Publications

September 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

J.C. Penney's 'Fair and Square' Pricing Strategy

By: Elie Ofek and Jill Avery

As a he gets ready to release 2nd quarter 2012 results, Ron Johnson, the new CEO of department store J.C. Penney, is reconsidering the dramatic changes he initiated for the business model and brand image of his company. A new pricing scheme he put in place in February,... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Consumer Behavior; Management Teams; Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Price; Brands and Branding; Decision Making; Retail Industry; United States

17 Sep 2018
News

Can Barnes & Noble be saved?

07 Dec 2011
News

Yelp is Leaving Chains Behind

19 Dec 2011
News

Death Knell for the Category Killers?

25 Apr 2018
News

Case Study: Can This Japanese Snack Food Company Break into the U.S. Market?

November 2012 (Revised July 2013)
Supplement

The Great East Japan Earthquake (B): Fast Retailing Group's Response

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi, Kenichi Nonomura, Dena Neuenschwander, Meghan Ricci, David Roth, Kate Schoch and Sergey Vartanov

A few hours after the earthquake hit on March 11, 2011, CEO Tadashi Yanai of Fast Retailing was eating sushi at a restaurant near his office. He was confident that his store managers would be able to decide for themselves the best action to take in the midst of this... View Details

Keywords: Japan; Earthquake; Fast Retailing Group; Decisions; Natural Disasters; Crisis Management; Retail Industry; Japan

06 Sep 2018
News

Why U.S. Grocery Chains Need More (and Better) Store-Brand Products

March 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

The Parisian Revival

By: Rajiv Lal and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In mid-2005, George Jones had two jobs: head of Saks Inc.'s 41-store Parisian department store chain as well as president and CEO of the Saks Department Store Group (SDSG), an umbrella for seven chains with a total of 182 stores across the United States. In 2003 Jones... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Sales; Retail Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

Especially issues at the interface of finance and operations management.

Recent papers stored at SSRN: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=355274

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2007
Working Paper

The 'Fees → Savings' Link, or Purchasing Fifty Pounds of Pasta

By: Michael I. Norton and Leonard Lee

Many consumers have had the experience of entering discount membership clubs to make a few purchases, only to leave with enough pasta to outlast a nuclear winter. We suggest that the presence of membership fees can lead consumers to infer a "fees → savings" link,... View Details

Keywords: Price; Profit; Spending; Consumer Behavior; Retail Industry

Read Now

October 1992 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Gap, Inc., The: Building a Brand

By: Walter J. Salmon and David Wylie

Explores the circumstances under which a specialty store chain can profitably engage in large-scale non-price advertising. View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Brands and Branding; Supply Chain Management

January 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Best Buy's Corie Barry: Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case examines the leadership of Corie Barry, the new CEO of Best Buy, with a focus on actions the company took in 2020 to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case includes a history of Best Buy’s strategy and leadership, including the transitions between the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change; Disruption; Volatility; Communication; Competency and Skills; Customers; Decision Making; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Goods and Commodities; Corporate Governance; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Executive Compensation; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Jobs and Positions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Job Design and Levels; Job Interviews; Job Offer; Labor; Employment; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Law; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Management Succession; Management Systems; Management Teams; Risk Management; Operations; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Outcome or Result; Personal Development and Career; Retirement; Work-Life Balance; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Science; Strategy; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United States; Minnesota

March 2004
Case

L.L. Bean: A Search for Growth

By: Rajiv Lal, Walter J. Salmon and James Weber

In mid-2003, CEO Chris McCormick felt L.L. Bean was in a good position to begin to grow again. For nearly 90 years, the company sold clothing and gear for outdoor enthusiasts through its catalogs and a single retail store in Freeport, Maine. In the three decades prior... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Restructuring; Growth and Development Strategy; Cost Management; Sales; Performance Improvement; Diversification; Distribution Channels; Resignation and Termination; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry

February 2010
Case

Go Mobile: The Phirbol Franchise

By: Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

To grow Phirbol, a telecom retail franchise chain in Delhi, India's underdeveloped markets, its founders were exploring ways to offer more value to the franchisees. In mid-2009, the Phirbol franchise was comprised of some 150 franchisees that had converted their small... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Innovation and Management; Brands and Branding; Service Operations; Franchise Ownership; Value Creation; Telecommunications Industry; Delhi

25 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Attending HBS to Grow the Family Business

As a kid, Lauren Derse (MBA 2010) hit the family business jackpot. Her mom was the CEO and founder of—you guessed it—a chain of toy store franchises. After growing up in small town Massachusetts (and thriving in her role as resident toy... View Details

August 2024
Case

Quickmart: Sustaining Growth in a Challenging Economic Environment

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Kuria Kamau

In July 2023, Peter Kang’iri, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Quickmart, Kenya’s second-largest retail chain, sat in his Nairobi office reviewing the company’s first half financial results before the weekly executive committee (EXCO) meeting. The company was in... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Supply Chain; Logistics; Business Strategy; Expansion; Business Earnings; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Africa; Kenya; Nairobi