Publications

2013
Working Paper

The Operational Consequences of Private Equity Buyouts: Evidence from the Restaurant Industry

By: Albert W. Sheen and Shai Bernstein

What, if anything, do private equity firms do with businesses they acquire? We find evidence of significant operational changes in 101 restaurant chain buyouts between 2002 and 2012. Analysis of health inspections conducted for over 50,000 stores in Florida shows that... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Quality; Private Equity; Food; Management Practices and Processes; Leveraged Buyouts; Performance Efficiency; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Florida

Read Now

12 Jan 2015
News

Why Online Retailers Are Starting to Care About Your Feelings

Keywords: e-commerce; consumer behavior; innovation; Retail Trade

24 Feb 2014
News

Why Raising Retail Pay Is Good for the Gap

Keywords: human capital; minimum wage; Retail Trade

16 Jun 2020
News

What Will the Retail Experience of the Future Look Like?

Web

Technology & Operations Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

from the Industry Studies Association for "The Impact of Supplier Inventory Service Level on Retailer Demand" ( Manufacturing & Service Operations Management , Fall 2016) with Nathan Craig and Nicole... View Details

May 2012
Case

Evergreen Natural Markets 2012

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Paul S. Myers

Evergreen Natural Markets is a successful food retailer located in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S. Having grown through acquisition, it has a reputation for improving the companies it purchases while retaining previous management. This strategy has succeeded due... View Details

Keywords: United States; Operating Systems; Acquisitions; Strategy; Human Resource Management; Consolidations; Retail Trade; Food; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Consolidation; Acquisition; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Las Vegas; Western United States

March 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Technical Note

Control or Flexibility? Structured Empowerment Offers Both — Lessons from Retail & Service Chains

By: Tatiana Sandino

This note explains how several retail and service organizations use a practice described here as “structured empowerment” to balance control and flexibility as they grow. I define structured empowerment as a practice that grants employees both (a) the power to make... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Standards; Employees; Service Delivery; Decision Making; Power and Influence; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

21 Jun 2022
News

Asian Grocery Retailers Hit Hard by Import Costs and Delays

February 2015 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Quincy Apparel (A)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lisa Mazzanti

Quincy Apparel designs, manufactures and sells work apparel for young professional women that offers the fit and feel of high-end brands at a lower price. In late 2012, Quincy's cofounders are debating how to approach a crucial board meeting. Their seed-stage startup... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Failure; Online Retail; Women's Apparel; Business Startups; Business Plan; Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Production; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; New York (city, NY)

March 2021 (Revised February 2025)
Teaching Note

Afterpay U.S.: The Omnichannel Dilemma

By: Antonio Moreno and Anibha Singh

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-086. In 2018, Nick Molnar, the founder of the Australia-based online payment service Afterpay began its expansion to the U.S. market. The service had gained a loyal following in Australia by enabling customers to pay for online... View Details

October 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Case

The Transformation of Mudo

By: Anthony J. Mayo, Esel Çekin and Çiğdem Çelik

After 16 years in management consulting, Barış Karakullukçu left to become the CEO of Mudo in 2012, one of the best-known names in Turkey's retail industry. She was tasked with leading Mudo's transition from a family business to a more institutionalized, corporate... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Management Challenges; Emerging Market; Retail; Second-generation; Operational Efficiency; Performance Management; Corporate Culture; Growth; Leading Change; Family Business; Organizational Culture; Emerging Markets; Family Ownership; Transformation; Performance Improvement; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Turkey

13 Sep 2021
News

Manufacturers, Retailers Face Price Increases on Rising Transportation Costs, Says Economist

December 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Ocado

By: José Alvarez, David E. Bell and Damien McLoughlin

In 2015, U.K.-based Ocado was the world's largest pure player in the online home-delivery grocery business and was gaining a growing share of the highly competitive U.K. grocery market. Ocado had made heavy investments in technology, including a highly automated... View Details

February 2015 (Revised April 2016)
Supplement

Quincy Apparel (B)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lisa C. Mazzanti

The (B) case provides post-mortem analysis from Quincy's cofounders on why their startup failed and what they could have done differently. Explanations for failure focus on Quincy's ambitious value proposition and resulting operational challenges; cofounder conflict;... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Online Retail; Women's Apparel; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Business Startups; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Benetton Group S.p.A., 2012

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

On May 31, 2012, after 36 years on the Milan Stock Exchange, Benetton was officially delisted and taken private by Edizione, the Benetton family's holding company. Since 2000, Benetton shareholders had seen its market value fall from $4.3 billion to $720 million at the... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Fashion; Retail; Privatization; Family Ownership; Performance Improvement; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Globalized Firms and Management; Change Management; Restructuring; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Italy

October 2014
Case

Mothercare, 2014

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In early 2014, Mothercare was the UK's leading retailer of mother-and-baby products. In fiscal 2013, it generated £341 million in revenues from its 255 UK stores and £128 million online, and was more than three times the size of its next biggest competitor, Mama and... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Turnaround; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

2025
Working Paper

The Hidden Costs of Flexible Labor Models: How Working Multiple Jobs Affects Employees

By: Paige Tsai and Ryan W. Buell

As operations increasingly rely upon flexible labor models—such as gig, part-time, and remote work—it has become commonplace for individuals to work multiple jobs. Across three studies, relying on a combination of transaction-level data from 90,548 customers of a... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Operations; Employee Behavior; Job Design; Sustainable Operations; Job Design and Levels; Personal Finance; Well-being; Happiness; Satisfaction; Wages

SSRN

Read Now

January 2010 (Revised February 2010)
Supplement

IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion (CW)

IBM consultants are convinced that there is a positive relationship with staffing levels and conversion rate. How should Dillard's, a large department store chain, use this insight to manage their staffing levels? View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Operations; Retail Industry

January 2014
Case

Tesco Group Food

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Damien P. McLoughlin and Mary Shelman

In 2010, the world's third largest retailer created a new centralized sourcing department for fresh food and store-brand grocery products in response to changes in global supply and to better meet the needs of a new multi-channel retail environment. The case, set in... View Details

Keywords: Food Retailing; Multichannel Retailing; Sustainable Supply Chains; Agribusiness; Food Marketing; Supply Chain Management; Marketing; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom