Publications

26 Apr 2022
Book

What Does Your Business Stand For? Why Building Trust Starts with Purpose

so nuanced and multi- directional that I came to conceive of a veritable nexus of purpose, autonomy, and trust. To glimpse this nexus at work, consider the fast-growing American eyewear retailer Warby Parker. Founded in 2010, Warby Parker... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Gap, Inc., 2012

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

Between 2000 and 2012, Gap, Inc. (Gap) ceded its world leadership position in specialty fashion retailing to Inditex of Spain and H&M of Sweden. These two companies, each less than a quarter of Gap's size in 2000, were now setting the pace in the global mass fashion... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Fashion; Multinational; Brands; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Performance Improvement; Strategy; Brands and Branding; Change Management; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Sweden; Spain; United States

15 Nov 2022
Op-Ed

Why TikTok Is Beating YouTube for Eyeball Time (It’s Not Just the Dance Videos)

to a body positivity rebranding by the lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret. Just two weeks later, the cultural moment was amplified when Hulu released a documentary about an association between financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

January 2018 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Walmart Inc. takes on Amazon.com

By: David Collis, Andy Wu, Rembrand Koning and Huaiyi CiCi Sun

This case explores how Walmart should compete with Amazon. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Analysis; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry

January 2024
Background Note

Evaluating Innovations in the Organization of Primary Care: What Type of Innovation Is It and How Well Does It Align with the Six Factors?

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace

How can we evaluate if innovative health care ventures can do good—benefit society—and do well—become financially viable? This question is the topic of the first module in the Innovating in Health Care course book.

This note and "Health Stop (A): What Type... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Health Care and Treatment; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Mission and Purpose; Alignment; Health Industry

21 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

Did Pandemic Stimulus Funds Spur the Rise of 'Meme Stocks'?

boom. Retail investors—who buy shares directly through websites like Robinhood rather than investment firms or employer-sponsored plans—snapped up stocks that appeared to have poorer prospects under traditional metrics. Remember the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

February 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Sandlands Vineyards

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Approximately 80% of the wineries in the U.S. break even or lose money. An even greater percentage lose money on an economic basis (i.e., after a charge for the cost of equity). Tegan Passalacqua is a successful, young, Californian winemaker who specializes in making... View Details

19 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

Fed Up Workers and Supply Woes: What's Next for Dollar Stores?

Retailers should be ecstatic. Last year was dismal amid the pandemic, with plunging revenue and record bankruptcies. But this year things have turned around. For instance, retail sales in April through June... View Details

Keywords: by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Retail

08 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way To Hire a Sales Team

who knows, and has credibility within, the norms of the relevant customer's culture) Selling (e.g., an insurance agent or a retail associate with experience in another sales context) The relevance of each type of experience varies with... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

03 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 3

Working Papers Competition As Strategic Interaction By: Eisenhardt, Kathleen, Rory McDonald, and Cheng Gao Abstract—Strategic interaction has been a topic of scholarly inquiry dating back to the 1960s. Drawing on several seminal examples, we explore the nature of the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2019
Supplement

Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (D)

By: Doug J. Chung

Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company’s products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for its excellent customer service and a fair “one-for-all” HR policy. Historically, the salespeople had been compensated... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Change Management; Behavior; Electronics Industry; Sweden

28 Feb 2018
HBS Seminar

Kartik Hosanagar, Wharton, University of Pennsylvania

February 2001 (Revised February 2018)
Case

The iPremier Company (A): Distributed Denial of Service Attack

By: Robert D. Austin, Larry Leibrock and Alan Murray

Describes a new CIO trying to manage a denial of service (DOS) attack against his e-retailing business. The attack and its aftermath provide students an opportunity to discuss the business issues that are interwoven with computer security issues. View Details

Keywords: Safety; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Retail Industry

28 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 28

future business leaders, will respond to these tragedies. Purchase this case: http://hbr.org/product/Responsibilities-to-Socie/an/115012-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 515-019 Showrooming at Best Buy Best Buy is a consumer electronics View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Web

Regional Winners - Alumni

to support public education. Michael Bor, MBA 2003, CEO Region: Central U.S./Atlanta Hue Hue helps brands and retailers embed TikTok-style shoppable videos on their e-commerce websites to give customers confidence to add to cart. Janvi... View Details

May 2019
Supplement

Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (C)

By: Doug J. Chung

Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company’s products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for its excellent customer service and a fair “one-for-all” HR policy. Historically, the salespeople had been compensated... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Change Management; Behavior; Electronics Industry; Sweden