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2.1.3 Classroom Recording, Photography & Social Media | MBA

distributing case materials or course content to anyone who has not enrolled in a class, particularly those outside of the HBS community. Classroom Recordings In general, HBS MBA class sessions are not recorded, although authorization for... View Details

Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr.

Using his Ford automobile as collateral, Wyatt entered the gas distribution and energy pipeline business with $800 in 1955. His tenacity and determination quickly secured gas contracts throughout Texas, and in short order, Wyatt had built... View Details

Keywords: Utilities & Energy

01 Jun 2011
News

America the Unequal

Percent of Wealth Owned: Actual U.S. wealth distribution compared with Estimated and Ideal distributions reported by respondents in a national survey. The “4th” and “Bottom” groups are so small that they are... View Details

Keywords: income disparity; class mobility

20 Apr 2021
Blog Post

Leadership In Challenging Times: Thierry Ibri (MBA 1997)

in 5 kids, were food insecure. At Second Harvest Heartland, one of the country’s largest and most efficient food banks, we distributed more than 105 million meals to our network community partners and programs last year. We refer to that... View Details

Jeffrey P. Bezos

Founding his company just as the Internet was gaining widespread usage and credibility, Bezos created the world’s largest on-line bookseller. Realizing that few bookstores, even superstores, carry more than 100,000 books, Bezos created an enterprise that could source... View Details

Keywords: Retail

2009
Working Paper

Industry Equilibrium with Open Source and Proprietary Firms

By: Gaston Llanes and Ramiro de Elejalde

We present a model of industry equilibrium to study the coexistence of Open Source (OS) and Proprietary (P) firms. Two novel aspects of the model are: (1) participation in OS arises as the optimal decision of profit-maximizing firms, and (2) OS and P firms may (or may... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Sharing; Industry Structures; Open Source Distribution; Research and Development

June 1990 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Sorrell Ridge: Slotting Allowances

By: John A. Quelch

Management is attempting to penetrate the California retail grocery market with the company's line of all-fruit preserves. Substantial up-front fees (slotting allowances) have been requested by the chains. Management must decide how to respond. View Details

Keywords: Food; Distribution; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; California

May 2014 (Revised April 2016)
Case

Three-Year Planning at Li & Fung Limited

By: Paul M. Healy and Keith Chi-ho Wong

Having been able to follow its own "three-year plan" on course constantly, Li & Fung Limited fell short of meeting its stretch earnings target for the first time in almost two decades, leading to a double-digit drop in stock price overnight. Questions were raised on... View Details

Keywords: Li ＆ Fung; Financial Planning; Accounting; Financial Reporting; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry; Hong Kong; China

01 Mar 2009
News

Gazprom Goes Global

A Russian Giant Grows, Despite a Bad Rap THE BIG CHILL: Russia and Ukraine’s gas wars give Europe the shivers. In a virtual replay of events this past January, in 2006 Russia’s energy giant Gazprom cut off its supply of natural gas to Ukraine’s energy company in the... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Natural Gas Distribution; Natural Gas Distribution

May 2025
Case

Boutiqaat: Influencing Retail in MENA

By: Juan Alcacer and Noor Al Qadhi

Boutiqaat, a Kuwait-based e-commerce platform, scaled an influencer-driven beauty retail model across MENA and now faces critical strategic choices about offline expansion and globalization. Founded in 2015, Boutiqaat combined social commerce, localized logistics, and... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Digital Strategy; Growth and Development; Expansion; Distribution Channels; Global Strategy; Business Model; Market Design; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Retail Industry; Kuwait; Saudi Arabia; Middle East; North Africa

2009
Working Paper

Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search? - Companion Paper

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

This companion paper contains several extensions of the model presented in our main paper - Hagiu and Jullien (2009). View Details

Keywords: Market Intermediation; Search; Two Sided Markets; Platform Design; Demand and Consumers; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

Foreseeing the demands of post-war relocation by veterans and their families, Shoen focused his efforts on the development of a cheap one-way truck rental unit, U-Haul. Shoen’s original and innovative ideas allowed him to cheaply and rapidly build U-Haul’s View Details

Keywords: Transportation

April 2010
Case

Globalization at Komatsu

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

The case captures the challenges Komatsu, the second largest manufacturer of the earth moving equipment faced during the past five decades as it sought to globalize its operations. By 2007, it had become the second largest manufacturer of the earth moving equipment... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Distribution Channels; Production; Organizational Culture; Networks; Partners and Partnerships; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

2010
Working Paper

Mixed Source

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gaston Llanes

We study competitive interaction between a profit-maximizing firm that sells software and complementary services and a free open source competitor. We examine the firm's choice of business model between the proprietary model (where all software modules are... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Monopoly; Open Source Distribution; Quality; Competition; Information Technology Industry

May 2003
Background Note

How to Induce Retailers to Reduce Stockouts?

By: V.G. Narayanan

Describes how the lack of incentive alignment between retailers and their vendors can lead to stockouts. Also describes various means to reduce incentive misalignment and hence stockouts. View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Supply Chain Management; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution; Alignment; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Retail Industry

June 1995 (Revised July 2006)
Supplement

Barilla SpA (B)

By: Janice H. Hammond

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Production; Distribution; Sales; Demand and Consumers; Programs; Food and Beverage Industry; Italy