Publications

16 Jul 2024
Op-Ed

Corporate Boards Are Failing in Their No. 1 Duty

shareholder value. The GE board had deferred to Welch in a highly public selection process, which had favored the sales-focused Immelt over someone who could transform GE to prepare the company for the future, just as Welch had done in the early 1980s. Immelt never... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

May 2021 (Revised February 2025)
Teaching Note

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

By: Antonio Moreno and Anibha Singh

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 620-073 and 620-074. View Details

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

26 Sep 2024
Blog Post

Syngenta Tomato Vision

when creating a new type of tomato with the right product-market fit. Syngenta also works closely with retailers and growers to develop new products to ensure it is not only meeting the needs of consumers, but also for the growers (for... View Details

March 2014 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Clef Company: Turnover

By: Frank V. Cespedes

The Clef case focuses on the issue of turnover in a firm's sales force. Students must analyze the factors contributing to turnover as well as the role of the field sales force in Clef's profitable business strategy. Among other things, the Clef case illustrates that... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Marketing; Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

November 2018 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Michael Rubin and Fanatics (A)

By: Robert F. Higgins and John Masko

In 2016, Michael Rubin’s Fanatics was the U.S.’ largest sports e-commerce company and operator of the official online store for all the major American sports leagues. That year, Fanatics began to dabble in manufacturing licensed sports merchandise, securing limited... View Details

Keywords: Fanatics; Licensed Merchandise; E-commerce; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Sports; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

December 1961 (Revised January 1994)
Case

Plowman Poultry Farm

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

A poultry farmer wanted to expand production greatly and sought a large extension of his line of credit from his bank in addition to his existing loan on which he had not made payment. The Board of Directors must review a detailed account of events leading to this... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Expansion; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Commercial Banking; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Jun 1999
News

Sheila Lirio Marcelo

complete overhaul of an important booklet articulating the role of Ed Reps, while helping to strengthen the MBA Academic Committee. In addition, she revitalized the troubled HBS Ventures, a collection of campus businesses ranging from printing operations to View Details

Keywords: Marguerite Rigoglioso

26 Jul 2016
News

Alumni Capture the Essence of Pokemon GO Craze

locations and retailers to provide ‘real world’ ($) rewards to players.” Many alumni see possibilities and potential in other areas: “Augmented reality can definitely revolutionize e-commerce and mobile-friendly brand apps,” said Ameera... View Details

Keywords: Arts, Entertainment

01 Jun 2022
News

Turning Point: Sparking Change

teaching in the MBA program at the University of Chicago, I find myself remembering my own MBA experience and the professors who made such a difference in my life. My retailing professor, Claudine Malone, was exceptional in her teaching... View Details

23 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Businesses Need a 'Catalyst' to Make CSR Practices Stick

obvious sector for such an ecosystem, it is not the only area in which an inclusive growth strategy can work, Kaplan says. Palladium helped set up a service supply network for retail and hospitality... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

July 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Kaitlyn A. Simpson

Senior Partner Rob Smith just led construction consultancy firm Davis Langdon through a major organizational change in Europe and the Middle East. In the past, compensation arrangements had not incentivized partners to collaborate across the firm to serve clients'... View Details

Keywords: Profit Sharing; Global Strategy; Compensation and Benefits; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Partners and Partnerships; Cooperation; Expansion; Consulting Industry; Europe; Middle East

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; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Japan

June 2018
Teaching Note

Berkshire Partners: Party City

By: Victoria Ivashina and Jeffrey Boyar

Teaching Note for HBS No. 218-028. View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Fundraising; Cross-fund Investment; Private Equity; Vertical Integration; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

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; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

March 2020 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Redefining Mogul

By: Ethan C. Rouen

Tiffany Pham taught herself to code and created a technology platform, Mogul, with the goal of providing girls and women around the world with information and opportunities. After several years Mogul had reached more than 146 million women around the world and had... View Details

Keywords: Women; Inclusion; Technology; Branding; Social Impact; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Information; Knowledge Dissemination; Gender; Diversity; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Strategy; Media; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

July 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Salary Finance

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In April 2019, Asesh Sarkar, co-founder and chief executive of Salary Finance Limited, a London-based FinTech, faced tough choices. Sarkar had founded Salary Finance with Dan Cobley and Daniel Shakhani in 2015. The company’s value proposition was quite simple: partner... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Financing and Loans; Wages; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Priceline WebHouse Club

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jon K Rust

Priceline empowered consumers to "name their own price" for airline tickets and hotel rooms; then it shopped these offers to marketers. Priceline's founder Jay Walker described the resulting transactions as a new ecosystem, that helped consumers realize lower prices... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry

March 2017
Supplement

eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014: Interview with John Donahoe, eBay CEO 2008-2015

By: David B. Yoffie, Eric Baldwin and Tom Ryder

This video, a supplement to HBS Case No. 717-417, features an interview with former eBay CEO John Donahoe, providing his perspective on eBay's response to activist investor Carl Icahn's attack on eBay, which began in January 2014. After giving some of his own... View Details

Keywords: Activist Shareholder; Activist Investors; Technology; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Investment Activism; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry