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  • All HBS Web  (34,496)
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Show Results For

  • All HBS Web  (34,496)
    • People  (85)
    • News  (12,003)
    • Research  (14,973)
    • Events  (472)
    • Multimedia  (1,589)
  • Faculty Publications  (12,305)
Page 1 of 34,496 Results →
  • November 2014
  • Case

Ardian—The Sale of Diana

By: Paul A. Gompers and Michael Roberts
The case focuses on a European private equity firm—Ardian—and the process it uses to sell one of its portfolio companies, and the decisions around that sale. Key issues include the choice of an auction or acceptance of a pre-emptive bid, and the role of the portfolio... View Details
Keywords: Spin-out; Exit; Sale; Private Equity; France
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Gompers, Paul A., and Michael Roberts. "Ardian—The Sale of Diana." Harvard Business School Case 215-033, November 2014.
  • April 2011
  • Case

Designs by Kate: The Power of Direct Sales

By: John A. Deighton and Sarah Abbott
The sales representatives at Designs by Kate (DBK) sell private label jewelry at hosted parties and through online social media channels. They are also responsible for recruiting, training, and managing new sales reps. CEO and founder Kate Creevey designed the... View Details
Keywords: Direct Sales; Consumer Marketing; Marketing Management; Personal Selling; Sales Compensation; Sales Organization; Motivation and Incentives; Marketing Strategy; Salesforce Management; Performance; Compensation and Benefits; Apparel and Accessories Industry
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Deighton, John A., and Sarah Abbott. "Designs by Kate: The Power of Direct Sales." Harvard Business School Brief Case 114-284, April 2011.
  • January 2023 (Revised January 2023)
  • Case

Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Klopfenstein
This case concerns the industrial automation division at Belden, a hardware manufacturer. While Belden historically sold products such as cables, wires, and other networking devices, EVP of Industrial Automation Ashish Chand recognized that IT vendors were entering the... View Details
Keywords: Implementation; Sales Cycle; Digital Transformation; Sales; Product Positioning; Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Supply and Industry; Technology Industry; North America; United States
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Cespedes, Frank V., and Amy Klopfenstein. "Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales." Harvard Business School Case 823-002, January 2023. (Revised January 2023.)
  • March 2020 (Revised October 2020)
  • Module Note

Sales Force Compensation

By: Doug J. Chung
The author developed this note for scholars, educators, and practitioners that are interested in sales force compensation. It is based on the author’s investigations across a variety of organizations in multiple industries and provides a conceptual framework for the... View Details
Keywords: Sales Strategy; Sales Force Management; Sales Compensation; Salary; Commissions; Bonuses; Quota Setting/updating; Quota Frequency; Extrinsic Vs Intrinsic Motivation; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Strategy
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Chung, Doug J. "Sales Force Compensation." Harvard Business School Module Note 520-084, March 2020. (Revised October 2020.)
  • January 2017 (Revised April 2018)
  • Background Note

Introduction to Incentive-based Sales Compensation Systems

By: Willy Shih
This background note explains the structure of incentive-based sales compensation systems. View Details
Keywords: Sales Compensation; Sales Force Compensation; Sales Force Management; Sales; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Industrial Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; United States
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Shih, Willy. "Introduction to Incentive-based Sales Compensation Systems." Harvard Business School Background Note 617-037, January 2017. (Revised April 2018.)
  • 2014
  • Other Teaching and Training Material

Marketing Reading: Sales Force Design and Management

By: Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas
This Core Curriculum Reading introduces students to (1) the importance of sales force design in implementing organizational strategy, and (2) the role of sales force management in linking structures and processes to behaviors. The material combines theoretical... View Details
Keywords: Sales Budget; Sales Compensation; Sales Cycle; Sales Force Management; Sales Forces; Sales Management; Sales Operations; Sales Organization; Sales Planning; Sales Strategy
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Chung, Doug J., and Das Narayandas. "Marketing Reading: Sales Force Design and Management." Core Curriculum Readings Series. Boston: Harvard Business Publishing 8213, 2014.
  • March 7, 2024
  • Article

Integrating Digital Tools into Every Stage of Your Sales Strategy

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Georg Krentzel
In their growth and customer-acquisition activities, most companies now face twin challenges: understanding and responding to omni-channel buying behavior and doing that without inadvertently decreasing sales productivity. Thirty years ago, Peter Drucker noted that... View Details
Keywords: Sales Management; Digital Tools; Sales; Marketing Channels; Technology Adoption; Brands and Branding
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Cespedes, Frank V., and Georg Krentzel. "Integrating Digital Tools into Every Stage of Your Sales Strategy." Harvard Business Review (website) (March 7, 2024).
  • September 2016 (Revised February 2017)
  • Case

ZenRecruit: Sales Coaching and Performance Reviews

By: Mark Roberge
Amara Kaggwa leads the small but rapidly expanding sales team at ZenRecruit, a recruiting software application used by small businesses. Armed with six months of sales performance metrics, Kaggwa is preparing for her monthly performance conversations with two... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Entrepreneurial Sales; Entrepreneurial Sales And Marketing; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Sales
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Roberge, Mark. "ZenRecruit: Sales Coaching and Performance Reviews." Harvard Business School Case 817-041, September 2016. (Revised February 2017.)
  • March 2020
  • Article

Do Fire Sales Create Externalities?

By: Sergey Chernenko and Adi Sunderam
We develop three novel measures of how much of the price impact of their trading different mutual funds internalize. We show that mutual funds that internalize more of their price impact hold larger cash buffers and use these buffers more aggressively to accommodate... View Details
Keywords: Fire Sales; Externalities; Investment Funds; Price; Financial Liquidity; Management
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Chernenko, Sergey, and Adi Sunderam. "Do Fire Sales Create Externalities?" Journal of Financial Economics 135, no. 3 (March 2020): 602–628.
  • August 2018
  • Case

Performance Improvement Consulting and Hi-R-Me: Making Sales Calls

By: Frank V. Cespedes and David Mattson
This case study focuses on a professional services firm (“Performance Improvement Consulting”) and its sales calls on Hi-R-Me, a potential client. The case is supplemented by videos showing the initial contact call, a follow-up discovery call, and a face-to-face... View Details
Keywords: Sales Calls; Sales; Competency and Skills
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Cespedes, Frank V., and David Mattson. "Performance Improvement Consulting and Hi-R-Me: Making Sales Calls." Harvard Business School Case 819-043, August 2018.
  • April 2011
  • Teaching Note

Designs by Kate: The Power of Direct Sales (Brief Case)

By: John A. Deighton and Sarah Abbott
Teaching Note to 4277. View Details
Keywords: Direct Sales; Consumer Marketing; Marketing Management; Personal Selling; Sales Compensation; Sales Organization; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Compensation and Benefits; Sales
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Deighton, John A., and Sarah Abbott. "Designs by Kate: The Power of Direct Sales (Brief Case)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 114-285, April 2011.
  • February 2019 (Revised July 2019)
  • Case

Sales Force Management at Nobel Ilac

By: Doug J. Chung and Gamze Yucaoglu
Nobel Ilac was a Turkish generic pharmaceutical company marketing more than 100 drugs in 20 countries and, as of 2017, had over 2,500 employees worldwide. Nobel had implemented a transformation strategy—more specifically, a customer segmentation plan—whereby the sales... View Details
Keywords: Sales Strategy; Compensation; Employee Retention; Recruiting; Pharmaceuticals; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Organizational Design; Human Resources; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Retention; Recruitment; Pharmaceutical Industry; Turkey
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Chung, Doug J., and Gamze Yucaoglu. "Sales Force Management at Nobel Ilac." Harvard Business School Case 519-067, February 2019. (Revised July 2019.)
  • March 2021
  • Teaching Note

Performance Improvement Consulting and Hi-R-Me: Making Sales Calls

By: Frank V. Cespedes
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 819-043. This case study focuses on concepts, tools, and behaviors relevant to making sales calls along a typical progression with a prospect: from an initial phone call thru more in-depth discovery to a go/no-go meeting. The teaching... View Details
Keywords: Sales Calls; Sales; Competency and Skills
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Cespedes, Frank V. "Performance Improvement Consulting and Hi-R-Me: Making Sales Calls." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 821-079, March 2021.
  • February 2016 (Revised April 2019)
  • Supplement

InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan Courseware

By: Mark N. Roberge
These are Excel spreadsheets of Exhibit 3-6 from the InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan case #816074. View Details
Keywords: Sales Strategy; Strategy; Sales
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Roberge, Mark N. "InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan Courseware." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 816-703, February 2016. (Revised April 2019.)
  • July 2016 (Revised October 2016)
  • Case

Entrepreneurial Sales and Marketing Vignettes

By: Mark Roberge and Frank Cespedes
Which sales candidate is a startup’s ideal first hire? What marketing channels are best to invest in? How aggressively should an executive team align sales with customer success? Early stage founders, sales leaders, and marketing executives often face one, and... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Entrepreneurial Sales; Business Startups; Talent; Talent Management; Growth Management; Marketing Communications; Social Marketing; Salesforce Management; Pricing; Sales; Marketing
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Roberge, Mark, and Frank Cespedes. "Entrepreneurial Sales and Marketing Vignettes." Harvard Business School Case 817-010, July 2016. (Revised October 2016.)
  • February 2016 (Revised August 2020)
  • Case

InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan

By: Mark Roberge, Tom Eisenmann and Frank Cespedes
Fred Shilmover and Sam Clemens prepared for their fourth quarter board meeting. They were excited to have scaled their software startup, InsightSquared, to $2 million in revenue and secured an $8 million round of venture capital. However, they disagreed on the path... View Details
Keywords: Sales Planning; Applications and Software; Marketing; Sales; Planning; Growth and Development Strategy
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Roberge, Mark, Tom Eisenmann, and Frank Cespedes. "InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan." Harvard Business School Case 816-074, February 2016. (Revised August 2020.)
  • April 2021
  • Article

The Effects of Quota Frequency: Sales Performance and Product Focus

By: Doug J. Chung, Das Narayandas and Dongkyu Chang
This study investigates the comprehensive and multidimensional effects of quota (goal) frequency on sales force performance. We develop a theory of salespeople’s behavior—aggregate effort and the product type focus—in response to the temporal length of a sales-quota... View Details
Keywords: Sales Force Compensation; Field Experiment; Quotas; Quota Frequency; Commissions; Bonuses; Goals; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Goals and Objectives; Behavior; Performance
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Chung, Doug J., Das Narayandas, and Dongkyu Chang. "The Effects of Quota Frequency: Sales Performance and Product Focus." Management Science 67, no. 4 (April 2021): 2151–2170.
  • Teaching Interest

MBA Elective Curriculum Business Marketing and Sales

Business markets differ from consumer markets in important ways. Typically, the buying process is more complex, the buying units and purchase criteria differ, and marketing decisions are more closely interrelated with firm-wide strategic choices. In addition,... View Details

  • February 2011 (Revised June 2013)
  • Case

Businesses for Sale by Briggs Capital, 2010

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff
Briggs Capital was a regional mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that helped owners to sell their small firms. The case presents a company that was for sale in the fall of 2010—a troubled manufacturer of post and beam style homes and log homes. Using the actual... View Details
Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Financial Condition; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Boston
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Ruback, Richard S., and Royce Yudkoff. "Businesses for Sale by Briggs Capital, 2010." Harvard Business School Case 211-088, February 2011. (Revised June 2013.)
  • 15 Aug 2014
  • News

Sales Still Matters More than Social Media

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