revised March 1992.)
- December 2021
- Article
Employee Responses to Compensation Changes: Evidence from a Sales Firm
By: Jason Sandvik, Richard Saouma, Nathan Seegert and Christopher Stanton
What are the long-term consequences of compensation changes? Using data from an inbound sales call center, we study employee responses to a compensation change that ultimately reduced take-home pay by 7% for the average affected worker. The change caused a significant... View Details
Keywords: Employees; Wages; Compensation and Benefits; Change; Performance; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Analysis
Sandvik, Jason, Richard Saouma, Nathan Seegert, and Christopher Stanton. "Employee Responses to Compensation Changes: Evidence from a Sales Firm." Management Science 67, no. 12 (December 2021): 7687–7707.
- November–December 2018
- Article
Online Network Revenue Management Using Thompson Sampling
By: Kris J. Ferreira, David Simchi-Levi and He Wang
We consider a network revenue management problem where an online retailer aims to maximize revenue from multiple products with limited inventory constraints. As common in practice, the retailer does not know the consumer's purchase probability at each price and must... View Details
Keywords: Online Marketing; Revenue Management; Revenue; Management; Marketing; Internet and the Web; Price; Mathematical Methods
Ferreira, Kris J., David Simchi-Levi, and He Wang. "Online Network Revenue Management Using Thompson Sampling." Operations Research 66, no. 6 (November–December 2018): 1586–1602.