Customer Focus - Publications - Faculty & Research

10 Jan 2020
Blog Post

Know Your Audience - Recruiting HBS Students for Retail

sets align with what a company needs, everyone wins. A Custom Fit As the retail industry evolves, so do recruiting best practices. “More companies are turning away from a standard recruiting presentation and are being more agile and... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

01 Dec 2011
News

Li & Fung's Global Footprint

must be people-oriented. They must want to engage with people, whether it’s their own staff or the customers’ people. Customers come to us not to buy one product but to do a whole relationship. So we tend to View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Wholesale Trade

19 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 19

The alleged benefits of flattening flow primarily from pushing decisions downward to enhance customer and market responsiveness and to improve accountability and morale. Has flattening delivered on its promise to push decisions downward?... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 17, 2017

environments differently than those pursuing traditional closed strategies. This chapter considers these strategies together highlighting similarities and differences between platform, open/user innovation, and ecosystem strategies. We View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2012
News

An Intellectual Capital: Some Influential HBS Ideas, at a Glance

In “Marketing Myopia” in HBR, Ted Levitt (below) famously asks “What business are you in?” and insists that customer focus be paramount. 1977 Abraham Zaleznik raises a provocative, game-changing question in... View Details

Keywords: Professor Elton Mayo: Professor Fritz Roethlisberger; George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business, Professor Emeritus Ray A. Goldberg; Professor Abraham Zaleznik; Professor Alfred Chandler; Professor Michael Porter; Professor Robert S. Kaplan; Professor Michael C. Jensen; Professor C. Roland Christensen; Professor Robert Menton; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

13 Nov 2020
News

New Virtual Classrooms Expand Digital Learning

classroom experience has everything to do with the level of interactivity between faculty and students, and these virtual classrooms provide a better online experience.” Students log in from their respective computers all over the world and, through a View Details

20 Nov 2019
News

From the Ground Up

books, notebooks, pencils, and that kind of thing. “So we turned our focus away from being more generally involved in the community to specifically focusing on schoolchildren and trying to solve the problem for the children who just... View Details

Keywords: Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

23 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

It’s Called ‘Price Coherence,’ and It’s Surprisingly Bad for Consumers

restrictions imposed by the intermediaries, who want consumers to focus less on price differences and more on the benefits of value-added services that they provide, such as distribution, one-stop shopping, easy scheduling, payment... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Air Transportation; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation

29 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

Get Off the Dime!

the change inevitably hit this sturdy wall. Off To A Good Start Here is a second case with a completely different approach, based on a completely different set of assumptions. The Videotape of the Angry Customer From Tim Wallace One night... View Details

Keywords: by John P. Kotter & Dan S. Cohen

12 Apr 2012
News

HBS Welcomes Eleven Alumni Startups

Lema21.com.br will offer fashionable, quality eyewear products for a revolutionary price via an online retail channel. We also will focus on social sustainability to empower less fortunate individuals. mid-atlantic us Knock out!® is a... View Details

Keywords: Bulletin Staff; Alumni New Venture Contest

01 Mar 2011
News

Where the Jobs Are

approach to taking a more in-depth look at a single topic through the experiences of alumni and the insights of faculty experts. HBS alumni interviewed for this issue lead companies ranging in size from a global powerhouse to just twenty employees. Whatever the size or... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Manufacturing

03 May 2021
What Do You Think?

Where Does CEO Activism Go From Here?

or product doing what is, on balance, good for the business? Will their identification with an issue attract more customers than it drives away? Will it attract the kind of employee who shares the values implied by the CEO’s position? Of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Hello Heart: The Next Generation of Chronic Disease Management Apps

By: Ariel D. Stern and Danielle Golan

Hello Heart, a hypertension management app debated whether to go deep and cover other heart conditions, or to expand its solution to other chronic conditions. View Details

Citation

Educators

Purchase

16 Nov 1999
Lessons from the Classroom

Leading Change and Organizational Renewal

and operate profitably. But, far too often, that success breeds inertia. As customers and markets change, organizations must continually sow fresh seeds if they are to remain a viable force in tomorrow's markets. In this program, we... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

03 Aug 2017
Blog Post

“I Can Acquire Important Skills, But Also Gain the Big Picture Perspective of a Founder.”

protagonists in cases he admired. To his surprise, “They were all very responsive – most of them wrote back in twenty-four hours.” By the spring, he knew he wanted to eliminate high-tech ventures from his list and focus on B2C... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Selling Luxury to Everyone

facials a year. Those services provide the company with a paying focus group from which it can gather feedback on its products. "Our customers are paying us $200 [a facial]; you better believe they give... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Consumer Products

26 Jul 2018
News

Running the Numbers

1965) and Jonathan Kraft (MBA 1990). “It was a tremendous opportunity,” she says. “The Krafts’ customer-first focus, and commitment to analytics-based decision making, fit perfectly with my interests and skills.” As head of customer... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

18 Aug 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Business Plan Contest: 15 Years of Building Better Entrepreneurs

risk because I was still a student," he says. Initially, EyeView's model was devoted to helping businesses create and post online video content. About a year later, the company shifted its focus to creating View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education

01 Jun 2011
News

The Best-Laid Plans

businesses create and post online video content. About a year later, the company shifted its focus to creating customized videos that target customers at different points in... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; contests; Health, Social Assistance; Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services; Professional Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

05 Oct 2021
Blog Post

First-Gen Voices: Eric Westphal on Tapping into the Global Alumni Network & Making a Difference Across Borders

excited to focus on the Hack Brazil program that centered on supporting very early-stage entrepreneurs.” This experience helped Westphal solidify his interest in working directly with a founder over the summer. Westphal then focused his... View Details

Publications