Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(263)
- Faculty Publications (50)
- June 2010 (Revised July 2011)
- Case
Classic Knitwear and Guardian: A Perfect Fit?
By: John A. Quelch and Patricia Girardi
Classic Knitwear manufactures and distributes casual apparel, either unbranded or under a private-label brand name. Partly because Classic has no brand recognition with consumers, gross margins are low. To improve margins, the company considers partnering via a... View Details
Keywords: Market Research; Forecasting; Consumer Marketing; New Product Marketing; Product Lines; Merchandising; Branding; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Marketing Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry
- June 2010 (Revised July 2011)
- Teaching Note
Classic Knitwear and Guardian: A Perfect Fit? (Brief Case)
By: John A. Quelch and Patricia Girardi
Teaching Note for 4217. View Details
- March 2010
- Case
Target: Responding to the Recession
By: Ranjay Gulati, Rajiv Lal and Cathy Ross
Within 10 months of Gregg Steinhafel's taking over as CEO at Target, the U.S. was mired in the most significant economic downturn in 50 years. Top competitor Wal-Mart had positioned itself well for the crisis, while Target's same store sales began to slide. While... View Details
- February 2010 (Revised June 2022)
- Case
Dollarama Inc.
By: Andre F. Perold
Dollarama is the leading operator of dollar stores in Canada. The firm performed extraordinarily well after a leveraged buyout in 2004 and recently executed a highly successful IPO. The company sources its goods primarily from Asia. It has strong brand recognition and... View Details
- September 2009
- Case
Culinarian Cookware: Pondering Price Promotion
By: John A. Quelch and Heather Beckham
In November of 2006, senior executives at Culinarian Cookware were debating the merits of price promotions for the company's premium cookware products. The VP of Marketing, Donald Janus, and Senior Sales Manager, Victoria Brown, had different views. Janus felt price... View Details
- July 2007 (Revised March 2008)
- Background Note
Staging Two-Sided Platforms
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Andrei Hagiu
Firms that aspire to develop two-sided platforms face a formidable challenge. Prospective users on each side will not invest in the platform until they are confident there will be enough users on the other side. Traditional strategies for dealing with this... View Details
- May 2007 (Revised November 2019)
- Case
Dollar General (A)
By: Willy Shih, Stephen P. Kaufman and Rebecca McKillican
Dollar General Corporation (DG) operates one of the leading chains of extreme value retailers in the United States. 2006 revenues reached $9.2 billion, making DG the 6th largest mass retailer in the country. With revenues growing at 9% annually over the five-year... View Details
- March 2007 (Revised June 2007)
- Case
Wal-Mart, 2007
By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind
In 2007, Wal-Mart faced challenges to its historically high growth rate. Lagging same-store sales and setbacks overseas led the company to consider strategic shifts. Wal-Mart was the world's largest retailer, but competition had become particularly acute as the company... View Details
- January 2006 (Revised October 2009)
- Case
Negotiating Star Compensation at the USAWBL (A-1): Confidential Instructions for Jesse J.
By: Ian Larkin, James K. Sebenius and Guhan Subramanian
In this three-party negotiation exercise, Jesse J, star center in the U.S.A. Women's Basketball League, with her agent, is negotiating a possible compensation package with the Boston Sharks involving a base salary, a possible share of team merchandising profits, and a... View Details
- November 2005 (Revised September 2007)
- Case
Beijing Hualian
By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman
China's fifth largest domestic retailer faced intensifying competition from Wal-Mart and Carrefour with the opening of China's fast-growing retail market in January 2005. In response, Beijing Hualian developed a new "Family Store" format targeted at the nation's... View Details
- September 2005 (Revised July 2006)
- Case
Kingsford Charcoal
By: Das Narayandas and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Since the 1980s, Kingsford had continued to enjoy steady, moderate growth of 1% to 3% in revenues each year. During most of this time, the charcoal category as a whole grew as well. However, the summer of 2000 represented the first softening in the category in several... View Details
- January 2005 (Revised March 2005)
- Case
Parisian: productivity and selling cost
By: Rajiv Lal and Arar Han
Presents the dilemma facing George Jones with respect to the high selling cost at Parisian Department Stores. The challenges to be considered reflect issues at different levels of the organization, including individual salespeople, the store itself, and the merchandise... View Details
- February 2003
- Supplement
Sears, Roebuck and Company: The Merchandise Group
By: Pankaj Ghemawat and Jan W. Rivkin
- June 2001
- Teaching Note
Merchandising At Nine West Retail Stores TN
By: Ananth Raman
Teaching Note for (9-698-098). View Details
- October 1999 (Revised September 2005)
- Case
Eddie Bauer, Inc.
By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon
Eddie Bauer has decided to coordinate its merchandising strategy (price, selection) across its stores and catalog. But with e-commerce, is this still sensible? View Details
- February 1999 (Revised May 1999)
- Case
Onsale, Inc.
By: Youngme E. Moon
Onsale has been a pioneer in electronic commerce, offering excess and refurbished goods using an online auction format. The company is now planning to become a player in the highly competitive world of first-run computer merchandise as well. However, unlike other... View Details
- August 1998 (Revised October 1998)
- Case
Disney's "The Lion King" (A): The $2 Billion Movie
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis
In 1994, just 10 years after its filmed entertainment division lost $33 million, Disney's animated creation "The Lion King" became the second highest grossing film ever. In addition to drawing $740 million in worldwide box office sales, its merchandise sales exceeded... View Details
- May 1998 (Revised May 2001)
- Case
Merchandising at Nine West Retail Stores
By: Ananth Raman and Colin S Welch
Describes the merchandising decision process (organization, structure, and incentives) at Nine West retail stores, a large footwear retailer in the United States. Also describes changes currently occurring at Nine West and thus provides a context in which students can... View Details
- February 1996 (Revised January 2004)
- Teaching Note
Arley Merchandise Corporation TN
By: William E. Fruhan Jr. and Andre F. Perold
Teaching Note for (9-287-063). View Details
- winter 1996
- Article
Forward Buying, Merchandising and Manufacturer Trade Deals: A Model
By: R. Lal, J. D. Little and J. M. Villas-Boas
Keywords: Trade