Best Buy - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Dec 2023
News

Case Study: Staking a Claim

they decide to buy a vehicle or settle in a condo, Surround offers the next level of insurance and will hopefully keep their business for the long haul. The Question: The average age of a Surround customer is 29, and figuring out how... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Insurance Carriers and Related Activities; Finance

19 Oct 2022
Op-Ed

Cofounder Courtship: How to Find the Right Mate—for Your Startup

partnership. Just like a personal relationship may result in children, big financial decisions (like buying a house), running a household, etc., a cofounding relationship will force you to commit to how you will nurture employees, manage... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

13 Feb 2020
Book

Open Your Organization to Honest Conversations

buying Alstom, GE’s chief energy competitor, but ignored warnings from wary board directors and senior executives who claimed Alstom had made bad deals and otherwise performed poorly. Since the acquisition, Alstom has struggled—and today... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

24 Apr 2023
HBS Case

What Does It Take to Build as Much Buzz as Booze? Inside the Epic Challenge of Cannabis-Infused Drinks

owners to concentrate many duplicative business operations, including manufacturing, in individual states where cannabis is legal. “In many of the places where it’s raised awareness, people can’t even buy the beverage due to state laws. ”... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

28 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

Keep or Cut Workers? How Companies Reacted to the COVID-19 Crisis

accelerating a trend that began before the pandemic. For instance, the consumer electronics chain Best Buy struggled to attract sales, and the company ended up cutting costs through layoffs and furloughs.... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

30 Jul 2007
Research & Ideas

Repugnant Markets and How They Get That Way

similarly the story about kidneys: why I can't buy yours, although I could accept it as a gift. Repugnance is different in different places and at different times. I feel a little bit like a sociologist when I look at these things. Q:... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

23 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

8 Strategies to Sustain Business Innovation

followed by flexible execution. McDonald says that might seem like the reverse of a good strategy—shouldn’t a new firm be flexible at the beginning to see what works? But he says focused selection earlier is what allows a company the best... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

01 Jan 2011
News

Seth Klarman, MBA 1982

ourselves by putting clients first, by charging a fair fee, and by focusing on their best interests. I'm proud of the fact that virtually everybody who has been connected with the firm — employees, clients, advisers, business partners —... View Details

Web

Advisory Board - Entrepreneurship

entrepreneurial companies and was the past Chairman of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MTLC) and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE) - two leading entrepreneurial organizations. He was selected by Business Week as one of the View Details

20 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

Panama Canal: Troubled History, Astounding Turnaround

2010 terms, as a share of national income) were scheduled to revert to Colombian ownership in that year. The money to buy them for the new canal effort, then, would have gone to Bogotá instead of the shareholders in the moribund French... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Transportation

31 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Japan Disaster Shakes Up Supply-Chain Strategies

experience. Not so manufacturers and their complex webs of suppliers, who in many cases lack that same experience or large-scale backup plans. The result: a chaotic scramble resulting in production delays, product shortages, and higher prices. “They put all of their... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Auto; Technology; Computer; Electronics

25 Oct 2010
HBS Case

Tesco’s Stumble into the US Market

depends on enough consumers changing behavior to buy a higher proportion of their groceries on a more frequent basis. This could work in inner-city locations where younger shoppers might buy their evening... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

13 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

we through our behaviors, it's the best way in which to protect ourselves and others right now. Frazier: That's absolutely the case. Neeley: This is also a global pandemic, the scale and the scope of what's happening is mind blowing to... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Pharmaceutical

Web

Research - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

U.S. checks appear to have increased retail buying and share prices of retail-dominated portfolios. The Hong Kong payments increased overall market turnover and share prices in Hong Kong and mainland Chinese markets, especially in... View Details

18 Feb 2019
Book

What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology

“preemptively decoupling.” Instead of waiting to be disrupted, you just break it. When Amazon started selling electronics online, it created apps that encouraged customers to go to a store and check out the prices and products, but order them at Amazon. This is called... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Beauty & Cosmetics; Insurance; Service; Retail

01 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 1

they may fail to notice when the moment is right for action on one path. They may also seem too remote and aloof to their staffs. The best leaders can zoom in to examine problems and then zoom out to look for patterns and causes. They... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

A Brand Manager’s Guide to Losing Control

charge of public discussions about the brands they use. And while marketers have tried to take part, they've had to face the fact that social media platforms are primarily meant for conversations among consumers, not for one-way brand messages that feel like... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

04 Mar 2019
What Do You Think?

What’s the Antidote to Surveillance Capitalism?

trusts like Standard Oil were busted by President Theodore Roosevelt. They were the Big Tech of their day. Where is the outrage today?” Facebook should be broken up, he added. Wildebeest proclaimed, “The best approach is to break up the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Advertising; Consumer Products

19 Jan 2016
First Look

January 19, 2016

similar platform targeting retailers. Was this the best way to capture more of the value the company created for makers? Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/816038-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 516-054 ANA... View Details