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How Black Friday Lost its Mojo
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleTo compete with Cyber Monday, brick-and-mortars need to keep Friday special. -
How to Penetrate the US Market
Marketing Digital ArticleAccounting for almost 30% of world GDP, the United States is the world’s largest and most demanding market for almost everything from oil to microprocessors to premium coffee. Companies around the world aspire to do business in the US, or at least with US companies in their home markets. By doing so, they learn much […] -
The Customer Support Hierarchy of Needs
Sales & Marketing Digital ArticleYour customers won't settle for chaos, and neither should you. -
Update Your DE&I Playbook
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleAddressing structural racism requires structural change. -
Do You Know Why Your Company Needs a Chief Diversity Officer?
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleSix questions to ask before you fill the role. -
Bed Bath & Beyond’s Persistent Coupons and the Return of Thrifty Consumers
Pricing strategy Digital ArticleBig-box stores need to offer discounts — and make customers earn them. -
The Customers’ Revenge
Public relations Magazine ArticleAtida Motors’ decades-old complaint policy may be no match for unhappy customers who threaten to take their case to YouTube. -
Expose Your Company’s Blind Spots
Customer experience Digital ArticleIs your company unintentionally keeping your most senior people from getting the feedback they most need? It can easily happen as an unintended consequence of success. Consider these situations: Senior executives at car companies drive only the newest models: For decades, the top executives at America’s leading automobile manufacturers always drove models fresh from the […] -
Why Do Companies Succumb to Price Fixing?
Government policy and regulation Magazine ArticleWhen Ben Franklin wrote Poor Richard’s Almanac and the words, “A little neglect may breed great mischief,” he did not have price fixing in mind. To the 47 executives in companies in the folding-box industry convicted of price fixing, however, the words seem tailored to fit. In those companies convicted under antitrust laws in 1976, […] -
How to Be a Better Ally to Your Black Colleagues
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleA four-step framework. -
In 2009, Match the Urge to Purge with a Zest to Invest
Recessions Digital ArticleIt’s become the mantra of the moment: “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” Leaders everywhere are struggling to make sense of the worldwide economic crisis, to learn lessons that will guide them and their companies going forward. My worry is that too many leaders are learning the wrong lessons — they are becoming […] -
“Actually,” She Said, “He Works for Me.”
Consumer behavior Digital ArticleSurprised by a gender stereotype? React calmly, directly, and move on. -
When People Pay Attention to Video Ads and Why
Marketing Digital ArticleContext is key. -
Go Downstream: The New Profit Imperative in Manufacturing
Business models Magazine ArticleNow that providing services is more lucrative than making products, the old foundations for success in manufacturing are crumbling. Smart manufacturers are creating new business models to capture profits at the customer’s end of the value chain. -
How to Pay Your Sales Force
Motivating people Magazine ArticleUsing the results of a survey of 380 companies in 34 industries, this author examines three basic types of compensation plans: salary, commission, and combination (salary plus commission). Most companies in the study favored a combination plan, but such plans have some disadvantages to offset their obvious attractiveness. The author sets out the possible reasons […] -
Look to Consumers to Increase Productivity
Personal productivity Magazine ArticleWhen productivity is a problem in manufacturing, managers turn to the R&D department or operations for help. In services, however, especially ones where there is a lot of contact with the customer, such in-house groups cannot by themselves improve productivity. Because services involve the customer in production, are labor intensive, and are time-bound, consumer behavior […] -
Online Shopping and the Problem with Pictures
Marketing Digital ArticleWhat if the thing that gets online shoppers to buy a product is also the thing that makes them dissatisfied with the product when it arrives? In a recent research project, I tested this hypothesis using the pictures of products that accompany the online shopping experience. Images are the crux of online shopping. Good pictures […] -
Emerging Demographics Are the New Emerging Markets
Sales & Marketing Digital ArticleThree groups marketers should watch. -
How Aggressively Should a Bank Pursue AI? (HBR Case Study and Commentary)
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleSiti Rahman, the CEO of Malaysia-based NVF Bank, faces a pivotal decision. Her head of AI innovation, a recent recruit from Google, has a bold plan. It... -
Make Your Best Customers Even Better
Customer experience Magazine ArticleMany companies could persuade big spenders to buy even more.
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Managing Product Safety: The Ford Pinto
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Presents an accounting of Ford Motor Company's handling of a product safety controversy (1970-77) surrounding its Pinto subcompact car. May be used as... -
Huawei: How Can We Lead the Way?
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details On September 12, 2017, just as Apple's Tim Cook was unveiling the iPhone X, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group (CBG), and Glory Cheung,... -
MRT Micro: The CardioScope
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Jan Bakke, founder and chairman of Norway-based MRT, was planning the U.S. market entry strategy for CardioScope--its electrocardiograph system. How could... -
Muscle-RDX: Product Positioning and Communication Strategy
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Strength Pharma was an Indian health care company that focused on developing, manufacturing, and marketing products that catered to the sports nutrition... -
Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price?
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details The market for security solutions is highly fragmented with no dominant players in the market. Yash finds himself in a situation in which the Indian banking... -
Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details A large Ontario ski resort faces a decision about whether to invest in facilities for night skiing. Demand is very uncertain, so the management undertakes... -
Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details This case describes the development and use of a neutral B-to-B marketplace (mondus.com), set up for small- and medium-sized enterprises. It analyses... -
NiPay's Pricing Conundrum - Compact Case
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details NiPay is a software provider competing in the Nigerian business-to-business payments market. Founded by Idaku Ibrahim nearly 20 years ago, NiPay sells... -
Cerveceria Polar: The Bear Awakens
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Founded in 1941, Cervecería Polar had kept its position as absolute market leader in beer production and distribution in Venezuela with its traditional... -
Russian Standard
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details In September 2006, Russian billionaire Roustam Tariko, founder and owner of Russian Standard, needed to develop a strategy for introducing Russia's most... -
Central Express Trucking
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The CEO of Central Express Trucking (CXT), was preoccupied as he drove to work one morning in late October 2013. Diesel fuel prices had been a constant... -
Deployment, Focus, and Measuring Effectiveness
Sales & Marketing Case Study8.95View Details Written for a module in the Marketing Implementation course (second-year MBA elective). Offers a framework for considering relevant factors that affect... -
Caja Espana: Managing the Branches to Sell (B)
Management Case Study5.00View Details Supplements the (A) case. -
Ellerines: The Tale of a Retail-Credit Business Model in an Emerging Market
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Ellerines was a leading South African furniture retailer, with more than 1,270 stores; it was a household name in the country for 45 years and the main... -
Siebel Systems: Anatomy of a Sale, Part 2
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details How does a $2 million software sale happen? This case traces efforts by Siebel Systems to sell lead management software to discount broker Quick & Reilly.... -
Oakland A's: Baseball's Great Transformation
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details The Oakland A's baseball team underwent a major turnaround during the 1980s, both on the field and in the business office. One of the most significant... -
New Century Brewing: Moonshot Caffeinated Beer
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Discusses the introduction of a completely new beverage to the U.S. market. New Century Brewing, which is owned by one of the founders of Boston Beer... -
MVMT Strength: Lifting Profits
Management Case Study11.95View Details It was July 2022, and Isaac Morgado, one of the founders of MVMT Strength Inc., wanted to create a comprehensive marketing plan for the fall season. The...
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How Black Friday Lost its Mojo
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleTo compete with Cyber Monday, brick-and-mortars need to keep Friday special. -
How to Penetrate the US Market
Marketing Digital ArticleAccounting for almost 30% of world GDP, the United States is the world’s largest and most demanding market for almost everything from oil to microprocessors to premium coffee. Companies around the world aspire to do business in the US, or at least with US companies in their home markets. By doing so, they learn much […] -
The Customer Support Hierarchy of Needs
Sales & Marketing Digital ArticleYour customers won't settle for chaos, and neither should you. -
Update Your DE&I Playbook
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleAddressing structural racism requires structural change. -
Do You Know Why Your Company Needs a Chief Diversity Officer?
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleSix questions to ask before you fill the role. -
Managing Product Safety: The Ford Pinto
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Presents an accounting of Ford Motor Company's handling of a product safety controversy (1970-77) surrounding its Pinto subcompact car. May be used as... -
Bed Bath & Beyond’s Persistent Coupons and the Return of Thrifty Consumers
Pricing strategy Digital ArticleBig-box stores need to offer discounts — and make customers earn them. -
The Customers’ Revenge
Public relations Magazine ArticleAtida Motors’ decades-old complaint policy may be no match for unhappy customers who threaten to take their case to YouTube. -
Huawei: How Can We Lead the Way?
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details On September 12, 2017, just as Apple's Tim Cook was unveiling the iPhone X, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group (CBG), and Glory Cheung,... -
Expose Your Company’s Blind Spots
Customer experience Digital ArticleIs your company unintentionally keeping your most senior people from getting the feedback they most need? It can easily happen as an unintended consequence of success. Consider these situations: Senior executives at car companies drive only the newest models: For decades, the top executives at America’s leading automobile manufacturers always drove models fresh from the […]