Brain Snacks

Our digital library: Essential readings to provide orientation on our domains of expertise

Welcome to our virtual library, where we invite you to explore our curated collection of readings organized across the key areas on our domains of expertise. Here, you will find a diverse range of readings and sources that span from timeless classics to cutting-edge, state-of-the-art sources.

Immerse yourself in the depths of our digital shelves, where you can navigate through virtual corridors by selecting which area you would like to explore or know more about. Discover influential works that have shaped industries and thinkers, alongside the latest insights that push the boundaries of knowledge. Our ‘brain snacks’ collection is designed to provide you with valuable orientation, equipping you with the knowledge, tools, and inspiration you need for your intellectual journey.

Browse our library

Customer Experience

Books

  • Christensen, Clayton M., Karen Dillon, Taddy Hall, David S. Duncan (2016). Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice. Harper Collins [Link]
  • Eyal, Nir and Ryan Hoover (2014). Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. Penguin Books [Link]
  • Franz, Annette (2022). Built to Win: Designing a Customer-Centric Culture that Drives Value for Your Business. [Link]
  • Heath, Chip and Dan Heath (2019). The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact. Transworld Publ. [Link]

Articles

  • Debruyne, Frédéric and Andreas Dullweber (2015), “The Five Disciplines of Customer Experience Leaders,” Bain & Company [Link]
  • Edelman, David C. and Mark Abraham (2022), “Customer experience in the Age of AI,” Harvard Business Review [Link]
  • Meyer, Christopher and Andre Schwager (2007), “Understanding Customer Experience,” Harvard Business Review [Link]
  • Pine II, B. Joseph, and James H. Gilmore (2019). The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money (revised ed.).‎ Harvard Business Review Press
  • Reichheld, Fred, Darci Darnell, and Maureen Burns (2021), “Net Promoter 3.0,” Harvard Business Review [Link]

Customer Journey

Books

  • Angrave, Jerry (2020). The Journey Mapping Playbook. De Gruyter [Link]
  • Kalbach, Jim (2021). Mapping Experiences: A Complete Guide to Customer Alignment Through Journeys, Blueprints & Diagrams, 2nd Wiley [Link]

Articles

  • Edelman, David C. and Marc Singer (2015), “Competing on Customer Journeys,” Harvard Business Review [Link]
  • Greeven, Mark J., Katherine Xin, and George S. Yip (2021), “How Chinese Retailers are Reinventing the Customer Journey: Five Lessons for Western Companies,” Harvard Business Review [Link]

Design Thinking

Books

  • Brown, Tim (2009). Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation. HarperBusiness [Link]
  • Liedtka, Jeanne, Tim Ogilvie et al. (2011). Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers. Columbia Business School Publishing. [Link]
  • Liedtka, Jeanne, Tim Ogilvie et al. (2019). The Designing for Growth Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide. Columbia Business School Publishing. [Link]

Articles

  • Brown, Tim (2008), “Design Thinking,” Harvard Business Review, June [Link]
  • Brown, Tim and Roger Martin (2015), “Design for Action,” Harvard Business Review, September [Link]

Evidence-Based Decision-Making

Books

  • Ayres, Ian (2007). Super Crunchers. John Murray. [Link]
  • Crosll, Alistair and Benjamim Yoskovitz (2013). Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster. O’Reilly. [Link]
  • Doerr, John (2017). Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs. Penguin Books [Link]
  • Harford, Tim (2021). How to Make the World Add Up: Ten Rules for Thinking Differently About Numbers. Little, Brown Book Group [Link]
  • Iansiti, Marco and Karim R. Lakhani (2020). Competing in the Age of AI: Strategy and Leadership when Algorithms and Networks Run the World. Harvard Business Review Press [Link]

Articles

  • Davenport, Thomas H. (2013), “Keep Up with Your Quants,” Harvard Business Review [Link]
  • Hill, A., Emily Tedards, and Taran Swan (2021), “Drive Innovation with Better Decision-Making,” Harvard Business Review [Link]

Grassroots Innovation

Books

  • Høyrup, S., Møller,K., Bonnafous-Boucher, M., Hasse,C. and Lotz, M. (2016). Employee-Driven Innovation: A New Approach. Palgrave Macmillan [Link]
  • Molotsi, H. and Zias, J. (2018). The Intrapreneur’s Journey. Jeff Zias. [Link]

Book chapters

  • Betz, U. A., Camacho, N., Gerards, M., & Stremersch, S. (2014). Grassroots innovation: a promising innovation paradigm for pharmaceutical companies. Innovation and Marketing in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Emerging Practices, Research, and Policies, 119-148. [Link]

Articles

  • Benbya, H., & Leidner, D. (2018). How Allianz UK Used an Idea Management Platform to Harness Employee Innovation. MIS Quarterly Executive17(2). [Link]
  • Gulati, R. (2018). Structure that’s not stifling. Harvard Business Review96(3), 68-79. [Link]
  • Lessl, M., Trill, H., & Birkinshaw, J. (2018). Fostering Employee Innovation at a 150-year-old Company. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles12(17), 1-5. [Link]
  • Stremersch, S., Camacho, N., Keko, E., & Wuyts, S. (2022). Grassroots innovation success: The role of self-determination and leadership style. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 39(2), 396-414. [Link]

Podcasts

  • Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli: Interview with Elio Keko on IJRM paper “Grassroots innovation success: The role of self-determination and leadership style” [Link]

Jobs to Be Done

Books

  • Kalbach, Jim and Michael Tanamachi (2020). The Jobs to Be Done Playbook: Align Your Markets, Organization, and Strategy Around Customer Needs. Two Waves Books. [Link]
  • Ulwick, Anthony W. (2016). Jobs to be Done: Theory to Practice. IDEA BITE PRESS. [Link]
  • Wunker, Stephen, Jessica Wattman, and David Farber (2023). Jobs to Be Done: A Roadmap for Customer-Centered Innovation. Amacom [Link]

Articles

  • Christensen, Clayton, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon and David S. Duncan (2016), “Know Your Customers’ ‘Jobs to be Done’”, Harvard Business Review, Sep. [Link]

Lean Startup

Books

  • Blank, Steve (2020). The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products that Win. Wiley. [Link]
  • Ries, Eric (2011). The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses [Link]
  • Thomke, Stefan H. (2020). Experimentation Works: The Surprising Power of Business Experiments. Harvard Business Press [Link]

Articles

  • Amy Gallo (2017) “A Refresher on A/B Testing,” HBR.org [Link]
  • Anderson, Eric T. and Duncan Simester (2011), “A Step-by-Step Guide to Smart Business Experiments,” Harvard Business Review [Link]
  • Blank, Steve (2013), “Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything,” Harvard Business Review, May [Link]
  • Eisenmann, Thomas, Eric Ries, and Sarah Dillard (2011), “Hypothesis-Driven Entrepreneurship: The Lean Startup,” Harvard Business School – Background Note [Link]

Omnichannel

Books

  • Benartzi, Shlomo and Jonah Lehrer (2015). The Smarter Screen. Piatkus [Link]
  • Berger, Jonah (2014). Contagious: How to Build Word of Mouth in the Digital Age. Simon & Schuster [Link]
  • Miller, Donald (2017). Building a Story Brand. Harper Collins [Link]

Articles

  • Arora, Nidhi et al. (2021), ” The value of getting personalization right—or wrong—is multiplying,” McKinsey & Company [Link]
  • Bell, David R., Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno (2014), “How to Win in an Omnichannel World,” MIT Sloan Management Review [Link]

Sales Competencies

Books

  • Berger, Jonah (2022). The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind. Simon & Schuster [Link]
  • Carnegie, Dale (2006). How to Win Friends and Influence People. Random House [Link]
  • Cialdini, Robert B. (2021). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (New and Expanded). HarperBus [Link]
  • Dixon, Matthew and Brent Adamson (2011). The Challenger Sale: How to Take Control of the Customer Conversation. Penguin [Link]
  • Pink, Daniel H. (2012). To Sell is Human. CanonGate [Link]

Articles

  • Cespedes, Frank V. and David Mattson (2017), “How a Fast-Growing Startup Built Its Sales Team for Long-Term Success,” HBR Online [Link]
  • Edinger, Scott (2015), “Sales Teams Need More (and Better) Coaching,” HBR Online [Link]
  • Frost, Aja (2021), “26 Habits of Incredibly Successful Salespeople,” Hubspot [Link]
  • Mayer, David and Herbert M. Greenberg (2006), “What Makes a Good Salesman,” Harvard Business Review [Link]
  • Rapaille, G. Clotaire [a conversation with] (2006), ”Leveraging the Psychology of the Salesperson”, Harvard Business Review [Link]

Voice of Customer

Books

  • Blank, S. (2020). The four steps to the epiphany: successful strategies for products that win. John Wiley & Sons. [Link]
  • Kozinets, R. V. (2015). Netnography: redefined. Sage. [Link]

Articles

  • Anthony, S. (2012). Turning customer intelligence into innovation. Harvard Business Review, August20. [Link]
  • Cayla, J., Beers, R., & Arnould, E. (2013). Stories that deliver business insights. MIT Sloan Management Review. [Link]
  • Davenport, T., Guha, A., Grewal, D., & Bressgott, T. (2020). How artificial intelligence will change the future of marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science48, 24-42. [Link]
  • Duhigg, Charles (2012). How Companies Learn Your Secrets. The New York Times Magazine. [Link]
  • HBR Spotlight Series: Why Curiosity Matters
    • Fernandez-Araoz, C., Roscoe, A., & Aramaki, K. E. N. T. A. R. O. (2018). From curious to competent. Harvard business review96(5), 61. [Link]
    • Kashdan, T. B., Disabato, D. J., Goodman, F. R., & Naughton, C. (2018). The five dimensions of curiosity. Harvard Business Review96(5), 58-60. [Link]
  • Madsbjerg, C., & Rasmussen, M. B. (2014). An anthropologist walks into a bar. Harvard Business Review92(3), 80-90. [Link]

Ted Talks

  • Tricia Wang: The human insights missing from big data [Link]
  • Malcolm Gladwell: Choice, happiness, and spaghetti sauce [Link]