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16 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million

customers in a particular locale. Analyzing their successes, they distilled the factors down to a few, among them density of restaurants and nightlife, destination for holidays and events, availability of strong sports franchises, and... View Details

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira and Michael Blanding; Retail; Transportation; Accommodations

05 Feb 2024
What Do You Think?

How Do You Hire for Attitude?

to what is often referred to as “fit” with the organization. There are two other indicators that I observed being put into practice last month during a case-writing trip to a well-known gourmet restaurant in California wine country. This... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2024
Case

Flashfood: The Magic of Commitment

By: Reza Satchu and Patrick Sanguineti

Josh Domingues had accomplished what countless young entrepreneurs long to achieve: founding a promising company that aspires to make the world a tangibly better place. Shocked to learn that international food waste cumulatively amounted to the world’s third largest... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneur; Founder; Startup; Business Model; Business Startups; Food; Applications and Software; Mission and Purpose; Environmental Sustainability; Canada

2020
Book

Fit to Compete: Why Honest Conversations About Your Company's Capabilities Are the Key to a Winning Strategy

By: Michael Beer

Is Silence Killing Your Strategy?
In his thirty years of working in corporations, Harvard Business School professor Michael Beer has witnessed firsthand how organizational silence derails strategic objectives. When employees can't speak truth to power, senior... View Details

Keywords: Honesty; Communication; Organizational Culture; Trust; Strategy; Performance Effectiveness

Find at Harvard

June 2018
Case

Meridian Systems

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Michael J. Roberts

The Meridian Systems case focuses on a start-up in the restaurant point of sale (POS) systems market. In early 2018, Meridian is getting ready to roll out a POS system based on a new technology—a tablet-based, Wi-Fi-enabled POS system (the "tablet" system, or... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Sales; Strategy; Salesforce Management; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy

25 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 25

inspections. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52570 Survival of the Fittest: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Firm Exit By: Luca, Dara Lee, and Michael Luca Abstract—We study the impact of the minimum wage on firm exit in the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

How to Demotivate Your Best Employees

restaurant or store; the winner's name was drawn at a meeting attended by all the employees. At the end of the sixth month, the plant manager held another drawing for a $100 gift card for all employees with perfect attendance records over... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Service

September 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

AB InBev: Brewing Up Forecasts during COVID-19

By: Mark Egan, C. Fritz Foley, Esel Cekin and Emilie Billaud

In July 2021, the CEO of AB InBev's European operations and his team strategized to position the company for success post-pandemic. As the world's largest beer company, boasting over 500 brands, revenue of $46 billion, and a workforce of 160,000 in 2020, AB InBev... View Details

September 2020
Case

Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network

By: Anita Elberse and Julia McNicholas

Chip and Joanna Gaines, who have shot to fame as stars of the hit television show Fixer Upper, are preparing to launch their own television network. It is April 2019, a year since the home-renovation show Fixer Upper’s fifth season on cable channel HGTV ended, and more... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Television; Superstars; Innovation; Creative Industries; Talent; General Management; Celebrities; Television Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Joint Ventures; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

28 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

Keep or Cut Workers? How Companies Reacted to the COVID-19 Crisis

accelerating a trend that began before the pandemic. For instance, the consumer electronics chain Best Buy struggled to attract sales, and the company ended up cutting costs through layoffs and furloughs. Layoffs were more typical among companies that invest less in... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

Restaurant Hygiene Inspections and Online Reviews By: Kang, Jun Seok, Polina Kuznetsova, Yejin Choi, and Michael Luca Abstract—Restaurant hygiene inspections are often cited as a success story of public disclosure. Hygiene grades... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

24 Oct 2023
HBS Case

From P.T. Barnum to Mary Kay: Lessons From 5 Leaders Who Changed the World

I knew that in order to get something, I had to give up something else.” Her mother worked at a restaurant to support them, and Ash would call her for instructions on cooking and other household tasks. Her mother patiently motivated her... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

21 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

You Don’t Have to Quit Your Job to Find More Meaning in Life

published in the Journal of Positive Psychology. Is the restaurant owner fulfilled? In one of their first experiments, De Freitas and his colleagues gave about 400 participants different vignettes, one of which described Ariana, a... View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta

16 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

What Customers Want from Your Products

researcher then spent a long day in a restaurant seeking to understand the jobs that customers were trying to get done when they hired a milk shake. He chronicled when each milk shake was bought, what other products the customers... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott Cook & Taddy Hall; Consumer Products

December 2019
Case

Noiler

By: José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

In 2019, Nigerian entrepreneur Dr. Ayoola (Ayo) Oduntan is accelerating distribution of Noiler, a genetically optimized breed of poultry, to smallholder farmers across Nigeria. The bird was bred to be productive as a source of both meat and eggs and to thrive in the... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Poverty; Health; Growth and Development Strategy; Nigeria