High Switching Costs - Publications - Faculty & Research

May 2024
Supplement

gWorks (A)

In January of 2019, Joe Heieck, CEO of gWorks, was deciding whether to proceed with his acquisition of Data Tech, that was a business roughly the same size as gWorks. gWorks, which provided geospatial software to small city and rural county governments, was acquired by... View Details

Citation

Purchase

February 1991
Case

Burlington Northern: The ARES Decision (B)

By: Julie H. Hertenstein and Robert S. Kaplan

The ARES team formally proposes that Burlington Northern implement the ARES system. The project meets resistance. In light of financial restructuring and high level of debt, executives wonder whether the company can afford ARES. Weak links during the ARES development... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Budgeting; Projects; Technology Adoption; Service Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

Web

Students on the Job Market - Doctoral

Experiment There are concerns that managers repurchase shares myopically to benefit themselves at the costs of shareholders and society. Due to these concerns, the SEC adopted its 2023 Share Repurchase Disclosure Modernization Rules (the... View Details

February 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Cable Data Systems

By: Paul W. Marshall and Todd H Thedinga

Describes the operating challenges of Cable Data Systems (CDS), a minority-owned cable installation company with a dual mission of maximizing profits and providing employment opportunities to minorities in urban markets. Following the merger of two cable installation... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Employment; Forecasting and Prediction; Urban Scope; Cost Management; Infrastructure; Labor Unions; Demand and Consumers; Demographics; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Boston

Citation

Find at Harvard

19 Apr 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Is India’s Manufacturing Sector Moving Away from Cities?

Keywords: by Ejaz Ghani, Arti Grover Goswami & William R. Kerr; Manufacturing

2016
Working Paper

Operations in the On-Demand Economy: Staffing Services with Self-Scheduling Capacity

By: Itai Gurvich, Martin Lariviere and Antonio Moreno

Motivated by recent innovations in service delivery such as ride-sharing services and work-from-home call centers, we study capacity management when workers self-schedule. Our service provider chooses capacity to maximize its profit (revenue from served customers minus... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Servers; On-demand Economy; Independent Capacity; Distributed Systems; Uber; Service Operations; Performance Capacity

Citation

SSRN

Article

Power to the People

By: Eric D. Werker

Every nongovernmental organization has a mission statement. For example, CARE, one of the world's largest and best-funded NGOs, explains its mission as serving "individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world. Drawing strength from our global... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Food; Service Operations; Inflation and Deflation; Experience and Expertise; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Knowledge; Poverty; Agribusiness; Diversity; Non-Governmental Organizations; Innovation and Invention; India

Citation

Find at Harvard

07 Apr 2022
HBS Seminar

Hummy Song, Wharton

12 Mar 2024
HBS Case

How Used Products Can Unlock New Markets: Lessons from Apple's Refurbished iPhones

Some of Apple’s most loyal customers think nothing of upgrading to the latest iPhone every time one comes out. But what about consumers who can’t splurge on a $1,000 iPhone 15 Pro? And what about the electronic waste that would accrue if people threw away functional... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Electronics; Information Technology

04 Mar 2024
What Do You Think?

Do People Want to Work Anymore?

around fewer, carefully selected, better-paid people performing complex jobs requiring extensive training, with resulting higher employee retention and lower costs of selection, hiring, and training for new employees. This contrasts with... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

28 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

How Workplace Wellness Programs Can Give Employees the Energy Boost They Need

well-being offerings, only 23 percent of employees use them. The same pattern also applies to physical and financial well-being programs. Worse, many companies are wasting precious financial resources on ineffective programs. Meanwhile, they suffer the View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson

19 Sep 2023
HBS Case

How Will the Tech Titans Behind ChatGPT, Bard, and LLaMA Make Money?

monetized. At minimum, I can tell you that we are going to need new business models, and the integration of generative AI is going to transform how we monetize software and the business model. Rand: How so? Wu: Our notions of fixed cost... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology; Information Technology

26 Apr 2024
HBS Case

Deion Sanders' Prime Lessons for Leading a Team to Victory

game? Sanders sets high expectations, clearly lays out the plan, checks to make sure people are following through, and provides all the logistical support the team needs to succeed both on and off the field. “Deion reminds me of military... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

July 2024
Case

Jacqueline Cook at Vendasta: Debating an IPO

By: Reza Satchu, Tom Quinn and Andrew Kosc

In May 2021, after a surge in demand for digital services that prompted high valuations for startups across the Canadian tech sector, Saskatchewan-based Vendasta entered the final stages of the initial public offering (IPO) process. COO Jacqueline Cook had invested her... View Details

Citation

Educators

01 Mar 2010
Op-Ed

A Golden Opportunity for Ford and GM

January sales for Ford and GM jumped 24 percent and nearly 14 percent, respectively, year over year, in spite of high unemployment and low consumer confidence. Chrysler Falls Further In contrast, look at Chrysler and its new CEO, Sergio... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto

17 Jan 2023
In Practice

8 Trends to Watch in 2023

As 2023 begins, businesses and employees face an uncertain economy and labor market, as the twin dilemmas of inflation and interest rates weigh on forecasts. Harvard Business School faculty share the top trends that they believe will shape the workplace and markets... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

Web

Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

fluctuations. The authors introduce a novel measure of risk perceptions: the price of volatile stocks. They show that high perceived risk is associated with low risk-free interest rates, a high View Details

18 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, April 18, 2018

appears to owe more to management fads than to serious underperformance. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54369 Seeker Beware: The Interpersonal Costs of Ignoring Advice By: Blunden, Hayley, Jennifer M.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Forgiving Student Loan Debt Leads to Better Jobs, Stronger Consumers

income, and Sen. Bernie Sanders has pushed for eliminating undergraduate tuition and fees at public colleges and universities. Di Maggio is careful to note that his team did not study the costs of any debt-relief proposal. But it’s clear... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

December 1993 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Medical Products Co.

By: Robert H. Hayes

In early 1990, the company is contemplating changes in its European plant network for producing hypodermic products, including the total production capacity to be provided, the number and location of plants over which to spread this capacity, and which products should... View Details