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• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2015 (Revised October 2018)

  Nasty Gals Do It Better

  David Collis, Diane Chang, Matthew Shaffer and Ashley Hartman

  In 2006, Sophia Amoruso started Nasty Gal, an eBay boutique selling vintage clothes. With a strong sense of style and personality, Amoruso poured herself into building the brand and developing relationships with her customers—typically the slightly edgy 18–24 year old. The company had grown since that time into a multi-category retailer, expanding into third-party clothing, accessories, and its own private label. Its explosive growth was one of the biggest stories in e-commerce, especially when the retailer attracted $50 million in investment from Index Ventures, a top VC firm that funded other successful retailers such as Net-a-Porter and Etsy, in 2013. Yet, with a cash infusion, plans for a brick and mortar store, an ever-growing e-commerce site, and fierce competition, Amoruso wondered what opportunity to tackle next. Should she concentrate on product line expansion into lingerie, swimwear, cosmetics, and fragrances? How would a brick and mortar store impact the focus of the company or its ability to develop customized web sites for overseas markets? How would she maintain the detail and attention she had put into so many aspects of the company as Nasty Gal grew? As Amoruso's time was limited and management resources were already spread thin to sustain the existing site's growth, what was the best way forward?

  Keywords: Business growth; brand management; e-commerce; online retail; social media; clothing; Apparel; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Management; Marketing Strategy; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Collis, David, Diane Chang, Matthew Shaffer, and Ashley Hartman. "Nasty Gals Do It Better." Harvard Business School Case 715-412, January 2015. (Revised October 2018.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2017 (Revised August 2018)

  Digitalization at Siemens

  David J. Collis and Tonia Junker

  The case discusses the digitalization strategy of Siemens AG, a German-based company operating in manufacturing and electronics. The increasing impact of digital technologies on all of its business units had prompted CEO Joe Kaeser and his team to put digitalization at the core of the new corporate strategy, alongside electrification and automation. The challenge was to balance this corporate initiative with the many business units within Siemens, which were used to being independent and had very specific offerings for their clients. For its new analytics platform, Siemens had opted for a push and pull approach to involve business units in its creation, rather than conceptualizing the platform centrally and imposing it on the business units afterwards. The jury was still out on whether this approach would drive digitalization within Siemens fast enough, given the exponential developments in data generation and analytics.

  Keywords: Company management; corporate strategy; competition; information technology; technology networks; Corporate Strategy; Competition; Information Technology; Technology Networks; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry;

  Citation:

  Collis, David J., and Tonia Junker. "Digitalization at Siemens." Harvard Business School Case 717-428, February 2017. (Revised August 2018.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2018

  Edward Jones: Implementing the Solutions Approach

  David Collis and Ashley Hartman

  In 2017 Edward Jones, the largest brokerage firm in the U.S., is deciding whether and how to implement a new "solutions" business model to replace its traditional "product" or "transactional" approach. Many of the required changes appeared to violate some of the tradeoffs that had made the previous approach successful. Was this the right way forward for Edward Jones? Where did this leave the classic strategy with its reliance on the one financial advisor office as the sole channel of distribution?

  Keywords: strategy formulation; strategic change; ＂brokerage industry; ＂solutions approach; strategy implementation; ＂USA,＂; financial services industry; business model innovation; Change; Strategy; Business Model; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States;

  Citation:

  Collis, David, and Ashley Hartman. "Edward Jones: Implementing the Solutions Approach." Harvard Business School Case 719-411, August 2018.  View Details

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