Many salespeople today are struggling; only 57% of them make their annual quotas, surveys show. One problem is that buying processes have evolved faster than selling processes, and buyers today can access a wide range of online resources that let them evaluate products before even meeting a salesperson. AI tools can help organizations close the gap, but most don''t know how to use them effectively. In this article the authors describe how .....more

Many sustainability initiatives focus on improving the sustainability of products and operations in legacy or adjacent markets or on achieving sustainability gains by exploring new markets with a more diverse set of products. This is a variation on the classic "where to play/how to win" strategy familiar to most executives. Fewer leaders, however, are exploring an important new frontier in sustainability, in which brands actively partner .....more

The new system in a day-care center is producing biased results--setting off an alarm when some dark-skinned parents enter the lobby. The director of the center must decide whether improving security is worth the possible legal ramifications. This fictional case study by Mary C. Gentile, David Danks, and Maralee Harrell features expert commentary by Joseph Steinberg, Cedric L. Alexander. This HBR Case Study includes both the case and the commentary. .....more

The new system in a day-care center is producing biased results--setting off an alarm when some dark-skinned parents enter the lobby. The director of the center must decide whether improving security is worth the possible legal ramifications. This fictional case study by Mary C. Gentile, David Danks, and Maralee Harrell features expert commentary by Joseph Steinberg, Cedric L. Alexander. For teaching purposes, this is the case-only version of the .....more

The new system in a day-care center is producing biased results--setting off an alarm when some dark-skinned parents enter the lobby. The director of the center must decide whether improving security is worth the possible legal ramifications. This fictional case study by Mary C. Gentile, David Danks, and Maralee Harrell features expert commentary by Joseph Steinberg, Cedric L. Alexander. For teaching purposes, this is the commentary-only version .....more

In May 2014, Alex Frommeyer, cofounder and CEO of Kentucky-based Beam Dental, a seed-stage startup that developed connected toothbrushes that tracked brushing habits, needed to decide which strategy to pitch to a venture capital firm. The first pitch deck played to the founders'' strengths as engineers and requested funds to develop a market-leading, next-generation connected toothbrush. The second pitch deck requested capital to start a dental .....more

In May 2016, venture-backed Beam Dental was on the brink of financial collapse. Cofounder and CEO Alex Frommeyer weighed the unattractive terms of a bridge loan offered by Beam''s largest investor. Frommeyer needed to decide whether to accept the terms or concede defeat and close the company. This case is the second case in a two-part series (original case 723-355); the A case has two supplements (723-374 and 723-375).

Early pitch deck (one of two). This case is a supplement to Beam Dental (A) 723-355.

Early pitch deck (two of two). This case is a supplement to Beam Dental (A) 723-355.