Publications

Find at Harvard

03 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 3, 2018

to be depleted in “bad” times. Instead, issuing domestic debt while accumulating reserves acts as a hedge against external shocks. A quantitative exercise of the Brazilian economy suggests this strategy to be effective for smoothing... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

30 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

Tuning Jobs to Fit Your Company

Executives must adjust the span of control for each key position and unit on the basis of how the company delivers value to customers. Consider Wal-Mart, which has configured its entire organization to deliver low prices. Wal-Mart's View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

20 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Using Investor Relations Proactively

Total focuses on explaining how their cash use is prudent. Similarly, BP has a large base of retail investors but in many ways it treats them as just slightly different versions of its institutional investors. That is, BP assumes the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

December 2022
Case

The Magic of Marks & Spencer Food

By: David E. Bell, Natalie Kindred and Damien McLoughlin

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Food; Consumer Behavior; Product Development; Competition; Price; Inflation and Deflation; Trends; Growth and Development; Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

19 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Should Compete for Your Privacy

information to provide." “Focusing on a single revenue source is the most profitable strategy when firms compete for consumer information” It's clear from their research that the marketplace has plenty of room for two types of Internet... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products

23 Apr 2014
HBS Case

Are Electronic Cigarettes a Public Good or Health Hazard?

and analysis," says Quelch. A Smoking Market Uncertainty over health data hasn't hurt the product's popularity. In 2013, electronic cigarettes tripled in sales in the US to approximately $3 billion. (The overall tobacco retail market... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage; Advertising

July–August 2014
Article

Unlock the Mysteries of Your Customer Relationships

By: Jill Avery, Susan Fournier and John Wittenbraker

Consumers have always had relationships with brands, but sophisticated tools for analyzing customer data are finally allowing marketing organizations to personalize and manage those relationships. With this new power comes a new challenge: people now expect companies... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; CRM; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Relationship Management; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

November 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

VerticalNet (www.verticalnet.com)

By: Das Narayandas

VerticalNet, a leading creator of targeted business-to-business vertical trade communities on the Internet, is trying to expand its model to facilitate e-commerce. Mark Walsh, the CEO of VerticalNet, has to decide how far he can extend the firm's business model without... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Digital Platforms; Expansion; Internet and the Web

11 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 11, 2008

Working PapersTesting Strategy with Multiple Performance Measures Evidence from a Balanced Scorecard at Store24 Authors:Dennis Campbell, Srikant M. Datar, Susan L. Kulp, and V.G. Narayanan Abstract We analyze balanced scorecard data... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 12, 2019

responses interact with those of other actors, and how these individual and collective responses unfold over time to generate outcomes. Second, we call for stronger unification of theory within the entrepreneurial resource mobilization literature and across contiguous... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

April 2013
Teaching Plan

Marks and Spencer: Plan A (TP)

By: David Bell and Michael Norris

Teaching Note for 509029. View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategic Planning; Environmental Sustainability; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry

September 2000 (Revised March 2006)
Case

ZOOTS--The Cleaner Cleaner

By: Myra M. Hart and Sharon Peyus

A successful entrepreneur (retailing) starts a new venture in dry cleaning. The case focuses on transferable models, skills, and knowledge from one venture to the next. Areas of emphasis are: managing growth, challenges of operations, financing, and competitive moves. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Competitive Strategy; Operations; Knowledge Dissemination; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

29 Mar 2016
First Look

March 29, 2016

customers are most likely to defect? Our empirical analysis of 82,235 customers exploits the varying competitive dynamics in 644 geographically isolated markets in which a nationwide retail bank conducted business over a five-year period.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2002 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Volvo Trucks (C): Closing Volvo Global Trucks

By: Michael E. Porter and Orjan Solvell

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Five Forces Framework; Truck Transportation; Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Europe

August 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Whole Foods: Balancing Social Mission and Growth

By: Christopher Marquis, Marya Besharov and Bobbi Thomason

In 2009, Whole Foods stands at a crossroads. Their incredible growth over the past 25 years has vaulted them into the ranks of the largest US supermarkets and they have arguably led to the widespread acceptance of natural and organic foods in the United States. Yet... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

29 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 29

Working PapersLocal Dividend Clienteles Authors:Bo Becker, Zoran Ivkovich, and Scott WeisbennerNBER Working Paper Series, No. 15175, July 2009 Abstract We exploit demographic variation to identify the effect of dividend demand on firm payout policy. View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 19, 2019

positive or certain options (influencing others toward safer options) versus presenting choice sets with negative or risky options (influencing others toward riskier options). We show that choice architects’ influence strategies are... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

03 Apr 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 3, 2018

during the expansion period. Downstream propagation effects are comparable or even larger in magnitude than direct effects. The results corroborate the importance of network effects in quantifying the real effects of credit shocks and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1990 (Revised June 2004)
Case

McDonald's and the Environment

McDonald's decides to withdraw its polystyrene plastic packaging for sandwiches and hamburgers after years of defending itself against environmental critics. The decision occurs in the midst of a six-month Joint Task Force study, with the nonprofit Environmental... View Details

Keywords: Announcements; Change Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States