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All HBS Web
(2,058)
- Faculty Publications (661)
- Article
Fighting Bias on the Front Lines
By: Alexandra C. Feldberg and Tami Kim
Most companies aim for exceptional customer service, but too few are attentive to the subtle discrimination by frontline employees that can alienate customers, lead to lawsuits, or even cause lasting brand damage by going viral.
This article presents research... View Details
This article presents research... View Details
Keywords:
Customer Service;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Service Delivery;
Diversity;
Prejudice and Bias;
Organizational Change and Adaptation
Feldberg, Alexandra C., and Tami Kim. "Fighting Bias on the Front Lines." Harvard Business Review 99, no. 6 (November–December 2021): 90–98.
- Article
How Direct-to-Consumer Brands Can Continue to Grow
By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Daniel Corsten, Matt Higgins and Leonard A. Schlesinger
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands such as Allbirds, Casper, Peloton, and Warby Parker have creatively found a weakness in the marketing citadel of incumbent brands. By using data gleaned from daily interactions with customers, these brands have been able to adapt how...
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Keywords:
Direct-to-consumer;
Customer Journey;
Business Model;
Customer Relationship Management;
Growth and Development Strategy
Rangan, V. Kasturi, Daniel Corsten, Matt Higgins, and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "How Direct-to-Consumer Brands Can Continue to Grow." Harvard Business Review 99, no. 6 (November–December 2021): 101–109.
- October 2021 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
Customer-Centric Design with Artificial Intelligence: Commonwealth Bank
By: Karim R. Lakhani, Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Jin Hyun Paik and Steven Randazzo
As Commonwealth Bank (CommBank) CEO Matt Comyn delivered the full financial year results in August 2021 over videoconference, it took less than two minutes for him to make his first mention of the organization's Customer Engagement Engine (CEE), the AI-driven customer...
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Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence;
Customer-centricity;
Banks and Banking;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Technological Innovation;
Transformation;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Performance;
AI and Machine Learning;
Financial Services Industry;
Australia
Lakhani, Karim R., Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Jin Hyun Paik, and Steven Randazzo. "Customer-Centric Design with Artificial Intelligence: Commonwealth Bank." Harvard Business School Case 622-065, October 2021. (Revised December 2021.)
- October 2021
- Article
Overcoming the Cold Start Problem of CRM Using a Probabilistic Machine Learning Approach
By: Nicolas Padilla and Eva Ascarza
The success of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs ultimately depends on the firm's ability to understand consumers' preferences and precisely capture how these preferences may differ across customers. Only by understanding customer heterogeneity, firms can...
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Keywords:
Customer Management;
Targeting;
Deep Exponential Families;
Probabilistic Machine Learning;
Cold Start Problem;
Customer Relationship Management;
Programs;
Consumer Behavior;
Analysis
Padilla, Nicolas, and Eva Ascarza. "Overcoming the Cold Start Problem of CRM Using a Probabilistic Machine Learning Approach." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 58, no. 5 (October 2021): 981–1006.
- September 2021 (Revised December 2023)
- Case
On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Tom Quinn and Annelena Lobb
Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas’s engineering background, as he experienced a high...
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Keywords:
Business Startups;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Business Model;
Business Plan;
Disruption;
Transformation;
Trends;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Customer Relationship Management;
Cost vs Benefits;
Decisions;
Entrepreneurship;
Venture Capital;
Equity;
Executive Compensation;
Recruitment;
Selection and Staffing;
Disruptive Innovation;
Technological Innovation;
Job Interviews;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Ownership Stake;
Opportunities;
Applications and Software;
Technology Adoption;
Technology Industry;
Web Services Industry;
New York (city, NY);
California;
France
Bussgang, Jeffrey J., Tom Quinn, and Annelena Lobb. "On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping." Harvard Business School Case 822-033, September 2021. (Revised December 2023.)
- September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
Telepass: From Tolling to Mobility Platform
By: Chiara Farronato, Stefano Denicolai and Sarah Mehta
Telepass, until very recently the sole processor of electronic toll payments on Italy’s highways, has ambitions beyond tolling. Since the mid-2010s, the company has been expanding into adjacent services. In 2017, Telepass launched TelepassPay—a mobile payment...
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Keywords:
Mobile Payment;
App;
Mobility Services;
Analysis;
Change;
Change Management;
Transformation;
Transition;
Innovation and Invention;
Strategy;
Information Technology;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Transportation;
Transportation Networks;
Value;
Value Creation;
Consumer Behavior;
Technology Industry;
Transportation Industry;
Insurance Industry;
Europe;
Italy;
Milan
Farronato, Chiara, Stefano Denicolai, and Sarah Mehta. "Telepass: From Tolling to Mobility Platform." Harvard Business School Case 622-011, September 2021. (Revised December 2021.)
- September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
Telepass: From Tolling to Mobility Platform (Abridged)
By: Chiara Farronato, Stefano Denicolai and Sarah Mehta
Telepass, until very recently the sole processor of electronic toll payments on Italy’s highways, has ambitions beyond tolling. Since the mid-2010s, the company has been expanding into adjacent services. In 2017, Telepass launched TelepassPay—a mobile payment...
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Keywords:
Mobile Payment;
App;
Mobility Services;
Analysis;
Change;
Change Management;
Transformation;
Transition;
Innovation and Invention;
Strategy;
Information Technology;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Transportation;
Transportation Networks;
Value;
Value Creation;
Technology Industry;
Transportation Industry;
Insurance Industry;
Europe;
Italy;
Milan
Farronato, Chiara, Stefano Denicolai, and Sarah Mehta. "Telepass: From Tolling to Mobility Platform (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 622-050, September 2021. (Revised December 2021.)
- September 2021 (Revised March 2024)
- Case
Bühler: Mobilizing Industry around a Common Purpose
By: Ranjay Gulati, Franz Wohlgezogen and Malini Sen
Bühler Group, a Swiss multinational processing technology provider, started by selling machines for processing grains and later transitioned into selling food processing solutions. A family-owned business in the fifth generation, Bühler’s high-end milling, grinding,...
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Keywords:
Family Business;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Machinery and Machining;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Mission and Purpose;
Innovation Leadership;
Switzerland
Gulati, Ranjay, Franz Wohlgezogen, and Malini Sen. "Bühler: Mobilizing Industry around a Common Purpose." Harvard Business School Case 822-001, September 2021. (Revised March 2024.)
- Article
Elevate Employees, Don't Eliminate Them
By: Ryan W. Buell
The last major global shock—the 2008 recession—led to what economists call a “jobless recovery” as companies found they could get by with fewer employees. But post-pandemic, the author writes, managers should focus on changing employees’ roles instead. He has five key...
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Keywords:
Employee Relationship Management;
Customer Relationship Management;
Interpersonal Communication;
Value Creation
Buell, Ryan W. "Elevate Employees, Don't Eliminate Them." Harvard Business Review 99, no. 5 (September–October 2021): 55–59.
- August 2021
- Case
Livongo: Scaling a Purpose-Driven Organization in Healthcare
By: Ranjay Gulati, Aseem Shukla and Reva Nohria
When seasoned entrepreneur Glen Tullman founded the chronic health care startup Livongo in 2014, it was personal. His son lived with diabetes, and Tullman knew firsthand how taxing it could be to manage such an unrelenting disease. Livongo set out to empower people...
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Keywords:
Healthcare Industry;
Scaling;
Telehealth;
Health Care and Treatment;
Small Business;
Internet and the Web;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Opportunities;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Health Industry
Gulati, Ranjay, Aseem Shukla, and Reva Nohria. "Livongo: Scaling a Purpose-Driven Organization in Healthcare." Harvard Business School Case 422-017, August 2021.
- August 2021
- Case
Mylestone: Can Multiple Pivots Preserve the Life of a Death Tech Startup?
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Marilyn Morgan Westner
Dave Balter and Jim Myers co-founded Mylestone, a death tech startup that applied technology to transform how grieving people memorialize the dead. The startup addressed a cultural problem and promised to solve a pressing need in the antiquated, multi-billion dollar...
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Keywords:
Pivot;
Startup;
Business Model;
Cryptocurrency;
Ethical Decision Making;
Emotions;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Ethics;
Market Entry and Exit;
Customer Relationship Management;
Loss;
Change Management;
Relationships
Ghosh, Shikhar, and Marilyn Morgan Westner. "Mylestone: Can Multiple Pivots Preserve the Life of a Death Tech Startup?" Harvard Business School Case 822-018, August 2021.
- August 2021 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
Camera IQ and the Metaverse: Building Augmented Reality Brand Experiences
By: Jill Avery and Rayan Nahas
Camera IQ, a camera marketing software company that empowered brands to create and launch augmented reality experiences (AREs) across social platforms, had just raised an additional $5 million to fund further product development and expand its marketing and sales...
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Keywords:
Brand Management;
Virtual Reality;
Augmented Reality;
B2B;
Technology Platform;
Marketing;
Marketing Communications;
Marketing Strategy;
Brands and Branding;
Digital Marketing;
Internet and the Web;
Growth Management;
Customer Relationship Management;
Customer Value and Value Chain;
Social Media;
E-commerce;
Applications and Software;
Digital Platforms;
Advertising Industry;
United States
Avery, Jill, and Rayan Nahas. "Camera IQ and the Metaverse: Building Augmented Reality Brand Experiences." Harvard Business School Case 522-002, August 2021. (Revised March 2022.)
- 6 Jul 2021
- Interview
Best Buy's Hubert Joly on Walking the Talk of Stakeholder Capitalism
By: Hubert Joly and Alison Beard
Hubert Joly, former chairman and CEO of Best Buy, says that now is the time for companies to get serious about operating to benefit not just shareholders but also employees, customers and broader society. In the face of environmental crisis, racial turmoil, and rising...
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Keywords:
Stakeholder Capitalism;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Mission and Purpose;
Leadership;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
"Best Buy's Hubert Joly on Walking the Talk of Stakeholder Capitalism." Episode 808, HBR IdeaCast (podcast), Harvard Business Review Group, July 6, 2021. (Interview with Alison Beard.)
- July 2021 (Revised October 2021)
- Case
Allianz Customer Centricity: Is Simplicity the Way Forward?
By: Eva Ascarza and Emilie Billaud
This case explores the tradeoffs between product personalization and simplicity as companies grow. The case presents an opportunity to understand whether and how each of these approaches enables and/or limits companies’ abilities to provide customer satisfaction while...
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Keywords:
Simplicity;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Customization and Personalization;
Customer Satisfaction;
Performance Efficiency;
Strategy;
Insurance Industry;
Europe;
Germany
Ascarza, Eva, and Emilie Billaud. "Allianz Customer Centricity: Is Simplicity the Way Forward?" Harvard Business School Case 522-008, July 2021. (Revised October 2021.)
- June 2021
- Case
Acelero Learning
By: Mario Small, Kathleen L. McGinn, Amy Klopfenstein and Katherine Chen
In November 2020, Henry Wilde, co-founder and CEO of Acelero, Inc., must decide whether to change his company’s program model for delivering early childhood education to low-income children. One of the only for-profit Head Start providers in the United States, Acelero...
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Keywords:
Early Childhood Education;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Adoption;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Operations;
Education Industry;
North and Central America;
United States
Small, Mario, Kathleen L. McGinn, Amy Klopfenstein, and Katherine Chen. "Acelero Learning." Harvard Business School Case 921-029, June 2021.
- May 2021
- Simulation
Customer Compatibility Exercise Application
By: Ryan W. Buell
Customers impose considerable variability on the operating systems of service organizations. They show up when they wish (arrival variability), they ask for different things (request variability), they vary in their willingness and ability to help themselves (effort...
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- May 2021 (Revised February 2024)
- Teaching Note
THE YES: Reimagining the Future of E-Commerce with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery
THE YES, a multi-brand shopping app launched in May 2020 offered a new type of buying experience for women’s fashion, driven by a sophisticated algorithm that used data science and machine learning to create and deliver a personalized store for every shopper, based on...
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Keywords:
Data;
Data Analytics;
Artificial Intelligence;
AI;
AI Algorithms;
AI Creativity;
Fashion;
Retail;
Retail Analytics;
E-Commerce Strategy;
Platform;
Platforms;
Big Data;
Preference Elicitation;
Predictive Analytics;
App Development;
"Marketing Analytics";
Advertising;
Mobile App;
Mobile Marketing;
Apparel;
Online Advertising;
Referral Rewards;
Referrals;
Female Ceo;
Female Entrepreneur;
Female Protagonist;
Analytics and Data Science;
Analysis;
Creativity;
Marketing Strategy;
Brands and Branding;
Consumer Behavior;
Demand and Consumers;
Forecasting and Prediction;
Marketing Channels;
Digital Marketing;
Internet and the Web;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
AI and Machine Learning;
E-commerce;
Digital Platforms;
Fashion Industry;
Retail Industry;
Apparel and Accessories Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
United States
- May 2021
- Supplement
Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy — Operating the Business Model Exercise, Instructor Version
By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton
On a mission to "automate the on-demand economy," Harvard Business School classmates Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck launched Hello Alfred in 2013 to provide subscribers with an "Alfred" to complete various chores for a monthly fee. In early 2016, the company has built...
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- April 2021
- Case
ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers
By: Robert S. Kaplan, Ashiana Jivraj and Jane Barrow
The case illustrates the application of value-based health care to dental medicine. ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers was a rapidly-growing network of dentist-owned independent implant clinics. The targeted market included 23 million people, 15% of the US adult...
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Keywords:
Value-based Health Care;
Dental Medicine;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Expansion;
Business Strategy;
Customer Value and Value Chain;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Health Industry;
United States
Kaplan, Robert S., Ashiana Jivraj, and Jane Barrow. "ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers." Harvard Business School Case 121-082, April 2021.
- April 2021 (Revised May 2021)
- Case
Kitopi: The Brave New World of Cloud Kitchens
By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu
The case opens in February 2021 as Mohamad Ballout, co-founder and CEO of Kitopi, a Dubai-based managed cloud kitchen platform, is looking over the company’s 2020 results. Propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, delivery orders had been on the rise globally and dine-in...
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Keywords:
Cloud Kitchens;
Food;
Operations;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Middle East;
North Africa
Moreno, Antonio, and Gamze Yucaoglu. "Kitopi: The Brave New World of Cloud Kitchens." Harvard Business School Case 621-102, April 2021. (Revised May 2021.)