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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(3,912)
- People (16)
- News (908)
- Research (2,468)
- Events (27)
- Multimedia (47)
- Faculty Publications (1,845)
- 21 May 2019
- Cold Call Podcast
If the Key to Business Success Is Focus, Why Does Amazon Work?
- 20 Jun 2016
- Research & Ideas
When Predicting Other People's Preferences, You're Probably Wrong
The Bachelor is a wildly popular reality dating game show on which 28 women compete for the hand of a single man. Along with flirting and fighting and engaging in feats of derring-do, many of the competitors spend ample time confessing insecurities to the camera.... View Details
- 16 Dec 2015
- Research & Ideas
Why ‘Sleep on It’ No Longer Sounds Like Great Advice
As the holidays approach, we’ll all experience the temptation to overspend on gifts for our loved ones (and maybe a little on ourselves). When faced with difficult decisions like whether to spend $199 on a knife set or a tool set, we may follow the age-old advice... View Details
- 07 Oct 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Lifting the Veil: The Benefits of Cost Transparency
- 26 Feb 2014
- Research & Ideas
How Grocery Bags Manipulate Your Mind
There's a classic cartoon plot device that represents a struggle with temptation. A tiny angel pops up on the conflicted character's left shoulder, urging him to follow the path of righteousness. A tiny devil sits on his right shoulder, pressing him to give into his... View Details
Frank W. Woolworth
Woolworth spotted a potential enterprise in stores that sold only low, one-price goods. Despite the failure of his first store, his later ventures proved immensely profitable, allowing him to combine his business with his brother and other associates to form the F. W.... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Charles S. Woolworth
Taking control of the family discount goods enterprise upon his brother Frank’s death, Charles Woolworth continued to expand the company. In the 1920s, Woolworth began operations in Cuba and Germany, and American operations were extended into the suburbs following the... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Charles R. Walgreen III
Charles Walgreen, III continued the tradition of success begun by his father and grandfather. Under his leadership, Walgreens stores continued to expand its existing operations and also entered the restaurant business. By 1979, the company operated some 600 stores in... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Lillian M. Vernon (Katz)
Katz took some of her family savings to place a small ad in Seventeen magazine for small handbags and belts in 1951. Within a few weeks, she had received $16,000 worth of orders, and sales have skyrocketed ever since. She began expanding her product line to include... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Robert L. Tillman
Shortly before Tillman took over the home improvement company, it had slipped out of its industry leading position, falling behind the newer and bigger Home Depot chain. Tillman, however, was determined to bring Lowe’s back up to the standards that had once given it... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Clarence Saunders
Having made a name for himself as a grocery wholesaler, Saunders decided to embark on a plan of revolutionizing the common supermarket. Removing unnecessary clerks, creating elaborate aisle displays and rearranging the store to force customers to view all of the... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Fred R. Lazarus, Jr.
Through acquisitions and organic growth, Lazarus, Jr. created the largest department store operation in the United States (including Filene’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bullocks). Lazarus targeted the middle class through attractive store displays, ample inventory and... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Samuel H. Kress
Kress built a discount chain store based on an economies of scale model. He started offering fewer items than traditional 5- and 10- cent stores, in order to offer bargain prices to a lower-income clientele. Kress’ stores were a great success and he managed to increase... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Sebastian S. Kresge
Kresge built the precursor to K-Mart, one of the first mass discounters. He started with ten-cent stores and developed full-fledged variety stores. By his retirement, his chain had almost 600 United States stores, a Canadian subsidiary, and annual sales of $156... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Joyce C. Hall
Hall created the world’s largest greeting card company. Hallmark Cards are sold throughout the world (currently in 100 countries). He pioneered the use of radio and TV advertising for greeting cards and revolutionized the industry with a display case that allowed the... View Details
Keywords: Retail
William Guthy
Guthy was a pioneer in the use of Infomercials. He was the first to market Infomercials with a brand on the lower left corner of the television screen and he gained success by focusing on quality products and services. His branding and approach helped to differentiate... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Bernard A. Edison
Taking the helm of the family business from his father and uncle, Edison went on to lead it through its strongest period of growth and financial performance. He dramatically expanded operations, opening new designer footwear stores including Baker’s, Chandler’s, and... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Justin Dart
Dart transformed United Drug into a profitable firm again. He did this by going with the Rexall banner, which the founder Louis Liggett had made into a household name, and discarding most of the other names in use by the company. Eventually, the company took the name... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Edward W. Carter
Carter developed the first suburban shopping center in 1947 in Los Angeles and popularized regional chain stores. Carter started with three regional stores in Los Angeles in 1946, and by 1980, had grown that number to 47. Carter expanded the company nationally through... View Details
Keywords: Retail