Rajiv Lal
Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of Retailing
Co-Unit Head, Marketing
Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of Retailing
Co-Unit Head, Marketing
Rajiv Lal talks to Mint about the challenges Indian retailers face, issues of profitability and impact of FDI on kirana stores.
April 17, 2012, was a special day for SANY Group and for its founder Liang Wen'gen. Headquartered in Changsha, SANY Group had transformed itself in two decades from a small welding material factory in 1989 to a leading global construction equipment manufacturer with 5 industrial parks in China; 5 R&D and manufacturing bases in America, Germany, India, Brazil, and Indonesia; and 21 sales companies worldwide. SANY Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (SANY), SANY Group's major subsidiary, engaged in the construction equipment business and was number six on International Construction's 2012 Yellow Table, a ranking of the world's largest construction equipment manufacturers.
Rajiv Lal, is the Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of Retailing at Harvard Business School. He is currently teaching an elective MBA course on the Business of Smart Connected Products/IOT. He has been responsible for the retailing curriculum and has served as the course head for Marketing, required study in the first year of the MBA program. Professor Lal also teaches in several Executive Education programs, has previously served as the Faculty Chair for the General Management Program, and the program on Building and Leading a Customer Centric Organization.
Lal was a Professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University beginning in 1982. He was the Thomas Henry Carroll Ford Foundation Visiting Professor at Harvard Business School from 1997-98. He was the Visiting Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, France in 1986, 1988, 1992, and 1993. He did his undergraduate work in Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur, India and received his Ph.D. in Industrial Administration from Carnegie-Mellon University.
Lal's current research concerns the opportunities and challenges in building a Business around Smart Connected products/IOT. His book "Retail Revolution: Will Your Store Survive" is based on many years of extensive research in the field of Retailing focusing on the viability of brick and mortar stores as they face the onslaught of on-line competition. In addition, he has studied how to build and sustain customer-centric retail organizations. His past work has explored successful retail strategies for global expansion. He has written extensively on the impact of using the Internet as a channel of distribution on a retailer's pricing, merchandising, and branding strategy. His earlier work in retailing studies the impact of competition between different retail formats, such as EDLP and Hi-Lo grocers. He has also studied the consequences of grocery retailers’ increasing use of store brands on store loyalty and its implications for packaged goods manufacturers.
Lal's earlier research focused on pricing, trade promotions, and salesforce compensation plans. The work on salesforce compensation plans originated with his dissertation research, which won the award for the best paper published in Marketing Science and Management Science in 1985. A subsequent article, also developed from his thesis, received an honorable mention for the same award in 1986. He has also studied compensation plans used by German salesforces.
His work in the area of pricing and promotions has been equally well recognized. Two of his articles were among the finalists for the John D. C. Little award for the best paper published in Management Science and Marketing Science in 1990. One of these articles, co-authored with Jagmohan Raju and V. Srinivasan on the impact of brand loyalty on price promotions, has been awarded the Frank Bass award for the best dissertation paper.
Lal’s recent work includes Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick-and-Mortar Store Survive?, “Retail Doesn’t Cross Borders: Here’s Why and What to do About it” in Harvard Business Review, “Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink” in HBS Working Knowledge, and Marketing Management: Text and Cases. He has published more than twenty-five articles in academic journals and more than 80 cases and other teaching materials. He has applied his academic frameworks and industry knowledge in much of his research and many of his consulting projects.
Lal has worked on a variety of such projects with a wide range of companies, including Citigroup, Citizens Bank, American Family Insurance, Standard Life Plc, Omnitel Italia, Credit Suisse, Stop & Shop, Ito-Yokado, Best Buy, Stride Rite Corporation, Oliver Wyman and Company, Fleming Companies, Nordstrom, Microsoft, Kellogg, Sara Lee D/E, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Callaway Golf Company, Staples, and other well-known companies on strategy development and execution.
Lal serves as a member of the Board for Leader Bank and Global Cures. In addition to these board positions, Lal has served as an Area Editor for Marketing Science and Co-editor of Quantitative Marketing and Economics.
- Featured Work
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Text and CasesA collection of marketing cases from Harvard Business School, including Coca-Cola, Tweeter, DHL Worldwide Express, Charles Schwab, Heineken, UNICEF, Steinway & Sons, and Harrah's Entertainment.Most companies assume that the easiest way to grow is by investing overseas and that the developing world offers the best opportunities for boosting revenues and profits today. However, success abroad varies widely, and research shows that it's often tough to increase profits by investing abroad. A new study of the grocery retail industry reveals that with a few exceptions globalization's benefits have not accrued to retailers. Local retailers dominate most countries, and international players are absent from the largest retail markets. A few retailers have succeeded in going global by developing strategies that apply four retail-specific rules for globalization....Livemint
Rajiv Lal talks to Mint about the challenges Indian retailers face, issues of profitability and impact of FDI on kirana stores.
April 17, 2012, was a special day for SANY Group and for its founder Liang Wen'gen. Headquartered in Changsha, SANY Group had transformed itself in two decades from a small welding material factory in 1989 to a leading global construction equipment manufacturer with 5 industrial parks in China; 5 R&D and manufacturing bases in America, Germany, India, Brazil, and Indonesia; and 21 sales companies worldwide. SANY Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (SANY), SANY Group's major subsidiary, engaged in the construction equipment business and was number six on International Construction's 2012 Yellow Table, a ranking of the world's largest construction equipment manufacturers.
- Books
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- Lal, Rajiv, Jose B. Alvarez, and Dan Greenberg. Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick & Mortar Store Survive? Independently published, 2014. View Details
- Lal, R., J. Quelch, and V. K. Rangan. Marketing Management. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. View Details
- Journal Articles
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- Corstjens, Marcel, and Rajiv Lal. "Retail Doesn't Cross Borders: Here's Why and What to Do about It." Harvard Business Review 90, no. 4 (April 2012). View Details
- Krafft, Manfred, Sönke Albers, and Rajiv Lal. "Relative Explanatory Power of Agency Theory and Transaction Cost Analysis in German Salesforces." International Journal of Research in Marketing 21, no. 3 (September 2004): 265–283. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and David E. Bell. "The Impact of Frequent Shopper Programs in Grocery Retailing." Quantitative Marketing and Economics 1, no. 2 (June 2003). View Details
- Corstjens, Marcel, and R. Lal. "Building Store Loyalty Through Store Brands." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 37, no. 3 (August 2000): 281–291. View Details
- Lal, R., and M. Sarvary. "When and How Is the Internet Likely to Decrease Price Competition." Marketing Science 18, no. 4 (1999): 485–503. (Nominated for John D. C. Little Award Given annually to the best marketing paper published in Marketing Science or Management Science presented by INFORMS Society for Marketing Science.) View Details
- Lal, R., and Miguel Villas-Boas. "Price Promotions and Trade Deals with Multiproduct Retailers." Management Science 44, no. 7 (July 1998). View Details
- Lal, R., and R. Rao. "Supermarket Competition: The Case of Every Day Low Pricing." Marketing Science (winter 1997). View Details
- Lal, R., and C. Narasimhan. "The Effect of Manufacturer Advertising on Retail and Wholesale Margins." Marketing Science (spring 1996). View Details
- Lal, R., and J. M. Villas-Boas. "Exclusive Dealing and Price Promotions." Journal of Business (April 1996). View Details
- Lal, R., J. D. Little, and J. M. Villas-Boas. "Forward Buying, Merchandising and Manufacturer Trade Deals: A Model." Marketing Science (winter 1996). View Details
- Lal, R., M. Corstjens, and J. Corstjens. "Retail Competition in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry: The Case of France and the U.K." European Management Journal (December 1995). View Details
- Agrawal, D., and R. Lal. "Contractual Arrangements in Franchising: An Empirical Investigation." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 32, no. 2 (May 1995). View Details
- Lal, R., and V. Padmanabhan. "Competitive Response and Equilibria." Marketing Science (spring 1995). View Details
- Lal, R., and C. Matutes. "Retail Pricing and Advertising Strategies." Journal of Business (July 1994). View Details
- Lal, R., D. Outland, and R. Staelin. "Salesforce Compensation Plans: An Individual Level Analysis." Marketing Letters (April 1994). View Details
- Lal, R. "Salesforce Compensation Plans: Managerial Insights from Recent Theoretical Developments." Recherche et Applications en Marketing (January 1994). View Details
- Lal, R., and V. Srinivasan. "Compensation Plans for Single- and Multi-Product Salesforces: An Application of the Holmstrom-Milgrom Model." Management Science 39, no. 7 (July 1993). View Details
- Rangan, V. K., R. Lal, and E. Maier. "Managing Marginal New Products." Business Horizons 35, no. 5 (September–October 1992): 35–42. View Details
- Lal, R., and Anne Coughlan. "Retail Pricing: Does Channel Length Matter." Managerial and Decision Economics (September 1991). View Details
- Lal, R. "Manufacturer Trade Deals and Retail Price Promotions." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) (November 1990). View Details
- Lal, R. "Improving Channel Coordination Through Franchising." Marketing Science (fall 1990). View Details
- Lal, R. "Price Promotions: Limiting Competitive Encroachment." Marketing Science (summer 1990). (Nominated for John D. C. Little Award Given annually to the best marketing paper published in Marketing Science or Management Science presented by INFORMS Society for Marketing Science.) View Details
- Lal, R., J. S. Raju, and V. Srinivasan. "The Effects of Brand Loyalty on Competitive Price Promotional Strategies." Management Science 36, no. 3 (March 1990). (Nominated for John D. C. Little Award Given annually to the best marketing paper published in Marketing Science or Management Science presented by INFORMS Society for Marketing Science.) View Details
- Lal, R., and Carmen Matutes. "Price Competition in Multi-Market Duopolies." RAND Journal of Economics 20, no. 4 (winter 1989). View Details
- Lal, R., and Richard Staelin. "Salesforce Compensation Plans in Environments with Asymmetric Information." Marketing Science (summer 1986). (Runner-up of the TIMS College of Marketing Award for the Best Article in Management and Marketing Science in 1986.) View Details
- Lal, R. "Delegating Pricing Responsibility to the Salesforce." Marketing Science (spring 1986). View Details
- Lal, R., A. K. Basu, V. Srinivasan, and Richard Staelin. "A Theory of Salesforce Compensation Plans." Marketing Science (fall 1985). (Winner of TIMS College of Marketing. Award for Best Article in Marketing Science For the best marketing paper published in Marketing Science or Management Science presented by Institute of Management Sciences.) View Details
- Lal, R., and Richard Staelin. "An Approach for Developing an Optimal Discount Pricing Policy." Management Science 30, no. 12 (December 1984). View Details
- Book Chapters
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- Lal, Rajiv, David E. Bell, and Walter J. Salmon. "Globalization of Retailing." In The Global Market: Developing a Strategy to Manage Across Borders, edited by John A. Quelch and Rohit Deshpandé. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2004. View Details
- Working Papers
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- Lal, Rajiv, and Ishan Sachdev. "Mobile Money Services—Design and Development for Financial Inclusion." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 15-083, April 2015. (Revised July 2015.) View Details
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- Lal, Rajiv, Alicia Dadlani, and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone. "Precision Agriculture at AGCO." Harvard Business School Case 525-032, November 2024. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Forest L. Reinhardt, and Natalie Kindred. "Sprouts Farmers Market." Harvard Business School Case 524-059, January 2024. View Details
- Gupta, Sunil, Rajiv Lal, and Celine Chammas. "Adobe's Customer Journey." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 523-076, April 2023. (Revised August 2023.) View Details
- Gupta, Sunil, Rajiv Lal, and Celine Chammas. "Managing the Customer Journey Marketing Simulation: Adobe's Data-Driven Operating Model (DDOM)." Harvard Business School Simulation 523-714, June 2023. (Revised September 2023.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Kairavi Dey. "boAt Lifestyle." Harvard Business School Case 523-019, July 2022. View Details
- Gupta, Sunil, Rajiv Lal, and Ruth Page. "Facelift at Olay (B) Case Supplement." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 521-723, June 2021. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, David J. Collis, and Akiko Saito. "Komatsu and Smart Construction." Harvard Business School Case 521-042, December 2020. (Revised December 2021.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Sunil Gupta, and Olivia Hull. "Facelift at Olay (A) & (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 521-040, April 2021. View Details
- Gupta, Sunil, and Rajiv Lal. "Digital Marketing at HBS Online Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 521-076, February 2021. View Details
- Gupta, Sunil, and Rajiv Lal. "Digital Marketing at HBS Online." Harvard Business School Case 521-027, August 2020. (Revised October 2024.) View Details
- Gupta, Sunil, Rajiv Lal, and Olivia Hull. "Facelift at Olay (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 521-002, August 2020. (Revised January 2021.) View Details
- Gupta, Sunil, Rajiv Lal, and Olivia Hull. "Facelift at Olay (A)." Harvard Business School Case 521-011, August 2020. (Revised September 2020.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Sarah McAra. "Spectio: A Digital Lighting Company." Harvard Business School Case 517-002, September 2016. (Revised September 2016.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Shreya Ramachandran. "CarTrade." Harvard Business School Case 520-088, March 2020. (Revised April 2020.) View Details
- Bell, David E., Rajiv Lal, and Olivia Hull. "In-housing Digital Marketing at Sprint Corp." Harvard Business School Case 520-026, June 2020. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Srikant M. Datar, and Caitlin N. Bowler. "Philips' Connected Baby Bottle." Harvard Business School Case 519-020, January 2019. View Details
- Datar, Srikant M., Rajiv Lal, and Caitlin N. Bowler. "Royal Philips: Designing Toward Profound Change." Harvard Business School Case 118-017, November 2017. (Revised July 2018.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej, and Emilie Billaud. "Sigfox: Building a Global IoT Network." Harvard Business School Case 519-032, September 2018. (Revised April 2019.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott Johnson. "American Family Insurance and the Artificial Intelligence Opportunity." Harvard Business School Case 519-028, October 2018. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott Johnson. "Maersk: Betting on Blockchain." Harvard Business School Case 518-089, April 2018. (Revised July 2018.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott Johnson. "STRIVR (B): Moving into the Enterprise." Harvard Business School Supplement 518-091, March 2018. (Revised January 2020.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Alexandra Houghtalin. "Smart City Strategy: Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Atlanta." Harvard Business School Case 518-092, March 2018. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott Johnson. "IBM: Watson and the Internet of Things." Harvard Business School Case 518-027, March 2018. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott Johnson. "Amazon, Google, and Apple: Smart Speakers and the Battle for the Connected Home." Harvard Business School Case 518-035, February 2018. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott F. Johnson. "The Digital Factory – Siemens: Electronic Works Amberg." Harvard Business School Case 518-054, November 2017. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott Johnson. "iRobot: Moving Beyond the Roomba." Harvard Business School Case 518-055, November 2017. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Matt Denison, Robert Higgins, and Scott Johnson. "STRIVR: Changing the Game in Virtual Reality." Harvard Business School Case 518-048, January 2018. (Revised January 2020.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Sarah McAra. "PTC: A Transformation to IoT (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 518-021, August 2017. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Sarah McAra. "Spectio: A Digital Lighting Company." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 518-023, July 2017. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Sarah McAra. "PTC: A Transformation to IoT." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 518-022, July 2017. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott Johnson. "GE Digital." Harvard Business School Case 517-063, February 2017. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Jose B. Alvarez, and Matthew G. Preble. "Dick's Sporting Goods." Harvard Business School Case 517-007, February 2017. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott Johnson. "Philips: The Shift to Value." Harvard Business School Case 517-045, January 2017. (Revised December 2019.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott Johnson. "Chicago and the Array of Things: A Fitness Tracker for the City." Harvard Business School Case 517-044, January 2017. (Revised June 2017.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Scott F. Johnson. "All Traffic Solutions." Harvard Business School Case 517-011, October 2016. (Revised January 2020.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Sarah McAra. "PTC: A Transformation to IoT." Harvard Business School Case 517-033, October 2016. (Revised February 2019.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Shalene Gupta. "Big Ass Solutions Ventures into Connected Products." Harvard Business School Case 517-012, November 2016. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Gamze Yucaoglu. "Hillside Beach Club: Delivering the Ultimate Family Vacation in the Mediterranean." Harvard Business School Case 516-110, May 2016. (Revised September 2016.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Esel Çekin, and Eren Kuzucu. "OPET: Precision Marketing in Uncertain Times." Harvard Business School Case 516-087, May 2016. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Lisa Cox, and Sarah McAra. "M-Pesa: Financial Inclusion in Kenya." Harvard Business School Case 516-011, March 2016. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Annelena Lobb. "BancoSol and Microfinance in Bolivia." Harvard Business School Case 516-005, February 2016. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Esel Çekin. "Akbank: Options in Digital Banking." Harvard Business School Case 515-115, June 2015. (Revised November 2015.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Lisa Mazzanti. "Goldman Sachs: Anchoring Standards after the Financial Crisis." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 515-083, March 2015. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "KGFS: A New Approach to Rural Finance." Harvard Business School Case 515-004, October 2014. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Lisa Mazzanti. "Gentera: Beyond Microcredit." Harvard Business School Case 515-017, October 2014. (Revised December 2014.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "USAA in the Digital World." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 515-707, September 2014. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Noah Fisher. "USAA in the Digital World." Harvard Business School Case 515-016, July 2014. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Lisa Mazzanti. "Goldman Sachs: Anchoring Standards After the Financial Crisis." Harvard Business School Case 514-020, May 2014. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Keith Chi-ho Wong. "Yonghui Superstores." Harvard Business School Case 514-094, January 2014. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Natalie Kindred. "Pearle Vision: Clearly Different?" Harvard Business School Case 514-015, October 2013. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "SANY: Going Global (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 513-080, February 2013. View Details
- Khurana, Rakesh, and Rajiv Lal. "Transforming AMFAM (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 513-079, February 2013. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Stefan Lippert, Nancy Hua Dai, and Di Deng. "SANY: Going Global." Harvard Business School Case 513-058, November 2012. (Revised January 2013.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "The Universalization of L'Oréal." Harvard Business School Case 513-001, November 2012. View Details
- Kanter, Rosabeth M., Rakesh Khurana, Rajiv Lal, and Matthew Bird. "PepsiCo Peru Foods: More than Small Potatoes." Harvard Business School Case 311-083, February 2011. (Revised April 2012.) View Details
- Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, Rakesh Khurana, Rajiv Lal, and Eric Baldwin. "PepsiCo, Performance with Purpose, Achieving the Right Global Balance." Harvard Business School Case 412-079, October 2011. (Revised January 2012.) View Details
- Kanter, Rosabeth M., Rakesh Khurana, Rajiv Lal, and Natalie Kindred. "PepsiCo India: Performance with Purpose." Harvard Business School Case 512-041, December 2011. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Rachna Tahilyani. "State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant." Harvard Business School Case 511-114, March 2011. (Revised April 2011.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Natalie Kindred. "Insight Communications." Harvard Business School Case 511-005, March 2011. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Arar Han. "Tanpin Kanri: Retail Practice at Seven-Eleven Japan." Harvard Business School Case 506-002, July 2005. (Revised February 2011.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and David Kiron. "Dubai Duty Free." Harvard Business School Case 511-034, October 2010. View Details
- Gulati, Ranjay, Rajiv Lal, and Cathy Ross. "Target: Responding to the Recession." Harvard Business School Case 510-016, March 2010. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Natalie Kindred. "Food Retail: Trends and Implications." Harvard Business School Background Note 510-012, February 2010. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Natalie Kindred. "Go Mobile: The Phirbol Franchise." Harvard Business School Case 510-020, February 2010. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "Purolator Courier Ltd. (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 510-087, February 2010. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "Staples: Back To The Future (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 510-075, January 2010. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "Best Buy Co., Inc.: Customer-Centricity (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 509-074, June 2009. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Catherine Ross. "Purolator Courier Ltd." Harvard Business School Case 508-054, March 2008. (Revised March 2009.) View Details
- Khurana, Rakesh, Rajiv Lal, and Cathy Ross. "Transforming AMFAM." Harvard Business School Case 508-081, March 2008. (Revised March 2009.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Cathy Ross. "HP: The Computer is Personal Again." Harvard Business School Case 509-010, February 2009. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Virginia Fuller. "Shoppers' Stop Group (SSG)." Harvard Business School Case 508-017, February 2008. (Revised June 2008.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Catherine Ross. "Go Mobile." Harvard Business School Case 508-023, March 2008. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Masako Egawa, and Chisato Toyama. "Takashimaya in Transition." Harvard Business School Case 506-054, June 2006. (Revised October 2007.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "The Parisian Revival." Harvard Business School Case 506-035, March 2006. (Revised October 2007.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Mark Rennella, and David Lane. "Wal-Mart Mexico: Managing Multiple Formats." Harvard Business School Case 507-063, June 2007. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Laura Winig. "JCPenney: An Historical Shift toward Centralization." Harvard Business School Case 507-007, March 2007. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and James Weber. "Freeport Studio." Harvard Business School Case 501-021, September 2000. (Revised February 2007.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Nitin Nohria, and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "UBS: Towards the Integrated Firm." Harvard Business School Case 506-026, March 2006. (Revised February 2007.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Irina Tarsis. "Best Buy Co., Inc.: Customer-Centricity." Harvard Business School Case 506-055, April 2006. (Revised October 2006.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Nilanjana R. Pal. "New Beetle, The." Harvard Business School Case 501-023, September 2000. (Revised September 2005.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Edie Prescott. "Callaway Golf Company." Harvard Business School Case 501-019, August 2000. (Revised September 2005.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Suma Raju. "Omnitel Pronto Italia." Harvard Business School Case 501-002, August 2000. (Revised September 2005.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and David Kiron. "CarMax." Harvard Business School Case 505-080, June 2005. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Arar Han. "Overview of the Japanese Apparel Market." Harvard Business School Background Note 505-068, June 2005. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Arar Han. "Nordstrom: The Turnaround." Harvard Business School Case 505-051, February 2005. (Revised May 2005.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Arar Han. "Ito-Yokado: The Challenge of Apparel." Harvard Business School Case 505-048, March 2005. (Revised May 2005.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Laura Coleman. "United States Army." Harvard Business School Case 504-038, May 2004. (Revised April 2005.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Arar Han. "Citizens Bank." Harvard Business School Case 505-034, October 2004. (Revised March 2005.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Arar Han. "Parisian: productivity and selling cost." Harvard Business School Case 505-052, January 2005. (Revised March 2005.) View Details
- Khanna, Tarun, Rajiv Lal, and Merlina Manocaran. "Mahindra & Mahindra: Creating Scorpio." Harvard Business School Case 705-478, February 2005. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Patricia Carrolo. "Harrah's Entertainment Inc." Harvard Business School Case 502-011, October 2001. (Revised June 2004.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Walter J. Salmon, and James Weber. "L.L. Bean: A Search for Growth." Harvard Business School Case 504-080, March 2004. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Nitin Nohria, and Leslie Freeman. "Peabody Simpson at the Crossroads." Harvard Business School Case 503-112, June 2003. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Walter J. Salmon, and Edie Prescott. "Liz Claiborne, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 503-098, May 2003. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "Arnold Worldwide: Volkswagen Ads from 1995-2000." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 503-802, March 2003. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "Documentum, Inc. (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 503-035, October 2002. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "HP Consumer Products Business Organization: Distributing Printers via the Internet, TN." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 503-025, August 2002. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "Harrah's Entertainment Inc. TN." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 502-091, June 2002. View Details
- Lal, R. "Sears, Roebuck and Co." 2002. View Details
- Lal, R. "ETrade Securities, Inc." 2002. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "New Beetle, The (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 502-088, May 2002. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "Freeport Studio, TN." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 502-087, April 2002. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Sean Lanagan. "Documentum, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 502-026, September 2001. (Revised April 2002.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Patricia Carrolo. "Callaway Golf Company (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 501-082, April 2001. (Revised January 2002.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and David Kiron. "Charles Schwab Corp.: Introducing A New Brand." Harvard Business School Case 502-020, November 2001. View Details
- Lal, R. "Value Pricing at Procter & Gamble (B)." 2001. View Details
- Lal, R. "SmithKline Beecham (SB)." 2001. View Details
- Lal, R., Jennifer B. Lawrence, and Josie Parr. "Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Teaching Note." 2001. View Details
- Lal, R. "Orchard Supply Hardware Stores." 2001. View Details
- Lal, R. "Hudson's Bay Co." 2001. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Punima P Kochikar. "Intuit QuickBooks." Harvard Business School Case 501-054, November 2000. (Revised July 2001.) View Details
- Roberts, Michael J., Rajiv Lal, and Walter J. Salmon. "Chapters.ca." Harvard Business School Case 801-158, September 2000. (Revised July 2001.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Suma Raju. "Omnitel Pronto Italia TN." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 501-075, May 2001. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Amy H. Nelson. "First USA and Internet Marketing." Harvard Business School Case 500-043, March 2000. (Revised January 2001.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Nilanjana R. Pal, and Jodi L. Prins. "GetConnected.com." Harvard Business School Case 501-025, September 2000. (Revised November 2000.) View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, and Ann Leamon. "Guru.com." Harvard Business School Case 501-005, September 2000. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv, Kirthi Kalyanam, Shelby Mc Intyre, and Edie Prescott. "HP Consumer Products Business Organization: Distributing Printers via the Internet." Harvard Business School Case 500-021, October 1999. (Revised March 2000.) View Details
- Bell, David E., Rajiv Lal, and Ann Leamon. "Lees Supermarkets: Customer Loyalty Programs." Harvard Business School Case 500-038, December 1999. View Details
- Dolan, Robert J., Rajiv Lal, and Perry Fagan. "net.Genesis, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 500-009, November 1999. View Details
- Lal, Rajiv. "Managing Marginal New Products." Harvard Business School Background Note 591-088, February 1991. View Details
- Research Summary
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Developing a course for our MBA students on the opportunities and challenges in Building a Business around Smart Connected Products/IoTKeywords: IoT; Smart Connected ProductsThe emergence of new technology, increasing number of new retail formats and the emphasis on store brands are contributing factors to enormous changes taking place in retailing. Rajiv Lal's work on the use of the Internet by retailers calls into question the conventional wisdom about the effect of selling via the Internet on brand loyalty and brand equity. This research suggests that contrary to popular belief, the Internet offers the possibility for retailers to leverage their brand equity and argues for a dramatic change in the role of the retail store when used in conjunction with the Internet.Rajiv Lal's work comparing the benefits of EDLP and Hi-Lo strategies in the grocery industry indicates that while EDLP grocery retailers may not be able to benefit from traditional costs savings associated with this strategy, these retailers still benefit from the use of promotions, lower basket prices, and sometimes lower in-store service levels by effectively differentiating themselves from Hi-Lo stores. In this way these stores avoid competing head-to-head with Hi-Lo stores, leading to higher profitability.
Another recent trend has been the increasing reliance on store brands by retailers such as Shaw's supermarkets and Safeway. While for many years store brands were viewed as 'cheap and nasty,' catering to the needs of price sensitive consumers, Lal's research shows how they can be used to enhance store loyalty and profitability.
Book chapters - Teaching
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Establishing a strategic advantage in India's highly competitive marketplace requires a systemic shift in focus—away from selling products and toward meeting the needs of customers. But how many companies are prepared to carry out such fundamental change? By transforming your organization's marketing strategy, programs, and channels, your company can capitalize on new market conditions while delivering strong financial performance.
I will be teaching the First Year Marketing course next year. - Awards & Honors
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Winner of the TIMS College of Marketing Award for the Best Article in Management Science and Marketing Science in 1985 for "A Theory of Salesforce Compensation Plans" (with A. K. Basu, V. Srinivasan, and Richard Staelin, Marketing Science, fall 1985).Winner of the 1985 John D.C. Little Award for "A Theory of Salesforce Compensation Plans" (with A. K. Basu, V. Srinivasan, and Richard Staelin, Marketing Science, fall 1985).Nominated in 1990 for the John D. C. Little Award for "Price Promotions: Limiting Competitive Encroachment" (Marketing Science, summer 1990).Nominated in 1990 for the John D.C. Little Award for "The Effects of Brand Loyalty on Competitive Price Promotional Strategies" (with J. S. Raju and V. Srinivasan, Management Science, March 1990).Nominated in 1999 for the John D.C. Little Award for "When and How Is the Internet Likely to Decrease Price Competition" (with M. Sarvary, Marketing Science, 1999).
- Additional Information
- Areas of Interest
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- globalization
- marketing
- organizational structure
- strategy
- value creation
- brands and branding
- consumer goods
- customer behavior
- customer focus
- customer profitability analysis
- customer relationship management
- customer satisfaction
- emerging markets
- game theory
- incentives
- international marketing
- investment banking
- managerial incentives
- pricing
- professional service firms
- sales force management
- service management
- supply chain
Additional Topics - In The News