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New research on profit from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including how developing the right corporate culture helps companies be more profitable, profit-making in the arts, and whether profit as a direct goal is overrated.
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The Right Way to Manage Customer Churn for Maximum Profit

by Michael Blanding

Many companies actively manage customer churn but aren't seeking out the best customers to retain, warns Sunil Gupta. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

A Smarter Way to Reduce Customer Defections

by Dina Gerdeman

Companies can't afford to lose hard-won customers, but in truth some are more important to keep than others. Recent research by Sunil Gupta and Aurélie Lemmens explains how to find them. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

The Profit Power of Corporate Culture

by Sean Silverthorne

In the new book The Culture Cycle, Professor Emeritus James L. Heskett demonstrates that developing the right corporate culture helps companies be more profitable and provides sustainable competitive advantage. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Is Profit as a “Direct Goal” Overrated?

by Jim Heskett

Summing Up: The word profit provoked a wide range of issues and emotions among respondents, says Jim Heskett. It also launched debates, and many readers argued for measures of success other than profit. (Online forum has closed; next forum opens August 5.) Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Tracks of My Tears: Reconstructing Digital Music

by Sean Silverthorne

Record labels have depended on album sales to boost profits. But in the digital music era, consumers prefer single songs over music "bundles." The result? Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse says it is time for the industry to rethink its products and prices. Key concepts include: The unbundling of albums into a series of separately sold songs on digital music stores is hurting record label profits. Labels are less likely to get away with selling a bundle based on the strength of one or two tracks if the other songs are far less appealing. A strong artist reputation helps to curb the negative impact of unbundling. Labels might consider pushing for higher prices online and generally more flexibility in setting prices. Giving preference to quality over quantity and designing smaller, more consistent bundles may be beneficial. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

It Is Okay for Artists to Make Money…No, Really, It’s Okay

by Robert D. Austin & Lee Devin

When art and commerce are mentioned in the same sentence, many people become bad tempered or think something needs fixing. This paper argues that more artists ought to make more money more often. HBS professor Robert Austin and theater dramaturg Lee Devin identify and undermine three fallacies about art and commerce, and suggest that it is necessary to carry on a more careful and less emotional conversation about the tensions between art and business and to overcome a general aversion to business common among artists and their patrons. They also stress the need to develop better theories about how art and commerce can achieve integration helpful to both. Key concepts include: The interests of art, artists, and business can be best served if more commerce enters into the world of art, not less. There are three fallacies, often implicit, about relationships between art and commerce: (1) art is a luxury and an indulgence, (2) art is clearly distinguishable from "non-art," and (3) commerce dominates and corrupts art, and subverts its purpose. Good art should achieve appropriate commercial value consistently, not just occasionally. A conversation takes place when art and commerce are in tension, a conversation in which neither artists nor managers should dominate. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Thinking Twice About Supply-Chain Layoffs

by Julia Hanna

Cutting the wrong employees can be counterproductive for retailers, according to research from Zeynep Ton. One suggestion: Pay special attention to staff who handle mundane tasks such as stocking and labeling. Your customers do. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

by Benson P. Shapiro

Too many businesses are price takers, not price makers. That means they are willing to lower prices to capture market share or to sign up a marquee customer. But Harvard Business School professor Benson P. Shapiro says don't let your ego get in the way of good business sense. Here are seven steps toward naming your own price. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.