Publications

November 2017
Supplement

Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (B)

By: Francesca Gino, Katherine DeCelles and Olivia Hull

Supplement to HBS No. 918-001. The case describes the inventive approaches to retail crime prevention that Sean Sportun, security and loss prevention manager at Mac’s Convenience Stores, implemented between 2007 and 2017. View Details

Keywords: Public Relations; Community Relations; Change Management; Leading Change; Training; Knowledge Dissemination; Working Conditions; Crime and Corruption; Law Enforcement; Legal Liability; Business and Community Relations; Retail Industry; Canada

June 1994 (Revised April 1998)
Teaching Note

National Convenience Stores Incorporated (TN)

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Steven R. Fenster

Teaching Note for (9-294-068). View Details

Keywords: Retail Industry

January 2021
Teaching Plan

Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) and (B)

By: Francesca Gino, Katherine DeCelles and Olivia Hull

Many companies operate units that are dispersed across different types of markets, serving significantly diverging customer bases. Such dispersion is likely to compromise headquarters' ability to control local managers' behavior and satisfy the needs of different... View Details

January 1994
Case

National Convenience Stores, Inc.

By: Steven R. Fenster, Stuart C. Gilson and Roy Burstin

National Convenience Stores seeks to emerge from Chapter 11. Central to the nature of the reorganization plan is the company's determining enterprise value. The various constituencies (secured debt, unsecured debt, etc.) will seek to find an enterprise value that... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Valuation; Restructuring; Strategic Planning; Borrowing and Debt; Food and Beverage Industry; Texas

November 2009
Article

Organizational Design and Control across Multiple Markets: The Case of Franchising in the Convenience Store Industry

By: Dennis Campbell, Srikant M. Datar and Tatiana Sandino

Many companies operate units that are dispersed across different types of markets, and thus serve significantly diverging customer bases. Such market-type dispersion is likely to compromise the headquarter's ability to control its local managers' behavior and satisfy... View Details

Keywords: Market Dispersion; Decentralization; Incentives; Business Headquarters; Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Distribution; Organizational Design; Franchise Ownership; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

2008
Working Paper

Organizational Design and Control across Multiple Markets: The Case of Franchising in the Convenience Store Industry

By: Dennis Campbell

Many companies operate units which are dispersed across different types of markets, and thus serve significantly diverging customer bases. Such market-type dispersion is likely to compromise the headquarters' ability to control its local managers' behavior and... View Details

Keywords: Business Headquarters; Customer Focus and Relationships; Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Organizational Design; Franchise Ownership; Retail Industry

08 May 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Organizational Design and Control across Multiple Markets: The Case of Franchising in the Convenience Store Industry

Keywords: by Dennis Campbell, Srikant M. Datar & Tatiana Sandino; Retail; Food & Beverage

October 2023
Case

CornerUp: Digitizing the Corner Store

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui, Stacy Straaberg and Diego Zainos De La Sota Riva

In July 2023, Jason Diaz, co-founder and CEO of CornerUp, assessed the progress of his business-to-business e-procurement software application (app) startup, founded in January 2022. CornerUp began as a fast-moving consumer packaged goods (FMCG) distributor in New York... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Small Business; Transition; Decisions; Social Entrepreneurship; Geographic Location; Disruptive Innovation; Market Participation; Digital Platforms; Trust; Business Strategy; Expansion; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Value Creation; Technology Industry; United States

28 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

Brick-and-Mortar Stores Are Making a Comeback

retail. Q: What’s different about the physical storefront in this renaissance of retail? Jill Avery: There’s a lot of experimentation around what a store is and what it could do. In this new worldview, a View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint; Retail

07 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Banning Big-box Stores Can Hurt Local Retailers

a convenient research environment. In the late 1980s, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher adopted a more lenient approach vis à vis planning regulations, which allowed for a significant increase in big-box View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail

02 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Retail Reaches a Tipping Point—Which Stores Will Survive?

Alvarez, and research associate Dan Greenberg (Harvard MBA 2012). Their new book Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick-and-Mortar Store Survive?, predicts, among many other things, the continuing decline of major brick and mortar brands... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

11 Aug 2017
News

Despite the Amazon effect, not all mom-and-pop stores are in trouble on Main Street

May 2016
Case

The Inexorable Rise of Walmart? 1988—2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2015, Walmart surprised investors by announcing that it expected flat sales growth for 2015 and growth of only 3% to 4% over the coming three years. Profits would also fall due to significant investments in people and technology. The company’s stock price... View Details

Keywords: Asda; Costco; David Glass; Convenience Stores; Discount Retailing; Dollar Stores; Doug McMillon; E-commerce; Online Retail; General Merchandise; Grocery; Lee Scott; Mike Duke; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Neighborhood Market; Sam Walton; Sam's Club; Store Formats; Supercenter; Supermarket; Warehouse Clubs; Merchandising; Walmart; Wal-Mart; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Banks and Banking; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Wages; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Web; Web Sites; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; Banking Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville

01 Dec 2020
News

Steady as She Goes

observes. For the $17 billion retailer, the dual crises were a reminder that the services the company provides are necessary ones. There were very human moments of fear and panic—when store managers in fire-ravaged New South Wales sent... View Details

Keywords: April White; COVID-19; change management; leadership; women; grocery stores; Food and Beverage Stores; Food and Beverage Stores

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

2008
Working Paper

Performance and Control across Multiple Markets

By: Tatiana Sandino, Dennis Campbell and Shelby Yu

Chain organizations typically operate units across different types of markets, with significantly diverging customer bases. Such market-type dispersion potentially influences performance through two channels: it makes performance a noisier indicator of store manager... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Organizational Design; Markets; Franchise Ownership; Performance; Retail Industry