Harvard Business Review

JUNE 26, 2015

When The Gap recently announced its plans to close 175 of its 675 stores in North America, it joined a number of other retail chains — including Staples, Office Depot, Target, and Radio Shack — that have been or soon will be shuttering a slew of outlets for one reason or another.

Retail 8

Retail Cost of Capital Price Discount 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

A few have announced year-end bonuses ( AT&T, Comcast ) or wage increases ( some retailers ). The cost of capital is at historic lows, averaging below 6% for most large U.S. Indeed, for most companies, the value of accelerating growth greatly exceeds the value of returning capital to shareholders.

Supply Chain 9

Supply Chain CEO Discount Retail 9

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

For slaughterhouses and retailers (Brazilian operations), we also projected positive benefits: $20 million to $120 million (0.01% to 0.1% of the world market, and the second-largest beef producer and consumer. These values can be estimated credibly and cost-effectively, and we set about applying them to the Brazilian beef sector.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Net Present Value Retail Cost of Capital 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 26, 2017

It’s been more than 25 years since Bill Gates dismissed retail banks as “dinosaurs,” but the statement may be as true today as it was then. The marketing, underwriting, and servicing of SME loans have largely taken a backseat. Other sectors of retail lending have not fared much better.

Banking 11

Banking Stage-Gate Credit Scoring Competitive Advantage 11

Harvard Business Review

JULY 31, 2017

Digital technology has been roiling markets and disrupting companies for more than two decades, but despite that lengthy history, incumbents are still struggling to enact and deliver on digital transformations. In effect, incumbents are losing because they’re playing defense.

Strategy 8

Strategy ROI Technology Cost of Capital 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 4, 2017

In The Good Jobs Strategy , Zeynep Ton, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, demonstrates how the best retail companies align their customer value proposition with their operations strategy and their approach to human capital. Higher investment in wages does not need to come at the expense of customers and shareholders.

Human Capital 15

Human Capital Kaizen Agility Energy 15

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 31, 2015

It is true that that breaches are expected and have become a regular cost of doing business, but there are deeper reasons for the market’s failure to respond to these incidents. During the 2013 holiday season shopping period, Target was the object of then the biggest cyber attack on a retailer.

Price 8

Price Long-term Banking Short-term 8