Case:
Harvard Business School Case Studies
HubSpot and Motion AI (B): Generative AI Opportunities by Jill Avery (2024)
The case analysis should be written in paragraph-form, double-spaced (12 Times New Roman font) and should
be between 4-6 pages long (excluding the cover & reference pages) At least five scholarly resources (journal
articles, business publications, government reports) should be used to support your responses. APA-style
citations should be used. Cases will be analyzed via the PACADI approach – Problem, Alternatives, Criteria,
Analysis, Decision, Implementation plan.
PACADI Case Analysis Format
Marketing Decision Making*
Problem definition – what is the major challenge, problem, opportunity,
decision, etc. that has to be made. If there is more than one problem, focus on
the most important one. Often when solving the most important problem,
other problems will surface and be addressed.
Alternatives – identification and discussion of alternative decisions to address
problem definition. (generally, 3-5 alternatives)
Criteria – list of key decision criteria that will guide the decision making.
These Include marketing criteria such as segment or target, positioning,
advertising, sales, distribution and other marketing criteria relevant to the case.
Include any financial criteria useful in evaluating the alternatives. These could
include impact on an income statement, customer lifetime value, payback and
any other financial criteria relevant to the case. Include your rationale for the
selection of decision criteria and weights/importance for each.
Analysis–provides an analysis of each alternative based on the decision criteria
above.
Decision-your decision recommendation for the proposed solution of the
problem. This decision is based on your analysis of the decision criteria.
Explain why the decision made is the best fit to the criteria.
Implementation plan – List the key steps and requirements to implement the
recommendation, sequence and timetable, expected competitive reaction,
metrics to measure success, unplanned for costs, and any risks in the plan.
Use the following questions to help guide you as you develop each section:
1. Should HubSpot replace its human chat representatives with chatbots? Why or why not?
2. Which activities in HubSpot’s marketing and selling process would you turn over from humans to bots?
Why? In which phases of the funnel (ToFu, MoFu, BoFu) would bots do better (worse) than humans?
3. How might customer behavior change if customers interacted with bots versus with humans? How might
this behavioral change affect the type of relationship formed with the company, the trajectory of that
relationship, and its inherent profitability?
4. As it develops best practices to share with its customers, what should HubSpot recommend regarding: a)
how “human” chatbots should be, b) whether and/or when/how to disclose to a customer that they are
chatting with a bot rather than a human, and c) whether the bot should always speak in a voice of the
brand or adjust its relational style based on cues it receives from an individual customer? Why?
5. Was HubSpot’s acquisition of Motion AI a smart move for the company? How might it affect its
relationship with its own customers?
