retail industry - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Sep 2012
News

High Honors

Anglo American in 2007, one of the world’s largest mining companies, Cynthia Carroll determined that increased transparency was important if the company—and the industry as a whole—was going to improve its safety record. “People responded... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Miscellaneous Store Retailers

20 Aug 2024
Book

Why Competing With Tech Giants Requires Finding Your Own Edge

private-labeled digital devices at competitive prices. Yang credited Amazon for the company’s success. In addition to Amazon’s established infrastructure that helped it save on retail and logistics costs, “the key to building high quality... View Details

Keywords: by Feng Zhu; Technology; Information Technology

01 Dec 2006
News

2006 MBAs Go to Work

Western U.S. 18.1% (Bay Area: 10.4%) Central & Southwest U.S. 12.4% Southeast U.S. 5.1% Europe 8.7% Asia/South Pacific 4.8% Latin America 2.3% Other 3.2% Industry Choices Financial Services 41.6% (Investment Banking/Sales & Trading: 12%)... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

10 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Learning Curve: Making the Most of Outsourcing

Radiologist Some parts of the teleradiology model closely resemble outsourcing in industries like electronics, business processes, or software development. The health-care customer—typically a hospital—sees the need for a service that is... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Guttry; Health

23 Aug 2019
Blog Post

A Summer of Peaks and Swells: Interning at Patagonia

Patagonia has been using 100% organic cotton in its products since 1996, it is now part of a pilot program to grow regenerative organic certified cotton and mango for its apparel and food. Patagonia has had a tremendous impact on the apparel and outdoor View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail; Consumer Products / Retail

16 May 2016
Blog Post

Career Resources for International Students

international students and the global job search outside of the U.S. While we are based in Boston, we continually build our global network of organizations that would like to hire HBS MBAs, from a mid-market private equity firm in Singapore, to tech start-up in Dubai,... View Details

23 May 2019
News

Marla Beck, MBA/MPA 1998

for cosmetics needed to be more customer focused, so in 1999 she launched Bluemercury, a retailer of high-end beauty products. Perhaps the most obvious evidence that Beck’s thoughtful strategy and hard work have disrupted the beauty... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

03 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, October 3, 2017

Philippines, found himself at a crucial turning point in his young company’s development. In just three years, Zalora had come from entering the Philippine fashion retail industry as an unknown quantity to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

May 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Lowe’s: Improving the Total Home Strategy

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Alicia Dadlani

In 2023, Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe’s, contemplated enhancements to the company’s Total Home Strategy to accelerate performance and grow market share. In the last five years since becoming CEO, Ellison had championed a turnaround of the company, completing a... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Competition; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

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December 1985 (Revised October 1986)
Case

J.C. Penney (A)

An assistant treasurer at J.C. Penney is looking at various alternatives for financing the company's $2.5 billion store expansion and modernization program. The case provides a listing of different ways/capital markets issues to obtain this financing. Designed to be... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Capital Markets; Financing and Loans; Retail Industry; United States

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March 2019
Supplement

KITEA (D): Further Changes

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in February 2016, when the official date of IKEA’s store opening (March 16, 2016) is announced after a five-month delay. It reviews the changes that Amine and Othman Benkirane had made to KITEA’s workforce in the extra five months afforded by the delay... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Strategy; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Retail Industry; Africa; North Africa; Morocco

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March 2019
Supplement

KITEA (C): A Surprise Delay

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

This case describes the delay of IKEA’s store opening in Morocco in 2015. After Sweden ordered an internal review of its position on the independence of Western Sahara, a territory Morocco regarded as part of its own, the Moroccan government declared that IKEA did not... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Strategy; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Retail Industry; Africa; North Africa; Morocco

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Article

Amazon's $15 Minimum Wage Might Cost Some Workers

By: Scott Duke Kominers

Keywords: Economics; Retail Industry; United States

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June 2018
Supplement

Knowledge Sharing at REMA 1000 (B)

By: Tatiana Sandino and Olivia Hull

Supplement to HBS No. 118-007, "Knowledge Sharing at REMA 1000 (A)." Chief Human Resources Officer Tore Høylie was proud of REMA 1000 (REMA)’s strong employee engagement with Workplace, Facebook’s corporate social media platform; however, some users complained that the... View Details

Keywords: Social Network; Enterprise Social Media; Facebook; Workplace; Social and Collaborative Networks; Communication Technology; Problems and Challenges; Social Media; Retail Industry; Norway

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March 2018
Teaching Note

Making Target the Target: Boycotts and Corporate Political Activity (A) and (B)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Victor Wu

Through the challenges facing Target, the case examines the ways in which corporations can become involved in political and legislative debates and processes, ranging from campaign contributions to lobbying. In 2016, Target CEO Brian Cornell must determine how to... View Details

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May 2017
Teaching Note

Wal-Mart Update, 2017

By: David B. Yoffie

This Teaching Note is designed for the case, “Wal-Mart Update, 2017,” HBS No. 717-468. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Retail Industry

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January 2017 (Revised August 2019)
Supplement

X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (B)

By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Competition; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Small Business; Retail Industry; Canada

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October 2013 (Revised July 2024)
Teaching Note

Amazon in 2024

By: Sunil Gupta

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: Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry

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