Publications

September 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Yum! Brands, Inc: A Corporate Do-Over

By: Frances X. Frei, Amy C. Edmondson, James Weber and Eliot Sherman

Describes the successful turnaround of the restaurant company Yum! Brands after its spin off from PepsiCo and covers how the company's leadership planned and executed on virtually every dimension of the employee experience. The main dilemma centers on what the company... View Details

Keywords: Product; Brands and Branding; Service Operations; Expansion; Trade; Leadership Development; Business or Company Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

February 2004
Supplement

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc., The

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

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February 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Exercise

McDonald's: Super-Sized Troubles (B)

This case is the second of two cases that describe the situation and poor performance at McDonald's Corp. in early 2003. This exercise directs students to employ a structured problem-solving process to evaluate the McDonald's strategy. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

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February 2003 (Revised February 2003)
Exercise

McDonald's: Super-Sized Troubles (A)

This case is one of two cases that describe the situation and poor performance at McDonald's Corp. in early 2003. This exercise instructs students to employ an unstructured brainstorming process to develop strategic options for McDonald's. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

November 1990 (Revised June 2004)
Case

McDonald's and the Environment

McDonald's decides to withdraw its polystyrene plastic packaging for sandwiches and hamburgers after years of defending itself against environmental critics. The decision occurs in the midst of a six-month Joint Task Force study, with the nonprofit Environmental... View Details

Keywords: Announcements; Change Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

December 2017
Supplement

Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle

In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese—the Australian dairy company—was considering a bid for Mondelēz International’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business which included several leading consumer brands (Vegemite—the iconic Australian spread,... View Details

07 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 7

brands and manufacturing network, he intends to reposition the company as a branded retailer of furniture and home fashions. Just as management is poised to implement a new strategy that involves a heavy investment in brand advertising, a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Rewriting the Rules of Service Competition

well. As a result, these organizations staff very carefully, hiring for attitude and then training for skills, whether the business is fast food or cutting-edge medical organizations such as the Mayo Clinic. These are not good places to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser & Leonard A. Schlesinger; Retail

14 Aug 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 14, 2018

Armarium would need to charge for its one-of-a-kind pieces with retail values that could reach as high as $15,000. The two founders faced significant scaling challenges, from how to establish guardrails around curation of the collection... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

09 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 9, 2019

company. Purchase this case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/719456-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 518-038 Index In December 2017, Marc Freed-Finnegan and Jonathan Wall, the co-founders of retail technology company Index, had to... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

03 Jan 2017
First Look

January 3, 2017

broadly available. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52046 October 2016 Business History Review The Rise of Synthetic Colors in the American Food Industry, 1870–1940 By: Hisano, Ai Abstract—This article... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

November 2011
Case

WrapItUp: Developing a New Compensation Plan

By: W. Earl Sasser Jr. and Rachel Shelton

A restaurant chain based in California offers made-to-order sandwich wraps using fresh, healthy ingredients. The founders of the company take a very active role in day-to-day business and tightly control every aspect of the restaurant operation from hiring store... View Details

Keywords: Empowerment; Middle Management; Human Resource Management; Compensation; Incentives; Motivation; Motivation and Incentives; Change Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Service Delivery; Entrepreneurship; Employees; Compensation and Benefits; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; California

April 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Governing Sustainability in a Shifting Context (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

In early 2025, boards of directors had to rethink corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts amid rapidly-shifting social, legal, regulatory, and economic forces. While just a few years earlier, calls to address racial justice and climate change reached into... View Details

27 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

The Coffee Economy That Bloomed Out of Nowhere

example, the California-based Rogers Family Company exports coffee from its farm, Finca Peru Paris, and sells it at major retail outlets such as Costco stores on the west coast of the United States. Lurtz points out that the most... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage

02 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 2, 2018

occupation or possession by grant/gift, and tributary or chieftaincy. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54766 Opportunistic Returns and Dynamic Pricing: Empirical Evidence from Online Retailing in Emerging... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 2014 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Showdown at Cracker Barrel

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Tim Gray

In the fall of 2011, activist investor, Sardar Biglari, has acquired nearly 10% ownership in the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain. He believes that the board and senior management have failed and the company has underperformed relative to its peers. When he is denied a... View Details

September 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

SMARTBITES (A)

By: Michael Roberts, Jeronimo Silva and Amar Bhide

The case describes a Turkish brother-sister team who are evaluating the option of acquiring and operating a franchise of a US bakery/cafe in Turkey. They are comparing this option to that of simply starting a similar business. View Details

Keywords: Franchising; Start-up; Franchise Ownership; Family Ownership; Business Startups; Cost vs Benefits; Multinational Firms and Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey; United States

December 2010
Supplement

Restaurant Valuation: O'Charley's and AFC (CW)

This is a spreadsheet of the Exhibits for case 111-081, restaurant Valuation: O'Charley's and AFC. View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Valuation; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

December 2010
Case

Restaurant Valuation: O'Charley's and AFC

This case is a comparative analysis of the strategy, accounting, performance, and valuation for two restaurant chains alternatively having a company-owned versus franchising strategy. It requires students to identify these two different strategies, and the related... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Valuation; Franchise Ownership; Retail Industry; Retail Industry