Sears Roebuck in the Twentieth Century: Competition, Complementarities, and the Problem of Wasting Assets / Daniel Raff, Peter Temin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Raff, Daniel.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Temin, Peter.

Series:

Historical Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. h0102.

NBER historical working paper series no. h0102

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Management--History.

Management.

Sears, Roebuck and Company.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Sears Roebuck in the Twentieth Century

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1997.

Cambridge : National Bureau of Economic Research, 1997.

Summary:

Sears Roebuck and Co. faced similar challenges in the 1920s and the 1980s. On the strength of the early period's strategic investment decisions, the company grew into the nation's largest retailer and a pervasive factor in the economy. In the later period, unanswered challenges nearly destroyed the company. We analyze the elements that contributed to the success in the 1920s and to the near disaster in the 1980s and place them in a broader and more systematic context. We argue that successful innovations combine a focus on an attractive market with an exploitation and even enhancement of a firm's existing competitive strengths.

Notes:

Print version record

June 1997.