Customer Value and Value Chain - Publications - Faculty & Research

January 2023
Supplement

Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (B)

By: Henry McGee, Nien-hê Hsieh and Christian Godwin

In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, Apple and Google partnered to develop a contact tracing application that would collect information about users infected with the disease and notify those who they had been in contact with. While Apple/Google’s... View Details

Citation

Purchase

20 Dec 2004
Research & Ideas

How an Order Views Your Company

Thanks to the Internet, customer management software, and the success of Dell, the concept of order management and customer focus has proven... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston

February 2023 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Graphic Packaging: Project Cowboy (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

In July 2019, Graphic Packaging CEO Michael Doss was proposing a $600 million investment in a new machine to produce coated recycled board (CRB), a type of paper packaging used for consumer products (cups, cereal boxes, beverage boxes, etc.) that utilized recycled... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Growth Management; Demand and Consumers; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Value Creation; Supply and Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; United States; North America

Citation

Educators

Purchase

28 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

Brick-and-Mortar Stores Are Making a Comeback

Stores were designed as a place for lingering and relaxing. For customers who were looking for an in-and-out buying experience, that was frustrating and frivolous. Just give me... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint; Retail

08 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Who Is the Chief Sustainability Officer?

improving working conditions in their supply chain, creating better safety procedures, and reaping profits from products that address environmental and social problems. "Regulators View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Manufacturing

17 Apr 2017
HBS Case

This Turkish Debt Collector Is Customer-friendly

requires a total change in organizational identity. Moving from an environment that is adversarial to one that is co-creating value with customers requires a company to carefully coordinate systemic changes... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

Relationships Using CRM By: Avery, Jill, and Susan Fournier Abstract—With incidences in the 20%-25% range, the practice of firing customers has become increasingly attractive as firms try to maximize the... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

November 2016
Case

Pete & Gerry's

By: Jose Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

Citation

Educators

Purchase

October 2010
Case

The Cleveland Clinic: Improving the Patient Experience (Abridged)

By: Ananth Raman, Anita L. Tucker and Rachel Gordon

Healthcare has traditionally focused on medical outcomes and financial performance. The big question is always, "How much is it going to cost?" What would happen though if healthcare also considered question of "How does the patient feel?" This case looks at the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Ethics; Health Care and Treatment; Six Sigma; Performance Improvement; Safety; Value Creation

Citation

Educators

Purchase

11 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Adding Time to Activity-Based Costing

how companies create value for customers and shareholders. The BSC measures the customer value proposition, View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

February 5, 2009
Comment

In Praise of Marketing

By: John A. Quelch

Many dismiss marketing as manipulative, deceptive, and intrusive. Marketing, they argue, focuses too much of our attention on material consumption. More recently, Benjamin Barber, in his 2007 book Consumed, claims that marketing is "sucking up the air from every other... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Consumer Loyalty; Local Vs. Global Branding; Multi-national Brands; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Satisfaction; Globalized Economies and Regions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning

Citation

Read Now

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Ground-Floor Opportunities for Retail in India

About Malls? An audience member asked what advice panelists would give to an entrepreneur launching a retail business in India. "Don't try to copy any Western model," said Biyani. "India might surprise you. Adopt a flexible model that captures the View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Consumer Products; Retail

13 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 13

infrastructure ITG had constructed to support clients with customized software tools and technical support had grown well beyond sustainable levels. With his management team, Gasser had developed a two-part... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Jun 2019
Book

These Aren't Beach Books, but Managers Should Read Them Anyway

social change has been at the center of many entrepreneurial efforts by Harvard Business School alumni. Howard Stevenson discusses their pragmatic approaches to overcoming long odds. Unlocking the Customer View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

04 Oct 2004
What Do You Think?

Does Speed Trump Intellectual Property?

these responses, is the value of intellectual property in all but a few instances or industries vastly overrated? Is the appropriate response to this dilemma to rethink processes to achieve speed as both a defense View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

05 Dec 2013
What Do You Think?

Is Walmart Defying Economic Gravity?

information-driven model by gaining a better understanding of product and customer relationships." Dean Vella cited Walmart's innovation in supply chain management View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

04 Aug 2006
What Do You Think?

What Happens When the Economics of Scarcity Meets the Economics of Abundance?

terms of where value is added in the supply chain . The value is created through the service of helping customers find what they want within the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

23 Jul 2021
Blog Post

Trends in Consumer Products

Solstice and Social Club Seltzer. As we head out of Covid, we see long-term trends accelerating. Consumers are now even more interested in health and wellness. Value is even... View Details

17 Jul 2006
Lessons from the Classroom

Developing a Strategy for Digital Convergence

successful along the entire vertical chain in a converging world. In the course, we try to dissect where, and under what conditions, you want to focus on horizontal layers in the View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Computer; Education

July 1989 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Colonial Homes

By: David E. Bell

Colonial Homes supplies a complete raw materials package to build entire homes. The price of the package is guaranteed at the signing of the sales contract, while delivery (and payment) are not effected for up to six months. In an effort to reduce its exposure to... View Details