Publications

Article

Channel Integration, Sales Dispersion, and Inventory Management

By: Santiago Gallino, Antonio Moreno and Ioannis Stamatopoulos

We study the effects of the introduction of cross-channel functionalities on the overall sales dispersion of retailers and the implications of these effects for inventory management. To do that, we analyze data from a leading U.S. retailer who introduced a... View Details

Keywords: Retail Operations; Online Retail; Channel Integration; Sales Dispersion; Long Tail; Empirical Operations; Inventory Management; Omnichannel Retail; Marketing Channels; Integration; Sales; Logistics; Operations; Management; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

December 1994 (Revised May 1999)
Case

3M Optical Systems: Managing Corporate Entrepreneurship

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Afroze A Mohammed

A middle-level division manager must decide whether he should support an investment request for a third attempt at launching a new product developed by a struggling business unit. Describes the long, difficult process by which the unit has developed the product--a... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Problems and Challenges; Product Development; Consumer Products Industry

24 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

Do National Security Secrets Hold Back National Innovation?

rights to commercialize their ideas in exchange for disclosing the details of their inventions in the patent document itself. The system is designed to make information about cutting-edge technology... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

03 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 3

front-line workers who voice concerns and share ideas about how to solve problems. Our study is among the first to develop and empirically test theory about how specific management practices can encourage employees to speak up about... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How the Giants of Enterprise Seized the Future

The distinguishing characteristic of the giants of enterprise is that they live in the future. And the future for them is not some fantasy world where trees grow in the sky. It is real—it has a concrete existence in their minds. Why?... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow

March 1994 (Revised April 1994)
Case

Eli Lilly and Co.: The Flexible Facility Decision--1993

By: Gary P. Pisano

In 1993, Eli Lilly is preparing to build manufacturing capacity for three new pharmaceutical products that it expects to launch in 1996. Management wrestles with a decision of whether to add specialized manufacturing capacity or flexible capacity. This question touches... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Investment; Goals and Objectives; Product Launch; Production; Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

April 2001 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Competition Policy in the European Union and the Power of Microsoft

By: Julio J. Rotemberg and Michelle Kalka

Focuses on a decision by the European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti about U.S.-based Microsoft Corp. Sun has complained to the commission that Microsoft has installed components in its desktop operating system that only "talk" to Microsoft operating systems for... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Law; Emerging Markets; Information Technology; Policy; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; European Union; United States

01 Oct 2016
Blog Post

Reflections on the Peek Weekend Family Business Cohort

Peek has changed a lot since its founding in 2015! Please visit the Peek website for the most up to date information on dates, registration, and program events. Last summer I participated in the Peek Weekend Family Business cohort. My... View Details

March 2018
Teaching Note

Augmedix

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-048. Augmedix provides a service that live-streams video of patient appointments to a remote scribe, freeing up significant physician time from electronic medical record data-entry tasks. The venture is confronting decisions in areas such... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Sales; Management; Marketing Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Adoption; Customers; Segmentation; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States

12 Jan 2016
News

Opinion: It’s safe to eat Chipotle burritos — and buy some stock

August 1999 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Brita Products Company, The

By: John A. Deighton

Clorox's Brita skillfully exploits a tide of water safety concerns, growing a home water (filtration) business from inception to a 15% U.S. household penetration in ten years. The dilemma in the case arises as the period of increasing returns seems to be drawing to a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Acquisition; Retention; Safety; Natural Environment; Emerging Markets; Investment Return; Equity; Demand and Consumers; United States

12 Nov 2024
HBS Case

Inside One Startup's Journey to Break Down Hiring (and Funding) Barriers

seekers and employers. As remote work surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment hovered below 4 percent, and many employers struggled to fill openings. “Harley has to build a team, but doesn’t have all the skills necessary to do it.” View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Employment

October 1992 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Randall's Department Stores

By: Walter J. Salmon and Gwendolyn K. Ortmeyer

Discusses a well-known traditional department store that confronts a very difficult issue of whether to change its pricing policy from a high-low to an everyday pricing approach. Demands that the student formulate a plan of execution for changing the pricing, if... View Details

Keywords: Fluctuation; Price; Marketing Strategy; Strategic Planning

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

XTV: Xerox’s Attempted Recovery From “Fumbling the Future”

By the end of the second spin-off regime, Xerox's position in the copier market had begun to improve. While its share of the market would never return to 80 percent levels, Xerox was able to regain more than... View Details

Keywords: by Henry Chesbrough

March 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Supplement

Pacific Salmon Company, Inc. (CW)

By: Nabil N. El-Hage and Kenneth A. Froot

RRR, a $1 billion private equity fund, is trying to decide how much to bid for Pacific Salmon Inc. and how to finance the acquisition. View Details

Keywords: Food; Bids; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Bids and Bidding; Acquisition; Food and Beverage Industry

16 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Mentoring—Using the Voice of Experience

Sometimes executive education has little to do with what happens in a classroom. Mentoring and coaching are the time-tested ways for wisdom and knowledge to be passed through an organization. Harvard Business School professor Dorothy... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 1984 (Revised June 1998)
Case

MCI Communications Corp.--1983

MCI Communications Corp. is faced with a large need for external financing to support rapid growth and substantial uncertainty due to the AT&T antitrust settlement. The case illustrates the value of convertible debt as a financing instrument in these circumstances. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Emerging Markets; Financing and Loans; Telecommunications Industry; United States

May–June 2023
Article

Which Firms Gain from Digital Advertising? Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Weijia Dai, Hyunjin Kim and Michael Luca

Measuring the returns of advertising opportunities continues to be a challenge for many businesses. We design and run a field experiment in collaboration with Yelp across 18,294 firms in the restaurant industry to understand which types of businesses gain more from... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Digital Marketing; Outcome or Result

April 1992 (Revised February 1996)
Case

CFM International, Inc.

In April 1987 the management team of CFM International, Inc. (CFMI) was considering developing a new jet engine for the Airbus A340. The withdrawal of a competitor's engine had created an unforeseen opportunity for CFMI to re-enter a competition it had apparently lost... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Partners and Partnerships; Investment; Globalized Markets and Industries; Manufacturing Industry; Air Transportation Industry