- 15 Mar 2017
- Lessons from the Classroom
More Than 900 Examples of How Climate Change Affects Business
MBA students participating in Harvard Business School’s Climate Change Challenge offer ideas on how companies can negate impacts from a changing environment. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 13 Mar 2017
- Research & Ideas
Hiding Products From Customers May Ultimately Boost Sales
Is it smart for retailers to display their wares to customers a few at a time or all at once? The answer depends largely on the product category, according to research by Kris Johnson Ferreira and Joel Goh. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 06 Dec 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Assortment Rotation and the Value of Concealment
Assortment rotation is the retailing practice of changing the assortment of products offered to customers throughout a selling season. It is used by both brick-and-mortar and online retailers as a strategy for gaining competitive advantage. This paper studies assortment rotation in product categories such as apparel, accessories, and toys, where consumers typically make multiple purchases during a season. The authors identify and explain a new reason for retailers to frequently rotate their assortment: Consumers may purchase more products throughout the selling season if a retailer conceals a portion of its full product catalog from consumers by rotating its assortment. Aside from its scholarly contributions, the paper provides practical insights to retailers to guide their assortment rotation strategy decisions.
- 26 Jan 2015
- Research & Ideas
National Health Costs Could Decrease if Managers Reduce Work Stress
Joel Goh and colleagues estimate that workplace stress is responsible for up to 8 percent of national spending on health care and contributes to 120,000 deaths a year. Is better management the fix? Open for comment; 9 Comment(s) posted.
Intermediation in the Supply of Agricultural Products in Developing Economies
This paper develops insights into the structural drivers of farmer and supply chain profitability in emerging market supply chains, then studies the impact of an e-intermediary (i.e., a digitally-enabled new supply channel) on this profitability. Results provide a more balanced perspective on the value of e-intermediation compared to the generally positive view that is advanced by case studies.