Publications

25 Oct 2010
HBS Case

Tesco’s Stumble into the US Market

too ambitious. It assumed that Tesco would get everything right on the first try. On the other hand, Tesco rightly aimed to scale the concept as soon as possible so that fixed overhead investments in its own distribution centers could be... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

12 Sep 2007
Op-Ed

Building Sandcastles: The Subprime Adventure

shifted. The new "somebody else" was the international cadre of investors, who recognized the possibilities of profit in this market. The dizzying escalation in home prices masked the shaky underpinnings of this empire.... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas; Banking; Construction; Real Estate

January 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Chef Davide Oldani and Ristorante D'O

By: Gary Pisano, Alessandro Di Fiore, Elena Corsi and Elisa Farri

This case examines the unique business model of Ristorante D'O, a high end gourmand restaurant located near Milan, Italy. Founded by Chef Davide Oldani, D'O offers meals at approximately one-third the price of other Michelin starred restaurants. Oldani has made this... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Expansion; Creativity; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Milan

21 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The New Math of Customer Relationships

and The Service Profit Chain and The Value Profit Chain (with Lenoard A. Schlesinger). Some of the ideas go back to Heskett's 1986 book, Managing in the Service Economy. A new book, The Ownership Quotient,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

20 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 20

note:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/610050-PDF-ENG Dassault Systèmes Stefan Thomke and Daniela BeyersdorferHarvard Business School Case 610-080 Dassault Systèmes, a leader in product lifecycle management software, has enjoyed a very View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Dec 2014
First Look

First Look: December 9

emissions cap-and-trade regulation on a firm's technology choice and capacity decisions. We show that emissions price uncertainty under cap-and-trade results in greater expected profit than a constant emissions price under an emissions... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 14

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/13-010.pdf IP Modularity: Profiting from Innovation by Aligning Product Architecture with Intellectual Property Authors:Joachim Henkel, Carliss Y. Baldwin, and Willy C. Shih Abstract Distributed value... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2024
Case

Cyrus: Turning a Traditional Business Model on Its Head (A)

By: James Heskett

The loss of the lease at their Michelin-starred Cyrus 1.0 in Sonoma County, California gives the partners an opportunity to shut down and rework a “broken” business model, one with labor intensive experiences six or seven nights a week, high burnout, high... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Retention; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leasing; Work-Life Balance; Strategic Planning; Loss; Profit; Working Conditions; California

24 Jul 2007
First Look

First Look: July 24, 2007

consider which, if any, aspects of BYD's operations constitute sources of sustainable competitive advantage for the company. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=606139 Calloway Laboratory: Pee for View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

03 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 3

private firms (firms incorporated before 1985). Sectors dominated by state-owned and traditional private firms before 1988-1990, with assets, sales, and profits representing shares higher than 50%, generally remained so in 2005. The... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Apr 2024
In Practice

Navigating the Mood of Customers Weary of Price Hikes

Inflation remains front and center for consumers and businesses, which continue to reel from the double-digit rise in prices during the COVID-19 pandemic and the interest rate hikes designed to cool them. While price increases for goods... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Retail; Consumer Products

14 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Curiosity, Not Coding: 6 Skills Leaders Need in the Digital Age

organization’s values become the compass for navigating the many complex ethical dilemmas that arise with technology and data. Ethical leaders say “no” to actions that put profits before corporate integrity and say "yes" to standards and... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards; Technology

03 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 3, 2008

resources to environmental protection? How should we think about the notion of firms sacrificing profits in the social interest? May they do so within the scope of their fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders? Can they do so on... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 16, 2008

charity that will sap the strengths of the profit-maximizing corporation, while journalist Martin Wolf maintains that the maximization of profit is far from universally accepted, and rightly so. Chicago Nobel laureate Gary Becker wonders... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2019 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Acelerex

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2019, Randell Johnson, Founder and Chief Executive of Acelerex, was reflecting on the company’s first year of rapid growth and the challenges of scaling the business that lay ahead. Acelerex was riding the waves of change taking place in electrical power grids... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Energy Sources; Growth Management; Expansion; Global Strategy; Cash Flow; Energy Industry; Web Services Industry; Consulting Industry