Publications

30 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

Do Mergers Hurt Product Quality?

comparative consumer product reviews since 1936. The publication ranks competitive brands according to quality, based on in-house testing and customer surveys, and publishes the products' retail prices. "Decades of data, just staring... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products

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

August 2002 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Gillette Company (A): Pressure for Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and James Weber

After years of strong performance with market-dominating brands, Gillette's performance slips and a new CEO is selected from outside the company to lead a turnaround. This case describes the business and financial situation he inherited and asks what he should do... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Performance Consistency; Product Positioning; Selection and Staffing; Change Management; Leading Change; Competitive Strategy; Planning; Retail Industry

November 1998 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Management Succession; Competitive Advantage; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Retail Industry; United States

September 2020 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Briscola—Pizza Society: Scaling Affordable Luxury

By: Gary P. Pisano and Federica Gabrieli

Riccardo Cortese and Federico Pinna were the CEOs of Briscola—Pizza Society, a restaurant chain they had founded in 2014 with a clear ambition: create a distinctive international pizza chain that would combine a fast-casual format with the devotion to quality that... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Geographic Location; Business Model; Ownership Type; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe; Italy

22 Feb 2022
News

March 2022 Alumni and Faculty Books

and Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption By Steve Dennis (MBA 1984) LifeTree Physical retail isn’t dead—but boring retail is. Remarkable Retail equips the savvy View Details

01 Dec 2001
News

Steven Rogers

William Sahlman, one of Rogers' mentors, has written a case about the purchase.) In 1991, they purchased a second lampshade company and then, two years later, a retail store. "I found I liked doing the deals more than running the... View Details

Keywords: Young, Susan; Retail Trade; Retail Trade; Retail Trade

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

27 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

The Coffee Economy That Bloomed Out of Nowhere

such a rich trove of information." Lurtz's research has revealed a patchwork of entrepreneurial effort that contradicted common conceptions about agriculture and commerce in that era. Much credit for the expansion of Mexican export crops... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Food & Beverage; Agriculture & Agribusiness

April 2018
Case

Wilderness Safaris: Ecotourism Entrepreneurship

By: James E. Austin, Megan Epler Wood and Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard

Wilderness Safaris sees itself as a conservation company that is built on a business model of providing high-end, premium-priced wildlife safaris in various locations in Africa. Dependent on functioning, healthy ecosystems for its long-term survivability as a business,... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Conservation Planning; Corporate Social Responsibility; Ecotourism; Strategy; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Tourism Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Travel Industry; Africa; Botswana

01 Dec 2017
News

The Changing Nature of Research

School’s Bureau of Business Research—comprised a comparative examination of the costs of operating a retail shoe business. The resulting report helped companies devise strategies to manage inventories,... View Details

01 Jun 2017
News

Streamlining the Supermarket

full-time employees, slashing labor costs by 90 percent. Those two innovations are expected to add up to a net profit margin of three times that of the overall industry. “And that is really powerful,” Pedró says. “You can actually give those benefits back to your... View Details

Keywords: Francis Storrs

December 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Supplement

The LEGO Group: Envisioning Risks in Asia (B)

By: Anette Mikes and Amram Migdal

This brief follow-up complements the case on The LEGO Group: Stepping Up in Asia (9-113-054), and discusses the aftermath of the scenario planning session, in which LEGO managers contemplated the risks of their new Asian strategy. The scenario planning exercise played... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Global Strategy; Planning; Retail Industry; Asia

01 Dec 2019
News

Accelerating a Gas-on-demand Startup

Model T owners—and it was basically the last major innovation in gasoline retailing for more than 100 years, says Bryan Frist (MBA 2015). “The gas station was stuck in the 20th century.” That revelation led to a question: If you can get... View Details

Keywords: April White; startups; on-demand economy; entrepreneurship; Personal Services

August 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Dishoom: From Bombay with Love

By: Anjali M. Bhatt and Thomas J. DeLong

Shamil and Kavi Thakrar, co-founders of Dishoom, faced critical decisions as they looked to expand the UK-based restaurant group. Shamil, the CEO, was confident in Dishoom's potential for growth but he was concerned about preserving the culture and values centered... View Details

Keywords: Human Resource Management; Growth And Scaling; Organizational Culture; Values and Beliefs; Growth Management; Expansion; United Kingdom

September 2017
Case

From 80 Thoreau to Mooncusser Fish House & Moon Bar (A)

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Sandra Bahous

After extensive planning, Ian Calhoun, (MBA 2010) who was also a chef trained in Paris at Le Cordon Bleu, and two co-founders launched 80 Thoreau, a “progressive fine dining” restaurant in Concord, Massachusetts, that became a local favorite as well as a special... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Expansion; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston; Cambridge

February 2000 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Pet Doctors: 1999

By: Paul A. Gompers and David James Alexander Grant

Describes the decisions confronting David Hodges and Garret Turley about whether to grow their chain of veterinary clinics in the United Kingdom. Turley and Hodges must decide whether to attempt to speed up their acquisition pace and raise venture capital. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Venture Capital; Expansion; Acquisition; Service Industry; United Kingdom