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Show Results For
-
All HBS Web
(14,239)
- People (33)
- News (2,526)
- Research (9,190)
- Events (90)
- Multimedia (137)
- Faculty Publications (7,153)
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- May–June 2021
- Article
Getting Up to Speed in Your Sales Efforts
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Zoran Latinovic
In a study before the pandemic, Pricewaterhouse Coopers found that companies had made little progress in the previous decade in speeding up their cash-conversion cycle, as the cash crunch generated by the pandemic painfully demonstrated. In most firms, sales velocity...
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Cespedes, Frank V., and Zoran Latinovic. "Getting Up to Speed in Your Sales Efforts." European Business Review (May–June 2021): 68–71.
- February 2017 (Revised August 2018)
- Case
Sarah Powers at Automated Precision Products
By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Michael Norris, Julia Kelley and Kristina Tobio
In 2017, Sarah Powers, VP of Sales at an automation hardware firm, is trying to understand why some members of her sales team have been underperforming. She is tasked with analyzing her firm’s email and calendar data to try to find relationships between communications...
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Keywords:
People Analytics;
Sales Attainment;
Communication Networks;
Data;
Human Resources;
Business Processes;
Sales;
Communication;
Analytics and Data Science;
Analysis;
Industrial Products Industry;
Industrial Products Industry;
United States
Polzer, Jeffrey T., Michael Norris, Julia Kelley, and Kristina Tobio. "Sarah Powers at Automated Precision Products." Harvard Business School Case 417-072, February 2017. (Revised August 2018.)
- January 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
Roush Performance: How to Design a Sales Force Compensation Plan
By: Doug J. Chung
Roush Performance manufactured and marketed factory-modified performance vehicles and high-end aftermarket automotive performance parts. Since its inception, Roush Performance had focused on building its engineering technology competency and diversifying its product...
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Keywords:
Sales Force Management;
Motivation;
Compensation;
Salary;
Commissions;
Bonuses;
Quotas;
Salesforce Management;
Compensation and Benefits;
Motivation and Incentives
Chung, Doug J. "Roush Performance: How to Design a Sales Force Compensation Plan." Harvard Business School Case 519-066, January 2019. (Revised February 2020.)
- 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...
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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;
Consumer Products Industry;
European Union
Shih, Willy. "Flex Hungary: Launching Production (A)." Harvard Business School Case 618-002, August 2017. (Revised March 2020.)
- 2020
- Working Paper
Capital Regulation and Product Market Outcomes
By: Ishita Sen and David Humphry
We present evidence of product market adjustments and asset reorganizations from the largest ever shift in risk regulation in a developed insurance market. Using proprietary data on insurance risk exposures from the Bank of England, we develop a measure of regulatory...
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Keywords:
Non-traditional-non-insurance;
Risk Regulation;
Product Market Concentration;
Small Vs. Large Insurers;
Insurance Risk Exposure;
Insurance;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms
Sen, Ishita, and David Humphry. "Capital Regulation and Product Market Outcomes." Working Paper, January 2020.
- Article
Aligning Strategy and Sales
Much current opinion asserts that strategy is less important (and may, in fact, be an impediment) in an era of constant change. This publication discusses why claims about business change are often overstated and misunderstood, why strategy is even more important as...
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- 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.
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- 02 Apr 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Managerial Quality and Productivity Dynamics
- 05 Dec 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
What Founders Get Wrong about Sales and Marketing
Keywords:
Re: Mark N. Roberge
- 11 Jan 2018
- Working Paper Summaries
Brokers and Order Flow Leakage: Evidence from Fire Sales
- September 2017 (Revised August 2018)
- Case
The Productivity Decline: Demographics, Robots, or Globalization?
By: Laura Alfaro, Hayley Pallan and Sarah Jeong
In the early 21st century, there was a noticeable trend of declining productivity growth. Despite the persistent decline in productivity growth, a consensus on its explanation had not been reached. Some of the debate focused on the technicalities of productivity...
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Keywords:
Productivity;
Performance Productivity;
Measurement and Metrics;
Technological Innovation;
Economic Slowdown and Stagnation;
Globalization;
Business and Government Relations
Alfaro, Laura, Hayley Pallan, and Sarah Jeong. "The Productivity Decline: Demographics, Robots, or Globalization?" Harvard Business School Case 718-013, September 2017. (Revised August 2018.)
- Research Summary
Innovation and Productivity
In this stream of research, Professor Steinwender examines how firms adjust their innovative behavior and productivity in response to changes in the external environment. Analyzing Spanish firm-level data, she finds that two mechanisms proposed in the economic... View Details
- Article
Two-Sided Platforms: Product Variety and Pricing Structures
By: Andrei Hagiu
This paper provides a new modeling framework to analyze two-sided platforms connecting producers and consumers. In contrast to the existing literature, indirect network effects are determined endogenously, through consumers' taste for variety and producer competition....
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Keywords:
Pricing Structure;
Indirect Network Effects;
Product Variety;
Price;
Network Effects;
Two-Sided Platforms;
Product;
Renting or Rental;
Competition
Hagiu, Andrei. "Two-Sided Platforms: Product Variety and Pricing Structures ." Journal of Economics & Management Strategy 18, no. 4 (Winter 2009).
- May 2020
- Article
Sales Leadership During and After the Crisis
Because customer acquisition and retention are the lifeblood of a for-profit enterprise, sales activities establish foundational conditions for a business. In turn, sales managers’ responsibilities in a crisis extend beyond keeping the lights on. Their leadership makes...
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Cespedes, Frank V. "Sales Leadership During and After the Crisis." Top Sales Magazine (May 2020), 28–29.
- November 1989 (Revised February 1992)
- Case
Ford Motor Co.: Dealer Sales and Service
Since Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Co., Ford vehicles have been sold and serviced the same way. By the late 1980s Ford began to consider making changes in its sales and service process. Two developments forced Ford to reconsider these processes. First, Ford found...
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Keywords:
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Change Management;
Distribution Channels;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Service Industry;
Auto Industry;
Retail Industry;
United States
Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Ford Motor Co.: Dealer Sales and Service." Harvard Business School Case 690-030, November 1989. (Revised February 1992.)
- 2020
- Article
A Practical Approach to Sales Compensation: What Do We Know Now? What Should We Know in the Future?
By: Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim and Niladri B. Syam
Personal selling represents one of the most important elements in the marketing mix, and appropriate management of the sales force is vital to achieving the organization’s objectives. Among the various instruments of sales management, compensation plays a pivotal role...
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Keywords:
Sales Compensation;
Sales Management;
Sales Strategy;
Principal-agent Theory;
Structural Econometrics;
Field Experiments;
Machine Learning;
Artificial Intelligence;
Salesforce Management;
Compensation and Benefits;
Motivation and Incentives;
AI and Machine Learning
Chung, Doug J., Byungyeon Kim, and Niladri B. Syam. "A Practical Approach to Sales Compensation: What Do We Know Now? What Should We Know in the Future?" Foundations and Trends® in Marketing 14, no. 1 (2020): 1–52.
- 2020
- Working Paper
The Real Exchange Rate, Innovation and Productivity
By: Laura Alfaro, Alejandro Cuñat, Harald Fadinger and Yanping Liu
We evaluate manufacturing firms' responses to changes in the real exchange rate (RER) using detailed firm-level data for a large set of countries for the period 2001–2010. We uncover the following stylized facts about regional variation of manufacturing firms'...
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Keywords:
Real Exchange Rate;
Firm Level Data;
Innovation;
Productivity;
Exporting;
Importing;
Credit Constraints;
Currency Exchange Rate;
Innovation and Invention;
Performance Productivity
Alfaro, Laura, Alejandro Cuñat, Harald Fadinger, and Yanping Liu. "The Real Exchange Rate, Innovation and Productivity." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-044, November 2017. (Revised April 2020.)
- Article
New Sales Realities
Business leaders need to understand that it’s the fit of People, Process, Pricing, and Partners that drives sales effectiveness. As firms confront new buying processes, required sales competencies affect hiring, training, and development (People). Without a coherent...
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Cespedes, Frank V. "New Sales Realities." International Journal of Sales Transformation 7.1 (April 2021): 26–27.
- January 2011
- Case
AIC Netbooks: Optimizing Product Assembly
By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Sunru Yong
AIC Systems, located in Taichung, Taiwan, is a manufacturer of printed circuit boards, primarily for motherboards and video cards for personal computers. The firm is considered an original design manufacturer (ODM) and takes an active role in innovating and designing...
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Keywords:
Performance Management;
Quantitative Analysis;
Manufacturing;
Production Planning;
Production Management;
Diversification;
Production;
Performance Efficiency;
Product Design;
Performance Improvement;
Mobile Technology;
Manufacturing Industry;
Electronics Industry;
Taiwan
Wheelwright, Steven C., and Sunru Yong. "AIC Netbooks: Optimizing Product Assembly." Harvard Business School Brief Case 114-245, January 2011.
- February 2017
- Article
Rethinking Sales Compensation
Compensation is probably the most discussed aspect of sales and the single biggest portion of the more than $900 billion that U.S. companies alone spend annually on sales efforts. But research indicates that less than 10% of companies believe that their sales incentive...
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Cespedes, Frank V. "Rethinking Sales Compensation." Top Sales Magazine (February 2017).