Publications

11 Aug 2017
News

Despite the Amazon effect, not all mom-and-pop stores are in trouble on Main Street

21 Aug 2019
Video

Aban Pestonjee

Aban Pestonjee, one of Sri Lanka's most prominent entrepreneurs and the founder of Abans Group, one of the country's largest business groups, discusses the early diversification from import and retail into a... View Details

July 2010 (Revised December 2011)
Background Note

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Pricing and Profitability Analysis

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery

Pricing is one of the most difficult decisions marketers make and the one with the most direct and immediate impact on the firm's financial position. This toolkit will introduce the fundamental terminology and calculations associated with pricing and profitability... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Price; Profit; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Mathematical Methods; Retail Industry

April 2017
Case

Yushan Bicycles: Learning to Ride Abroad

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Paul S. Myers

Yushan Bicycles, one of Taiwan's leading bicycle manufacturers, is pursuing an international expansion strategy by increasing demand for its range of traditional and electric bicycles and shifting its product mix toward higher-margin models sold through specialty... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Conflict Management; Learning; Bicycle Industry; Taiwan; Australia

January 2008
Case

Parks Capital - Investment in US Retail, Inc.

Parks Capital acquired a Children's Apparel Manufacturer , American Child Clothing Manufacturers, Inc. (ACCM), in 2001. Two years later ACCM's largest retail customer, U.S. Retail, Inc., decided to evaluate strategic alternatives due to financial difficulties. Parks... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Value and Value Chain; Private Equity; Vertical Integration; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

February 2003 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Reaching the Bottom: UniGlobe's Small Local Stores Dilemma

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Lana Newishy

To distribute products to very small retailers in a very fragmented retail environment, the local subsidiary of a large consumer products company created an innovative distribution mechanism. The subsidiary's Small Local Stores division employed middlemen who... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Innovation and Invention; Consumer Products Industry; Philippines

24 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, April 24, 2018

April 2018 Management Science Offline Showrooms in Omni-channel Retail: Demand and Operational Benefits By: Bell, David R., Santiago Gallino, and Antonio Moreno Abstract—Omnichannel environments where customers shop online and offline at the same View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Jul 2010
News

Marketing strategies for growth in China

05 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 5, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=107070 Beijing Hualian Harvard Business School Case 906-403 China's fifth largest domestic retailer faced intensifying competition from Wal-Mart and Carrefour with the opening... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2005 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Ito-Yokado: The Challenge of Apparel

By: Rajiv Lal and Arar Han

Ito-Yokado, the 16th largest retail conglomerate in the world, has struggled with the declining performance in the apparel division of its superstores for over a decade. Apparel sales are slipping, eating hard-won gains in the retailer's food division. CEO Toshifumi... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Transformation; Performance; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Japan

April 2008 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Flying J (A)

By: Rohit Deshpande and Lauren Barley

The largest retailer of diesel fuel in the U.S., Flying J, is rethinking its growth strategy as the economy goes into a recession. Its major customer base, owner-operated truck drivers, are facing increasing costs of doing business. Yet Flying J is considering whether... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Price; Consumer Behavior; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; United States

November 1997
Case

Royal Ahold NV: Shopkeeper to the Global Village

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

Royal Ahold has become one of the top U.S. food retailers in the United States and Europe, with a family firm that began in the Netherlands and grew to a listing on the U.S. Stock Exchange. It wants to be a global player and is trying to develop a global strategy. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Leadership Style; Public Ownership; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

03 May 2019
News

It’s All About Mindset

December 2009 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Diamond Foods

By: David E. Bell and Mary Louise Shelman

CEO Michael Mendes has transformed a grower-owned cooperative into a publicly traded top marketer of snack foods. Diamond's organization, culture, product development process, advertising and promotion strategy, and specifically its marketing department have been built... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Leadership; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Cooperative Ownership; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

January 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Digital Transformation at Tata Steel

By: Krishna Palepu, Das Narayandas, Radhika Kak and Rachna Tahilyani

T.V. Narendran, CEO of Tata Steel, India’s oldest steel manufacturing firm, had taken concrete business and cultural transformation steps to future-ready the firm since taking over in 2013. He had deleveraged and instilled financial discipline, acquired new businesses,... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Change Management; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Steel Industry; Asia; India

October 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

GameStop: Social Media Finds a Cheat Code (A)

By: Joseph Pacelli and Sarah Mehta

This case covers the events leading up to the 2021 GameStop short squeeze. Using GameStop as an illustrative example, the case explores the rise in retail trading, increased financial information sharing on social media, and the gamification of investing enabled by... View Details

Keywords: Value; Stocks; Financial Markets; Social Media; Investment; Applications and Software; Financial Services Industry; United States

January 2013
Case

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture (MM)

By: Frances X. Frei and Robin J. Ely

On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately-held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft-line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its Board of Directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry