Publications

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11 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

The Business of Saving the Planet

"The fact that the benefits of addressing the problem of climate change almost certainly outweigh the costs ... does not make concerted global action to address the problem easy." —Climate Change in 2018: Implications for Business If there is one positive... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy; Green Technology

05 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 5

focuses on scaling a venture's sales process and provides a methodology for identifying core customers and some implications for governance criteria and potential product changes as well as sales management. Paper: View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2007
Book

When Professionals Have to Lead: A New Model for High Performance

By: Thomas J. DeLong, John J. Gabarro and Robert Lees

For too long, professional services firms (PSFs) have relied on the "producer-manager" model, which works well in uncomplicated business environments. However, today's managing directors must balance conflicting roles, more demanding clients, tougher competitors, and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy

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May 1998 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Merchandising at Nine West Retail Stores

By: Ananth Raman and Colin S Welch

Describes the merchandising decision process (organization, structure, and incentives) at Nine West retail stores, a large footwear retailer in the United States. Also describes changes currently occurring at Nine West and thus provides a context in which students can... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Situation or Environment; Motivation and Incentives; Decision Making; Change; Budgets and Budgeting; Forecasting and Prediction; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

June 2013 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Governance and Sustainability at Nike (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Nien-hê Hsieh and Lara Adamsons

Two members of Nike's executive team must decide what sustainability targets to propose to Nike's CEO and to the corporate responsibility committee of Nike's board of directors. Set in 2012, the case traces the evolution of Nike's approach to environmental and social... View Details

Keywords: Nike; Hannah Jones; Mark Parker; Phil Knight; Philip Knight; Eric Sprunk; Jill Ker Conway; Phyllis Wise; Don Blair; Sustainable Business And Innovation; SB＆I; Flyknit; DyeCoo; Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Apparel; Athletic Apparel; Sustainability; Greenpeace; Detox Campaign; Dirty Laundry; Water; Water Use; Water Pollution; Water Resources; Corporate Responsibility Committee; Judgment; Board Of Directors; Board Committees; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Footwear Industry; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Ethics; Fairness; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Alignment; Supply Chain; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Judgments; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia; China; United States; Oregon; Portland

October 2005 (Revised February 2010)
Background Note

Calculating Free Cash Flows

By: Robin Greenwood and David S. Scharfstein

Outlines the mechanics of calculating free cash flows from historical and proforma financial statements. Focuses on the mechanical process of transforming numbers from financial forecasts into cash flows. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Forecasting and Prediction; Cash Flow; Mathematical Methods

July 2007 (Revised July 2008)
Case

The Beijing Dream

By: Arthur I Segel, Voon Siang Lee, Jialei Tian and Ying Laura Wang

The purchase of a single-family home is generally the major investment for most young couples in China. Shows in detail the process that a young couple goes through in late April 2007 to find, finance, and close on an apartment in Beijing within what they believe to be... View Details

Keywords: Property; Investment; Cost; Emerging Markets; Financing and Loans; Acquisition; Activity Based Costing and Management; Internet and the Web; Management Practices and Processes; Real Estate Industry; Beijing; United States

Article

Third-Party Punishment as a Costly Signal of High Continuation Probabilities in Repeated Games

By: Jillian J. Jordan and David G. Rand

Why do individuals pay costs to punish selfish behavior, even as third-party observers? A large body of research suggests that reputation plays an important role in motivating such third-party punishment (TPP). Here we focus on a recently proposed reputation-based... View Details

Keywords: Direct Reciprocity; Evolution; Dispersal; Cooperation; Trust; Reputation; Game Theory

November 2007
Article

A Model of Consumer Learning for Service Quality and Usage

By: Raghuram Iyengar, Asim Ansari and Sunil Gupta

In many services, e.g., the wireless service industry, consumers choose a service plan based on their expected consumption. In such situations, consumers experience two forms of uncertainty. First, consumers may be uncertain about the quality of their service provider... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Value and Value Chain; Learning; Price; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Service Delivery; Quality; Risk and Uncertainty; Service Industry

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07 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Electronic Health Records Were Supposed to Cut Medical Costs. They Haven't.

$215 depending on the type of visit. That’s despite the fact that Duke has an established electronic health record (EHR) system and an efficient, centralized billing department, Kaplan says. Administrative costs account for at least a... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Health

2019
Working Paper

Does Apple Anchor a Shopping Mall? The Effect of the Technology Stores on the Formation of Market Structure

By: Doug J. Chung, Kyoungwon Seo and Reo Song

This study examines the effect of technology stores—company-owned Apple and Microsoft retail stores—on mall configuration. We formulate a structural model that considers the endogenous location decisions of retail stores, taking into account both market characteristics... View Details

Keywords: Apple Store; New Anchor Store; Discrete Game; Complete Information; Multiple Equilibria; GPGPU Technology; Simulator; Bayesian Estimation; Shopping Mall; Spillover

2008
Working Paper

Allocating Marketing Resources

By: Sunil Gupta and Thomas J. Steenburgh

Marketing is essential for the organic growth of a company. Not surprisingly, firms spend billions of dollars on marketing. Given these large investments, marketing managers have the responsibility to optimally allocate these resources and demonstrate that these... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Mathematical Methods

2008
Chapter

Allocating Marketing Resources

By: Sunil Gupta and Thomas J. Steenburgh

Companies spend billions of dollars on marketing every year because it is essential to organic growth. Given these large investments, marketing managers have the responsibility to optimally allocate resources and to demonstrate that their investments generate... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Mathematical Methods

November 2016 (Revised March 2018)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 9: Building a Balanced Scorecard

By: Robert Simons

This module reading explains how to construct a strategy map and build a balanced scorecard. Using an internal value chain model, the module illustrates how a balanced scorecard can support and enable customer management, innovation, operations, and post-sale service... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Performance Measurement; Strategy Map; Business Goals; Customer Measures; Strategy; Balanced Scorecard; Business Model

October 2013 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Americhem: The Gaylord Division (A-1)

By: David A. Garvin

The Gaylord Division of Americhem, a large chemical company, is in the midst of the first use of a new zero-base budgeting system. The general manager of the division leading the process is experiencing disagreement and conflict among the members of the senior... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges

05 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: January 5

Involvement in Process Improvement Author:Anita L. Tucker Abstract Managers play a critical role in process improvement. However, research has found that many improvement efforts fail due to insufficient... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Jul 2006
Op-Ed

Corporate Governance Activists are Headed in the Wrong Direction

Activist corporate governance reformers are spending too much time—and capturing too much of the media's attention—on fringe issues. One current initiative, for example, focuses on promoting "majority voting" for directors, a View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Hinsey

August 2012
Case

Danshui Plant No. 2

By: William Bruns, Julie H. Hertenstein and Kelvin Liu

Danshui Plant No. 2 in southern China has a one-year contract with Apple Inc. to assemble 2.4 million iPhones. In the first three months of the contract, the plant is unable to assemble as many phones as expected and is operating at a loss. The plant manager must... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Production; Budgets and Budgeting; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; China