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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

27 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, February 27, 2018

dividends income as if they were separate sources of income. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54113 Nowcasting Gentrification: Using Yelp Data to Quantify Neighborhood Change By: Glaeser, Edward L.,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Apr 2014
HBS Seminar

David Moss, Harvard Business School

Reconsidering the Urban Disadvantaged

Villa Victoria examines how of a group of low-income Puerto Rican migrants with little formal education living in a Boston enclave resisted the efforts of the city to relocate them in the name of "urban renewal." After a successful grassroots movement, the... View Details

January 2008 (Revised March 2008)
Supplement

Mayhem on Madison (B)

By: A. Eugene Kohn and David Lane

Explains the approvals and construction process for a building to be constructed against neighborhood opposition above an operating bank branch in New York City. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Development Economics; Business and Community Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; New York (city, NY)

March 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Wal-Mart in 2002

By: David B. Yoffie and Yusi Wang

In its first quarter of 2002, Wal-Mart became the largest company on the globe (by sales) and expanded into Japan. Was the giant retailer unstoppable? This case explores Wal-Mart's top issues in fueling top- and bottom-line growth: diversification into groceries, new... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Expansion; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Global Strategy; Retail Industry; Japan; United States

2012
Chapter

An Assessment of How Urban Crime and Victimization Affects Life Satisfaction

By: Carlos Medina and Jorge Tamayo

We use data for Medellín, Colombia, to assess the effect of the homicide rate, individual’s perception of security in their neighborhood of residence, and of the effect of their having been victimized, on life satisfaction. We find a negative effect of the homicide... View Details

Keywords: Security; Life Satisfaction; Crime and Corruption; Housing; Safety; Perception; Colombia

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2015
Working Paper

Do People Shape Cities, or Do Cities Shape People? The Co-evolution of Physical, Social, and Economic Change in Five Major U.S. Cities

By: Nikhil Naik, Scott Duke Kominers, Ramesh Raskar, Edward L. Glaeser and Cesar Hidalgo

Urban change involves transformations in the physical appearance and the social composition of neighborhoods. Yet, the relationship between the physical and social components of urban change is not well understood due to the lack of comprehensive measures of... View Details

Keywords: Demographics; Urban Development; Change; Economics

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15 Mar 2016
News

The costs of inequality: Faster lives, quicker deaths

11 May 2020
News

Inside historic black bookstores' fight for survival against the COVID-19 pandemic

January 2003 (Revised August 2003)
Case

General Mills and the Hawthorne Huddle (A)

Examines the role of General Mills in the formation and leadership of the Hawthorne Huddle. The Huddle was in the Hawthorne neighborhood in Northern Minneapolis, which in 1997 was plagued with high crime and poverty. The Huddle served as a forum, held the first... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Management Succession; Social Issues; Consumer Products Industry; Minneapolis

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August 2016 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Breakfast at the Paramount

By: Ryan W. Buell

The Paramount is a 44-seat diner on Charles Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. A frequent "Best of Boston" award winner, the restaurant is a perennial favorite among locals and tourists, particularly for brunch on the weekends, when lines often stretch... View Details

Keywords: Food; Management Practices and Processes; Service Delivery; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston

October 2000
Article

BanCrecen

By: S. Dario, E.L. Montiel and Tatiana Sandino

This case describes the aggressive entry of BanCrecen, an affiliate of the Mexican bank BanCrecer, in Costa Rica in 1994. Its strategy, like that of the Mexican home office, was to focus on personal banking, with the rapid expansion of neighborhood branches and strong... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Globalization; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Costa Rica; Mexico

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16 Sep 2015
News

Harvard prof shares ways to lift inner-city economies

06 Dec 2017
News

How bookstores rescued themselves

November 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Daily Table

By: José B. Alvarez, Zeynep Ton and Annelena Lobb

Daily Table is a case about a grocery chain with two outposts in Boston neighborhoods Dorchester and Roxbury. Its mission is to provide healthy food at lower prices to people in lower-income neighborhoods. The case explores Daily Table’s responsibility to its employees... View Details

Keywords: Grocery; COVID-19 Pandemic; Food; Nonprofit Organizations; Employees; Wages; Employee Relationship Management; Boston