Customer Focus - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Jun 1996
News

Reinventing Marketing

Professor Robert J. Dolan, whose research focuses on pricing, will oversee the required Marketing course in the 1996-97 academic year. The elective curriculum has also been restructured, based in part on feedback from student focus... View Details

Keywords: Mary Jane Higgins; Illustration by Peter Hoey

27 Mar 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: Driving India's EV Future: Insights from Ather Scooter and Exponent Energy

offering premium models like the 450X and Rizta, featuring touchscreen dashboards, WhatsApp navigation, and live location sharing. Their focus on performance and technology appeals to customers upgrading... View Details

22 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Important Management Trends of the (Still Young) Twenty-First Century

sending some customers charity vouchers and others more standard product discounts (15% off your next purchase)—will allow companies to compare directly the ROI on charitable actions versus more traditional marketing actions - and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Jun 2024
News

Decoding the Promise and Perils of Generative AI

result was performance declines relative to our control group.” Read more about From Chalkboards to Chatbots Ayelet Israeli Ayelet Israeli Will Large Language Models Replace Traditional Market Research? LLMs could serve as a more cost-effective alternative to methods... View Details

Keywords: April White

September 2023 (Revised May 2025)
Teaching Note

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader, Jordan Mitchell and Karen Elterman

Teaching Note for "On," HBS Case No. 723-430. On is a premium performance running shoe company founded in Switzerland in 2010. The company rapidly gained traction through its unique CloudTec cushioning technology, its innovative midsole plate called the Speedboard, and... View Details

Citation

Purchase

September 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Supplement

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader, Jordan Mitchell and Karen Elterman

Slides to support the teaching of the On case, 723-430. On is a premium performance running shoe company founded in Switzerland in 2010. The company rapidly gained traction through its unique CloudTec cushioning technology, its innovative midsole plate called the... View Details

Citation

Purchase

01 Sep 2012
News

HBS Is Committed to Increasing Alumni Engagement

engagement. Alumni focus groups and interviews have been conducted around the world to better understand the motivators and barriers to alumni engagement and to further evaluate current and proposed communication channels. There were... View Details

Keywords: Lisa Skeete Tatum; engagement; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

01 Sep 2020
News

Giving Amazon the Boot

since people preferred Amazon’s free two-day shipping. Occasionally, scammers would return cheaper, used boots in Ranch Road boxes for a full refund, and Ford was anxious that an unwitting customer would wind up with the wrong product and... View Details

Keywords: Lisa Scanlon Mogolov; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

12 Mar 2018
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Why BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Is Not a Socialist

both results. What’s missing in this debate is a deeper understanding of how value is created, and how it benefits all stakeholders in society—especially shareholders. “Does this make Larry Fink a socialist? Hardly. In fact, Fink is one of the world’s great... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Banking

15 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Rethinking E-Leadership

Companies should "always try new things," he emphasizes. "But we have learned to focus on and apply this innovation to our current customers." Updated advice: Make sure that a sizable percentage of your current View Details

Keywords: by Melissa Raffoni

18 Jun 2001
Research & Ideas

Caught in the Cogs: When Manufacturing and IT Meet

mass customization. In the midst of all this added complexity, he said, the large, vertically integrated organization, involved with everything from Research and Development to customer delivery, is passing from the business landscape.... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

Profile

Prita Kumar

customer value. The dual tracks of business and fitness became deeply ingrained in Kumar’s psyche, along with a belief that she would someday start her own company. Kumar got her undergraduate degree in business at NYU’s Stern School and... View Details

11 Mar 2009
HBS Case

The Energy Politics of Russia vs. Ukraine

state to ownership (with 50.002 percent), and Gazprom's strategy for becoming a global energy company, mainly through acquisition and partnerships. “Russia needs the money. It can't scare away its customers.” The learning objectives of the case View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Energy; Utilities

01 Jun 2025
News

Venture: A Welcome Assist

Illustration: Chris Gash Illustration: Chris Gash The internet grew up inordinately fast. It all happened so quickly, in fact, that it blew right by the accessibility guidelines that would’ve made digital tools available to everyone, regardless of their age or ability,... View Details

Keywords: Jen Mcfarland Flint; photo courtesy Michael Bervell; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

01 Mar 2009
News

Gazprom Goes Global

pipelines in Ukraine, to Europe. Abdelal’s case examines the history of Gazprom, the recent return of the state to ownership (with 50.002 percent), and Gazprom’s strategy for becoming a global energy company, mainly through acquisition and partnerships. The learning... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Natural Gas Distribution; Utilities

01 Sep 2010
News

Alumni Books

collapse, reveal how botched policy responses made a bad situation worse, and focus on lessons that the practice of finance must learn to avoid a repeat in the future. How to Be a Fierce Competitor: What Winning Companies and Great... View Details

19 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 19, 2006

Alcatel would be able to recover growth in the Chinese market. Initiatives were underway to increase focus on services over equipment, to increase Chinese research and development presence, and to merge with U.S. competitor Lucent.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Mar 2008
News

Negotiating with Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, sold $315.6 billion worth of goods in 2006. With its single-minded focus on “EDLP” (everyday low prices) and the power to make or break suppliers, a partnership with Wal-Mart is either the Holy... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; General Merchandise Stores; Retail Trade

01 Oct 1998
News

Supplying Demand

country, he says, "to see the stores as the customer sees them." Along with legions of price-conscious customers, Stemberg's office superstore concept has also attracted its share of imitators. Within two years of opening its doors,... View Details

Keywords: Paul Michelman

17 Dec 2015
News

Field 2 Gives Students Hands-On Exposure To Business Practices In Malaysia

the culture, she wasn’t fully prepared for how dynamic Kuala Lumpur has become. “It is an impressive city where people are very smart and business-driven, and where there is a strong focus on innovation,” she explains. Henderson was one... View Details

Publications