Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(640)
- Faculty Publications (150)
- February 2000 (Revised December 2000)
- Case
Staples.com
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joanna M. Jacobson and Gillian Morris
Staples.com, the online unit of the U.S. office supplies retailing chain Staples, faces a range of strategic and organizational issues as it accelerates its growth. Should it pursue only existing Staples customers or consumers who do not shop in Staples stores? How... View Details
- January 2000
- Article
Retailing and Supply Chains in the Information World
By: J. H. Hammond, F.A. Abernathy, J.T. Dunlop and D. Weil
- December 1999 (Revised February 2001)
- Case
CVS: The Web Strategy
By: John A. Deighton and Anjali C. Shah
How should America's second-largest pharmacy chain respond to the challenge from online drugstores? What threat does the web pose to bricks and mortar distribution of prescription drugs and the other items that make up 50% of a drugstore's sales? This case describes... View Details
- May 1999 (Revised August 1999)
- Case
Victory Supermarkets: Expansion Strategy?
By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon
Jay DiGeronimo, president of a 16-store supermarket chain, is trying to decide the timing and method for expanding his chain. The family-owned company could continue in a maintenance mode, with each family member running one store. It could expand slowly using a new... View Details
- October 1998 (Revised December 1998)
- Case
CompUSA The Computer Superstore
By: Ananth Raman and Anna Sheen McClelland
Examines the CompUSA organization, focusing especially on the operations and the company culture. Highlights the economics of PC retailing and the importance of a responsive supply chain for their product category. The description of company culture emphasizes the role... View Details
- June 1998 (Revised January 2000)
- Case
Egghead.com
Egghead Software, an entrenched traditional chain retailer specializing in computer software and peripherals, had established a nationwide chain of mall and shopping center stores and a well-organized national brand. In early 1998, management made a highly unusual, and... View Details
- May 1998 (Revised October 2001)
- Case
Taco Bell Inc. (1983-1994)
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Dave DeLong
Details the actions of John Martin, newly named CEO, as he leads Taco Bell through a decade of incremental and radical changes. By the end of the case, total system sales within Taco Bell, a Mexican style fast-food restaurant chain and a division of PepsiCo, have grown... View Details
- October 1997 (Revised January 2008)
- Case
Asda (A)
By: Michael Beer and James Weber
In the mid-1980s, Asda was one of the most successful retail companies in the United Kingdom. By 1991, the chain of 200 grocery stores had a lack of direction, a demoralized workforce, declining profits, rising debt, collapsing stock price, and was facing bankruptcy.... View Details
- October 1997 (Revised June 1998)
- Case
Woolworths South Africa
By: David B. Yoffie and Anthony St. George
Woolworths South Africa is one of the most successful retail chains in the country, modeled on Marks and Spencer of the United Kingdom. This case focuses on the sources of Woolworth's competitive advantage within South Africa and the challenges of growth in the wake of... View Details
- February 1997 (Revised May 1998)
- Case
Tire City, Inc.
By: W. Carl Kester
A small, rapidly growing retail distributor of automotive tires must present a set of forecasted financial statements to a bank in order to obtain a five-year loan. Expected growth rates given in the case and historical financial ratios derived from recent financial... View Details
- October 1996 (Revised April 1997)
- Case
Tweeter etc.
By: John T. Gourville and George Wu
In the early 1990s, Tweeter etc., a small regional retailer of higher-end audio and video equipment, faced increasing competitive pricing pressures from several large regional and national consumer electronics chains. In response, in 1993, they introduced "Automatic... View Details
- July 1996 (Revised August 2024)
- Case
Innovative Opportunities to Manage Health Care Delivery
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and D. Scott Lurding
The purpose of this case is:
To familiarize the students with the changing landscape of health care delivery, through chains of retail medical centers and those offering value-based care (VBC).
To discuss fundamental managerial decisions about their... View Details
To discuss fundamental managerial decisions about their... View Details
- July 1996
- Case
Williams-Sonoma, Inc.--1990
By: Nancy F. Koehn and Michael Dearing
Howard Lester, chairman and CEO, has just completed a second offering of common stock in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. ($218.2 million 1989 sales). Having targeted $500 million in retail sales, Lester's challenge is to: 1) prioritize growth investments in five existing catalog... View Details
- June 1996
- Case
Pathfinder Capital
By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower
Two former consultants have raised a search fund and are looking for a company to buy and run. After eight months of looking at deals, they have just signed a letter of intent to buy the second largest book retail chain in Canada in a turnaround situation. They must... View Details
- May 1995 (Revised March 1996)
- Case
ToyWorld, Inc.: Information Technology Planning
ToyWorld, a fast growing retailer, was revitalizing its information technology (IT) infrastructure and called in AT&T to help plan for the future. Five strategic alternatives for use of information and communications technology were identified through value chain... View Details
- May 1994 (Revised March 2008)
- Case
Barilla SpA (A)
Barilla SpA, an Italian manufacturer that sells to its retailers largely through third-party distributors, experienced widely fluctuating demand patterns from its distributors during the late 1980s. This case describes a proposal to address the problem by implementing... View Details
- November 1993 (Revised July 1995)
- Case
OfficePro (A)
By: John A. Quelch
The international procurement manager of an off-price office supply retail chain has to recommend which of several bids to accept for the right to supply computer diskettes to OfficePro's new French subsidiary. View Details
- November 1993 (Revised November 1994)
- Supplement
OfficePro (B)
By: John A. Quelch
Supplements OfficePro (A). View Details
- November 1993
- Supplement
OfficePro (C)
By: John A. Quelch
Supplements OfficePro (A). View Details