Retail Industry - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Aug 2018
Research & Ideas

Supersmart Manufacturing Tools are Lowering Prices on TVs, Bulbs, and Solar Panels

commoditized. As consumers, we see this in the ever-decreasing retail selling price of flat panel TVs. The screen sizes get bigger, the resolution moves from HD to Ultra HD to 4K, and the prices keep dropping. This happens in spite of the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing; Electronics

14 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 14, 2009

structures. SWFs seem to engage in a form of trend chasing, since they are more likely to invest at home when domestic equity prices are higher, and invest abroad when foreign prices are higher. Funds see the industry P/E ratios of their... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

Don’t Get Buried in Customer Data—Use It

more elusive than ever. A recent McKinsey study reveals that the annual churn in the wireless industry increased from 17 percent in 1995 to 32 percent in 2000. This trend holds true even in industries less... View Details

Keywords: by Jean Ayers

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

30-year customer of Filene's Basement, a retailer offering fashion goods at discounted prices, who was eventually fired by the firm. The case traces how company actions taken in the name of customer relationship management (CRM)... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

09 May 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 9

a sovereign default may affect the economy. 2017 Green Capitalism? Business and the Environment in the Twentieth Century Entrepreneurship, Policy, and the Geography of Wind Energy By: Jones, G. Abstract—This study examines the geography of the global wind energy View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Dec 2024
News

Alumni and Faculty Books

Edited by Margie Kelley Alumni Books The Power of Imperfect Eating By Kavita Bhatnagar (SELP 11, 2022) Penguin Enterprise Rather than dictating which foods are good or bad, this book weaves together stories that mirror the intricate, emotional, and often imperfect... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

12 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers be Trusted with Their Own Health Care?

problem in the health care industry comes partly from a clash of interests. Doctors are passionate about addressing the individual needs of each patient, while regulators and policy makers are intent on having one piece of legislation... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health

05 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 5, 2009

not the end goal. In fact, cost cutting and restructuring are simply the first steps in repositioning and leading a company and industry through the crisis and in defining how business will be conducted in the future. This paper describes... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

28 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 28, 2018

the world's most dominant retailers. Could Brandless change the way consumers bought the essential items that filled their pantries and medicine cabinets? Industry pundits had long predicted both the death of brands and the death of brick... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

01 Dec 1996
News

An Entrepreneurial Journey

revenues. Busy managing several hundred employees and a network of 25 growers, Ruth Owades may not have time to smell the roses, but she's not complaining. « Back Supplies and Demand Sometimes a small inconvenience can lead to a revolution. The day in 1985 when View Details

22 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 22, 2008

department stores and a new hypermarket—Nagesh was proud of the way the company had taken retail from its roots in simple transactions to a complete "experience" defined by the luxurious ambiance, food, events and educated staff... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Mar 2010
News

Money Matters

to sitting on the sidelines afraid to invest, period. To make matters worse, staffing their start-up turned out to be painfully difficult. It didn’t help that the free office the partners secured from a friend for a year was located in a gritty New Delhi suburban View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Finance

Research Summary

Overview

Downstream businesses that utilize global suppliers frequently use auditing programs to monitor their suppliers’ working conditions and are often deployed to address reputational concerns associated with procuring from unregulated suppliers. Despite their widespread... View Details

Keywords: Audit Quality; Remote Work; Outsourcing; Econometric Analysis; Switching Costs; Service Operations; Performance Effectiveness; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

June 2024
Supplement

Zeswitz Music (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-Abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.
Abstract: In July of 2013, Randy Shayler (HBS, 2012) acquired Zeswitz Music, a musical instrument rental company based in Reading,... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Strategy; Acquisition; Revenue; Marketing; Music Industry; Music Industry; Pennsylvania

Citation

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June 2016
Case

Macy's Reinvents Its Millennial Business

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

Molly Langenstein, Macy’s executive vice president for fashion and new business development, and members of Macy’s senior team were rethinking the company’s approach to serving millennial customers, customers born between the years of 1980 and 2000. To tackle this... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Age; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Business Processes; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry

Citation

Educators

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2019
Working Paper

The Customer May Not Always Be Right: Customer Compatibility and Service Performance

By: Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper investigates the impact of customer compatibility – the degree of fit between the needs of customers and the capabilities of the operations serving them – on customer experiences and firm performance. We use a variance decomposition analysis to quantify the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Compatibility; Satisfaction; Profitability; Customer Relationship Management; Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Banking Industry; Banking Industry

Citation

SSRN

Read Now

March 2013 (Revised April 2013)
Supplement

Language and Globalization: 'Englishnization' at Rakuten: Results Are In! (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Keywords: Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Japan

Citation

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September 2010 (Revised August 2013)
Case

Liza Davis and the Bargain Hunting Customer

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez and Lisa Brem

Liza Davis, an upscale women's fashion retailer, is reeling from worldwide recession and lower demand. Should the company target the fast-growing bargain hunter segment or hold the line on price discounts to preserve their brand image? Customer profitability... View Details