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• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised January 2020)

  People Analytics at McKinsey

  Jeffrey T. Polzer and Olivia Hull

  A private equity-backed fast food chain has hired McKinsey’s new People Analytics group to help it improve performance. As the final client workshop approaches, Associate Partner Alex DiLeonardo ponders the best way to present the team’s findings, especially those that conflict with the client executives’ long-held intuitions. If successful, the project would help People Analytics build its reputation both internally and with clients. But to be successful, DiLeonardo knows his team must convince the client that their results are credible and actionable.
  In addition to discussing the specifics of the fast food project, the case also provides an overview of the people analytics field more broadly through the lens of McKinsey’s client portfolio.

  Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Customer Relationship Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost Management; Human Resources; Employees; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Measurement and Metrics; Performance; Performance Capacity; Performance Efficiency; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Consulting Industry; Service Industry;

  Citation:

  Polzer, Jeffrey T., and Olivia Hull. "People Analytics at McKinsey." Harvard Business School Case 418-023, January 2018. (Revised January 2020.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2017 (Revised December 2019)

  Delivering the Goods at Shippo

  Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Jeffrey F. Rayport and Olivia Hull

  Laura Behrens Wu, CEO of software start-up Shippo, prepares her pitch for a Series A funding round following a successful seed round. Customer adoption of Shippo’s e-commerce dashboard application, which allows small and medium retailers to compare delivery rates between shipping providers and print package labels, has been steady in the nine months since it went live. But traction with the firm’s developer friendly product, an API that allows large enterprise customers to automate their shipping needs, had initially been slow until one customer single handedly tripled the API label volume in late August. Now in November 2014, with nine months of runway remaining, Behrens Wu must decide where to direct the company’s limited resources. Should Shippo stay focused on the app while raising the next round of funding, pivot to an API-focused strategy, or pursue both products?

  Keywords: application program interface; API; API strategy; customer cohorts; churn; retention; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Transition; Customer Focus and Relationships; Technological Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Valuation; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Retail Industry; San Francisco; California; United States;

  Citation:

  Bussgang, Jeffrey J., Jeffrey F. Rayport, and Olivia Hull. "Delivering the Goods at Shippo." Harvard Business School Case 817-065, January 2017. (Revised December 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2019 (Revised December 2019)

  Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Learning (A)

  Christopher Stanton, Richard Saouma and Olivia Hull

  Facing threats to its growth, digital marketing and sales company Clear Link Technologies, LLC (Clearlink) decides to run a field experiment to test strategies for improving sales productivity. Designed in collaboration with a team of academic researchers, the study compares the efficacy of two interventions: incentives and management-directed peer learning. In addition to providing an introduction to the call center industry and an overview of some of the cultural factors that make experimentation challenging in a business organization, the case also provides basic information about experimental design. Instructors may use the case to introduce students to fundamental concepts such as control, randomization, statistical power, and minimum detectable effect size. Students will consider best practices for experimental design, build skills for analyzing experimental findings, and explore strategies for implementation.

  Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Interactive Communication; Experience and Expertise; Decision Making; Training; Design; Compensation and Benefits; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance; Performance Improvement; Research; Sales; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Telecommunications Industry; Utah; United States;

  Citation:

  Stanton, Christopher, Richard Saouma, and Olivia Hull. "Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Learning (A)." Harvard Business School Case 819-072, April 2019. (Revised December 2019.)  View Details

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