Publications

2023
Working Paper

No Mask, No Service: Customer Reaction to Walmart’s 2020 National Mask Mandate

By: Innessa Colaiacovo

Multi-location firms face a complex series of economic tradeoffs when deciding whether to implement standard processes or allow processes to vary across establishments. One element of this tradeoff is customer response. This paper explores customer reaction to a... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Geographic Location; Policy; Health Pandemics; Retail Industry; United States

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26 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

How Grocery Bags Manipulate Your Mind

did something good for the environment, so you can have a cookie.” New experimental research shows that shoppers are more likely to buy virtuous organic items when they bring their own reusable bags to the store than when they opt for... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail

24 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Busting Six Myths About Customer Loyalty Programs

surprising that many retailers have adopted loyalty programs as a convenient mechanism of meaningful differentiation. Ultimately, loyalty programs should offer incentives for shoppers to reduce their store... View Details

Keywords: by Marcel Corstjens & Rajiv Lal; Retail; Retail

Article

Can Wages Buy Honesty?: The Relationship Between Relative Wages and Employee Theft

By: C. X. Chen and Tatiana Sandino

In this study we examine whether, for a sample of retail chains, high levels of employee compensation can deter employee theft, an increasingly common type of fraudulent behavior. Specifically, we examine the extent to which relative wages (i.e., employee wages... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Behavior; Compensation and Benefits; Societal Protocols

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In this study we examine whether, for a sample of retail chains, high levels of employee compensation can deter employee theft, an increasingly common type of fraudulent behavior. Specifically, we examine the extent to which relative wages (i.e., employee wages... View Details

Winter 2020
Article

The Sky above and the Mud below: Two Books about Steve Jobs

By: Richard S. Tedlow

Steve Jobs was the most charismatic businessperson in the modern era. When he died, on October 5, 2011, Apple was inundated with condolence messages from all over the United States and from around the world. These notes were sent not only to Apple headquarters in... View Details

Keywords: Steve Jobs; Impact

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28 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Making the Decision to Franchise (or not)

From neighborhood to neighborhood—even from block to block—customers have different tastes in the products they buy and the retail experience they find most enjoyable. As a business owner operating stores... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

April 2010
Case

A Giant Among Women

By: Willy C. Shih, Ethan S Bernstein, Maly Hout Bernstein, Jyun-Cheng Wang and Yi-Ling Wei

Few CEOs successfully manage the evolution of their companies from OEM outsourcer to branded manufacturer to expert consumer marketer as well as Tony Lo, CEO of Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd., now the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world. In the mid-1980s, Giant... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Customer Focus and Relationships; Global Strategy; Gender; Customer Satisfaction; Product Development; Bicycle Industry; Taiwan

18 Apr 2007
HBS Case

How Magazine Luiza Courts the Poor

The inspiration for a new case can strike at any time. For Harvard Business School professor Frances X. Frei, the time and place was one morning at home while reading The New York Times. An article on the front page of the Business section about an innovative Brazilian... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

Horst Paulmann Kemna

Keywords: Retail

14 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 14

Does Planning Regulation Protect Independent Retailers? By: Sadun, Raffaella Abstract—Regulations aimed at curbing the entry of large retail stores have been introduced in many countries to protect... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 21

Divergence between rich and poor countries since 1820. Download working paper: http://www.nber.org/papers/w19010 Improving Store Liquidation By: Craig, Nathan, and Ananth Raman Abstract—Store liquidation is the time-constrained divestment... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Inditex: 2000

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2000, Inditex was one of the largest specialty apparel retailers in the world, with $2.4 billion in sales from 1,080 stores across 33 countries. Zara, Inditex's main brand, produced popular designer items at a fraction of design-house prices and could push an item... View Details

Keywords: Fashion; Fashion Industry; Succession; IPO; Competition; Initial Public Offering; Multinational Firms and Management; Management Succession; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

July 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Cintas y Lazos, Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

A recent Cuban immigrant establishes a new notions store. The initial 3-month, GAAP-based income statement differs from one prepared by an economist friend. The store owner wants to know why one shows a profit and the other a loss. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Statements; Management Practices and Processes; Standards; Retail Industry; Florida

29 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles and Research Papers of 2014

language it uses to communicate. Why Do Outlet Stores Exist? Created in the 1930s, outlet stores allowed retailers to dispose of unpopular items at fire sale prices. Today,... View Details

13 Mar 2017
Research & Ideas

Hiding Products From Customers May Ultimately Boost Sales

Retailers routinely swap out the products they display to customers. It’s called assortment rotation, and it’s a popular business strategy for many brick-and-mortar and online stores alike. View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Retail

April 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Teaching Note

Dollar General Bids for Family Dollar

By: Jonas Heese, Paula A. Price and Suraj Srinivasan

In spring 2015, Dollar General CEO Rick Dreiling was looking ahead to retiring at year's end but worried about ensuring continued growth for the company he had built since 2008 into a market leader in the U.S. discount retail world. Dollar General operated over 11,500... View Details

Keywords: Dollar General; Family Dollar; Dollar Tree; Antitrust; Board Of Directors; Activist Investors; Federal Trade Commission; Acquisition; Valuation; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry

April 2021
Supplement

Buy Online, Pickup in Store: Vice President of E-Commerce Supplement

By: Antonio Moreno, Santiago Gallino and Amy Klopfenstein

In April 2019, Sylvarella VP of E-Commerce Charla Limont must review an analysis of her department’s sales data to determine the impact of the company’s Buy Online, Pickup in Store (BOPS) program. The program implementation created significant problems for the... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Service Delivery; Logistics; Infrastructure; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Analysis; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Canada

October 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Supplement

Migros Turkey: Scaling Online Operations During COVID-19 (C)

By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in August 2020 as Ozgur Tort and Mustafa Bartin, CEO and chief large-format and online retail officer of Migros Ticaret A.S. (Migros), Turkey’s oldest and one of its largest supermarket chains, are navigating Migros through COVID-19 and the unprecedented... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Logistics; Profit; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Crisis Management; Health Pandemics; Strategic Planning; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey