Groceries - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Apr 2025
HBS Seminar

Eric Bradlow, University of Pennsylvania

24 Dec 2013
First Look

First Look: December 24

a variety of metrics, Trader Joe's ranked as one of the most successful grocers in the United States in 2013. Experts estimated that the company had the highest sales per square foot of any major grocery chain, even significantly high... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

December 2022
Article

The Task Bind: Explaining Gender Differences in Managerial Tasks and Performance

By: Alexandra C. Feldberg

This multi-method study of managers in a grocery chain identifies a novel mechanism by which threats of gender stereotypes undermine women’s ability to be effective managers. I find that women managers face a task bind, a dilemma that managers experience as they try to... View Details

Keywords: Gender Stereotypes; Gender; Managerial Roles; Performance Expectations

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28 Nov 2017
News

Renshaw '20: Thank you, mom, for working all the time

10 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 10, 2018

Francesca Gino Abstract—Although religion is a central aspect of life for many people across the globe, there is scant research on how religion affects people’s non-religious routines. In the present research, we identify a frequent consumption activity that is... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2012 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Tough Decisions at Marks and Spencer

By: George Serafeim

In 2007, under the leadership of CEO Stuart Rose, the iconic British retailer Marks and Spencer, with great fanfare, announced its "Plan A" initiative. Based on the five essential pillars of climate change, waste, sustainable materials, fair partnership, and health,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry

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03 Apr 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 3, 2018

2018 London: Bloomsbury Academic Global History, Globally: Research and Practice Around the World By: Beckert, Sven, and Dominic Sachsenmaier, eds. Abstract— In recent years historians in many different parts of the world have sought to transnationalize and globalize... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

31 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Checking Your Ethics: Would You Speak Up in These 3 Sticky Situations?

expensing meals, however, one of your coworkers grabs fast food while working through lunches and dinners, but later buys a gift card at a grocery store to make up the difference. He argues the client has already budgeted the money, so it... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consulting

09 Apr 2024
Book

Why Work Rituals Bring Teams Together and Create More Meaning

discuss them or not, rituals are ubiquitous in all kinds of social occasions, from celebrating birthdays to paying respects to the dead. Couples often have rituals too—from setting the dinner table together every night to going grocery... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Program

Agribusiness Seminar

consumer-branded fresh and packaged food products Grocery retailers, restauranteurs, and foodservice distributors Government agencies and nongovernment institutions focused on food, nutrition, farming, food security, agricultural trade... View Details

Keywords: Agriculture; Agriculture

Research Summary

Consumer's Relationships with Technologies

Susan M. Fournier is involved with two lines of research investigating consumers' relationships with technological products. The first project (with Professor David Mick of the University of Wisconsin) concerns 'everyday technologies' such as... View Details

David E. Bell

David E. Bell is a Baker Foundation Professor at HBS. He has taught marketing many times in the MBA program including as course head.

During his career at HBS, David has taught a variety of other courses to both MBAs and executives, including risk... View Details

Keywords: grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery

01 Apr 2024
In Practice

Navigating the Mood of Customers Weary of Price Hikes

consumers can more flexibly adjust habits. More sophisticated firms take this into account when formulating their strategies and making long-run forecasts. Attention of regulators. The Federal Trade Commission recently released a report about the impacts of supply... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Retail; Consumer Products

March 2021
Article

Last Place Aversion in Queues

By: Ryan W. Buell

This paper documents the effects of last place aversion in queues and its implications for customer experiences and behaviors as well as for operating performance. An observational analysis of customers queuing at a grocery store, and four online studies in which... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Operations; Queues; Reference Effects; Last Place Aversion; Transparency; Customers; Behavior; Satisfaction; Service Operations

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April 2012
Article

Retail Doesn't Cross Borders: Here's Why and What to Do about It

By: Marcel Corstjens and Rajiv Lal

Most companies assume that the easiest way to grow is by investing overseas and that the developing world offers the best opportunities for boosting revenues and profits today. However, success abroad varies widely, and research shows that it's often tough to... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Growth and Development Strategy; Globalization; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Local Range; Retail Industry

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Ryan Raffaelli is the Marvin Bower Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He created and teaches the MBA course "Leadership: Execution and Action Planning" (LEAP) and serves... View Details

Keywords: grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery; grocery

January 2022
Case

SpartanNash Company: The Amazon Warrants (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

As of 12/31/21, Amazon held $22 billion of equity and warrants in related companies. In fact, it often requests a free grant of warrants when it enters into a new commercial agreement with a supplier. Over the past 20 years, Amazon has gotten warrants in almost 20... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Value Creation; Consumer Behavior; Negotiation; Distribution; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Equity; Distribution Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

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07 Jul 2022
HBS Case

How a Multimillion-Dollar Ice Cream Startup Melted Down (and Bounced Back)

fallen in love with a Craftsman-style house and decided to build its store inside. The company also experienced a string of production setbacks. “It's a tricky thing given Brian's commitment to handmade fresh ice cream with these mix-ins and so forth,” says Eisenmann.... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

03 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

When Showing Know-How Backfires for Women Managers

Most of us would like to impress the people we work with. But new research from Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Alexandra Feldberg finds that, for women managers, this aspiration can undermine performance. Feldberg discovered that women managers in a View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Retail; Consumer Products

July 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Rocky Mountain Condiments: Close Encounters with the Legal System for the First Time

By: Lena G. Goldberg

The founder of a Colorado start-up focused on developing a line of condiments confronts a host of legal issues that threaten the viability of her young enterprise. She is suing a co-packer for, among other things, breach of contract, theft of recipes and trade secrets,... View Details