Publications

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Article

Marketing Complex Financial Products in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Rainfall Insurance in India

By: Sarthak Gaurav, Shawn A. Cole and Jeremy Tobacman

Recent financial liberalization in emerging economies has led to the rapid introduction of new financial products. Lack of experience with financial products, low levels of education, and low financial literacy may slow adoption of these products. This article reports... View Details

Keywords: Literacy; Insurance; Marketing; Decisions; Demand and Consumers; Financial Instruments; Emerging Markets; Education; Personal Finance; Agribusiness; Developing Countries and Economies; Innovation and Invention; Gujarat

Find at Harvard

16 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

What Customers Want from Your Products

effort to improve sales of its milk shakes. (In this example, both the company and the product have been disguised.) Its marketers first defined the market segment by product—milk shakes—and then segmented it further by profiling the demographic and View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott Cook & Taddy Hall; Consumer Products

09 Dec 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Friends in High Places

Keywords: by Lauren Cohen & Christopher Malloy

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

Read Now

September 2018 (Revised October 2018)
Supplement

Lexoo: Building a Long-Lasting Platform

By: Chiara Farronato and Elena Corsi

Lexoo, a UK-based online marketplace for legal services, was facing the strategic choice of how to grow from early start-up to mature platform. Daniel van Binsbergen, Lexoo's CEO, and web developer Chris O'Sullivan, CTO, had set up Lexoo to help Small and Medium-Sized... View Details

Keywords: Marketplaces; Legal Services; Growth Strategy; Technology Ventures; Pivot; Service Operations; Digital Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Small Business; Decision Making; Legal Services Industry

August 2017 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Flex Hungary: Launching Production (A)

By: Willy Shih

This case examines design choices in the construction of flow lines. Flow lines are a popular way of arranging production because they are simple and inherently efficient. Equipment or workstations are arranged according to the sequence of steps in which a product is... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Line-balancing; Flow Line; Conveyor-paced Line; Consumer Goods; Consumer Products; Production Management; Production Planning; Production Scheduling; Operations; Production; Management; Supply Chain; Design; Analysis; Goods and Commodities; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; European Union

2011
Teaching Note

UFIDA (B) (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Bin Yang and E. Chen

This case highlights the leadership, cultural and organizational structure dimensions of UFIDA. The case begins with Founder/Chairman Wang Wenjing's rags-to-riches story. Then UFIDA's senior and middle management of different backgrounds talk about their leader,... View Details

Keywords: Computer Software; Corporate Vision; Emerging Markets; Leadership; Organizational Structure; China; Applications and Software; China

October 2015
Case

A Challenger's Strategy: Pinar Abay at ING Bank Turkey

By: Paul M. Healy, Gautam Mukunda and Esel Çekin

In 2013, Pinar Abay was appointed as the CEO of ING Bank Turkey. At 34, she was the youngest bank CEO in Turkey's history. Her appointment raised eyebrows because of her youth and because her career at McKinsey had given her no day-to-day bank management experience.... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Organizational Culture; Emerging Markets; Transformation; Banks and Banking; Growth and Development Strategy; Banking Industry; Turkey

The Leadership Classic, Discover Your True North, expanded for today's leaders

Discover Your True North is the best-selling leadership classic that enables you to become an authentic leader by discovering your True North.... View Details

08 Mar 2021
In Practice

COVID Killed the Traditional Workplace. What Should Companies Do Now?

A year ago, COVID-19 forced many companies to send employees home—often with a laptop and a prayer. Now, with COVID cases subsiding and vaccinations rising, the prospect of returning to old office routines appears more possible. But will employees want to flock back to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

31 May 2023
HBS Case

From Prison Cell to Nike’s C-Suite: The Journey of Larry Miller

Miller shares how education helped him escape a life of crime, how keeping his secret came at a huge personal price, and why employers should give the formerly incarcerated a chance to succeed. Directed by Jamal Meneide, a filmmaker based... View Details

Keywords: by Jamal Meneide; Entertainment & Recreation; Consumer Products

01 May 2013
What Do You Think?

Why Isn’t ‘Servant Leadership’ More Prevalent?

principals see themselves as maniacally focused on getting short term results " Napoleon Elortegui commented that " the organizational model is not geared to move the 'servant' person to the top." It can produce a... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

13 Mar 2023
Op-Ed

How Leaders Should Leave

Before an announcement is circulated in internal email, you should inform your personal assistant, your direct reports, and other close colleagues face to face. It might be ideal for the formal announcement to go out at about 11 a.m. (and... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

February 1998 (Revised July 1998)
Case

Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley (A)

Rob Parson was a star producer in Morgan Stanley's Capital Markets division. He had been recruited from a competitor the prior year and had generated substantial revenues since joining the firm. Unfortunately, Parson's reviews from the 360-degree performance evaluation... View Details

Keywords: Management; Personal Development and Career; Performance Evaluation; Financial Services Industry

February 2025 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Managing Complexity at mymuesli

By: Thomas Graeber and Stacy Straaberg

In April 2009, direct-to-consumer e-commerce muesli brand mymuesli faced a flood of customer questions. The breakfast cereal startup enabled users to order personalized muesli on its website by choosing from 75 organic ingredients for a total of 566 quadrillion... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Decisions; Food; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Product Launch; Problems and Challenges; Behavior; Competitive Advantage; Customization and Personalization; Segmentation; Internet and the Web; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe; Germany