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- All HBS Web (1,206)
- Faculty Publications (447)
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- March 2007 (Revised June 2007)
- Case
Wal-Mart, 2007
By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind
In 2007, Wal-Mart faced challenges to its historically high growth rate. Lagging same-store sales and setbacks overseas led the company to consider strategic shifts. Wal-Mart was the world's largest retailer, but competition had become particularly acute as the company... View Details
Keywords: Competition; Management Practices and Processes; Rural Scope; Human Resources; Problems and Challenges; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Globalized Firms and Management; Marketing Strategy; Growth Management; Urban Scope; Retail Industry; United States
Yoffie, David B., and Michael Slind. "Wal-Mart, 2007." Harvard Business School Case 707-517, March 2007. (Revised June 2007.)
- 19 Sep 2006
- First Look
First Look: September 19, 2006
punch of earlier generations: video sales generally decrease over time across all quantiles of the sales distribution, but this effect is most pronounced among best-selling titles. Our findings have... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- March 2018 (Revised September 2019)
- Case
Chewy.com (A)
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble
In late 2013, Ryan Cohen, cofounder and CEO of online pet products retailer Chewy.com, faces a “bet the company decision”—whether to stay with a third-party logistics provider (3PL) for all of its e-commerce fulfillment or to take the function in house. Cohen worries... View Details
Keywords: Pet Food; Pet Products; Retail; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Decision Choices and Conditions; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Florida; United States
Rayport, Jeffrey F., and Matthew G. Preble. "Chewy.com (A)." Harvard Business School Case 818-079, March 2018. (Revised September 2019.)
- March 2006 (Revised October 2007)
- Case
The Parisian Revival
By: Rajiv Lal and Carin-Isabel Knoop
In mid-2005, George Jones had two jobs: head of Saks Inc.'s 41-store Parisian department store chain as well as president and CEO of the Saks Department Store Group (SDSG), an umbrella for seven chains with a total of 182 stores across the United States. In 2003 Jones... View Details
Keywords: Profit; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Sales; Retail Industry; United States
Lal, Rajiv, and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "The Parisian Revival." Harvard Business School Case 506-035, March 2006. (Revised October 2007.)
- January 2008 (Revised February 2010)
- Case
Chocolates El Rey
By: Rohit Deshpandé, Gustavo Herrero and Regina Garcia-Cuellar
In late November 2006, Jorge Redmond, CEO of Chocolates El Rey, called a meeting with senior management to discuss the company's growth strategy. A relatively small firm with sales of around $14 million, El Rey produced top quality chocolate made with single origin... View Details
Keywords: Family Business; Globalized Markets and Industries; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Segmentation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Venezuela
Deshpandé, Rohit, Gustavo Herrero, and Regina Garcia-Cuellar. "Chocolates El Rey." Harvard Business School Case 508-052, January 2008. (Revised February 2010.)
- November 2024 (Revised July 2025)
- Case
Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?
By: Willy C. Shih, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer
By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds,... View Details
Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Distribution; Volatility; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Profit; Trade; Digital Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Advertising; Brands and Branding; E-commerce; Business and Community Relations; Networks; Adaptation; Adoption; Competitive Advantage; Business Model; Health Pandemics; War; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe; Poland
Shih, Willy C., Lena Duchene, and Daniela Beyersdorfer. "Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow from Here?" Harvard Business School Case 625-061, November 2024. (Revised July 2025.)
- November 2017
- Teaching Note
Reinventing Best Buy
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-455.
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.... 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; Technology; Hardware; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Search Technology; Software; Web; Web Sites; 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
- 13 Dec 2022
- Interview
Why Some Start-Ups Fail to Scale
By: Jeffrey Rayport and Curt Nickisch
Managing rapid growth is a huge challenge for young businesses. Even start-ups with glowing reviews and skyrocketing sales can fail. That’s because new ventures and corporate initiatives alike have to sustain profitability at scale, according to Harvard Business School... View Details
"Why Some Start-Ups Fail to Scale." HBR IdeaCast (podcast), Harvard Business Review Group, December 13, 2022.
- May 2008 (Revised August 2010)
- Case
ScriptLogic®: Point, Click, Done!™
ScriptLogic is a software company that has built a product portfolio that fits under a 'Point, Click, Done!' umbrella; its products are easy to download, easy to install, and easy to use. The company's online marketing program and inside sales force have been very... View Details
Keywords: Investment Return; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Marketing; Product Development; Salesforce Management; Software; Information Technology Industry
Steenburgh, Thomas J., and Alexander Crisses. "ScriptLogic®: Point, Click, Done!™." Harvard Business School Case 508-114, May 2008. (Revised August 2010.)
- 10 Oct 2017
- First Look
First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 10, 2017
https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53251 August 22, 2017 Harvard Business Review Find the Right Metrics for Your Sales Team By: Cespedes, Frank V., and Robert Marsh Abstract—This article reports the results of a survey of key... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- 2012
- Teaching Note
Zhejiang Semir Garment Co., Ltd. (TN)
By: F. Warren McFarlan, Jie Jiao and Yuren Fang
With the rapid growth of China's economy and China's increasing integration into the global economy in the past two decades, China's leisure clothing and garment enterprises achieved a rapid rise and became an important competitive force confronting the foreign brands... View Details
McFarlan, F. Warren, Jie Jiao, and Yuren Fang. "Zhejiang Semir Garment Co., Ltd. (TN)." Tsinghua University Teaching Note, 2012.
- December 2008 (Revised October 2009)
- Case
Wal-Mart Stores in 2003 (Abridged Version)
By: Frank V. Cespedes
Examines Wal-Mart's development over three decades and provides financial and descriptive detail of its domestic operations. In 2003, Wal-Mart's Supercenter business has surpassed its domestic business as the largest generator of revenues. Its international operation... View Details
Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Advantage; Labor Unions; Operations; Global Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Gender; Retail Industry; United States
Cespedes, Frank V. "Wal-Mart Stores in 2003 (Abridged Version)." Harvard Business School Case 709-423, December 2008. (Revised October 2009.)
- September 2002 (Revised August 2003)
- Case
Genzyme's Gaucher Initiative: Global Risk and Responsibility
By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Andrew N. McLean
In Egypt, Genzyme's humanitarian commitment to treat all sufferers of the rare Gaucher disease worldwide first confronts its commercial imperative to recoup the huge investment required to bring the drug Cerezyme to market. Here Tomye Tierney must decide how to balance... View Details
Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Investment; Emerging Markets; Negotiation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Sales; Commercialization; Expansion; Value Creation
Bartlett, Christopher A., and Andrew N. McLean. "Genzyme's Gaucher Initiative: Global Risk and Responsibility." Harvard Business School Case 303-048, September 2002. (Revised August 2003.)
- June 2024
- Article
Going Digital: Implications for Firm Value and Performance
By: Wilbur Chen and Suraj Srinivasan
We examine firm value and performance implications of the growing trend of non-technology companies engaging in digital transformation. We measure digital activities in firms based on the disclosure of digital words in the business description section of 10-Ks. Digital... View Details
Keywords: Digital Technologies; Valuation; Return Predictability; Financial Statement Analysis; Performance; Value; Information Technology
Chen, Wilbur, and Suraj Srinivasan. "Going Digital: Implications for Firm Value and Performance." Review of Accounting Studies 29, no. 2 (June 2024): 1619–1665.
- 09 Mar 2003
- Research & Ideas
Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation
locus of integration typically shifts to the interface with the customer. 6. Be patient for growth but impatient for profitability. Managers inside new-growth businesses often feel tremendous pressure to quickly ramp up View Details
- August 2017 (Revised July 2020)
- Case
Cumplo.com
By: Frank V. Cespedes, Fernanda Miguel and Mariana Cal
In August 2017, Cumplo’s Founder Shea and CEO Kirberg meet to discuss growth and strategy issues faced by this Chilean fintech startup. What sales and marketing strategy will best foster the compny’s growth? Are changes needed in the product lineup? How and when should... View Details
Keywords: Fintech; Alternative Finance; Crowdfunding; Crowdlending; Marketing Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Entrepreneurship; Expansion; Latin America; South America; Chile
Cespedes, Frank V., Fernanda Miguel, and Mariana Cal. "Cumplo.com." Harvard Business School Case 818-039, August 2017. (Revised July 2020.)
- September 2015
- Teaching Note
Sustainability at IKEA Group
Can IKEA Group double its global sales within a decade by expending in emerging markets while implementing on its ambitious sustainability strategy that included focusing on raw material sourcing and suppliers’ production processes? The case focuses on IKEA Group’s... View Details
- 19 Sep 2017
- First Look
First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 19
presented from the perspective of the company CEO and its global brand director who is also part owner. In 2015, Mavi had sales of $419 million, up 20% from the previous year. Growth rates like these were... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- 2009
- Working Paper
Clusters of Entrepreneurship
By: Edward L. Glaeser, William R. Kerr and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto
Employment growth is strongly predicted by smaller average establishment size, both across cities and across industries within cities, but there is little consensus on why this relationship exists. Traditional economic explanations emphasize factors that reduce entry... View Details
Glaeser, Edward L., William R. Kerr, and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto. "Clusters of Entrepreneurship." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10-019, September 2009.
- May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
- Case
Gap, Inc., 2000
By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin
From humble beginnings as a Levi jeans store, by 2000 Gap, Inc. had grown to become the world's leading specialist clothing retailer. Its CEO, Millard S. Drexler, the "merchant prince," was credited with transforming Gap into a global empire, leading the company... View Details
Keywords: Strategic Change; Fashion; Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Performance Consistency; Problems and Challenges; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Strategy; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States
Wells, John R., and Galen Danskin. "Gap, Inc., 2000." Harvard Business School Case 713-508, May 2013. (Revised March 2014.)