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20 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 20

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2545972 Match Your Own Price? Self-Matching as a Retailer's Multichannel Pricing Strategy By: Kireyev, Pavel, Vineet Kumar, and Elie Ofek Abstract—Multichannel retailing has created several new strategic choices... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2007 (Revised March 2012)
Compilation

John D. Rockefeller and the Creation of Standard Oil

By: Nancy F. Koehn and Katherine Miller

Reconstructs the entrepreneurial journey of John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil and one of the most famous business figures in history. Traces his early career as a retailer in Cleveland through his decision to enter the oil industry in the early 1860s to his... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Business History; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Competitive Strategy; Energy Industry

August 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Kmart and ESL Investments (A)

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah Abbott

A major bankrupt retailer is poised to emerge from Chapter 11. Two activist hedge funds ("vulture investors") will own over 50% of reorganized Kmart's common stock, based on prior investments in Kmart's debt claims, and an infusion of new equity financing. The Chapter... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment; Investment Activism; Valuation; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

February 2021
Case

Drizly: Managing Supply and Demand through Disruption

By: Kris Ferreira

It was April 6th, 2020, and the management team at Drizly—an online alcohol marketplace where consumers could browse and purchase alcohol from local liquor retail stores via Drizly’s app for immediate home delivery—were thrilled to see record-breaking sales from the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Demand and Consumers; Growth and Development; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Satisfaction; Goals and Objectives; Supply Chain Management

February 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Ample Hills Creamery

By: Tom Eisenmann, Lindsay N. Hyde and Tom Quinn

Ample Hills Creamery started in 2010 as a temporary ice cream pushcart in Brooklyn, New York City. On the strength of inventive flavors and clever marketing, husband-and-wife founders Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna built a premium, artisanal dessert empire of 16 retail... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Business Growth and Maturation; Partners and Partnerships; Logistics; Profit; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Food and Beverage Industry

October 1990 (Revised June 1992)
Case

Direct Product Profitability at Hannaford Brothers Co.

By: Walter J. Salmon

Concerns the pioneering use of a method of accounting in retailing which takes into account not only sales and the cost of goods sold but, at the item level, all of the variable costs associated with each item that is sold. Focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Cost; Price; Sales; Opportunities; Retail Industry

October 1997 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Asda (A)

By: Michael Beer and James Weber

In the mid-1980s, Asda was one of the most successful retail companies in the United Kingdom. By 1991, the chain of 200 grocery stores had a lack of direction, a demoralized workforce, declining profits, rising debt, collapsing stock price, and was facing bankruptcy.... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

October 2024
Case

Sacoor Brothers: From Co-Family CEOs to No Family CEOs?

By: Lauren Cohen, David Ager and Alpana Thapar

Sacoor Brothers, a luxury clothing retail company, was founded in 1989 in Lisbon, Portugal, by four brothers—Malik, Salim, Rahimo, and Moez. After establishing a strong presence in Portugal, the brothers were drawn to the rapidly growing retail markets in the Middle... View Details

31 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 31

make purchases. Retailers, however, felt that major credit and debit card issuers had too much market power which was leading to higher costs for retailers to accept such payment forms. Consumers were increasingly adopting smart phones... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Chongqing Tiandi

By: Arthur I Segel, Nicolas P. Retsinas, Joshua A. Katzin, Nadeem Meghji and Cindy Yan

In late 2000, Vincent Lo, a prominent Hong Kong developer was invited by the Deputy Mayor of Chongqing, China to undertake a major redevelopment of the urban core. Lo had previously successfully developed the landmark Xintiandi retail and entertainment district in... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Chongqing (municipality, China); Hong Kong

25 Aug 2018
News

'Amazon effect' could have impact on inflation dynamics: paper

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Molycorp: Morgan Brothers' Reverse Convertible Notes (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

In August 2011, Morgan Brothers Bank was issuing a $2.5 million reverse convertible note with payoffs linked to the price of Molycorp's common stock. These financially engineered securities were just one of many kinds of structured notes available in the retail market.... View Details

Keywords: Structured Products; Reverse Convertible Notes; Replication; Option Pricing; Bond Pricing; Financial Engineering; Valuation; Metals and Minerals; Debt Securities; Finance; Investment; Mining Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada; California

May 1993 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Air Miles

By: John A. Quelch

The chairman and CEO of a U.K.-based frequent buyer travel award program is planning on launching in North America. Management must determine the marketing strategy to be used, specifically how the U.K. program should be altered, whether the U.S. and Canadian markets... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Service Delivery; Market Entry and Exit; Adaptation; Product Launch; Service Industry; Canada; United Kingdom; United States

Find at Harvard

26 Sep 2019
News

Trying to shop for medical care? Lots of luck with that

04 Feb 2019
News

Betting on Books: Can the Indie Bookstore Revival Last?

Teaching

Overview

I am interested in teaching topics related to supply chains and retail operations. At Harvard Business School, I have served as a Junior and Senior Teaching Fellow for the first year required Technology and Operations Management course. I have also served as an... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ayelet Israeli

Professor Israeli utilizes econometric methods and field experiments to study data driven decision making in marketing context. Her research focuses on data-driven marketing, with an emphasis on how businesses can leverage their own data, customer data, and market data... View Details

Keywords: Channel Management; Pricing; Pricing Policies; Online Marketing; E-commerce; Analytics; Econometrics; Field Experiments; Data Analytics; Artificial Intelligence; Value Of Data

February 2003 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Brioni

By: David E. Bell

Should Brioni, an internationally known, exclusive men's suit manufacturer and retailer extend its line to include women's apparel? The opportunity is to enter a much larger and profitable market. The dangers are: 1) compromising the existing image, and 2) failing to... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Segmentation; Expansion; Profit; Risk Management; Demand and Consumers; Fashion Industry

December 2005 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Canyon Johnson Urban Fund

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Alexa Arena

Basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson and K. Robert Turner, managing partner of Canyon Johnson Urban Fund (CJUF), raised $271.7 million for investments in urban real estate. The fund considered two projects, both located in Hollywood, CA. The first was located on... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Projects; Business and Government Relations; Public Opinion; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Los Angeles