SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU FALL 2019 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 85
to be incredibly skilled and fast to create hacks at the frequency we’ve seen. However, when the authors
conducted research in dark web markets, surveyed the literature of cyberattacks, and interviewed cyber-
security professionals, they found that the prevalence of the “fringe hacker” is a misconception.
Through this work, they found a useful lens for examining how cybercriminals innovate and operate.
The value chain model developed by Harvard Business School’s Michael E. Porter offers a process-based
view of business. When applied to cybercrime, it reveals that the dark web — that part of the internet
that has been intentionally hidden, is inaccessible through standard web browsers, and facilitates criminal
activities — serves as what Porter called a value system. That system includes a comprehensive cyberattack
supply chain, which enables hackers and other providers to develop and sell the products and services
needed to mount attacks at scale. Understanding how it works provides new, more effective avenues for
combating attacks to companies, security service providers, and the defense community at large.
REPRINT 61101
The Magic That Makes Customer Experiences Stick
Stefan Thomke pp. 56-63
Memorable experiences, and the ensuing positive word of mouth, can
drive customer decisions as much as, if not more than, price and func-
tionality. To that end, consultants have created many tools and frame-
works, and academics have studied customer engagement models that
focus on managerial variables such as employee selection, training,
rewards, and service culture. Yet recent research reports suggest that there
have been few, if any, meaningful improvements in customer experience
over time. Despite the insights gleaned about customers through
advanced technologies and data analysis, something still seems to be
missing for most companies.
That missing ingredient is emotion. Years ago, when the author first
asked his executive education students for their most memorable experi-
ences as customers, he was surprised by the language they chose: Made me feel special. Really cared.
Trusted me. Surprised us. These executives weren’t using the standard language of business. Instead, they
were describing emotional impact.
The stories they shared — along with a deep dive into research on decision-making — led to a critical
insight: Customers want their choices to align as much with their feelings and senses as with their values
and ethics. The rational approaches taught at most business schools — offer customers more value for
money, add features, make service more efficient — are not enough. Creating memorable experiences
for customers also requires a bit of emotional magic. This article explores how that can work.
REPRINT 61107
Creating Digital Offerings Customers Will Buy
Jeanne W. Ross, Cynthia M. Beath, and Martin Mocker pp. 64-69
Digital technologies are forcing companies to
reimagine their customer value propositions.
That’s because new social and mobile applica-
tions, analytics, the internet of things, artificial
intelligence, biometrics, blockchain, cloud and
edge computing, and many other advances allow
them to deliver value in ways that simply were
not possible in the past.
But given all that potential, how does any
company figure out which offerings are viable?
Digital technologies are game-changing — they
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