Publications

2014
Working Paper

Principals and Their Car Dealers: What Do Targets Tell About Their Relation?

By: Jan Bouwens, Eddy Cardinaels and Jingwen Zhang

In this study we describe target setting and target achievements for a car dealership. Car dealers are eligible for a discount on the purchase price conditional on their achieving the sales targets set by the franchisor. We show that car dealers (franchisees) who... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Motivation and Incentives; Franchise Ownership; Auto Industry; Auto Industry

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May 1993
Case

Alexander Hospital Gift Shoppe

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Keywords: Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

November 2002
Teaching Note

Webvan: Groceries on the Internet (TN)

By: John A. Deighton

Teaching Note for (9-500-052). View Details

Keywords: Retail Industry; Retail Industry

September 2000 (Revised March 2006)
Case

ZOOTS--The Cleaner Cleaner

By: Myra M. Hart and Sharon Peyus

A successful entrepreneur (retailing) starts a new venture in dry cleaning. The case focuses on transferable models, skills, and knowledge from one venture to the next. Areas of emphasis are: managing growth, challenges of operations, financing, and competitive moves. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Competitive Strategy; Operations; Knowledge Dissemination; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; Service Industry; Service Industry

September 1999 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Auto Collection: Ford's Better Idea for Selling Cars and Trucks

Ford encourages its independent dealers to consolidate, showing them the benefits size can bring both to themselves and their customers. Now, consolidated dealerships improve customer service and reduce costs. View Details

Keywords: Consolidation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Sales; Auto Industry; Auto Industry

January 1995 (Revised March 1995)
Teaching Note

Lowe's TN

By: Walter J. Salmon and David Wylie

Teaching Note for (9-590-013). View Details

Keywords: Retail Industry; Retail Industry

04 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

Is Health Care Making You Better—or Dead?

Regina Herzlinger is not afraid to call them as she sees them. And what she sees looking at the American health care industry is a bunch of killers. Not only are hospitals, insurers, employers, Congress, and academics killing health care,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health

01 Sep 2012
News

On a Sound Track

management consultant at Monitor, which sharpened my perspective on business and industry strategy. I learned a huge amount at HBS in discussions of leadership, entrepreneurial marketing, finance, and ethics. I also spent some time at... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; audio accessories; Retail Trade; Retail Trade

03 May 2016
First Look

First Look, May 3, 2016

for "big teaming": intense collaboration between professions and industries with completely different mindsets. To explore the kind of leadership required to build the future, Edmondson and Reynolds tell the story of an... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2006
News

Street Singer

your classmates’ experiences. That’s part of the value of HBS. It’s huge.” At Morgan Stanley, which she joined right out of HBS, Harris leads the equity private placements effort in global capital markets and covers the retail and... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Finance

01 Jun 2020
News

Meal Plan

at a white-tablecloth restaurant. This year is looking a little different. On May 8, as some states loosened dining-in restrictions and others maintained strict guidelines for takeout and delivery only, the Bulletin held a virtual roundtable on the future of the View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; restaurants; COVID-19; pandemic; recovery; Retail Trade; Retail Trade; Retail Trade; Retail Trade

08 Sep 2015
First Look

September 8, 2015

demonstrates why some places, times, and industries should be associated with a greater degree of experimentation by investors. Investors respond to financing risk—a forecast of limited future funding—by modifying their focus to finance... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Web

2018 Symposium - Race, Gender & Equity

Flora Taylor, Zachary Green, and Diane Forbes Berthoud discuss where the ivory tower meets industry at the 2018 Gender & Work Symposium In this interview at the 2018 Gender and Work Symposium, Flora Taylor, Zachary Green, and Diane Forbes... View Details

June 2023
Simulation

Artea Dashboard and Targeting Policy Evaluation

By: Ayelet Israeli and Eva Ascarza

Companies deploy A/B experiments to gain valuable insights about their customers in order to answer strategic business problems. In marketing, A/B tests are often used to evaluate marketing interventions intended to generate incremental outcomes for the firm. The Artea... View Details

January 2017 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Esel Cekin and Akiko Kanno

This case tracks Jerome Chouchan’s strategies and execution for a successful turnaround of Godiva Japan’s operations, which were experiencing a decline in sales when he became the managing director of the company in 2010. Through various initiatives and innovations,... View Details

September 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Whole Foods: The Path to 1,000 Stores

By: David F. Drake, Ryan W. Buell, Melissa Barton, Taylor Jones, Katrina Keverian and Jeffrey Stock

The case examines the operations strategy of Whole Foods, one of the largest natural grocery chains in the United States. In late 2013, Whole Foods was expanding rapidly, with a publicly-stated goal of growing from 351 to 1,000 domestic stores by 2022. It was also... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; Food; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

March 2014
Supplement

Transforming Tommy Hilfiger (B)

By: Raffaella Sadun, Hanoch Feit, Vaibhav Gujral and Gerard Zouein

Keywords: Turnaround; Private Equity; Private Ownership; Diversification; Acquisition; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Europe

January 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Chef Davide Oldani and Ristorante D'O

By: Gary Pisano, Alessandro Di Fiore, Elena Corsi and Elisa Farri

This case examines the unique business model of Ristorante D'O, a high end gourmand restaurant located near Milan, Italy. Founded by Chef Davide Oldani, D'O offers meals at approximately one-third the price of other Michelin starred restaurants. Oldani has made this... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Expansion; Creativity; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Milan