Publications

September 2002 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Cardinal Health (A): The Medicine Shoppe Acquisition

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Miguel Abecasis and Brenda Cheng

Robert Walter, the founder and CEO of Cardinal Health, a pharmaceutical distributor, is contemplating the purchase of Medicine Shoppe, a chain of apothecaries. The purchase might be construed as competition against his own drugstore customers. But one of its many... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry

19 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 19, 2017

of organic wine, which provides a case study of failed category creation. The modern organic wine industry emerged during the 1970s in the United States and Western Europe, but it struggled to gain traction compared to other organic food... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

16 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 16, 2010

wholesalers. Going forward, its two main strategic challenges are 1) deciding how much to rely on partnerships with large retailers for growth and 2) deciding whether to continue as a "merchant," i.e., buying and reselling goods... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 1, 2008

Moderna to be the leading electronic retailer in 20 countries in and around Central and Eastern Europe, evolving an unusual multi-channel strategy, organizational structure, and IT systems. Serious conflicts cause Cesko to question his... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 Nov 2020
News

The Long View: Persevering Through Past Crises

2020 is this is the time to be creative. What's needed right now? There are things that are standing out that the world or that the economy needs because of this crisis. And there's opportunities to build businesses to address those needs. Or go work in the View Details

03 Mar 2020
News

Can This Man Change the American Diet?

lunch, and dinner. And our prices are pretty low, so a lot of people would talk about our industry as fast casual. Some of the things that are so different about Clover is our menu changes all the time and we’re selling vegetables that... View Details

Keywords: Agriculture

June 2022
Case

Worten Portugal: Becoming a Digital Marketplace

By: Antonio Moreno, Pedro Amorim and Tonia Labruyere

With Amazon's entry into Portugal, Miguel Mota Freitas, CEO of Portuguese electronics chain Worten, is reflecting on their strategy of building a competitive marketplace. View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Digital Platforms; Brands and Branding; E-commerce; Logistics; Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Portugal; Spain

March 2022 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Perch

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Stacy Straaberg and Julia Kelley

In May 2021, Perch CEO Chris Bell needed to decide whether his e-commerce aggregator company, which bought and scaled Amazon Marketplace brands, should acquire up to three acquisition targets. The prospective acquisitions, Web Deals Direct, HomeCo, and Future Brands,... View Details

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; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

October 2013 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Bridges Ventures

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sarah Appleby

Bridges Ventures, a UK-based impact investor with double-digit returns on its investments, is reflecting on its social impact and pondering its future course. View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; United Kingdom; Financial And Social Return; Social Enterprise; Investment Portfolio; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; United Kingdom

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

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

April 2021
Supplement

Buy Online, Pickup in Store: Vice President of E-Commerce Supplement

By: Antonio Moreno, Santiago Gallino and Amy Klopfenstein

In April 2019, Sylvarella VP of E-Commerce Charla Limont must review an analysis of her department’s sales data to determine the impact of the company’s Buy Online, Pickup in Store (BOPS) program. The program implementation created significant problems for the... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Service Delivery; Logistics; Infrastructure; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Analysis; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Canada

March 2014
Teaching Note

Transforming Tommy Hilfiger (A) and (B)

By: Raffaella Sadun

Teaching Note for "Transforming Tommy Hilfiger (A)" and "Transforming Tommy Hilfiger (B)" View Details

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

May 1995
Case

Hannaford Brothers: Leading the Grocery Channel Transformation

The merchandising manager of a supermarket chain leads an effort to reorganize the process of buying and delivering products from manufacturers to their warehouse for further distribution to stores. The company is an early mover in implementing efficient consumer... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Supply Chain Management; Distribution Channels; Customer Focus and Relationships; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

April 2009
Case

Supply Chain Optimization at Hugo Boss (A)

By: Ananth Raman, Nicole DeHoratius and Zahra Kanji

We evaluate the impact of a supply chain pilot implemented at Hugo Boss. This pilot entailed altering the way in which Hugo Boss orders from its suppliers. We explore the challenge of assessing the impact of supply chain change, the link between operational performance... View Details

Keywords: Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Performance Evaluation; Sales; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Europe

September 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Yum! Brands, Inc: A Corporate Do-Over

By: Frances X. Frei, Amy C. Edmondson, James Weber and Eliot Sherman

Describes the successful turnaround of the restaurant company Yum! Brands after its spin off from PepsiCo and covers how the company's leadership planned and executed on virtually every dimension of the employee experience. The main dilemma centers on what the company... View Details

Keywords: Product; Brands and Branding; Service Operations; Expansion; Trade; Leadership Development; Business or Company Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

February 2004
Supplement

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc., The

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

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