Publications

October 2007
Background Note

Price Formation

By: Joshua D. Coval and Erik Stafford

Investigates how prices are formed in competitive capital markets. Focuses on a single security called AOE. Students compete with computer traders and each other for market making and informed trading profits. Participants receive a variety of public news in the form... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Price; Profit; Corporate Disclosure; Newsletters; Industry Structures; Business Processes; Competitive Strategy

May 1993 (Revised December 1997)
Background Note

Internationalization of Services, Module Note, The

Many industry-leading service providers are expanding internationally, with varying degrees of success. This note presents a framework for understanding the managerial challenges facing service firms as they enter foreign markets. In particular, focuses on key... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Service Industry

August 1994 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Company

By: Robert H. Hayes

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Co. (EIIC) is a small but highly successful company that offers machinery and boiler inspection and insurance services. After years of above-average growth and profits, both are retreating toward the industry average, policy delivery... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Business Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Insurance; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Insurance Industry; United States

11 May 2016
Research & Ideas

Fix This! Why is it so Painful to Buy a New Car?

here and there, but a Luddite mentality still dominates the industry. When a dealership hit on the idea of using texting to keep customers up to date on work being done in the service department, the “innovation” was reported in an View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Auto

June 1999 (Revised February 2013)
Case

The California Wine Cluster

By: Michael E. Porter and Gregory C Bond

Describes the California wine cluster, or the group of interconnected wineries, grape growers, suppliers, service providers, and wine-related institutions located in California. Also describes the wine cluster in France, Italy, Australia, and Chile, the four other... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Geographic Location; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Competition; Food and Beverage Industry; California

December 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Four Seasons Goes to Paris: '53 Properties, 24 Countries, 1 Philosophy'

By: Roger H. Hallowell, David Bowen and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Illustrates how Four Seasons manages hotels in countries with strong and distinct national cultures. Focuses on how the chain meets its exacting service standards in a variety of settings worldwide, with special attention on France. View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Global Range; Global Strategy; Standards; Accommodations Industry; Paris

13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

through those ties and may take pride in a reputation for a higher standard of performance when observed by a valued peer, the researchers note. In some ways, analogous effects may be observed in customer service in other professions and... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

18 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

How Eliminating Non-Competes Could Reshape Tech

Second, advanced software algorithms and data-based artificial intelligence algorithms account for increasing amounts of trade secrets in technology. These technologies rely on massive stores of distributed computing and data built up... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Technology

April 2019 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Raksul

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Masahiro Kotosaka, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

Raksul, 2018 Forbes Japan "Startup of the Year," ran an e-commerce platform drawing upon thousands of individual suppliers. Launched as a business-to-business printing services marketplace, Raksul had recently expanded to operate both a logistics/delivery marketplace... View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Design; B2B; Platform Strategy; Printing; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Logistics; Advertising; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Structures; E-commerce; Web Services Industry; Japan

13 Nov 2008
Working Paper Summaries

The Effect of Labor on Profitability: The Role of Quality

Keywords: by Zeynep Ton

09 Mar 2018
News

The Supply Chain Economy and the Future of Good Jobs in America

June 1986 (Revised July 1990)
Case

OTISLINE (A)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Donna B. Stoddard

Describes the company's use of information technology to strengthen its position in the elevator sales and service market. Also demonstrates how information technology can be used to better manage and control a large geographically dispersed service organization. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Sales; Marketing; Rank and Position; Salesforce Management; Service Operations; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Global Range; Accounting; Business Ventures; Industry Growth

May 2000 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Dell Ventures

By: Paul A. Gompers, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

Describes the rationale behind the strategy and structure of Dell Computer Corp.'s VC arm, Dell Ventures. While Dell Ventures had a phenomenal year one, it faced a number of challenges including dealing with market risks, finding and retaining talent, maintaining... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Talent and Talent Management; Goals and Objectives; Risk Management; Organizational Structure; Interests; Business Strategy; Computer Industry

March–April 2012
Article

The Rise and Fall of Small Worlds: Exploring the Dynamics of Social Structure

By: Ranjay Gulati, Maxim Sytch and Adam Tatarynowicz

This paper explores the interplay between social structure and economic action by examining some of the evolutionary dynamics of an emergent network that coalesces into a small-world system. The study highlights the small-world system's evolutionary dynamics at both... View Details

Keywords: Culture; System; Relationships; Globalization; Industry Clusters; Information; Networks; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry

Find at Harvard

28 Mar 2012
What Do You Think?

Are Factory Jobs Important to the Economy?

which the directors toured a newly-created "beauty park" in the US, where companies cooperating to create and manufacture new fashion beauty products are located together in one light industrial park. It is a reflection of colleagues Gary... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing

November–December 2012
Article

Toward a Theory of Extended Contact: The Incentives and Opportunities for Bridging Across Network Communities

By: Maxim Sytch, Adam Tatarynowicz and Ranjay Gulati

This study investigates the determinants of bridging ties within networks of interconnected firms. Bridging ties are defined as nonredundant connections between firms located in different network communities. We highlight how firms can enter into these relationships... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Opportunities

Find at Harvard

June 2004 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Salem Telephone Company

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Julie Hertenstein

A computer subsidiary appears to be unprofitable. Managers must determine whether it is actually unprofitable and consider whether changes in prices or promotion might improve profitability. Allows clear separation of variable costs from fixed costs. A rewritten... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Business Earnings; Cost vs Benefits; Cost Management; Profit; Telecommunications Industry

December 2012
Case

Delwarca Software Remote Support Unit

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Paul E. Morrison

Delwarca Software provides business software to large corporate clients around the world. The firm serves customers who prefer to assemble corporate solutions using a combination of software programs from various suppliers rather than implementing a single enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Service Delivery; Mathematical Methods; Applications and Software; Problems and Challenges; Customer Satisfaction; Information Technology Industry