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November 2018 (Revised May 2019)
Case

California Closets: Organizing the Customer Experience

By: Boris Groysberg and Annelena Lobb

California Closets had used robust net promoter score (NPS) data, surveyed across its locations, to create a more consistent and satisfying customer experience. CEO Bill Barton wanted to further optimize the customer experience around best practices. He also wanted to... View Details

Keywords: Net Promoter Score; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Satisfaction; Customers; Acquisition; Demographics; Strategy

06 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: June 6, 2017

grocery and dry goods, such as canned foods and boxed breakfast cereals. It was not until after World War II that the majority of American grocers adopted self-service to meat and produce sections. Business historians have explored the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 20, 2007

foreign firms or in vertically linked industries. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-012.pdf Cases & Course MaterialsLi Ka-Shing and the Growth of Cheung Kong Harvard Business School Case 407-062 No abstract... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 15, 2018

case:https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/518036 Harvard Business School Case 418-070 TrustSphere: Building a Market for Relationship Analytics Manish Goel was the CEO of TrustSphere, a seven-year-old... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

October 1992 (Revised December 1996)
Case

Laura Ashley and Federal Express Strategic Alliance

In an effort to improve its global distribution system and thus enhance customer service in its shops around the world, Laura Ashley entered into a path-breaking strategic alliance with Federal Express Business Logistics Services. Under the terms of a loosely... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Customer Focus and Relationships; Distribution Industry; Retail Industry

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

relationship with her Financial Controller and ex-brother-in-law, Stephen Holt. Holt was employed by Campbell for 10 years, took on the majority of financial responsibilities for the firm, and knew the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Stolt-Nielsen Transportation Group

By: Lynn S. Paine and Lara Adamsons

Richard Wingfield considers whether to continue a cooperative agreement with industry peers in the deep-sea parcel tanker shipping industry. What are the economic and strategic implications of ending the agreement? What are the legal implications of continuing? Where... View Details

Keywords: Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Agreements and Arrangements; Alliances; Cooperation; Ship Transportation; Shipping Industry

Find at Harvard

28 Jan 2016
Blog Post

Why Get an MBA?

teach the basics as well. Given my undergrad business program and consulting experience, I felt comfortable enough. I was more looking forward to tackling these topics from a different angle. ACCESS: If I learned anything in my four... View Details

May 2016
Case

The Inexorable Rise of Walmart? 1988—2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2015, Walmart surprised investors by announcing that it expected flat sales growth for 2015 and growth of only 3% to 4% over the coming three years. Profits would also fall due to significant investments in people and technology. The company’s stock price... View Details

Keywords: Asda; Costco; David Glass; Convenience Stores; Discount Retailing; Dollar Stores; Doug McMillon; E-commerce; Online Retail; General Merchandise; Grocery; Lee Scott; Mike Duke; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Neighborhood Market; Sam Walton; Sam's Club; Store Formats; Supercenter; Supermarket; Warehouse Clubs; Merchandising; Walmart; Wal-Mart; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Banks and Banking; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Wages; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Web; Web Sites; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; Banking Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville

June 1997 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Walker and Company: Profit Plan Decisions

By: Robert L. Simons and Ramsey Walker

Ramsey Walker, a second-year MBA student, must decide how to control a family business as an absentee owner. After providing background details on the publishing industry, the case requires the reader to: 1) make a product segmentation decision; 2) prepare a profit... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Family and Family Relationships; Market Design; Management Systems; Planning; Profit; Performance Evaluation; Segmentation; Corporate Strategy; Investment Return; Publishing Industry

26 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Best Practices of Global Innovators

worth using. But today, says Harvard Business School professor Alan MacCormack and his research collaborators, "not invented here" is becoming a badge of honor—and more than that, a source of competitive advantage. To design the 787... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

July 2012
Case

Revenue Solutions, LLC

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Ari Wasserman and Nick Esayian were both dissatisfied with their future prospects in their current careers. Wasserman, who managed an infomercial business for a direct response consumer marketing company, wanted more flexibility and ownership. Esayian was the CEO of... View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Partners and Partnerships; Small Business; Israel; United States

April 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Nghe An Tate & Lyle Sugar Company (Vietnam)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Frank J. Lysy and Carrie Ferman

In September 1998, Paul Cooper, Tate & Lyle's finance director for international investments, asked the International Finance Corp. (IFC) to consider lending up to $45 million to finance a $90 million sugar mill in northern Vietnam. Ewen Cobban, an IFC agricultural... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Viet Nam

16 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 16

its importance. 3) Being close to people who were ambivalent about a change was always beneficial. In the end, fence-sitters were reluctant to disappoint a friend. But close relationships with resisters were a double-edged sword: such... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

22 Mar 2024
Blog Post

Driving Impact in Emerging Markets with HBS Alum Nneka Chime (MBA 2015)

intellectual challenge of chemical engineering and her work in the refinery was a match with only one part of her personality. Yet, she also needed an outlet for her creativity. Nneka knew her next professional stop would be combining her love for challenge and... View Details

02 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Can Japan Compete? [Part One]

two prime ministers will be from the next generation. On the company side, Japanese leaders acknowledge the arguments in our book, and change is more rapid than in government. However, it's hard to unwind the keiretsu [close-knit business... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Hilah Geer

17 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Quiet Quitters Need More Than Money to Re-Engage

There’s a scene in the drama series Mad Men when junior ad exec Peggy Olson complains to her mercurial boss Don Draper, “You never say thank you.” Don peevishly replies: “That’s what the money is for!” Harvard Business School Professors... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

September 2008 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Frank Addante, Serial Entrepreneur

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Antony Uy

Frank Addante is a 28-year-old serial entrepreneur who is in the process of building his fifth venture. Of his first four ventures, two were sold, one went public, and in the last he decided to close the venture and return unused capital to his investors. With the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Equity; Selection and Staffing; Groups and Teams

March 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Course Overview Note

Growing, Financing, and Managing Family and Closely Held Firms: Overview of the Course

By: Belen Villalonga

Most companies around the world are controlled by their founding families, including more than half of all public corporations in the U.S. and Europe and more than two thirds of those in Asia. These companies are the subject of the Financial Management of Family and... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Financial Management; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Family Ownership; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Valuation