retail - Publications - Faculty & Research

08 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

The Return of the Salesman

Throughout history salespeople have come in all sizes and stripes—peddlers, drummers, canvassers, agents, sales reps, and of course the iconic door-to-door salesman. But it's only been relatively recently that historians have focused scholarly attention on salespeople... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

09 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Starbucks’ Lessons for Premium Brands

Starbucks' announcement that it will close 600 stores in the United States is a long-overdue admission that there are limits to growth. In February 2007, a leaked internal memo written by founder Howard Schultz showed that he recognized the problem that his own growth... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Retail

18 Mar 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Modeling Expert Opinions on Food Healthiness: A Nutrition Metric

Keywords: by Jolie Mae Martin, John Leonard Beshears, Katherine Lyford Milkman, Max H. Bazerman & Lisa Sutherland; Retail

11 Dec 2006
Research & Ideas

Fixing Price Tag Confusion

The price tag is evolving. It wasn't long ago that potential buyers had only to contemplate a single figure on a price tag—Mattress $799. But increasingly consumers are being presented with "partitioned" prices. Look at your monthly cable bill, where you might see a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

April 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Governing Sustainability in a Shifting Context (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

In early 2025, boards of directors had to rethink corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts amid rapidly-shifting social, legal, regulatory, and economic forces. While just a few years earlier, calls to address racial justice and climate change reached into... View Details

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March 2025
Teaching Note

Kering Eyewear

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Nicole Zelazko

This teaching note provides comprehensive documentation of how to use the Kering Eyewear case (HBS No. 525-027). View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Subsidiaries; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Distribution; Product; Luxury; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

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March 2021
Supplement

Artea (A), (B), (C), and (D): Designing Targeting Strategies

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

Power Point Supplement to Teaching Note for HBS No. 521-021,521-022,521-037,521-043. This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Targeting; Algorithmic Data; Bias; A/B Testing; Experiment; Advertising; Gender; Race; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

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September 2020 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Artea (A), (B), (C), and (D): Designing Targeting Strategies

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS No. 521-021,521-022,521-037,521-043. This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Targeting; Race; Gender; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

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September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
Supplement

Spreadsheet Supplement to "Artea: Designing Targeting Strategies"

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

Spreadsheet Supplement to "Artea: Designing Targeting Strategies" (521-021). View Details

Keywords: Race; Gender; Marketing; Diversity; Customer Relationship Management; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

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September 2017 (Revised January 2019)
Case

FJ Management Inc.

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Matthew G. Preble

In late 2015, Crystal Call Maggelet, president and CEO of FJ Management, is working with her investment committee to help set the company’s strategic direction. Maggelet, daughter of the company’s founder, has led FJ Management since 2009 when she stepped in as CEO... View Details

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03 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Forget About Making College Affordable; Make it a Good Investment

degree, such as retail salesperson or cashier. One possible explanation for the highly uneven employment outcomes of college graduates is that the supply of graduates exceeds demand, at least for certain fields. The data support that.... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller; Education

02 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 3, 2018

on the job, Sportun had to tailor his message for change carefully to his colleagues, many of whom had worked for Mac’s for decades. The case provides an overview of the convenience store industry and examines the challenges of crime prevention in a late-night View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Immigrant Workers Cluster in Particular Industries

Vietnamese manicurists, Korean dry cleaners, Haitian cab drivers, Gujarati motel owners. Anyone who lives in an American city can see how immigrants tend to cluster in industries along ethnic lines. Is this because they are forced to by circumstance or because they... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail; Retail; Retail

October 1993
Teaching Note

CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (B & C) TN

By: William A. Sahlman

Teaching Note for (9-285-092) and (9-286-009). View Details

Keywords: Retail Industry; Retail Industry

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April 1985 (Revised September 1986)
Case

CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (B)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of some issues confronting management of CML Group as the company progresses toward making an initial public offering. Among the issues and topics addressed in the case are: considerations in choosing an underwriting team, the initial public... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Initial Public Offering; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Planning; Cost vs Benefits; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

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September 2016
Supplement

ZenRecruit: Sales Coaching and Performance Reviews

By: Mark N. Roberge

Amara Kaggwa leads the small but rapidly expanding sales team at ZenRecruit, a recruiting software application used by small businesses. Armed with six months of sales performance metrics, Kaggwa is preparing for her monthly performance conversations with two... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Salesforce Management; Applications and Software; Employees; Performance Evaluation; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

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January 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Background Note

Paving the Information Superhighway

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Geoffrey Bock and Janis Lee Gogan

Examines solutions to many of the information-sharing problems that limit growth of electronic commerce on the Internet. Serves as a basic primer for the use of electronic information exchange. While familiarizing the student with the basic tenets and terminology of... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Knowledge Sharing; Problems and Challenges; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

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