Publications

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales. These results were in marked contrast... View Details

Keywords: Best Buy; Hubert Joly; Renew Blue; Showrooming; Webrooming; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Marketplaces; Turnaround; Consumer Electronics; Consumer Electronics Accessories; Appliances; Stores-within-stores; Store Experience; Store Size; Store Pickup; Store Management; Delivery; Delivery Models; Amazon; Amazon.com; Pricing Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Cost; Selection and Staffing; Reports; Technological Innovation; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Human Capital; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Media; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution Channels; Infrastructure; Product; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Programs; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Resource Allocation; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; United States; Minnesota; Minneapolis; Saint Paul; St. Paul

06 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

18 Tips Managers Can Use to Lead Through COVID's Rising Waters

Protect and Pivot Boris Groysberg, Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration. MARKETING Tip: Tailor your brand stories to the new reality. Which types of brand stories should companies tell?... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

28 Nov 2018
HBS Case

On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website

and continue to build on your learning.” Just as important, the response had to be relevant to that customer. If a consumer searched for “sneakers,” the site should not only provide a list of sneaker-like shoes, but at the top of the list should be the particular View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

July 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Athletic Brewing Company: Crafting the U.S. Non-Alcoholic Beer Category

By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne V. Wilson

Athletic Brewing Company (“Athletic,” for short) was founded by Bill Shufelt and John Walker in 2017. In creating Athletic, Shufelt and Walker opened the first U.S. brewery and taproom fully devoted to the production of non-alcoholic (NA) craft beer. By 2021, Athletic... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Product Launch; Product Design; Product; Competition; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Culture; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

04 Apr 2011
HBS Case

Reinventing the National Geographic Society

recalls the remark about magazine piles. "That has come back to haunt us," Fahey says. "People today don't want clutter." It turns out that many things that made National Geographic one of the world's top brands during... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Publishing

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Getting the Message: How the Internet is Changing Advertising

get these reports immediately, so you can actually fine-tune an online campaign in real time." Law is the cofounder of Russell Reynolds Global Internet Practice. He previously served as founder and CEO of an interactive brand... View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

Web

Systems Integration - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

some degree of autonomy yet gain the power of affiliation with a major high volume provider bringing expertise and brand recognition. The key in this type of affiliation is outcome measurement across the system as the ultimate measure of... View Details

Web

Online Business Essential Courses | HBS Online

impactful than other online programs by learners* Yes No The preferred brand among prospective online learners* Yes No Reimagined the case study method through a proprietary platform featuring courses created by renowned faculty Yes No... View Details

July 2012
Case

Droga5: Launching Jay-Z's Decoded

By: Anita Elberse and Kwame Owusu-Kesse

In 2010, David Droga and Andrew Essex, co-founders of advertising agency Droga5, hope to convince both John Meneilly, manager of hip-hop star Shawn Carter—better known as Jay-Z—and a partner in Carter's company Roc Nation and Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Entertainment; Advertising Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

28 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Billions of Entrepreneurs in China and India

that they can leverage both countries symbiotically. Second, conduct a series of experiments. An entrepreneur has to make many decisions: how much money to sink in, whether to partner, how to work with relevant government or regulatory entities, whether to invest in... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Web

Marketing Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

with Magie Cheng for the 2021 Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (WISE) Best Student Paper Award for “Reputation Burning: Analyzing the Impact of Brand Sponsorship on Social Influencers.” 2020 Eva Ascarza : Selected as a... View Details

09 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Industry Self-Regulation: What’s Working (and What’s Not)?

Q: Do firms compete on their programs? A: Except for niche firms, few companies brag about the conditions under which their products are made. Interestingly, many of the brands that were once targets of activists are now leaders in this... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

21 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 21

relationships with their competitors affect consumers' preferences. Through a series of experiments, we show that the competitive context in which a brand operates can affect consumers' purchase interest and purchase frequency. We show... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel & Sean Silverthorne

May 2022
Case

Maestro Pizza: Coming in Hot!

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Fares Khrais

Maestro Pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of... View Details