Publications

May 2016
Case

The Inexorable Rise of Walmart? 1988—2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2015, Walmart surprised investors by announcing that it expected flat sales growth for 2015 and growth of only 3% to 4% over the coming three years. Profits would also fall due to significant investments in people and technology. The company’s stock price... View Details

Keywords: Asda; Costco; David Glass; Convenience Stores; Discount Retailing; Dollar Stores; Doug McMillon; E-commerce; Online Retail; General Merchandise; Grocery; Lee Scott; Mike Duke; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Neighborhood Market; Sam Walton; Sam's Club; Store Formats; Supercenter; Supermarket; Warehouse Clubs; Merchandising; Walmart; Wal-Mart; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Banks and Banking; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Wages; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Web; Web Sites; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; Banking Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville

13 Feb 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Electronic Hierarchies and Electronic Heterarchies: Relationship-Specific Assets and the Governance of Interfirm IT

Keywords: by Andrew McAfee, Marco Bettiol & Maria Chiarvesio; Technology

Research Summary

Contract Rights and Risk Aversion: Foreign Banks and the Mexican Economy, 1997-2004

In 1997 Mexicos banking laws were reformed, allowing foreign banks, for the first time since the nineteenth century, to purchase controlling interests in the countrys largest banks. Foreign banks controlled 16 percent of Mexican bank assets in March 1997. By June... View Details

October 2023
Case

Driving Sustainability at AB InBev

By: Ethan Rouen and Antonio Manuel Oftelie

It was the height of the summer in 2022, and Michel Doukeris, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), and Peter Kraemer, the company’s Chief Supply Officer, gazed across the vast desert surrounding Zacatecas, Mexico. They were visiting their Grupo Modelo Brewery,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Transformation; Decisions; Environmental Sustainability; Leading Change; Growth Management; Business Model; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico

January 1999 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Infox System GmbH

Apax, a private equity firm, has an opportunity to invest in a travel-related print-materials distribution business in Germany. Infox is typical of many buyout opportunities. One of the founders seeks to exit the business, and recently hired managers will have to... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Germany

November 2000 (Revised October 2002)
Background Note

Dynamic Negotiation: Seven Propositions About Complex Negotiations

Challenges conventionally held views of negotiations, arguing that they are simplistic, static, and sterile. Develops seven propositions about real-world negotiations emphasizing the impact of complexity and the need for learning and adaption. View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Complexity

16 May 2018
HBS Seminar

Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato, Duke University, Economics

November 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Woodland Partners: Field of Dreams?

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Theodore D. Seides

Elizabeth Lilly, Richard Rinkett, and Richard Jensen are pondering whether to launch a new investment management firm and, if so, what growth strategy to chart for the potential firm. View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Decision Making; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Business Processes; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry

12 Jan 2016
First Look

January 12, 2016

practice, disciplinary rigor, and successful search for powerful generalizations help explain the lasting impact of their 1965 book, A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations. Central to their argument are... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Article

Happiness on Tap: Piped Water Adoption in Urban Morocco

By: Florencia Devoto, Esther Duflo, Pascaline Dupas, William Pariente and Vincent Pons

Connecting private dwellings to the water main is expensive and typically cannot be publicly financed. We show that households' willingness to pay for a private connection is high when it can be purchased on credit, not because a connection improves health but because... View Details

Keywords: Water Supply; Urban Development; Household; Credit; Well-being; Morocco

Read Now

15 May 2019
News

How to Attract Startups and Tech Companies to a City Without Relying on Tax Breaks

March 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Foreign Exchange Hedging Strategies at General Motors: Transactional and Translational Exposures

By: Mihir A. Desai and Mark Veblen

How should a multinational firm manage foreign exchange exposures? Examines transactional and translational exposures and alternative responses to these exposures by analyzing two specific hedging decisions by General Motors. Describes General Motors' corporate hedging... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Currency Exchange Rate; Expansion; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Financial Management; Investment Funds; Risk and Uncertainty; International Finance; Auto Industry

05 Aug 2021
News

Professor Marlous van Waijenburg Awarded $330,000 NSF Grant

11 Sep 2018
Working Paper Summaries

IQ from IP: Simplifying Search in Portfolio Choice

Keywords: by Huaizhi Chen, Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun, Dong Lou, and Christopher J. Malloy

November 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Khanmigo: Revolutionizing Learning with GenAI

By: William A. Sahlman, Allison M. Ciechanover and Emily Grandjean

Already a leader in the edtech space since its 2008 launch, Khan Academy was now one of the first edtech organizations to embrace generative artificial intelligence ("genAI"). In March 2023, Khan Academy began beta testing Khanmigo, a genAI “guide” and tutor built with... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Leading Change; Entrepreneurship; Risk and Uncertainty; Education; AI and Machine Learning; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Education Industry; Technology Industry; United States; San Francisco

October 2000
Case

Framework Technologies Corp.

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon, Ashesh Shah and David Waller

Dan Slavin, CEO of Framework Technologies, is contemplating a complete restart for his company to erase the impact of its shift in product and business strategy since inception. This case describes the issues he must consider, which include the impact of such a change... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Innovation and Invention; Cost vs Benefits; Venture Capital; Technology Industry