Publications

March 2023 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Majid Al Futtaim: Adapting the Shopping Mall to the Digital Era

By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in August 2022, as Ahmed Galal Ismail, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Properties and Fatima Zada, digital and omnichannel director at Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls, go over the plans to roll out the omnichannel mall offering for the Mall of the Emirates they... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Value Creation; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United Arab Emirates

March 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Eliot Spitzer: Pushing Wall Street to Reform

By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella and Jonathan Schlefer

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer faced a decision about how to stop wrongdoing committed by major Wall Street firms during the Internet boom. The equities analysts of Merrill Lynch and other Wall Street firms were charged with objectively advising retail... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Decisions; Financial Institutions; Stocks; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Laws and Statutes; Lawsuits and Litigation; Conflict of Interests; Internet; Financial Services Industry; United States

Paige Tsai is PhD candidate in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. Her research broadly examines the effects of job design on employees. Her current projects explore the financial and well-being effects of holding multiple jobs,... View Details

Keywords: service industry; service industry; service industry; service industry

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

15 Nov 2016
First Look

November 15, 2016

the optimal rule. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50545 Who Should Select New Employees, the Head Office or the Unit Manager? Consequences of Centralizing Hiring at a Retail Chain By: Deller,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2018 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Walmart Inc. takes on Amazon.com

By: David Collis, Andy Wu, Rembrand Koning and Huaiyi CiCi Sun

This case explores how Walmart should compete with Amazon. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Analysis; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry

Web

Impact of the New Medium - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

introduced the Polaroid Land Camera, Model 95, and Land Film, Type 40, to the public. Edwin Land stood at a precipice, wondering whether the significant investment and research in his new product would pay off. Land had wisely kept his costs down by operating in the... View Details

17 Dec 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

‘Ted Levitt Changed My Life’

later: "What business are you really in?" "An industry begins with the customer and his or her needs, not with a patent, a raw material, or a selling skill," wrote Levitt, citing the railroads as one example of a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Retail

January 2017 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (A)

By: Doug J. Chung

Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company’s products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for its excellent customer service and a fair “one-for-all” HR policy. Historically, the salespeople had been compensated... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Change; Decision Making; Electronics Industry; Sweden

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

entertainment industry really works-and how to navigate today's high-stakes business world at large. Publisher's link: http://www.blockbusters-thebook.com/ 2006 Journal of Economic Perspectives The Investment Strategies of Sovereign... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2013 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Phu My Hung

By: John Macomber and Dawn H. Lau

Privately held city development promoters decide whether to partner on next phase or go it alone in a 20-year, 4000-acre project. Set outside of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, this decades-long project led by two Taiwanese families reshaped and built the economic... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Infrastructure; Real Estate Industry; Viet Nam

July – August 2009
Article

The Descent of Finance

What if the current recession turns out to be like the Great Depression of 1929-1933? Four years from now, the United States might find itself with a still-shrinking economy, half as many banks as in 2009, a third as many hedge funds, and retail banking resembling a... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; International Finance; Globalized Economies and Regions; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry

Profile

Brandon Graves

time, I couldn’t anticipate how much my initial opinions and viewpoints would change over an 80-minute case discussion. What is your favorite childhood memory? One of my favorite childhood memories is going to work with my mother. She worked in the View Details

03 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 3

industries such as agriculture and biofuels. As GenapSys came closer to releasing its product, Esfandyarpour and his Senior Director of Operations and Strategy, Leila Rastegar (HBS '11), sat down to decide which of three business models... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2013 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Amazon in 2025

By: Sunil Gupta and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Amazon launched its website in July 1995 to sell books online and by 2020 it has grown to become a digital giant with over $280 billion in annual sales. A large part of its growth came from expanding into a variety of businesses that some see as unrelated. Has it... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Complements; Showrooming; Ecosystem; Growth Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Network Effects; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

March 2013
Case

An Entrepreneur's New Product Development Journey

By: Elie Ofek

This case tracks the new product development process undertaken by Gauri Nanda, the founder and CEO of Nanda Home, as she ventures to innovate beyond her initial product launches. Having achieved commercial success with her first product Clocky, a roll away alarm clock... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Product Development; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

Web

Winners & Runners-Up | New Venture Competition

Helm Social Enterprise Track Winner A web-based solution that streamlines the transition of patients from the hospital to post-acute care facilities. XinfuGo (now Tang Mall) Ying Chen, HBS Yixin La, HBS Qiwei Shi, HBS Social Enterprise Track Runner-Up A disruptive... View Details

19 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 19

on average, firms' self-reported anticorruption efforts reflect real efforts to combat corruption and are not merely cheap talk. Download the paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2229039 When to Sell Your Idea: Theory and Evidence from the Movie View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2019
Supplement

Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (C)

By: Doug J. Chung

Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company’s products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for its excellent customer service and a fair “one-for-all” HR policy. Historically, the salespeople had been compensated... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Change Management; Behavior; Electronics Industry; Sweden