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- Faculty Publications (208)
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- All HBS Web (254)
- Faculty Publications (208)
- May 2020
- Teaching Note
Chem-Ecol
By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld
Dahra Allen acquired Chem-Ecol, a machine oil recycling business, for C$13.3 million in December of 2012. Allen decided to hire a sales director and the case discussion largely focuses on selecting the sales director from her short-list of five candidates. During the...
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- September 1992 (Revised July 1993)
- Case
Staples, Inc.
By: David E. Bell
Staples is dissatisfied with the merchandising of its office furniture. The case reviews the situation, allowing students to consider whether the category should be dropped or changed. Permits consideration of the portfolio of products a positioning implies, and...
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Bell, David E. "Staples, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 593-034, September 1992. (Revised July 1993.)
- February 2001 (Revised January 2002)
- Case
Tracmail
By: Paul W. Marshall, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Suma Raju
Tracmail, an online customer service company based in India, is trying to handle support services (e-mail and chat) for companies worldwide. In its quest to break into global markets, Tracmail is contemplating a joint venture with a U.S. call center. Tracmail is also...
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Keywords:
Salesforce Management;
Globalized Firms and Management;
Business Startups;
Joint Ventures;
Service Industry;
Information Technology Industry;
India;
United States
Marshall, Paul W., Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Suma Raju. "Tracmail." Harvard Business School Case 801-037, February 2001. (Revised January 2002.)
- 2015
- Working Paper
Incentives versus Reciprocity: Insights from a Field Experiment
By: Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas
We conduct a field experiment in which we vary the sales force compensation scheme at an Asian enterprise that sells consumer durable goods. With variation generated by the experimental treatments, we model sales force performance to identify the effectiveness of...
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Keywords:
Sales Force Compensation;
Field Experiment;
Heterogeneity;
Loss Aversion;
Reciprocity;
Motivation and Incentives;
Salesforce Management;
Compensation and Benefits
Chung, Doug J., and Das Narayandas. "Incentives versus Reciprocity: Insights from a Field Experiment." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 15-084, April 2015. (Revised November 2015.)
- June 1997
- Supplement
MicroFridge: Robert Bennett, President and CEO, OPM Presentation
By: Norman A. Berg
Robert P. Bennett of MicroFridge discusses a number of topics including his philosophy, his company's market focus, the reorganization of the selling organization, reduction of overhead, the company's poor performance in the past year, its partnership with Sanyo, and...
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- March 1998 (Revised June 1999)
- Case
DigitalThink: Building a Sales Force
By: Michael J. Roberts, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Christina L. Darwall
A broad set of issues faces a young company in the Internet-based training business as it begins to sell its product to corporate customers. Issues include: profile of attractive candidates, compensation, definition of territory, definition of quotas, and role of...
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Roberts, Michael J., Joseph B. Lassiter III, and Christina L. Darwall. "DigitalThink: Building a Sales Force." Harvard Business School Case 898-193, March 1998. (Revised June 1999.)
- February 2008
- Supplement
EFI, Inc. (C)
By: David B. Godes and Lauren Barley
This is a follow-on case to EFI, Inc. (A) and (B). It reports on the sales force's response to the new plan and provides some data as to their performance in the quarters immediately following the implementation of the new plan.
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Keywords:
Motivation and Incentives;
Salesforce Management;
Compensation and Benefits;
Information Technology Industry
Godes, David B., and Lauren Barley. "EFI, Inc. (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 508-046, February 2008.
- February 2008
- Supplement
EFI, Inc. (B)
By: David B. Godes and Lauren Barley
This is a follow-on case to EFI, Inc. (A). It reports on Dean Mills' decision to implement a new compensation approach that pays 25% of salespeople's bonus, based on their individual sales of software add-on products. He also recommends making public each salesperson's...
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Keywords:
Motivation and Incentives;
Salesforce Management;
Compensation and Benefits;
Information Technology Industry
Godes, David B., and Lauren Barley. "EFI, Inc. (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 508-045, February 2008.
- April 1997
- Case
Battle of Mannheim, The
By: Hugo Uyterhoeven
Focuses in detail on implementing a corporate restructuring program in ABB's German subsidiary. Special attention is given to Germany's unique form of industrial governance. Two major problem areas--power plants and power transformers--are described in detail, as is a...
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Keywords:
Corporate Governance;
Energy Generation;
Salesforce Management;
Business or Company Management;
Restructuring;
Programs;
Energy Industry;
Germany
Uyterhoeven, Hugo. "Battle of Mannheim, The." Harvard Business School Case 397-098, April 1997.
- April 2004
- Case
Case Vignette: The Salesman Saga
By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
A venture capitalist faces a situation in which a struggling portfolio company has found a promising vice president of sales through a recruitment agency. The candidate would be an excellent fit for another one of the investor's companies--one that is doing much...
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Hardymon, G. Felda, Josh Lerner, and Ann Leamon. "Case Vignette: The Salesman Saga." Harvard Business School Case 804-175, April 2004.
- August 1995 (Revised October 1996)
- Case
IDS Financial Services (Condensed)
By: John A. Deighton
Highlights the decision that must be made on balancing customer acquisition and retention and de-emphasizing the structural issues involved in administering the independent contractor sales force.
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Keywords:
Customers;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Decisions;
Corporate Governance;
Salesforce Management;
Financial Services Industry
Deighton, John A. "IDS Financial Services (Condensed)." Harvard Business School Case 596-045, August 1995. (Revised October 1996.) (request a courtesy copy.)
- April 1993 (Revised October 1996)
- Case
ABB Deutschland (C)
By: Hugo Uyterhoeven
Addresses the results and the lessons from the German restructuring effort by focusing in detail on the relationship with the works council and the actions taken for power plants and power transformers, and the sales organization. Closes with a "second wave" of cost...
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Keywords:
Restructuring;
Trade;
Cost Management;
Leadership Style;
Management Skills;
Time Management;
Relationships;
Salesforce Management
Uyterhoeven, Hugo. "ABB Deutschland (C)." Harvard Business School Case 393-132, April 1993. (Revised October 1996.)
- June 2018
- Case
Verona Group
By: Robert L. Simons and Sarah Abbott
Are a salesperson's struggles her own fault or the result of a problematic job design? Anna George works as a salesperson at Verona Group, a company that designs and wholesales high-end women's apparel. She had spent nearly 20 years in sales with another fashion label...
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Keywords:
Jobs and Positions;
Design;
Analysis;
Performance;
Measurement and Metrics;
Salesforce Management;
Organizational Design
Simons, Robert L., and Sarah Abbott. "Verona Group." Harvard Business School Brief Case 918-531, June 2018.
- January 2004 (Revised February 2006)
- Case
Raymond James Financial
Raymond James Financial (RJF) currently sells financial services through two channels. It is considering adding a third in the "middle" of the other two. The current strategy has one channel with employees and another with independent contractors. These attract very...
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Keywords:
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Salesforce Management;
Marketing;
Distribution Channels;
Human Resources;
Financial Services Industry;
Service Industry
Godes, David B. "Raymond James Financial." Harvard Business School Case 504-027, January 2004. (Revised February 2006.)
- 01 Oct 2020
- What Do You Think?
Are CEOs the Wrong Leaders for Stakeholder Capitalism?
Interorganizational management in a channel of distribution is a complex matter. But it doesn’t hold a candle to the complexity of stakeholder capitalism, as suggested by responses to this month’s column on the subject. Reading them, it’s...
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Keywords:
by James Heskett
- 06 Jul 2015
- Research & Ideas
Money and Quotas Motivate the Sales Force Best
just given it—conditional versus unconditional. Doug J. Chung, an assistant professor in the Marketing unit, and Das Narayandas, the James J. Hill Professor of Business Administration, explain what kind of bump managers can expect from...
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- May 2008 (Revised August 2010)
- Case
ScriptLogic®: Point, Click, Done!™
ScriptLogic is a software company that has built a product portfolio that fits under a 'Point, Click, Done!' umbrella; its products are easy to download, easy to install, and easy to use. The company's online marketing program and inside sales force have been very...
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Keywords:
Investment Return;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Product Marketing;
Product Development;
Salesforce Management;
Software;
Information Technology Industry
Steenburgh, Thomas J., and Alexander Crisses. "ScriptLogic®: Point, Click, Done!™." Harvard Business School Case 508-114, May 2008. (Revised August 2010.)
- October 2000 (Revised April 2005)
- Case
Z Corporation
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Matthew C. Lieb and Tom Clay
Tom Clay, president of Z Corp., and founder/CEO Marina Hatsopolous must decide between using a direct sales force or using a value-added reseller to begin selling the company's new 3-D printing prototype manufacturing system.
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Keywords:
Technological Innovation;
Salesforce Management;
Distribution Channels;
Conflict and Resolution;
Technology Industry
Lassiter, Joseph B., III, Matthew C. Lieb, and Tom Clay. "Z Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 801-210, October 2000. (Revised April 2005.)
- February 2008
- Case
EFI, Inc. (A)
By: David B. Godes and Lauren Barley
EFI has a unique sales compensation challenge. They cannot allocate sales credit for their core product to individual salespeople. So, they've historically paid the sales force as a team. This has worked out fine, since they've been a near-monopoly seller of a single...
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Keywords:
Change Management;
Compensation and Benefits;
Performance Evaluation;
Groups and Teams;
Salesforce Management;
Motivation and Incentives
Godes, David B., and Lauren Barley. "EFI, Inc. (A)." Harvard Business School Case 508-044, February 2008.
- January 1986 (Revised November 2006)
- Case
Peripheral Products Company: The 'Gray Market' for Disk Drives
In mid-1985, the vice president of marketing for a large manufacturer of disk drives is considering how to deal with a growing "gray market" for his company's products. The case provides good background material on the evolution of gray markets throughout the disk...
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Keywords:
Price;
Growth and Development;
Code Law;
Leadership;
Marketing;
Distribution;
Production;
Salesforce Management;
Strategy;
Distribution Industry
Cespedes, Frank V. "Peripheral Products Company: The 'Gray Market' for Disk Drives." Harvard Business School Case 586-124, January 1986. (Revised November 2006.)