Publications

August 2009
Case

Life Stories of Recent MBAs: Leading an Integrated Life

By: Nitin Nohria, Daisy A Wademan Dowling and Matthew D. Breitfelder

Keywords: Business Education; Leadership

May 1995
Case

Hannaford Brothers: Leading the Grocery Channel Transformation

The merchandising manager of a supermarket chain leads an effort to reorganize the process of buying and delivering products from manufacturers to their warehouse for further distribution to stores. The company is an early mover in implementing efficient consumer... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Supply Chain Management; Distribution Channels; Customer Focus and Relationships; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

October 2016
Supplement

24 Hour Fitness (B): Ownership Changes, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, 24 Hour Fitness was the number-two fitness chain in the United States, generating revenues of $1.4 billion from 441 clubs serving 3.8 million members. Based in San Ramon, California, 24 Hour Fitness operated clubs in 13 states. Having grown rapidly to become... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Age; Training; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Market Entry and Exit; Media; Organizational Design; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Welfare or Wellbeing; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Software; Web Sites; Value; Valuation; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

2007
Working Paper

Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

We analyze the incentives to divert search for an information intermediary who enables buyers (consumers) to search affiliated sellers (stores). We identify two original motives for diverting search (i.e. inducing consumers to search more than they would like): i)... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

Read Now

24 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 24, 2008

two recently identified bounds: bounded ethicality and bounded awareness. By organizing diverse theories into a clear framework, the taxonomy should aid researchers and View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 10

through the intermediary. We show that this leads to inflated retail prices, excessive adoption of the intermediaries' services, over-investment in benefits to buyers, and a reduction in consumer surplus... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Jan 2022
In Practice

7 Trends to Watch in 2022

lining. In this case, the lining was lithium, in the form of consumer-driven innovations that created alternate, lower cost sites of care, such as free-standing retail medical, surgery, and urgent care... View Details

Keywords: by HBS News

August 1985
Case

CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (C)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of some issues confronting management of CML Group. They have decided to go public, have selected an underwriting team, and must make final decisions about the size, composition and pricing of the issue. Because stock prices have fallen since the... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Going Public; Problems and Challenges; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

November 1998 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Management Succession; Competitive Advantage; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Retail Industry; United States

1997
Article

University versus Corporate Patents: A Window on the Basicness of Invention

By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Adam Jaffe and Manuel Trajtenberg

Keywords: Higher Education; Patents; Innovation and Invention; Business Ventures

Find at Harvard

Read Now

16 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

Earnings Calls That Get Lost in Translation

transcripts, Yu says the team encountered plenty of bad calls, and it was "mind-boggling" how poorly some CEOs and CFOs communicated. Take the CFO of one of the largest View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

December 2020 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Responsive Working at PepsiCo UK (A): Designing a Turnaround

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Nancy Boghossian Staples

Facing a significant decline in revenues in 2016, David Gwilliam, Head of Transformation at PepsiCo UK introduced a new way of working (“Responsive Working”), which encompasses a set of work practices and some new team structures. The work practices comprise a set of 9... View Details

Keywords: SLAM Teams; Turnaround; Groups and Teams; Employees; Training; Decision Making; Planning; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United Kingdom; Europe

February 2016 (Revised February 2020)
Teaching Note

Oberoi Hotels: Train Whistle in the Tiger Reserve

By: Ryan W. Buell and Ananth Raman

Celebrated as one of the world's premiere luxury hotel brands, Oberoi Hotels attracts and serves some of the most quality sensitive guests in the world. The case considers the challenge of how an organization with a standardized service model can repeatedly delight... View Details

Keywords: Service Quality; Service Management; Service Quality Competition; Customer Management; Customer Service Excellence; Employee Empowerment; Employee Engagement; Employee Training; Hospitality; Hotel Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Employees; Training; Quality; Accommodations Industry; India

20 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

How Much Is Freedom Worth? For Gig Workers, a Lot.

pointing to the mobile shift-swapping app used by employees of clothing retailer The Gap. The company piloted the app in its Old Navy stores and expanded it to all brands in 2018. The app “creates value,”... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Technology

October 2007
Teaching Note

Major Steckleson at the National Training Center (TN)

By: Scott A. Snook and Steven Shafer

Keywords: Education

02 Oct 2019
What Do You Think?

What Grade Would You Give Walmart CEO Doug McMillon?

ammunition in response to shootings in and around Company stores. None of those giving him low marks indicated they would stop shopping at Walmart. But if these same responses are any indication, efforts by Walmart View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

July – August 2011
Article

Deliberate Learning to Improve Performance in Dynamic Service Settings: Evidence from Hospital Intensive Care Units

By: I. M. Nembhard and A. L. Tucker

Dynamic service settings-characterized by workers who interact with customers to deliver services in a rapidly changing, uncertain, and complex environment (e.g., hospitals)-play an important role in the economy. Organizational learning studies in these settings have... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Focus and Relationships; Learning; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Performance Improvement; Quality; Groups and Teams; Cooperation; Health Industry