Publications

Video

Gonzalo Restrepo

Gonzalo Restrepo, former President of the Colombia-based Almacenes Éxito, the largest South American retail company, describes his search for an international partner, which eventually led... View Details

February 2010
Case

Go Mobile: The Phirbol Franchise

By: Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

To grow Phirbol, a telecom retail franchise chain in Delhi, India's underdeveloped markets, its founders were exploring ways to offer more value to the franchisees. In mid-2009, the Phirbol franchise was comprised of some 150 franchisees that had converted their small... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Innovation and Management; Brands and Branding; Service Operations; Franchise Ownership; Value Creation; Telecommunications Industry; Delhi

29 Sep 2014
News

Why Do Outlet Stores Exist?

July 2014 (Revised August 2014)
Case

AmazonFresh: Rekindling the Online Grocery Market

By: Rory McDonald, Clayton Christensen, Robin Yang and Ty Hollingsworth

More than a decade after the high-profile failures of several early online grocers, grocery remains the largest single U.S. retail category and one of the few that has not yet migrated online. Amazon began testing its grocery-delivery service, AmazonFresh, in Seattle,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; New Markets; Grocery; Operations Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Learning; Service Operations; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

January 2017
Case

Expanding Ecommerce at Technos

By: Thales Teixeira, Rohit Deshpandé, Ruth Costas and Priscilla Zogbi

Technos was the market leader in the Brazilian watch market. Its CEO had made a firm commitment to evolve the company’s marketing and commercial practices by focusing less on pushing product to retail clients and more on branding to end consumers to pull watches from... View Details

26 Sep 2024
HBS Case

If a Car Can Drive Itself, Can It Make Life-or-Death Decisions?

What would Aristotle think about self-driving cars? As the abilities of artificial intelligence systems to automate complex tasks accelerate, warnings about the dangers of outsourcing life-and-death decisions to machines are pumping the brakes on the powerful... View Details

Keywords: by Tom Quinn; Auto; Technology

14 Oct 2011
News

The big businesses learning how to think small

06 Sep 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Reinventing an Iconic Independent Bookstore

Keywords: Re: Ryan L. Raffaelli; Retail

February 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Best Buy Health: Enabling Care at Home

By: Robert S. Huckman, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Antonio Moreno, Bradley Staats and Sarah Mehta

This case explores retailer Best Buy’s decision to enter health care. Best Buy Health aims to enable care at home across three prongs: consumer health, active aging, and virtual care. A key pillar of Best Buy Health's strategy is leveraging the Geek Squad—the company's... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Business Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Minnesota

27 Sep 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Large-Scale Demand Estimation with Search Data

Keywords: by Tomomichi Amano, Andrew Rhodes, and Stephan Seiler; Retail

March 1991 (Revised December 1994)
Case

Marks and Spencer Ltd. (A)

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

Marks and Spencer is a highly regarded retailer in the United Kingdom. This case examines the history of the firm, its organizational capabilities, and its long standing relationships with employees, customers, and suppliers. Also discusses the firm's expansion into... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Organizational Design; Relationships; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

December 2009
Case

Hungerit

By: David E. Bell, Sarah Morton and Mary Louise Shelman

Hungary's top producer of poultry products is deciding the company's future strategy in the face of new opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe, a changing retail market in Hungary, and the possibility of increased global competition. View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Hungary

September 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Leasing Decision at Magnet Beauty Products, Inc.

By: Krishna G. Palepu and George Serafeim

A fast-growing retailer is facing two different leasing options for its stores. In choosing between the two options, management is considering the potential impact of the two options on the company's financial statements, in light of the proposed new accounting... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Standards; Leasing; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

23 Mar 2022
News

Online Brands Try a Traditional Marketing Strategy: Physical Stores

Pietro Satriano

Pietro Satriano is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. He sits on the boards of CarMax, the largest omni-channel used car retailer in the U.S. and Metro, a large regional grocery retailer in Canada. Pietro advises a number of food-tech startups and acts... View Details

22 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

Name Your Price. Really.

of experiments—including a field experiment where she posed with students as snack bar employees—Santana found that by subtly manipulating the environment, sellers can dramatically change what some buyers are willing to pay. Retailers are... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products

17 Dec 2019
Working Paper Summaries

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

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung, Kyoungwon Seo, and Reo Song; Retail; Retail

September 2008 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Hearts On Fire - Brand Development Manager

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Benson P. Shapiro

Hearts On Fire, a successful branded diamond producer, established the position of Brand Development Manager (BDM) to build the company's presence, sales, and relationships with its retail customers. After one year, the CEO, CFO and President must evaluate the impact... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Investment Return; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Business Processes; Salesforce Management; Business Strategy

February 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

ICICI (A)

By: Bharat N. Anand, Nitin Nohria and John Pegg

ICICI was the first Indian company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. This case is set in 1998, when the company had to decide whether to enter the retail credit segment of the Indian financial market. Although the retail credit sector presents attractive... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Strategic Planning; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Growth Management; Markets; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; India