Best Buy - Publications - Faculty & Research

26 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Yes, You Can Raise Prices in a Downturn

have told the Wright brothers, "Don't do it: it's a bad use of capital!" Yet over the past two decades, Ryanair's ROE was often comparable to the best returns in the pharmaceutical business—a traditional example of a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Consumer Products

12 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

Michael Porter’s Prescription For the High Cost of Health Care

is no villain here. Poor public-policy choices have contributed to the problem, but so have the bad choices made by health plans, hospitals, and the employers who buy their services. Decades of "reform" have failed, and attempts... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter; Health

20 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

How Consumers Value Global Brands

that people associate with global brands. Then we surveyed 1,800 people in twelve nations to measure the relative importance of those dimensions when consumers buy products. A detailed analysis revealed that consumers all over the world... View Details

Keywords: by Douglas B. Holt, John A. Quelch & Earl L. Taylor

18 Apr 2007
HBS Case

How Magazine Luiza Courts the Poor

so in an innovative manner, through virtual showrooms that use computers and sales staff to help customers navigate the store's inventory and make a purchase. "The company had an amazing influence on customer behavior," Frei notes. "People were happy to... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

19 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Are Web Sites So Confusing?

might be interested in ex-post (i.e., once there). Thus, consumers coming to the supermarket to buy daily staples (say, bread and milk) might be induced to also get expensive chocolate if they have to walk past the corresponding aisle... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Bruno Jullien

06 May 2002
What Do You Think?

What’s Driving the “New Marketing?”

to the depth of the authors' arguments) raised so few eyebrows.—James Heskett What seems to many to be new is the Internet. Comments Thomas Rector, "...the 4 Ps remain valid—even in the Internet age. ...'interactivity' provides the View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

11 Jun 2001
Research & Ideas

E-Commerce Unplugged

In this excerpt, Nohria and Leestma outline the challenges and rewards awaiting businesses that target the mobile-commerce customer. The best place to start? Develop a thorough knowledge of consumer behavior.The race for dominance in... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria & Marty Leestma

29 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 29, 2008

to the idea that Sales and Marketing should each play a role in each phase of the process from e-mail marketing solutions right through to the close. That is, they argue that the two functions are best integrated by encouraging them to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

03 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The State of Customer Service Leadership

examine the most up-to-date best practices and explain how companies can put a smile on customers’ faces and keep them coming back for more. In a recent interview, they explained some of their findings. Aisner: Why is it so important to... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Retail

25 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Should You Sell Your Digital Privacy?

self-adjust to technological innovation. But the idea of offering the opportunity to buy privacy is hard to swallow—if privacy is something to which we are entitled, should our share of it depend on ability to pay? Inevitably it does.... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls & Sean Silverthorne; Advertising

10 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Winners and Losers in the Retail Revolution

brick and clicks are Home Depot and Pet Smart. What did Home Depot do right? Rajiv Lal: Home Depot thought about the challenges facing their business very strategically. They've gone category by category and asked: What is the best way to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

21 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Fighting the COVID Blues: Advice from Business Research

risks—including spending hours reading or watching the news. "This is such an impermanent state of affairs that we just have to do as best we can." Rather than ruminating on the virus and replaying possible future outcomes in our minds,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman and Danielle Kost

02 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Disruptors Sell What Customers Want and Let Competitors Sell What They Don’t

find a way out, or a company will find a way out for them." A better strategy to follow is "rebalancing," which realigns a company's activities in such a way that value is claimed by the firm every time the firm creates it. Best View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

13 Jun 2014
Op-Ed

World Cup Soccer: 770 Billion Minutes of Attention

The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is expected to attract the attention of 3.2 billion people worldwide. During one month, 32 teams will vie for the trophy of best football (a.k.a. soccer) team in the world. With 64 matches and assuming... View Details

Keywords: by Thales Teixeira; Sports

21 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Loyalty: Don’t Give Away the Store

surprising difference in the way rewards programs changed the buying behavior of a retailer's best customers versus lower-spending customers. How does this shift conventional wisdom? A: Conventional wisdom... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls; Consumer Products; Retail

01 Mar 2022
What Do You Think?

Is It Time for More Reverse Mentoring?

(iStockphoto/Sanja Radin) Increasingly, I hear and read about questions such as: Why are my best tech people leaving our great company to work on something called crypto and Web3? What are the strategic implications for my organization of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

21 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

It Matters That Your CEO Doesn't Know Much About Sales

targets, but a tactical tool that’s rarely part of strategy formulation. Develop the best product, and let the sales department figure out the best way to get it to the customer, they think. And many sales... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

03 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 3

structure of financial assets and non-fundamental risk. An asset is fragile if its owners collectively have to buy or sell. Such assets are susceptible to non-fundamental price movements. An asset can be fragile because of concentrated... View Details