Publications

October 1998
Case

"Pathways to Independence": Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ellen Pruyne

In 1991 Marriott International established a program called Pathways to Independence to recruit and train people from the welfare rolls. The program graduated over 1,000 people in eight years and retained about 20% more of its participants than regular hires. Now the... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Retention; Training; Expansion; Quality; Poverty; Programs

April 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Unleashing Human Magic at Best Buy

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Sunil Gupta and Amram Migdal

The case examines the transformation of Best Buy under CEO Hubert Joly's leadership from 2012. Facing significant business challenges, including competition from online and physical retailers, Joly implemented the "Renew Blue" turnaround strategy, which focused on... View Details

October 2024
Case

Southern California Industrial: Freezer Drive

By: Arthur I. Segel, W. Matt Kelly and Dwight Angelini

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Boston based real estate private equity firm was seeking to make their very first West Coast investments in hopes of establishing their presence in the strategic region. An exciting property suddenly became available on the... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate Development; Acquisition; Health Pandemics; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Cost vs Benefits; Investment Return; Real Estate Industry

20 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Using Investor Relations Proactively

Total focuses on explaining how their cash use is prudent. Similarly, BP has a large base of retail investors but in many ways it treats them as just slightly different versions of its institutional investors. That is, BP assumes the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

21 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

What Health Care Managers Need to Know--and How to Teach Them

smart about competitive analysis and forging a strategy that considers realities and which way public policy is moving," Herzlinger says. "She must also understand capital markets, group dynamics, and different kinds of leadership." But... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Guttry; Health; Education

May 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Westfield America

By: William J. Poorvu, Richard S. Tedlow and Daniel J. Rudd

The company is attempting to duplicate its Australian formula for successful mall ownership in the U.S. market. It must deal with rapidly evolving financial markets while recognizing and capitalizing on emerging trends in retailing. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Adaptation; Financial Markets; Property; Trends; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Australia; United States

Find at Harvard

November 1992 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Eskimo Pie Corporation

By: Richard S. Ruback

In early 1991, Reynolds Metals, the makers of aluminum products, decided to sell its holding of Eskimo Pie, a marketer of branded frozen novelties. Reynolds had an offer from Nestle to acquire Eskimo Pie. However, Reynolds decided instead to make an initial public... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Decisions; Mergers and Acquisitions; Performance Productivity; Leadership; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Expansion; Ownership; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry

28 Feb 2005
Research & Ideas

Amazon, eBay and the Bidding Wars

lower. But sniping isn't a universal strategy for success, says Roth, who teaches in the School's Negotiation, Organizations & Markets unit. It's all in the rules of the game. On Amazon.com, for example, where end-of-auction deadlines... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Web Services; Technology

01 Aug 1998
News

A Roaring Success in the Windy City

that want to get ahead should focus on strategy. "Sound strategy involves tradeoffs," said Porter. "You must pick a different endpoint than your rivals." Dean Kim B. Clark introduced conference participants to the HBS intranet,... View Details

01 Jan 2004
News

A. G. Lafley, MBA 1977

historians—not just modern business gurus—if you're interested in mastering the power of strategy and the power of execution in your job." CURRENT READING Bush at War, by Bob Woodward A.G. Lafley has been credited with turning around... View Details

14 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Getting Down to the Business of Creativity

the uncertainty surrounding the survival of their own firm, but that of the industry itself. The implications of this are that pioneer-entrepreneurs have to adopt specific strategies to overcome the uncertainty with which they are... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail

20 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 20

Strategies and Multi-location Firms: The Role of Internal Linkages Authors:Juan Alcácer and Minyuan Zhao Publication:Management Science (forthcoming) Abstract This study looks at the role of firms' internal linkages in highly competitive... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Feb 1997
News

OPM Celebrates 21st Anniversary at Gala Florida Reunion

Discussing examples of how service-oriented organizations deliver breakthrough service, Sasser urged his audience to take a "quantum leap" in their customer satisfaction efforts and to develop strategies to prevent customers from... View Details

2007
Working Paper

Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

We analyze the incentives to divert search for an information intermediary who enables buyers (consumers) to search affiliated sellers (stores). We identify two original motives for diverting search (i.e. inducing consumers to search more than they would like): i)... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

Read Now

April 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Chrysanthemum and Dragon: JAFCO Asia in China

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and David Lane

In the autumn of 2002, JAFCO Asia, a subsidiary of JAFCO Co., Ltd., became the first foreign private equity firm to open an office in Beijing's Haidian Science Park. JAFCO was the only Japanese private equity firm operating in China. As such, Managing Director Vincent... View Details

Keywords: History; International Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Performance Effectiveness; Foreign Direct Investment; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; China; Beijing; Japan

01 Dec 2016
News

Carving a Niche

strategy for building Faction embraces that aura of distinction (“for the few” is one tagline) while leveraging several key retailing trends. “The average size of an interesting, exciting brand is smaller... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

February 2008
Teaching Note

Chiaphua Group Vietnam (TN)

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas and Ben Creo

Teaching Note for [207090]. View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Diversification; Investment; Emerging Markets; Globalization; Market Entry and Exit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Private Ownership; Real Estate Industry; Viet Nam; Hong Kong; Singapore; Malaysia; Indonesia

March 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Dell Online

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Dell started online commerce for its PCs in 1996, and by 1997 had achieved a sales rate of $3 million a day. The case describes the internal process that led to these dramatic results and poses the question of how the firm should leverage this activity to meet Michael... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Market Transactions; Goals and Objectives; Business Processes; Distribution Channels; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry; Retail Industry