retail industry - Publications - Faculty & Research

05 Jul 2022
What Do You Think?

Have We Seen the Peak of Just-in-Time Inventory Management?

distribution channel. Fluctuating demand at the retail level would generate exaggerated fluctuations—a “whipsaw” effect—in expected demand and inventory planning at the back end, or manufacturing level, in an effort to meet possible... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

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Accounting & Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Susanna Gallani : Received the 2021 Robert F. Greenhill Award. Jonas Heese : Winner of the 2021 FESE De La Vega Best Paper Award for “Does Industry Employment of Active Regulators Weaken Oversight?” Robert S. Kaplan : Awarded a Doctor... View Details

13 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: Dec. 13

Internet channel to a retail store channel should produce different effects than adding a retail store to the Internet channel. To test our theory, we analyze a unique data set from a high-end View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2011 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Language and Globalization: 'Englishnization' at Rakuten (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Hiroshi Mikitani, the CEO of Rakuten, (Japan's largest online retailer), is at the helm of an organization that is rapidly expanding into global markets. In a critical stride toward becoming the world's No. 1 Internet services company, Mikitani announces... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Human Capital; Change Management; Transformation; Social Enterprise; Communication Strategy; Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Leadership; Global Strategy; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Japan

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April 2025
Supplement

Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion PowerPoint Supplement

By: Michael W. Toffel, Ken Pucker and Stacy Straaberg

The Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) case introduces Allbirds as a footwear startup not only focused on simple design, comfort, and sustainable natural materials but on decarbonizing the wider fashion industry. Background material highlights the growing... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Impact; Environmental Strategy; Innovation; Product Design; Supply Chain Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Climate Change; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States; California

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JOSEPH L. BOWER, Donald K. David Professor Emeritus, has been a leader in general management at Harvard Business School for 51 years. He also served on the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School during its first decade. He has served in many administrative roles... View Details

Keywords: information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry

June 2012
Case

Innovating at AT&T: Partnering to Lead the Broadband Revolution

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Phillip Andrews and Kerry Herman

In 2010, the U.S. retail market value for next-generation non-handset wirelessly-enabled devices was just over $1 billion. By 2011 it had grown 1,141% to $13.2 billion and was forecast to reach $24.7 billion in 2015. At the same time, user demand for data was surging... View Details

Keywords: Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Team Leadership; Emerging Technologies; Business Models; Business To Business; Corporate Vision; Growth Strategy; Corporate Culture; Innovation and Invention; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships; Leadership; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Model; Technology Industry; United States

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April 2025
Teaching Note

Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) and (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Ken Pucker and Stacy Straaberg

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 622-024, 625-004, 625-005, and 625-702. The Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) case introduces Allbirds as a footwear startup not only focused on simple design, comfort, and sustainable natural materials but on decarbonizing the wider... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Impact; Environmental Strategy; Innovation; Product Design; Supply Chain Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Climate Change; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Business Startups; Initial Public Offering; Knowledge Sharing; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; California

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11 Dec 2023
Blog Post

Building Iconic Brands and Brighter Futures: Interview with Glossier CEO, Kyle Leahy

joining Teach for America or law school, and then ultimately management consulting after college graduation. In consulting, Leahy had her first exposure to the retail industry, working primarily with clients in the View Details

19 Sep 2023
Blog Post

2023 Summer Internships in Business & Environment

joining HBS. Audrey Atencio (MBA 2024, Section G), Summer Internship: Summer Associate, Piva Capital Piva is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm ($500mm AUM) investing in visionary entrepreneurs who are solving the world's critical problems in the View Details

17 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

Amazon, Whole Foods Deal a Big Win for Consumers

Source: 400tmax Editor's Note. Online retailing behemoth Amazon announced June 16 that it would acquire upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market in a deal valued at more than $13 billion. Though the company has dabbled with the idea of a brick-and-mortar footprint in... View Details

Keywords: by Jose Alvarez and Len Schlesinger; Retail

19 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

Fed Up Workers and Supply Woes: What's Next for Dollar Stores?

Retailers should be ecstatic. Last year was dismal amid the pandemic, with plunging revenue and record bankruptcies. But this year things have turned around. For instance, retail sales in April through June... View Details

Keywords: by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Retail

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Birth of the American Salesman

salespeople. About 41 percent of today's sales workers sell in retail stores. The demographics of America's sales workers have changed. Nearly half of the total sales workers recorded in the 2000 census were women. The same View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

Gerald Zaltman

*Joined Harvard Faculty: 1991
Prior Faculty Appointments: Northwestern University, 1968-75;
University of Pittsburgh, 1975-91

*Doctoral Degree in Sociology Received from: The John Hopkins University;
MBA Degree Received from: The University of... View Details

Keywords: marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry

28 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 28

are less responsive to changes in investment opportunities, especially in industries in which stock prices are most sensitive to earnings news. These findings are consistent with the notion that short-termist pressures distort investment... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

10 Dec 2007
HBS Case

One Laptop per Child

Classmate PC, which retails at a price higher but in the same ballpark as the XO laptop. (Intel also joined the OLPC initiative in July 2007.) Lenovo and Intel are established players "who saw the initiative, understood its... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Computer

07 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

4+2 = Sustained Business Success

business performance. What does matter, it turns out, is having a strong grasp of the business basics. Without exception, companies that outperformed their industry peers excelled at what we call the four primary management... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, William Joyce & Bruce Roberson

16 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

The Outside-In Approach to Customer Service

rather than focus simply on products and sales. And Gulati's research, including interviews with 500 executives spanning industries and geographies, asserts that outside-in success is not confined to any one sector. "I see the move... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products

17 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

If the CEO’s High Salary Isn't Justified to Employees, Firm Performance May Suffer

high unexplained pay ratio saw their performance drop by as much as half, compared to their industry competitors that had low levels of unexplained pay disparity. In the most glaring cases—about a fifth of the companies studied—not only... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

July – August 2008
Article

Should You Invest in the Long Tail?

By: Anita Elberse

The blockbuster strategy is a time-honored approach, particularly in media and entertainment. When space is limited on store shelves and in traditional distribution channels, producers tend to focus on a few likely best sellers, hoping that one or two big hits will... View Details