Publications

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August 2007 (Revised May 2009)
Case

PlaNet Finance: Broad Scope in Microfinance

By: Andrei Hagiu and Elena Corsi

PlaNet Finance was a French NGO providing technical support and training services to microfinance institutions (i.e., institutions providing financial services to the poor) and other microfinance actors, rating of microfinance institutions and management, and advisory... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Microfinance; Growth Management; Networks; Non-Governmental Organizations; Service Industry; France

May 2001 (Revised May 2015)
Supplement

Compagnie Lyonnaise de Transport (B)

By: Michael Tushman and Michael J Roberts

Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier supplement. View Details

Keywords: Transportation Industry; France

February 2001
Teaching Note

French Pension System, The: On the Verge of Retirement? & (Abridged)

By: David A. Moss

Teaching Note for (9-798-032) and (9-799-143). View Details

Keywords: Public Administration Industry; France

January 2001 (Revised June 2001)
Case

COFIDIS

An offspring of French catalog marketer 3 Suisses, and a popular sponsor of Tour de France, Cofidis sells consumer credit over the phone, defying conventional banking with a product policy and a communication strategy that perfectly fits the company's comparative... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Marketing Communications; Competitive Advantage; Product; Credit; Financial Services Industry; France

February 1995 (Revised July 1995)
Supplement

Antmobel (B): Entering France?

Antmobel is presented with a plan to enter the French market. The company must weigh the costs and potential benefits of such a move in the context of its international strategy and the firm's capabilities. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Global Strategy; France

November 1993 (Revised July 1995)
Case

OfficePro (A)

By: John A. Quelch

The international procurement manager of an off-price office supply retail chain has to recommend which of several bids to accept for the right to supply computer diskettes to OfficePro's new French subsidiary. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Subsidiaries; Supply Chain Management; Retail Industry; France

2004
Chapter

The Surprise of Collective Action: Consumer Mobilization in France, 1970-1985

By: Gunnar Trumbull

Keywords: History; Demand and Consumers; France

October 1988 (Revised January 1989)
Case

French Telecommunications in the 1980s (B)

By: George C. Lodge and Barbara L. Jenkins

Keywords: Telecommunications Industry; France

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May 2021
Teaching Note

Zeynep Ton: The Good Jobs Strategy

By: Frances X. Frei, Francesca Gino and Youngme Moon

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 921-703. View Details

October 2001 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Club Med (C): The "Re-New" Plan

By: Frances X. Frei, Daniel Rethazy and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Supplements the (A) and (B) cases. View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Industry Structures; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Culture; Cost; Customer Satisfaction; Accommodations Industry; United States

August 2001 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Vicinity Corporation: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic

By: Frances X. Frei, David Margalit and Amanda Yelsh

Vicinity uses its Internet and m-commerce technology to help drive traffic into its customers' physical distribution outlets. The company has terrific technology and is seemingly successful in getting more consumers into its customers' stores, yet it is in a precarious... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Mobile and Wireless Technology

January 27, 2024
Editorial

Critics of D.E.I. Forget That It Works

By: Caroline M. Elkins, Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss

Keywords: Diversity

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April 2012
Case

Pret A Manger

By: Frances X. Frei, Rick Goldberg and Stephanie van Sice

Pret A Manger, a London-based chain of sandwich shops, was known for its fast, genuine service and pre-packaged sandwiches prepared on-site daily. Instructed by its board to grow at 15 percent per year, Pret considered opening "twin" shops in locations too small to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Service Excellence; Growth Planning And Management; Employee Performance Management; Information Management; Production Planning; Employee Attitude Development And Empowerment; Employee Retention; Leadership Development And Career Planning; Service Delivery; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Employees; Performance; London

January – February 2011
Article

Stop Holding Yourself Back

By: Anne Morriss, Robin J. Ely and Frances X. Frei

After working with hundreds of leaders in a wide variety of organizations and in countries all over the globe, the authors found one very clear pattern: when it comes to meeting their leadership potential, many people unintentionally get in their own way. Five barriers... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Personal Characteristics

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July 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Gateway: Moving Beyond the Box

By: Frances X. Frei, Youngme E. Moon and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Gateway has opened retail stores to differentiate itself from its competitors (e.g., Dell). Describes how the company has created an excellent service experience, but has struggled financially as a result. View Details

Keywords: Transition; Change Management; Valuation; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Distribution Channels; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; United States

2002
Working Paper

Control Systems for Customer Behavior

By: Frances X. Frei, Amy C. Edmondson and Corey Hajim

February 2025
Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A) (Abridged)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).... View Details

June 2022
Case

Michelin’s Green Gold Bahia Program: Leaving With Grace

By: Sandra J. Sucher, Shalene Gupta and Susan J. Winterberg

In 2015, the top management of French tire-maker Michelin, was evaluating Michelin’s approach to divesting its rubber plantations ten years after incorporating a novel strategy.
In 2004, Michelin had a Brazilian rubber challenge. Its Bahía plantation had been hit... View Details

Keywords: Divestment; Supply Chain Management; Natural Resources; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Rubber Industry; Auto Industry; Brazil; France