Publications

05 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Raise Their Prices: Because They Can

Grocery bills may be ridiculously high these days, but supply chain problems, energy costs, and inflation aren’t the only factors to blame. New research suggests that companies are raising prices simply... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

18 Mar 2013
HBS Case

HBS Cases: LEGO

process was part of a larger push by Knudstorp to reduce overall complexity within the organization. On the supply chain side, he did away with many of the unique brick components added during Plougmann's... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Entertainment & Recreation

April 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Case

The Auction for Travelport (A)

By: Andrei Hagiu and Misha Sanwal

A senior Blackstone director is deciding how aggressively to bid for Travelport, a travel distribution business containing several key services and platforms. Travelport's most important properties were Galileo, one of the top 3 global distribution systems (GDSs),... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Product Positioning; Cost vs Benefits; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Competitive Advantage; Auctions; Industry Structures; Travel Industry

27 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

How the FBI Reinvented Itself After 9/11

was about running a business. It was all about supply chains and helping the military figure out the best way to get stuff to Europe. Of course, identity and structure both had to change. And then the war... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Web

Food & Agriculture - Business & Environment

and nutrient management Supply chain innovations that reduce food waste and transportation impacts New product development innovations that shift demand toward less greenhouse gas emissions-intensive foods,... View Details

Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

measures reduce US dependence on supply chains linked to China? And what should we do with prices of imports from Vietnam and Mexico on the rise? Paper on Global Supply View Details

24 Dec 2013
First Look

First Look: December 24

accounts for more than a quarter of the overall increase in labor supply to the private sector during 1986-2005. Using the reform to instrument for private-sector labor supply, we find that private-sector labor demand is very elastic. We... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

May 1994 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Barilla SpA (A)

By: Janice H. Hammond

Barilla SpA, an Italian manufacturer that sells to its retailers largely through third-party distributors, experienced widely fluctuating demand patterns from its distributors during the late 1980s. This case describes a proposal to address the problem by implementing... View Details

Keywords: Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Supply Chain; Technology; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Italy

07 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Deconstructing LEGO’s Decarbonization

externalities. We arrived at Billund, Denmark eager to better understand the company’s strategy to leverage bioplastics and recycling technologies to decarbonize their supply chain. Brick-themed light fixture in the central atrium of LEGO... View Details

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

producers who supply the industry. Equally hit are supply chain partners who move goods across the country. "It’s going to take some time to retool operating models to be... View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

April 2006 (Revised June 2008)
Case

New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.

By: H. Kent Bowen, Robert S. Huckman and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Considers whether New Balance, one of the world's five largest manufacturers of athletic footwear, should respond to Adidas' planned acquisition of Reebok--a transaction that would join the second- and third-largest companies in the industry. Highlights the unique... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Production; Supply Chain Management; Performance Improvement; Competition; Consolidation; Apparel and Accessories Industry