Publications

August 2000
Case

AMVESCAP in 1999

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kathleen E. E Danoher

Deals with the problems faced by a major mutual fund company as it attempts to respond to the threats and opportunities posed by the explosion of the Internet and the changing landscape of retail financial services. View Details

Keywords: Trends; Investment Funds; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Problems and Challenges; Alignment; Internet; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

15 Jan 2020
Video

Cem Boyner

Cem Boyner, Chair of Boyner Holdings, one of the largest retail groups in Turkey, describes how salespeople in his stores are instilled with a sense of how to serve customers in order to retain customer... View Details

November 2008 (Revised January 2009)
Case

The Restructuring of Daiei

By: Richard S. Ruback

In 2004, the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan (IRCJ) was given the task of restructuring Daiei, one of the largest Japanese retailers and the country's most prominent zombie companies. The IRCJ was a government-sponsored organization that was funded with... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Private Equity; Performance Effectiveness; Retail Industry; Japan

Find at Harvard

18 Oct 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Chewy.com’s Make-or-Break Logistics Dilemma

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey F. Rayport; 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

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 2020
Case

The June Oven

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Christian Godwin

The June Oven was a smart oven which was capable of identifying food and cooking it accordingly. This type of smart oven represented the next step in the long history of oven and stove development. Due to the widespread use of traditional ovens, the market for the June... View Details

Canary Categories—Journal of Marketing Research

Typically, past spending in a category is a positive indicator of future purchasing. In this we show that there exist categories (which we name "canary categories") in which the reverse is true -
When customers purchase... View Details

December 2002 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Tesco Plc.

By: David E. Bell

Tesco, a supermarket chain, has been transformed from a third-rate retailer to a global leader in the past ten years. This case describes how that was accomplished. Interviews with Tesco employees explain the company's approach to understanding customers, motivating... View Details

Keywords: History; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership; Internet and the Web; Supply Chain Management; Global Strategy; Globalization; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

2002
Case

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Julie Lang

Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart in 1962, had the vision for his store to sell low cost, branded products. By setting up its own distribution system and truck fleet, and evaluating retail stores as separate investment centers, Wal-Mart's control systems helped to build... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Retail 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

January 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Studio Moderna - A Venture in Eastern Europe

By: Daniel Isenberg

Studio Moderna is the leading electronic retailer in 20 countries in and around Central and Eastern Europe, and use a multi-channel business strategy, organizational structure, and IT system. When management conflicts arise, Sandi Cesko, CEO and co-founder must decide... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Operations; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Europe

October 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

CompUSA The Computer Superstore

By: Ananth Raman and Anna Sheen McClelland

Examines the CompUSA organization, focusing especially on the operations and the company culture. Highlights the economics of PC retailing and the importance of a responsive supply chain for their product category. The description of company culture emphasizes the role... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Supply Chain Management; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

19 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 19, 2008

Working PapersExploring Inventory Trends in Six U.S. Retail Segments Authors:Adenekan (Nick) Dedeke and Noel H. Watson Abstract Our paper describes inventory trends for both public and private U.S. firms in six View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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

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

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

February 2000 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Kmart Inc. and Builders Square

In 1997, Kmart received an offer from retail buyout specialists Leonard Green & Partners for the purchase of its ailing 162-store home improvement chain, Builders Square. Green's offer included a $10 million cash payment, a warrant to purchase a 28% stake in the new... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Valuation; Leveraged Buyouts; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

March 2015 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Coffee Wars in India: Café Coffee Day 2013

By: David B. Yoffie and Rachna Tahilyani

Café Coffee Day (CCD) is the largest coffee retailer in India. In 2012, Starbucks entered the India market. This case explores CCD's competitive advantages, its analysis of Starbuck's entry strategy, and how it might respond to Starbucks' entry. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competitor Analysis; Competitive Strategy; India