Publications

2019
Working Paper

Does Apple Anchor a Shopping Mall? The Effect of the Technology Stores on the Formation of Market Structure

By: Doug J. Chung, Kyoungwon Seo and Reo Song

This study examines the effect of technology stores—company-owned Apple and Microsoft retail stores—on mall configuration. We formulate a structural model that considers the endogenous location decisions of retail stores, taking into account both market characteristics... View Details

Keywords: Apple Store; New Anchor Store; Discrete Game; Complete Information; Multiple Equilibria; GPGPU Technology; Simulator; Bayesian Estimation; Shopping Mall; Spillover

Read Now

May 2003 (Revised May 2009)
Case

ZARA: Fast Fashion

Focuses on Inditex, an apparel retailer from Spain, which has set up an extremely quick response system for its ZARA chain. Instead of predicting months before a season starts what women will want to wear, ZARA observes what's selling and what's not and continuously... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Spain

We study markups and pricing strategies along the supply chain. Our unique dataset combines detailed price and cost information from a large global manufacturer with matched retail prices collected online for the period July 2018 through June 2023. We show that... View Details

October 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

mPharma: Scaling Access to Affordable Primary Care in Africa

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ben Creo

mPharma hopes to scale up to create the largest pan-African healthcare company ever to provide much-needed primary care in retail pharmacies; a reliable, fairly priced supply of drugs; and micro-insurance for drugs. They must prioritize launching a telemedicine... View Details

August 1985
Supplement

Benetton Factory Tour--Ponzano, Italy, Video

By: James L. Heskett

Shows the flow of products through Benetton's Ponzano factory, including its use of subcontractors. Includes information about Benetton's manufacturing, logistics, and retailing strategies. View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Logistics; Product; Production; Strategy; Italy

14 Jul 2015
News

Amazon’s Prime Opportunity

April 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

H-E-B: Creating a Movement to Reduce Obesity in Texas

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Jason Riis and Walter J. Salmon

In January 2012, H-E-B Grocery Co., a private retail chain with stores located in Texas and Mexico, was introducing its Healthy at H-E-B program to its customers. The program, which started with the company's employees a few years earlier, was an effort to educate and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Profit; Leading Change; Customer Focus and Relationships; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Texas

August 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Dollar General Going Private

Intended to improve students' understanding and encourage their use of financial statement analysis. The context is Dollar General Corporation's acquisition by private equity sponsor KKR, which took the company private in 2007. Although the proposed merger generated a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Price; Privatization; Valuation; Retail Industry

26 Apr 2021
News

Hubert Joly Outlines Best Buy's Turnaround Strategy in New Book

Research Summary

The Location Component of Pricing Strategies

By: David E. Bell

David E. Bell is examining retail pricing strategies in the context of location. He finds that customers' willingness to visit a particular store depends on their price expectations, the likelihood that a suitable item will be in stock, and the store's proximity to... View Details

December 2015
Case

The Hain Celestial Group

By: David E. Bell, José B. Alvarez, James Weber and Mary Shelman

Hain Celestial manufactured natural and organic food and personal care products to be sold to retailers of these products. The company had grown successfully and profitably through acquisitions and organically for two decades. In late 2015, Hain faced challenges on... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Strategy; Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; United States

October 2000
Case

Francisco de Narvaez at Tia: Selling the Family Business

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

In January 1999, Francisco de Narvaez sold Tia, his family's retail business in Argentina. De Narvaez reflects on the decision to sell and the selling process. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Business Exit or Shutdown; Decisions; Argentina

25 Mar 2019
News

New generation of startups threaten blue-chips like CVS and UnitedHealth

10 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 10, 2018

Spring 2018 MIT Sloan Management Review The Store Is Dead—Long Live the Store By: Bell, David R., Santiago Gallino, and Antonio Moreno Abstract—In this article, we pursue two interconnected themes: the expansion of online-first retailers... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Sep 2014
News

Wal-Mart spokesman resigns after résumé discovery

May 1990 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Ingvar Kamprad and IKEA

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Traces the development of a Swedish furniture retailer under the leadership of an innovative and unconventional entrepreneur whose approaches redefine the nature and structure of the industry. Traces IKEA's growth from a tiny mail order business to the world's largest... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Management Succession; Distribution; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Value; Retail Industry

September 2005 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Angels and Devils: Best Buy's New Customer Approach (A)

By: Anita Elberse, John T. Gourville and Das Narayandas

In November 2004, The Wall Street Journal reported that consumer electronics retailer Best Buy's new customer approach was to shun the "devils" among its customers. The "customer centricity" initiative, which was led by Best Buy's CEO Brad Anderson, was based on an... View Details

Keywords: History; Customer Relationship Management; Opportunities; Marketing Strategy; Leadership Style; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Keywords: Retail

June 2000
Case

Hollydazzle.com

This case describes the unique underlying economics of a start-up Internet retailing company. It highlights the fact that costs in that setting have a component that varies with volume and thus seriously impacts profitability. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Retail Industry