Publications

June 2021
Teaching Note

Amazon: Cult or Culture?

By: Boris Groysberg, Kerry Herman and Amy Klopfenstein

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 421-008. Amazon was one of the first entrants in e-commerce. Under the leadership of founder Jeff Bezos, Amazon had expanded beyond books to manufacturing and selling a wide range of products and services globally. Bezos had built a... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Growth Management; Information Technology; Human Resources; Talent and Talent Management; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

May 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Zara: An Integrated Store and Online Model (A) and (B)

By: Antonio Moreno and Anibha Singh

Keywords: Stores; Integration; Operations; Business Model; Strategic Planning; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Europe

December 2016
Article

The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales, Revisited

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Koleman Strumpf

Even as we approach the twentieth anniversary of widespread file sharing, its impact on the sale of copyrighted material remains in dispute. We contributed to this debate with an early study, “The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis,” that was... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Copyright; Sales; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

June 2014 (Revised March 2016)
Teaching Note

Starbucks Coffee Company: Transformation and Renewal

By: Nancy F. Koehn

May 1993
Teaching Note

Alexander Hospital Gift Shoppe TN

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Health Industry

September – October 2011
Article

The Manufacturer's Incentive to Reduce Lead Times

By: Santiago Kraiselburd, Richard Pibernik and Ananth Raman

It is generally a well acknowledged fact that, ceteris paribus, reducing the lead times between downstream and upstream parties in a supply chain is desirable from an overall system perspective. However, an upstream party (e.g., a manufacturer) may have strong... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Demand and Consumers; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Production; Supply Chain Management; Sales; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

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February 2009
Case

HP: The Computer is Personal Again

By: Rajiv Lal and Cathy Ross

In September 2008, Todd Bradley, executive vice president of Hewlett-Packard Company's Personal Systems Group (PSG), gathered his thoughts before a meeting with his top executives and managers for product design and marketing. On the agenda was a discussion of... View Details

Keywords: Revenue; Product Positioning; Corporate Strategy; Computer Industry; Computer Industry

October 2004 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Rakuten

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Andrew P. McAfee, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Masako Egawa

Rakuten, a native Japanese, e-commerce start-up and highly successful company, is expanding into new categories and new countries. It must figure out how to continue its trajectory of growth and profitability. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Japan

October 2003 (Revised November 2004)
Case

Joe Bachelder: Executive Pay Negotiator

By: Jason R. Barro, Brian J. Hall and Aaron Zimmerman

Joe Bachelder was the leading executive pay negotiator in the United States, securing generous contracts for CEOs and executives at Fortune 500 companies. The CEO of Victor Sports Co. resigned, and the board offered the job to Charles Suarez, a star executive from a... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Participants; Executive Compensation; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

February 1990 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Carter Automotive Group

By: Walter J. Salmon

The Carter Automotive Group is a Southern California automobile dealer group. The head of the group is assessing whether his current and unique marketing strategy should be modified in light of changing competitive conditions. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Change; Competition; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; California

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Article

The Market Design and Policy of Online Review Platforms

By: Benjamin Edelman

I present the institutions and incentives of online reviews, including attracting initial reviews, assuring truthful reviews of genuine experiences, and avoiding inflated or deceptive reviews. I also explore the competition and consumer protection concerns associated... View Details

Keywords: Reviews; Reputation; Platforms; Marketplaces; Deception; Market Design; Multi-Sided Platforms; Law; Online Technology; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

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Read Now

Career Coach

Annette Rodriguez-Ferrer

I Corp (NASDAQ: SDAC). Notable board roles during her tenure at Warburg Pincus include Gabe’s, TriMark, Outset Medical (NASDAQ: OM), Silk Road Medical (NASDAQ: SILK), Glansaol and Wencor Group. She was also actively engaged in portfolio companies Neiman Marcus,... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail

01 Apr 2002
News

Pamela Thomas Graham

Harvard Law School. The two moved to New York after graduation, and Thomas-Graham began her career at McKinsey, consulting on projects for retail and financial-services companies. In the 1990s, as the Internet juggernaut picked up speed,... View Details

Keywords: Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries

January 2017 (Revised April 2018)
Background Note

Introduction to Incentive-based Sales Compensation Systems

By: Willy Shih

This background note explains the structure of incentive-based sales compensation systems. View Details

Keywords: Sales Compensation; Sales Force Compensation; Sales Force Management; Sales; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; United States

Keywords: Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

01 Dec 2013
News

Faster, Bigger, Stronger: Supersizing the NFL

industry segments that depend on the NFL." Surveying the league's 32 franchises, Grubman observes that each has arguably become a global brand in its own right."The size and complexity of the local franchise as a business has exploded in... View Details

17 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 17, 2007

turned their attention from local to more distant sources of news and entertainment. While the integration of media markets will raise the private welfare of many consumers, critics of a globalized information and entertainment industry... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

29 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 29

Working PapersLocal Dividend Clienteles Authors:Bo Becker, Zoran Ivkovich, and Scott WeisbennerNBER Working Paper Series, No. 15175, July 2009 Abstract We exploit demographic variation to identify the effect of dividend demand on firm payout policy. View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2019 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Quiksilver Inc. and Oaktree Capital Management

By: Kristin Mugford and Mike Harmon

Sports lifestyle company Quiksilver filed for bankruptcy in September 2015. Oaktree is considering an additional investment in the company to facilitate the restructuring. Students must consider whether Oaktree should invest given the risks of the turnaround... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy; Bankruptcy Reorganization; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Acquisition; Restructuring; Debt Securities; Transformation; Decision Making; Borrowing and Debt; Investment Return; Crisis Management; Negotiation; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; France; United States