Publications

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17 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Let Customers Call the Shots

technologies could be used to create a captive one-to-one relationship between firms and consumers, so that customers could literally be viewed as assets. We should start to realize that things are not that simple. Ultimately, a... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Article

Optimal Value and Growth Tilts in Long-Horizon Portfolios

By: Jakub W. Jurek and Luis M. Viceira

We develop an analytical solution to the dynamic portfolio choice problem of an investor with power utility defined over wealth at a finite horizon, who faces a time-varying investment opportunity set, parameterized using a flexible vector autoregression. We apply this... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Private Equity; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Asset Pricing; Value

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September 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Teaching Note

Fishbowl: Scaling Up

By: Leslie K. John

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

Teaching Note for HBS No. 919-013. Fishbowl is a social media app that allows professionals to connect with other relevant professionals both within their company and... View Details

December 2018 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Fishbowl: Scaling Up

By: Leslie K. John

Fishbowl is a social media app that allows professionals to connect with other relevant professionals both within their company and across industry. Unlike many other social media apps, on which users typically present idealized portraits of themselves, on Fishbowl,... View Details

Article

The Cost Structure, Customer Profitability, and Retention Implications of Self-Service Distribution Channels: Evidence from Customer Behavior in an Online Banking Channel

By: Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper uses the context of online banking to investigate the consequences of employing self-service distribution channels to alter customer interactions with the firm. Using a sample of retail banking customers observed over a 30-month period at a large U.S. bank,... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Service Operations; Distribution Channels; Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web; Banks and Banking; Technology Adoption; Service Delivery; Market Transactions; Market Participation; Profit; Retail Industry; Banking Industry; United States

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October 2012
Article

Target the Right Market

By: Jill Avery and Thomas Steenburgh

SparkPlace is a two-year-old business with a hot new product: software that manages and measures the effectiveness of permission-based marketing campaigns for social media. The company is in the process of deciding on which of two customer segments to focus its... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Market Segmentation; Customer Defection; Customer Lifetime Value; Customer Relationship Management; CRM; Market Segmentation And Target Market Selection; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Technology Industry; United States

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06 May 2002
Research & Ideas

A Toolkit for Customer Innovation

Thomke and Eric von Hippel Tapping into customer innovation can certainly generate tremendous value, but capturing that value is hardly a simple or straightforward process. Not only must companies develop... View Details

Keywords: by Stefan Thomke & Eric Von Hippel

21 Mar 2016
HBS Case

Can Customer Reviews Be 'Managed?'

case of hotels, professionals tend to not be as well-regarded anymore. Why? Because they have different values of what they consider important than [the average consumer does]. If I have a family and [experts] start talking about how... View Details

Keywords: by Brian Kenny; Advertising; Travel

24 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

SuperCorp: Values as Guidance System

Social Good. She tells the stories of "vanguard companies" such as IBM, Proctor & Gamble, Cemex, Banco Real, and Omron that are rewriting what it means to be successful in the 21st century. In this excerpt, Kanter explores how vanguard companies use View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

13 Mar 2017
Research & Ideas

Hiding Products From Customers May Ultimately Boost Sales

portion of your full product catalog—and leaving customers to wonder what you’ll offer next? Or is it better to display all your wares at once, in hopes of encouraging a shopping spree? For example, is a View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Fashion

03 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The State of Customer Service Leadership

Breakthrough Service is Different.” What is your definition of breakthrough service, and why is it different? Sasser: Breakthrough services are those that provide extraordinary results and a high-quality experience for customers and... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Retail

January 2021 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Amazon Shopper Panel: Paying Customers for Their Data

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

This case introduces a new Amazon program that has consumers upload their receipts from transactions outside of Amazon, in exchange for money. Through the discussion, the case aims to explore issues in customers’ privacy in the digital age, the value of customers’ own... View Details

08 Sep 2008
HBS Case

The Value of Environmental Activists

There are many methods, most financial, to measure the success of companies in meeting goals. But the question becomes a lot harder at Harvard Business School when MBAs are challenged to measure the efforts of environmental organizations like Greenpeace and the World... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

15 Dec 2018
News

The math wizard who became a customer loyalty scheme guru

August 2021
Case

Yummy: Delivering Value to Venezuela

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Carla Larangeira

By June 2021, Yummy had become Venezuela’s first and largest food delivery app and last-mile logistics company. In Caracas, the nation’s capital, Yummy held a 55% market share, while operations in other cities had already started to take place, including in three of... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Health Pandemics; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion

09 Dec 2019
Research & Ideas

Identify Great Customers from Their First Purchase

School. By incorporating data most companies discard, Ascarza and her co-researcher devised an algorithm capable of quickly analyzing more than 40 variables to create a “first impression” of the customer after the initial transaction. The... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail; Service

September 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Compass Maritime Services, LLC: Valuing Ships

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Albert W. Sheen

Tom Roberts, a founding partner of Compass Maritime Services, a New Jersey-based shipping research and consulting firm, has been asked by a new potential customer in May 2008 for advice on purchasing a capesize bulk carrier. After identifying a suitable ship with his... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Price; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Negotiation Offer; Mathematical Methods; Ship Transportation; Valuation; Consulting Industry; Shipping Industry

05 Jun 2019
News

When Customers Want to See the Human Behind the Product

January 2013
Case

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture (MM)

By: Frances X. Frei and Robin J. Ely

On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately-held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft-line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its Board of Directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry