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  • All HBS Web  (254)
    • News  (3)
    • Research  (239)
  • Faculty Publications  (210)

Show Results For

  • All HBS Web  (254)
    • News  (3)
    • Research  (239)
  • Faculty Publications  (210)
← Page 7 of 254 Results →
  • Web

HBS Entrepreneurship Summit - Alumni

Administration Shikhar Ghosh (MBA 1980), MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice 2:45–4:00 p.m. Entrepreneurial Solutions to World Problems Moderator: William A. Sahlman (MBA 1975, PHDBE 1982), Baker Foundation Professor of... View Details
  • 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
  • August 2009 (Revised August 2012)
  • Case

Cabot Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

By: Frank V. Cespedes and John T. Gourville
Traces the 12-year career of a pharmaceutical salesperson, Bob Marsh, from recruitment to termination. Marsh has had an uneven career with Cabot Pharmaceuticals and eventually is asked to resign. Following his termination, a number of Marsh's former customers complain... View Details
Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Employees; Resignation and Termination; Performance Evaluation; Salesforce Management; Alignment; Pharmaceutical Industry
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Cespedes, Frank V., and John T. Gourville. "Cabot Pharmaceuticals, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 510-030, August 2009. (Revised August 2012.)
  • November 2021
  • Article

The Comprehensive Effects of Sales Force Management: A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Selection, Compensation, and Training

By: Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim and Byoung G. Park
This study provides a comprehensive model of an agent’s behavior in response to multiple sales management instruments, including compensation, recruiting/termination, and training. The model on agents’ behavior takes into account many of the key elements that... View Details
Keywords: Salesforce Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Compensation and Benefits; Resignation and Termination; Training; Behavior; Analysis
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Chung, Doug J., Byungyeon Kim, and Byoung G. Park. "The Comprehensive Effects of Sales Force Management: A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Selection, Compensation, and Training." Management Science 67, no. 11 (November 2021): 7046–7074.
  • Web

Marketing Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Theory of Salesforce Compensation Plans" (with A. K. Basu, V. Srinivasan, and Richard Staelin, Marketing Science , fall 1985). Rajiv Lal : Winner of the TIMS College of Marketing Award for the Best Article in View Details
  • October 2016
  • Case

The Quiet Ascension of LA Fitness

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
In 2016, LA Fitness was the largest chain of non-franchised fitness clubs in North America, operating 676 clubs, serving 4.9 million members, and generating revenues of over $1.9 billion. Founded by Chinyol Yi, Louis Welch, and Paul Norris in 1984, the privately held... View Details
Keywords: LA Fitness; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; Planet Fitness; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Demographics; Age; Gender; Income; Residency; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Capital Structure; Cash; Cash Flow; Cost; Private Equity; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Operations; Leasing; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Technology Platform; Health Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles
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Wells, John R., and Gabriel Ellsworth. "The Quiet Ascension of LA Fitness." Harvard Business School Case 717-424, October 2016.
  • January 2021
  • Article

Sales Hiring Is Hard to Do (Don't Make It Harder)

By: Frank V. Cespedes
In the aggregate, hiring in sales is more expensive than many companies’ cap-ex decisions. But it rarely gets the same attention and companies fail to deal with challenges inherent in sales hiring. Unlike many other business functions, there is no easily identified... View Details
Keywords: Salesforce Management; Selection and Staffing; Human Resources
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Cespedes, Frank V. "Sales Hiring Is Hard to Do (Don't Make It Harder)." Top Sales Magazine (January 2021), 38–39.
  • February 2011 (Revised December 2014)
  • Case

RentJuice

By: Thomas Eisenmann and Liz Kind
RentJuice, founded in mid-2008, provided a subscription software service—sold via phone and live online webinars—that allowed real estate professionals like brokers and agents to manage and market rental listings, communicate with clients, and complete transaction... View Details
Keywords: Renting or Rental; Product Launch; Applications and Software; Property; Business Startups; Salesforce Management; Product Marketing; Real Estate Industry; Information Technology Industry
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Eisenmann, Thomas, and Liz Kind. "RentJuice." Harvard Business School Case 811-069, February 2011. (Revised December 2014.)
  • Article

How a Fast-Growing Startup Built Its Sales Team for Long-Term Success

By: Frank V. Cespedes and David Mattson
It’s common for leaders of sales teams to focus almost exclusively on short-term tactics and current operations while failing to think and act in a way that supports the longer-term needs of their businesses—and it’s hard to fault them. The biggest problem with a... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Salesforce Management; Management Practices and Processes
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Cespedes, Frank V., and David Mattson. "How a Fast-Growing Startup Built Its Sales Team for Long-Term Success." Harvard Business Review (website) (December 4, 2017).
  • June 2017
  • Case

Magellan Boatworks

By: John A. Quelch and James T. Kindley
Magellan Boatworks is a midsize manufacturer of customized, power "cruising yachts." In the face of economic and political uncertainty in late 2016, Magellan's VP of sales and marketing, Walt Robinson, wonders whether he should request a budget increase for 2017.... View Details
Keywords: Marketing; Marketing Communications; Advertising; Strategy; Salesforce Management
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Quelch, John A., and James T. Kindley. "Magellan Boatworks." Harvard Business School Brief Case 917-547, June 2017.
  • October 2000 (Revised July 2001)
  • Case

Avon Products (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Greg Rogers
The general manager of Avon Mexico, Fernando Lezama, must decide whether to promote a woman to the position of vice president of sales. If appointed, the candidate would be the first female in all of Latin America to hold an executive position and one of the first... View Details
Keywords: Business or Company Management; Leading Change; Salesforce Management; Organizational Culture; Job Design and Levels; Gender; Management Teams; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Mexico
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Paine, Lynn S., and Greg Rogers. "Avon Products (A)." Harvard Business School Case 301-059, October 2000. (Revised July 2001.)
  • April 1988 (Revised September 1992)
  • Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: The Backhaul Decision

By: Janice H. Hammond
Prior to the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, companies with private trucking fleets were generally prohibited from selling transportation services to other companies. The deregulation of the trucking industry in 1980 allowed private carriers to offer for-hire transportation... View Details
Keywords: Cost Management; Revenue; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Marketing Strategy; Distribution; Service Operations; Sales; Salesforce Management; Transportation; Food and Beverage Industry
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Hammond, Janice H. "Frito-Lay, Inc.: The Backhaul Decision." Harvard Business School Case 688-104, April 1988. (Revised September 1992.)
  • July 2001 (Revised October 2002)
  • Case

Centra Software

By: John A. Deighton and Laetitia Pouliquen
Centra is a pioneer in software eLearning. It is debating how to modify its go-to-market strategy, adding telesales to improve sales force productivity. At the same time, its market is evolving, and management thinks it may be about to "cross the chasm" in Geoffrey... View Details
Keywords: Applications and Software; Learning; Emerging Markets; Growth Management; Salesforce Management; Conflict Management; Information Technology Industry; Education Industry
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Deighton, John A., and Laetitia Pouliquen. "Centra Software." Harvard Business School Case 502-009, July 2001. (Revised October 2002.) (request a courtesy copy.)
  • 2015
  • Case

Fine Harvest Restaurant Group (cases A and B)

By: Clara (Xiaoling) Chen, Kenneth A. Merchant, Tatiana Sandino and Wim A. Van der Stede
The Fine Harvest Restaurant Group cases A and B examine a company's design of a new system to evaluate the performance (and determine the bonuses) for its restaurant managers. Fine Harvest had traditionally evaluated restaurant managers based on store margins and had... View Details
Keywords: Incentive Systems; Relative Performance Evaluation; Restaurant Industry; Accounting; Economics; Human Resources; Measurement and Metrics; Labor; Performance; Salesforce Management; Retail Industry; North and Central America
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Chen, Clara (Xiaoling), Kenneth A. Merchant, Tatiana Sandino, and Wim A. Van der Stede. "Fine Harvest Restaurant Group (cases A and B)." University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business Case, 2015.
  • July 1990 (Revised October 1999)
  • Case

Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (A)

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston
In 1989, the performance measurement systems and compensation policies of Nordstrom Department Stores unexpectedly came under attack by employees, unions, and government regulators. The case describes the "sales-per-hour" monitoring and compensation system that many... View Details
Keywords: Performance Consistency; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Labor Unions; Salesforce Management; Retention; Growth and Development; Industrial Products Industry; Utilities Industry
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Simons, Robert L., and Hilary Weston. "Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (A)." Harvard Business School Case 191-002, July 1990. (Revised October 1999.)
  • November 1999 (Revised July 2003)
  • Case

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

By: Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen
Pre-Paid Legal Services' business model reveals two key issues--managing the sales force and sales growth and managing claims. Students analyze the economics of the business and consider how to measure firm performance, how to evaluate and reward the sales force, and... View Details
Keywords: Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Salesforce Management; Marketing Strategy; Accrual Accounting; Business Cycles; Forecasting and Prediction; Insurance; Business Growth and Maturation; Insurance Industry
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Healy, Paul M., and Jacob Cohen. "Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 100-037, November 1999. (Revised July 2003.)
  • 31 Oct 2011
  • Research & Ideas

The Most Powerful Workplace Motivator

Any parent can tell you that a surefire way to turn joy into rage is to offer your child a big candy bar—and then turn around and offer an even bigger one to his sister. Suddenly, a special treat turns into a great injustice. "Hey! How come she got more? That's not... View Details
Keywords: by Carmen Nobel
  • August 2012
  • Case

Jess Westerly at Kauflauf GmbH

By: John J. Gabarro and Colleen Kaftan
Jess Westerly is the assistant product owner of CRM applications for computer and office supply wholesalers and retailers at Kauflauf, a fast-growing provider of subscription enterprise software headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany. Only months into her job, outsider... View Details
Keywords: Applications and Software; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Leading Change; Behavior; Salesforce Management; Social and Collaborative Networks; Planning; Web Services Industry; Germany
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Gabarro, John J., and Colleen Kaftan. "Jess Westerly at Kauflauf GmbH." Harvard Business School Brief Case 913-527, August 2012.
  • May 2017
  • Case

Promontory, Inc.

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Handlin
Promontory, Inc. is a small, privately owned firm in the promotional products (specialty advertising) industry. After starting the firm two years ago with the intention of pursuing a high-quality/high-price strategy, the CEO is seeking methods of increasing sales... View Details
Keywords: Salesforce Management; Marketing Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Business Model; Sales; Advertising Industry
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Cespedes, Frank V., and Amy Handlin. "Promontory, Inc." Harvard Business School Brief Case 917-535, May 2017.
  • 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
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Martinez-Jerez, Francisco de Asis, and Rachel Sha. "Nutricia Middle East: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness." Harvard Business School Case 106-063, April 2006.
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