Publications

20 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Mobilizing Private Sector Action For Racial Equity in Milwaukee: SE Summer Fellow Zach Komes (MBA 2022)

initiative, with over a hundred area corporations, from Fortune 500 companies to mid-sized businesses, pledging to expand Black and Brown talent in their management roles by 25% and overall staff by 15% by 2025. Over the course of the last three months, I led a View Details

February 1998 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Insteel Wire Products: ABM at Andrews

By: V.G. Narayanan and Ratna G. Sarkar

Insteel implements an activity-based costing (ABC) system in 1996. It finds pallet nails to be its most profitable product and decides to expand the number of cells making pallet nails from two to four. A repeat of the ABC study in 1997 shows pallet nails have become... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Expansion; Resource Allocation; Activity Based Costing and Management

30 Jan 2006
HBS Case

The Case of the Mystery Writer’s Brand

success if it sold 200,000 copies. Today, the bar has been raised to 1.5 million copies, thanks in part to the dominance of "big-box" retailers (such as Wal-Mart and Costco) that only stock twenty or so bestsellers yet are... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

25 Feb 2020
News

How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Business

Administration. “The traditional model has been turned upside down. Having the data to innovate at scale is now the main thing.” Lakhani and Marco Iansiti, the David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration, are frequent collaborators. Their new book, Competing in... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

01 Dec 2010
News

How to Survive Past Start-up

from the MBA Class of 1998: Marc Cenedella, founder of the Internet job search site TheLadders; Marla Malcolm Beck, cofounder of national cosmetics retailer bluemercury; and Chris Michel, cofounder of early professional social networks... View Details

Keywords: Bill Murphy Jr.; Retail Trade; Retail Trade; Retail Trade; Retail Trade

20 May 2025
Blog Post

How Student-Proposed Internships Can Create Value

passionate I was personally about the space and the brand, and that I was very eager to learn.” Over the summer, Jessica worked on three strategy projects: one focused on international expansion, one on View Details

01 Dec 2017
News

Ask the Expert: Human Intelligence

(PLDA 15, 2013) SESERI: E-commerce—and retail, more broadly—is one of the areas that will benefit the most from AI. It will enable retailers to provide much better experiences to consumers. For instance, AI will be able to predict what I... View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Jan 2009
News

Jorge Paulo Lemann, A.B. 1961; Carlos A. Sicupira, OPM 9, 1984; Marcel H. Telles, OPM 10, 1985

was a senior partner for more than 25 years before selling the firm to Credit Suisse First Boston in 1998. At Garantia and later at GP Investimentos, Lemann invested in management talent and diverse acquisitions, including a retail chain,... View Details

21 May 2025
Blog Post

Mentorship in Action: When an HBS Student Proposes a Project

and that I was very eager to learn.” Over the summer, Jessica worked on three strategy projects: one focused on international expansion, one on retail strategy, and one on e-commerce brand positioning. “I... View Details

January 2009
Case

Marks and Spencer: Plan A

By: David E. Bell, Nitin Sanghavi and Laura Winig

Marks & Spencer initiated a comprehensive approach to sustainability (reduction of waste, carbon emissions, fair trade) called Plan A. Does it offer a competitive advantage? View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategic Planning; Environmental Sustainability; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry

02 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

The Curse of Double-Digit Growth

political stability. Liberia's economic strategy sees higher-level growth over the next five years coming from investments in mining, agriculture, and oil. That optimism may be warranted, according to Werker's analysis. "If multiple... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

29 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 29

PublicationsEthical Breakdowns: Good People often Let Bad Things Happen. Why? Authors:Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel Publication:Harvard Business Review 89, no. 4 (April 2011) An abstract is unavailable at this time. Read the paper:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2013 (Revised June 2015)
Case

Ibrahim Dabdoub at the National Bank of Kuwait

By: Linda A. Hill and Dana M. Teppert

Ibrahim Dabdoub, the Group chief executive of the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), reflects on his past 30 years at the helm of the Bank. Under his leadership, NBK grew from a small local bank to one of the preeminent financial institutions in the region. However,... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Middle East; Team Leadership; Leadership Style; Leadership; Leadership Development; Groups and Teams; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Banking Industry; Kuwait; Middle East

February 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Exercise

McDonald's: Super-Sized Troubles (B)

This case is the second of two cases that describe the situation and poor performance at McDonald's Corp. in early 2003. This exercise directs students to employ a structured problem-solving process to evaluate the McDonald's strategy. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

February 2003 (Revised February 2003)
Exercise

McDonald's: Super-Sized Troubles (A)

This case is one of two cases that describe the situation and poor performance at McDonald's Corp. in early 2003. This exercise instructs students to employ an unstructured brainstorming process to develop strategic options for McDonald's. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

20 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 20

self-report of a licensee. Self-reporting gives rise to demand for auditing by the licensor or third-party attestation by the licensee. We characterize the optimal royalty contract, accounting system choice by the licensee, and audit View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Supplement

Vodafone in Japan (B)

By: Juan Alcacer, Mary Furey and Mayuka Yamazaki

By 2005, Vodafone Group was losing its footing in the sophisticated Japanese telecom market. What were they doing wrong? Should they cut their losses and leave Japan, or could they learn from mistakes and turn things around? View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Profit; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Knowledge Acquisition; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Adaptation; Diversification; Expansion; Telecommunications Industry; Japan

January 1998
Case

Frontgate Catalog

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Frontgate is a high-end, Lebanon, Ohio-based catalog business. The decision makers are trying to determine how much financial and personnel resources to invest in the development of a Web site. The decision is being made in light of branding issues and competitor's Web... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Competition; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; Ohio