Publications

2019
Working Paper

Who Should Select New Employees, Headquarters or the Unit Manager? Consequences of Centralizing Hiring at a Retail Chain

By: Carolyn Deller and Tatiana Sandino

We examine how changing the allocation of hiring decision rights in a multiunit organization affects employee-firm match quality, contingent on a unit’s circumstances. Our research site, a US retail chain, switched from a decentralized hiring model (hiring by business... View Details

Keywords: Control; Selection; Decentralization; Company Values; Retail Chains; Decision Making; Economics; Geography; Employees; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Design; Situation or Environment; Retail Industry

SSRN

Read Now

01 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Retail Execs Underplay Current Performance to Investors--but Why?

Retail executives aren’t always giving stockholders the straight scoop about the financial standing of their companies in comments around earnings announcements—and some may be providing misleading information, potentially for their own... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services

27 Feb 2015
News

New Book by Harvard Professors Predicts Retail Revolution

10 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Winners and Losers in the Retail Revolution

The new book Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick-and-Mortar Store Survive? lays out the thesis that traditional store-front retailing is at an inflection point, under tremendous pressure from ecommerce and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

March 2011
Background Note

Customer Loyalty Schemes in the Retail Sector

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Aldo Sesia

Customer loyalty schemes (or programs) are explicit efforts by retailers to gain long-term patronage from customers. Loyalty schemes are developed for a variety of reasons: to reward loyal customers, to generate more robust information about customer behavior, to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; United Kingdom; United States

Educators

July 2020
Article

Who Should Select New Employees, Headquarters or the Unit Manager? Consequences of Centralizing Hiring at a Retail Chain

By: Carolyn Deller and Tatiana Sandino

We examine how changing the allocation of hiring decision rights in a multiunit organization affects employee-firm match quality, contingent on a unit’s circumstances. Our research site, a U.S. retail chain, switched from a decentralized hiring model (hiring by... View Details

Keywords: Control; Selection; Decentralization; Company Values; Retail Chains; Employees; Selection and Staffing; Local Range; Business Headquarters; Decision Making

02 Mar 2015

Retail Sector at HBS Webinar

This webinar will provide an overview of the resources available at HBS to students coming from (or who are interested in pursuing a career in) the retail sector. A member of our Career and Professional Development Office will review... View Details

2014
Book

Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick & Mortar Store Survive?

By: Rajiv Lal, Jose B. Alvarez and Dan Greenberg

In Retail Revolution, the authors go beyond the common belief of retail as a monolithic industry and provide a framework that any brick-and-mortar retailer can use to respond to the eCommerce threat. Through six examples, this book demonstrates how this... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Retail Industry

fall 1991
Article

Restoring Credibility to Retail Pricing

By: G. K. Ortmeyer, J. A. Quelch and W. J. Salmon

Keywords: Sales; Price

25 Aug 2018
News

Growth of online retail is changing inflation

July 2022
Supplement

Solution for E-Commerce Analytics for CPG Firms (B): Optimizing Assortment for a New Retailer

By: Ayelet Israeli

January 8, 2025
Article

Why Retailers Are Turning to Third-Party Marketplaces

By: Antonio Moreno

Some traditional retailers—including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy—are adopting third-party marketplaces, which connect customers with external sellers and thereby offer customers a much broader selection. Many other traditional retailers are considering whether to... View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Matching; Distribution Channels; Customer Focus and Relationships; Cost vs Benefits; Retail Industry

Register to Read

January 2011
Teaching Note

Online Pet Supply Retailing (TN)

By: Tom Nicholas

Teaching Note for 809-117. View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Failure; Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Decisions; Retail Industry; United States

October 2010
Exercise

Investor Meets Calendar Retailer (AMP)

By: Ananth Raman, Vishal Gaur and Richard Lai

Keywords: Investment; Retail Industry

04 Mar 2015
News

Retail Reaches a Tipping Point—Which Stores Will Survive?

May 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Teaching Note

CEMEX: Rewarding Egyptian Retailers (TN)

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez

Teaching note to 106065. View Details

Keywords: Sales; Egypt

March 2006 (Revised January 2011)
Case

CEMEX: Rewarding the Egyptian Retailers

CEMEX has pursued an aggressive decommoditization strategy focused on its relationship with small Egyptian retailers. In particular, the strategic role and effectiveness of the Rewards Program, a tournament that rewarded the sales performance of the retailers, was... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Performance Improvement; Sales; Motivation and Incentives; Construction Industry; Egypt

Educators