distribution - Publications - Faculty & Research

January 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Best Buy's Corie Barry: Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case examines the leadership of Corie Barry, the new CEO of Best Buy, with a focus on actions the company took in 2020 to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case includes a history of Best Buy’s strategy and leadership, including the transitions between the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change; Disruption; Volatility; Communication; Competency and Skills; Customers; Decision Making; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Goods and Commodities; Corporate Governance; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Executive Compensation; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Jobs and Positions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Job Design and Levels; Job Interviews; Job Offer; Labor; Employment; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Law; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Management Succession; Management Systems; Management Teams; Risk Management; Operations; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Outcome or Result; Personal Development and Career; Retirement; Work-Life Balance; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Science; Strategy; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United States; Minnesota

Citation

Educators

Purchase

01 Dec 2022
News

Full Court Press

four, so you then have to go engage, ideally, with the top one or two in each of those markets in order to distribute your product.” The disparate nature of the market is why the league is run as a series of games in different locations,... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

14 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

other multinationals immediately detected new operational and commercial approaches across their international branches and standardized and distributed them to subsidiaries. This proactive behavior toward information was not limited to... View Details

Keywords: by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

15 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Businesses Beware: The World Is Not Flat

powerful economies [at the expense of] Bangladeshi rickshaws." It is neither principled nor practical for companies to stick their heads in the sand in response to an issue as fundamental as the distribution of the globalization... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

12 Nov 2021
News

Alumni Business Leaders on Confronting the Climate Change Challenge

net-zero emissions by 2040. In the interim, we are targeting absolute GHG reductions of more than 40 percent by 2030. From the way we source our crops to the energy we use in creating and distributing our products, we are taking... View Details

09 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Leadership Lessons of the Great Recession: Options for Economic Downturns

create potential upside, Honeywell’s management team took a portion of the bonus pool, and distributed it to employees as restricted stock, with the idea that as the economic recovery would begin, Honeywell would be able to grow faster... View Details

Keywords: by Sandra Sucher & Susan Winterberg; Aerospace; Electronics

10 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink

located stores that are paragons of flexibility: Best Buy Mobile outlets, which focus on selling mobile phones, are a good example of this phenomenon. Consumer behavior is changing faster than ever, and stores will need to evolve to remain competitive. As View Details

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Jose B. Alvarez; Retail

06 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Strategic Intelligence: Adapt or Die

So it's an issue of not being satisfied and also being creative. On the structural side, they have very adaptive organizations, and on the people side, strategic intelligence is distributed throughout the organization. So they typically... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

filing for bankruptcy in the courts often results in a forced wind-down of the business. Management is replaced by a trustee or administrator (who is often an accountant or lawyer by training), the firm’s assets are sold off, and proceeds from asset sales are View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

Web

Commercialization of the Polarizer - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

working on a major advance in science or technology to (1) be properly financed; (2) go through the extremely difficult periods of study, invention, development, engineering, and production; or (3) afford to advertise and distribute its... View Details

13 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

distributions of income and wealth have grown more unequal, and rates of socioeconomic mobility have declined. Millions of households have had to work longer hours, add additional income earners, and devote more effort to succeed on the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

19 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

Rethinking Company Loyalty

isn't inadequate pay or benefits," says business writer John Putzier. "It's the day-to-day relationship with their immediate superior." Leaders seeking to secure employees' loyalty must work to create a positive bond. How? "Be fair in View Details

Keywords: by Lauren Keller Johnson

21 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

The Pandemic Conversations That Leaders Need to Have Now

Jim Rogers, for example, distributed a one-page drawing to his staff to explain the complex competitive environment outside of the company. Structure conversations. Set topics, agendas, and deliverables for meetings in advance, and share... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams, and Katherine Connolly Baden

04 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

Diversity Boosts Profits in Venture Capital Firms

percent more likely to hire women as partners for VC funds—the equivalent of a random distribution of gender diversity. “We could then identify the component of gender diversity caused exclusively by having a daughter uncorrelated to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Banking; Financial Services

27 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

Want a Happy Customer? Coordinate Sales and Marketing

direct mail, catalogues, advertising, and diverse distribution channels. Often in the past, these were the sole purview of the marketing people. Now, the marketing and sales organizations must make joint architectural policy and execution... View Details

Keywords: by Benson Shapiro

July 2021
Article

Medical Debt in the U.S., 2009–2020

By: Raymond Kluender, Neale Mahoney, Francis Wong and Wesley Yin

Importance: Medical debt is an increasing concern in the US, yet there is limited understanding of the amount and distribution of medical debt, and its association with health care policies.

Objective: To measure the amount of medical debt nationally and by... View Details

Keywords: Debt; Borrowing and Debt; Health Care and Treatment; United States

Citation

Read Now

Research Summary

Overview

By: Reshmaan N. Hussam

Engaged with field work in South Asia and East Africa, Professor Hussam places a focus on exploring questions with strong theoretical motivation in the economics literature as well as relevant downstream policy implications. Her research spans four broad interests.... View Details

Person Page

Press / Media

By: Karim R. Lakhani

Can America Invent Its Way Back?

BusinessWeek, by Michael Mandel, 12 Sept. 2008

Today, researchers are focusing on ways to make those... View Details

Research Summary

Self-environment relationship and its effect on decisions under risk and uncertainty

My research seek to better understand the main cognitive and social abilities that guide our judgments, and the ways they interact with aspects of the situation to shape humans' decisions. It is currently comprised of three related... View Details

Research Summary

Experience and description-based decision making.

Prof. Barron and his co-authors study the effect of the economic environment on decision making. One example involves the effect of rare (low probability) events. People behave as if they overweight these events in some settings (e.g., when buying insurance and... View Details

Publications