Publications

15 Dec 2024
News

Forward Thinking

centers run around the clock. Some industry observers wonder if AI’s potential returns can outweigh these rising electric bills—and the cost to the climate from the widespread use of fossil fuels in the sector. But Bill Nussey (MBA 1996),... View Details

Keywords: Janine White; Illustrations by Richard Borge; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution

September 2008 (Revised February 2009)
Case

BMW's Project Switch (A): Importers vs. National Sales Companies

By: Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

BMW is faced with potential channel conflicts across several EU country markets. The case highlights BMW's approach to redesigning its channel in Greece. The case provides details on both headquarter and country head perspective on BMW's channel strategy. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Conflict and Resolution; Auto Industry; European Union; Greece

December 2019
Case

Walmart Ecommerce (B): Omnichannel Pursuits

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case is an abridged version (part 2 of 2) of "Walmart's Omnichannel Strategy: Revolution or Miscalculation?" HBS Case No. 720-370. The (B) case describes Walmart’s omnichannel strategy in 2018 as it battled Amazon for online retail market share. Walmart aimed to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry; Bentonville; Arkansas; United States

Keywords: Allison Webster; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution

02 Dec 2018
News

An Investor’s Guide to Climate Change: Risks and Opportunities

sustainability at Citigroup; Michael Ellis (MBA 2008), managing director of Inherent Group; Claire Broido Johnson (MBA 2002), president of CBJ Energy; and Jackson Lehr (MBA 2007), director of distributed energy ventures at National Grid.... View Details

17 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?

other place where you are seeing malls thrive is at the high end. The luxury malls, what the industry calls A-class malls, are doing very, very well. It's the B- and C-class malls that are in trouble. These malls are targeting the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr.

Using his Ford automobile as collateral, Wyatt entered the gas distribution and energy pipeline business with $800 in 1955. His tenacity and determination quickly secured gas contracts throughout Texas, and in short order, Wyatt had built... View Details

Keywords: Utilities & Energy

01 Jun 2014
News

Faculty Q&A: The Cup Runneth Over

non-sponsor companies. For example, at the 2006 Cup in Germany, a Dutch brewery distributed to Dutch fans thousands of pairs of lederhosen of the same orange color worn by their team. Because Budweiser was an official Cup partner, and... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

21 Nov 2017
News

Alumni Peer into the Future of Energy

Justin Dawe (MBA 2007), president, Scoot Networks (photo courtesy of Scoot Networks) What do you think the state of the energy industry will be in 2030? HBS students in the Energy and Environment Club asked alumni working in the field to... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; solar power; wind power

August 2018
Teaching Note

Magpie: Developing and Using Buyer Personas

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS No. 818-013. Magpie is a startup with a platform that allows publishers to natively tag the products discussed in their content and thus allows consumers to purchase those products without needing to leave that publisher’s web page. A key aspect... View Details

Keywords: Buying Process; Marketing; Sales; Distribution Channels; Segmentation; Entrepreneurship; Social Media; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

Other Unpublished Work

Cross Sectional Analysis of Phantom Products at Retail Stores

By: Zeynep Ton and Ananth Raman

Keywords: Distribution; Logistics; Retail Industry

July 2006
Teaching Note

Strategic Planning at United Parcel Service (TN)

By: David A. Garvin

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Distribution Industry

August 2003
Teaching Note

United Parcel Service's IPO (TN)

By: Paul M. Healy

Teaching Note for (9-103-015). View Details

Keywords: Distribution Industry

February 1984 (Revised March 1984)
Teaching Note

Southwest Lumber Distributors, Teaching Note

By: David E. Bell

Keywords: Distribution Industry

February 1991
Teaching Note

Imperial Distributors, Inc. (A), Teaching Note

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Keywords: Distribution Industry

July 1995 (Revised February 1998)
Teaching Note

Star Distributors, Inc. (A) and (B) TN

By: David A. Thomas

Teaching Note for (9-493-015) and (9-493-016). View Details

Keywords: Distribution Industry

October 2011 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Moda Operandi: A New Style of Fashion Retail

By: Mukti Khaire

Moda Operandi is a startup in the fashion industry. The firm organizes online trunk shows of designers' collections, allowing its members to directly order clothes from the collections shown in Fashion Weeks all over the world. Moda Operandi conveys the preorders to... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution Channels; Internet and the Web; Design; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry

2003
Working Paper

Dynamic Mixed Duopoly: A Model Motivated by Linux vs. Windows

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pankaj Ghemawat

This paper analyzes a dynamic mixed duopoly in which a profit-maximizing competitor interacts with a competitor that prices at zero (or marginal cost), with the cumulation of output affecting their relative positions over time. The modeling effort is motivated by... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Competition; Open Source Distribution; Balance and Stability; Applications and Software; Network Effects; Duopoly and Oligopoly