Publications

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28 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Six Lessons from Mobile Money Ventures in Developing Countries

business strategy 101 for most entrepreneurs, so why have so many mobile money service offerings failed? It’s a question being studied by Rajiv Lal, the Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of Retailing at Harvard Business School. “You would think... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Telecommunications

Web

Institutions, Macroeconomics, and the Global Economy - Course Catalog

specific sectors (e.g., the retail industry in Chile, or the startup sector in Israel) or particular policies (inflation targeting in Brazil), and others span multiple countries (Chinese investments in... View Details

Web

Syngenta Tomato Vision - Blog - Business & Environment

retailers and growers to develop new products to ensure it is not only meeting the needs of consumers, but also for the growers (for example, minimizing energy consumption during greenhouse growing, high yields) and retailers. It usually... View Details

14 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Rewriting the Rules of Service Competition

Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professors James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, and Leonard A. Schlesinger literally wrote the book on service industry management with The Service Profit Chain. Now the trio is back with What Great... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser & Leonard A. Schlesinger; Retail

25 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 25

Grupo Beta San Miguel In November 2013, Dr. Jose Pinto, head of Grupo Beta San Miguel (BSM), Mexico's largest private sugar producer, is weighing the future prospects of the Mexican sugar industry as he considers whether BSM should bid on... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 17

products survive in equilibrium, even with competition. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-055.pdf Got Local Food? Authors:Baris Ata, Deishin Lee, and Mustafa H. Tongarlak Abstract We study the operational tradeoffs of a View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 18

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.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 14

the scientists themselves. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52220 January 2017 American Economic Review Are Online and Offline Prices Similar? Evidence from Large Multi-Channel Retailers By: Cavallo,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

Michael is interested in research at the intersection of technology and supply chain in corporations, especially retailers. His recent projects have focused on Human-AI collaboration at retailers. View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Operations; AI and Machine Learning; Retail Industry

March 1975 (Revised October 1985)
Teaching Note

Federated Department Stores, Teaching Note

By: Joseph L. Bower and Richard G. Hamermesh

Keywords: Retail Industry

2001
Case

Hudson's Bay Co.

By: R. Lal

Keywords: Retail Industry; Canada

December 1991 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Federated Department Stores, Inc.: Managing in a Hurricane

Describes Federated Department Stores following an important infusion of capital and before its subsequent Chapter 11 filing. The questions include how the company can be managed in a period of financial distress, whether it is possible or desirable to avoid Chapter... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

January 1992
Teaching Note

Carrefour S.A. TN

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Teaching Note for (9-273-099). View Details

Keywords: Retail Industry

December 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Moleskine: Daniela Riccardi Turns the Page

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Sarah Gulick

Newly appointed CEO Daniela Riccardi needed to develop and present an action plan to the board of the company that owned Moleskine. Riccardi was hired because Moleskine had recently overextended its reach and needed more focus and discipline. Having previously served... View Details

Keywords: Rebranding; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Operations; Planning; Retail Industry; Italy

July 2020
Case

Karen Bruck: Growing Managers at MercadoLibre

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Fernanda Miguel and Mariana Cal

Karen Bruck, Corporate Sales Director at MercadoLibre, Latin America's largest e-commerce platform, needs to make a decision about one of her managers, who, while analytically savvy, has an approach that does not fit in with the company's culture. View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Employee Relationship Management; Decision Making; Interpersonal Communication; Organizational Culture; Retail Industry; Latin America; Argentina

December 2019
Case

Walmart Ecommerce (A): Picking up the Pace

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case is an abridged version (part 1 of 2) of "Walmart's Omnichannel Strategy: Revolution or Miscalculation?" HBS Case No. 720-370. The (A) case discusses Walmart's early forays into online retail, as well as improvements made under Doug McMillon beginning in 2014.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry; Bentonville; Arkansas; United States

March 2018
Supplement

The Rise and Rise (?) of Walmart (B): Kmart Declares Bankruptcy

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case follows up on the competition between Kmart and Walmart as discussed in the A case. It summarizes the companies' positions in the early 2000s, and discusses events between 1990 and Kmart's declaration of bankruptcy in 2002. Walmart grew significantly,... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy; Walmart; Kmart; Controversy; Strategy; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Competition; Public Opinion; Retail Industry; United States

March 2017
Supplement

OXXO's Turf War Against Extra (B)

By: Tatiana Sandino, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Annelena Lobb

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Mexico

March 2017 (Revised April 2017)
Case

OXXO's Turf War Against Extra (A)

By: Tatiana Sandino, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Annelena Lobb

In 2006, Mexican convenience store chain OXXO faced a threat from a formidable competitor, the rival convenience chain Extra. OXXO had embarked on an initiative to fortify its corporate culture and operating system, but the threat of Extra raised the question of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Mexico