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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

  Reinventing Retail: The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores

  Ryan Raffaelli

  This study examines how community-based brick-and-mortar retailers can achieve sustained market growth in the face of online and big box retail competition. The appearance of Amazon.com in 1995 led to a significant decline in the number of independent bookstores in the United States, leading many analysts to predict the demise of the sector. However, between 2009 and 2018 independent bookstores proved to be far more resilient than expected. The American Booksellers Association (ABA) reported a 49% percent growth in the number of “indie” booksellers, from 1,651 in 2009 to 2,470 in 2018. This study identifies several key factors that contributed to the independent bookstore resurgence: (1) COMMUNITY: Independent bookstore owners promoted the idea of consumers supporting their local communities by shopping at neighborhood businesses. (2) CURATION: Independent booksellers began to focus on curating inventory that allowed them to provide a more personal and specialized customer experience. (3) CONVENING: Independent booksellers started to promote their stores as intellectual centers for convening customers with likeminded interests—offering lectures, book signings, game nights, children’s story times, young adult reading groups, even birthday parties. Some bookstores routinely host over 500 events a year. Finally, the ABA played an important role in disseminating best practices and data, reinforcing the sector’s core values, setting up external partnerships, and advocating on behalf of its independent bookstore members.

  Keywords: bookstores; Competitive Strategy; Business and Community Relations; Customization and Personalization; Growth and Development; Retail Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Raffaelli, Ryan. "Reinventing Retail: The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-068, January 2020.  View Details

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• Article | Strategic Management Journal

  Frame Flexibility: The Role of Cognitive and Emotional Framing in Innovation Adoption by Incumbent Firms

  Ryan Raffaelli, Mary Ann Glynn and Michael Tushman

  Why do incumbent firms frequently reject nonincremental innovations? Beyond technical, structural, or economic factors, we propose an additional factor: the degree of the top management team's (TMT) frame flexibility, i.e., their capability to cognitively expand an innovation's categorical boundaries and to cast the innovation as emotionally resonant with the organization's identity, competencies, and competitive boundaries. We argue that inertial forces generally constrict how TMTs perceive innovations but that frame flexibility can overcome these constraints, increasing the likelihood of adoption and broadening the organization's innovation practices. We advance a theoretical model that relaxes the assumption that cognitive frames are static, showing how they become flexible via categorical positioning, and introduce a role for emotional frames that appeals to organizational members' sentiments and aspirations in innovation adoption.

  Keywords: innovation adoption; cognition; framing; emotional resonance; incumbent inertia; Innovation and Invention; Technology Adoption; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management;

  Citation:

  Raffaelli, Ryan, Mary Ann Glynn, and Michael Tushman. "Frame Flexibility: The Role of Cognitive and Emotional Framing in Innovation Adoption by Incumbent Firms." Strategic Management Journal 40, no. 7 (July 2019): 1013–1039.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2016 (Revised March 2019)

  Moleskine (A)

  Ryan Raffaelli, Raffaella Sadun and Kathy Qu

  Describes the founding and growth challenges facing Moleskine, an Italian-based consumer products company known for its oilcloth-covered notebooks once used by Ernest Hemingway and Vincent van Gogh. CEO Arrigo Berni and co-founder Maria Sebregondi aim to transform the company from a founder-led company to a professionally managed firm by expanding into new geographies, product categories, and distribution channels. They have also recently developed several strategic partnerships with Silicon Valley firms to expand into an array of digital products. However, after going public, stock prices continue to fluctuate below analysts' expectations, raising concerns about whether the company has grown too quickly. The leaders must now decide how to expand the firm's capabilities while continuing to preserve its organizational identity and creative culture.

  Keywords: Creative Industries; brand building; Digital Innovation; digital services and strategy; process improvement; culture; Identity Construction; innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Leadership; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Innovation Strategy; Consumer Products Industry;

  Citation:

  Raffaelli, Ryan, Raffaella Sadun, and Kathy Qu. "Moleskine (A)." Harvard Business School Case 716-407, April 2016. (Revised March 2019.)  View Details

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