Supermarket - Publications - Faculty & Research

21 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Loyalty: Don’t Give Away the Store

loyalty programs, and it is possible to get a good sample from them. We sampled one supermarket store and one supermarket chain. Q: I have at least three loyalty shopper cards in my wallet. What percentage... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls; Consumer Products; Retail

24 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

Building an IT Governance Committee

of an extremely successful supermarket chain on the West Coast, where he achieved impressive business results through effective IT system implementation and management. As chair of the IT committee, he helps balance his company's... View Details

Keywords: by Richard Nolan & Warren McFarlan

01 Jul 2019
Research & Ideas

The Airbnb Lesson for Startups? Success Takes More Than Technology

money by becoming the supermarket for all your travel needs. That has not been the case in the travel industry. Kost: Why is that? Teixeira: Hotels focus on customers from the time they enter their doors to when they leave. Airlines focus... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Travel; Tourism

05 Jun 2000
What Do You Think?

What’s Happening to Our Patience?

increasing their value. Denise Rickman grabs a magazine from the rack while in the supermarket checkout lane. Imran Jafar rides his scooter to work, enjoying the benefits of close-to-the-road transportation, exercise, and what sounds a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

26 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

How Grocery Bags Manipulate Your Mind

bags" participants were asked to imagine approaching a supermarket to do their grocery shopping with their own bags. The "without bags" group received nearly identical instructions, but nothing about bags was mentioned. All... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail

03 Sep 2014
What Do You Think?

Who Should Choose Your Boss?

headed? If so, is the question of who should choose your boss becoming "a little irrelevant"? What do you think? Original Article Recent events surrounding the walkout of many of the 25,000 employees at Market Basket, a Massachusetts-based View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Food & Beverage

07 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Banning Big-box Stores Can Hurt Local Retailers

Tesco shops were replacing independent businesses. "What the politicians did not anticipate was that these large supermarket chains were going to come in anyway, regardless of regulations," Sadun says. "They had reached a... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail

26 Aug 2024
Research & Ideas

Can AI Match Human Ingenuity in Creative Problem-Solving?

When ChatGPT and other large language models began entering the mainstream two years ago, it quickly became apparent the technology could excel at certain business functions, yet it was less clear how well artificial intelligence could handle more creative tasks. Sure,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Information Technology; Information; Technology

17 Oct 2016
HBS Case

Business Solutions That Help Cut Food Waste

As much as 40 percent of food grown in the United States for human consumption is wasted. Source: Eivaisla After decades of wasteful food practices, where perfectly good food is discarded even as poverty keeps many families hungry, solutions are starting to come... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

10 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

Motivation and the Cross-Sector Alliance

underlying framework that compels such partnerships as between a food bank in Mexico and a supermarket in the United States, providing insights into the DNA of a successful collaboration that are broadly applicable. Our excerpt from the... View Details

Keywords: by James Austin, Ezequiel Reficco & SEKN research team

26 Jun 2000
Research & Ideas

Presentation Round-Up

lay-out of supermarkets is more or less the same no matter where you go. Various web sites today may try to differentiate themselves by offering a different experience to the consumer, Papa said, "but we find that people want all TVs to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Kenneth Liss; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

15 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

Going Green Makes Good Business Sense

supermarket for "dolphin-safe" tuna, so Star-Kist decided to fish in safer waters and raised prices accordingly. In reality, even the most well-meaning customers didn't want to shell out more money for a can of tuna even if it... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

21 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Solving the Marketing Resources Allocation Puzzle

allocation plan. Where would the starting point be? A: It is well known that some marketing actions, such as supermarket promotions, deliver short-run results, whereas others, such as television advertising, deliver long-run results. Yet,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

17 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?

store closures around the country. Supermarkets are moving to much smaller formats, much more prepared foods, and healthy foods, because they are getting hit by many competitive threats that make large stores unprofitable. And now this... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

18 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 18

case presents the predicament of a company trying to do right by its customers and its employees as the economic crisis of 2008 hits home. Fifteen years earlier, this Spanish supermarket chain had adopted its own version of total quality... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Confronting the Challenges that Face Bricks-and-Mortar Stores

shopper's prior knowledge to make virtual shopping more intuitive. In-store technology can also be difficult to use. I recently watched a string of customers walk up to a "meal solution" kiosk at a supermarket and attempt to... View Details

Keywords: by Raymond Burke; Retail

12 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 12, 2007

company in the global animal health industry through innovative technology, creative marketing, and strong branding. Sel-Plex, a proprietary Alltech product, had shown important health benefits for animals and humans. Although numerous branded selenium-enriched... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

What Great American Leaders Teach Us

products accessible, installing checkout counters, and expanding product selection by tapping into national branding. Saunders, in essence, built the prototype of today's supermarket long before it became commonplace. At the other end of... View Details