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- Faculty Publications (715)
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- All HBS Web (2,303)
- Faculty Publications (715)
- September 2010
- Article
Do Inventory and Gross Margin Data Improve Sales Forecasts for U.S. Public Retailers?
By: Saravanan Kesavan, Vishal Gaur and Ananth Raman
Firm-level sales forecasts for retailers can be improved if we incorporate cost of goods sold, inventory, and gross margin (defined here as the ratio of sales to cost of goods sold) as three endogenous variables. We construct a simultaneous equations model, estimated... View Details
Keywords: Sales; Forecasting and Prediction; Distribution; Goods and Commodities; Cost; Public Sector; Profit; Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; United States
Kesavan, Saravanan, Vishal Gaur, and Ananth Raman. "Do Inventory and Gross Margin Data Improve Sales Forecasts for U.S. Public Retailers?" Management Science 56, no. 9 (September 2010): 1519–1533.
- September 1986 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
Solagen: Process Improvement in the Manufacture of Gelatin at Kodak
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey
Kodak must decide whether to make a major investment in a production facility designed around a new technique for producing the gelatin critical to so many film and paper products. Currently, gelatin making is an arcane art, unchanged in 150 years and heavily dependent... View Details
Keywords: Arts; Buildings and Facilities; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Experience and Expertise; Engineering; Investment; Time Management; Production; Research and Development; Semiconductor Industry
Leonard, Dorothy A., and Brian DeLacey. "Solagen: Process Improvement in the Manufacture of Gelatin at Kodak." Harvard Business School Case 687-020, September 1986. (Revised February 2007.)
- February 2021
- Article
How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice
By: Ryan W. Buell and Basak Kalkanci
Amid growing calls for transparency and social and environmental responsibility, companies are employing different strategies to improve consumer perceptions of their brands. Some pursue internal initiatives that reduce their negative social or environmental impacts... View Details
Keywords: Sustainable Operations; Corporate Social Responsibility; Operational Transparency; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Operations; Environmental Sustainability; Consumer Behavior; Perception
Buell, Ryan W., and Basak Kalkanci. "How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice." Management Science 67, no. 2 (February 2021): 932–950.
- March 2016
- Supplement
Trouble at Tessei
By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
In 2005, Teruo Yabe is asked to revive Tessei, the 669-person JR-East subsidiary responsible for cleaning its Shinkansen ("bullet") trains. Operational mistakes, customer complaints, safety issues, and employee turnover are at or near all-time highs, even as the... View Details
Keywords: Service Management; Employee Engagement; Employee Motivation; Leadership And Managing People; Quality Improvement; Efficiency; Japan; Operational Transparency; Employee Coordination; Transparency; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Employees; Quality; Transportation Industry; Japan
Bernstein, Ethan, and Ryan W. Buell. "Trouble at Tessei." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 616-706, March 2016.
- 2012
- Other Unpublished Work
The Instrumental Value of Medical Leadership: Engaging Doctors in Improving Services
By: Richard Bohmer
This paper was commissioned to contribute to The King's Fund's 2012 review of leadership
and engagement. View Details
Keywords: Health Care; Service Quality; Quality; Leadership; Service Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry
Bohmer, Richard. "The Instrumental Value of Medical Leadership: Engaging Doctors in Improving Services." King's Fund, London, England, May 2012.
- 2023
- Working Paper
Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games
By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Julian Runge
One of the most crucial aspects and significant levers that gaming companies possess in designing
digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to
progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in... View Details
Keywords: Freemium; Retention/churn; Field Experiment; Field Experiments; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Monetization; Monetization Strategy; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Customers; Retention; Product Design; Strategy
Ascarza, Eva, Oded Netzer, and Julian Runge. "Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-062, November 2020. (Revised December 2023.)
- Article
The Perils of Excellence: Barriers to Effective Process Improvement in Product-Driven Firms
By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Jesus del Alamo, Todd Becker, James Lawton, Peter Moran, Saul Shapiro and Dean Vlasak
Henderson, Rebecca M., Jesus del Alamo, Todd Becker, James Lawton, Peter Moran, Saul Shapiro, and Dean Vlasak. "The Perils of Excellence: Barriers to Effective Process Improvement in Product-Driven Firms." Production and Operations Management 7, no. 1 (Spring 1998): 2–18.
- 2018
- Working Paper
Show or Tell? Improving Agent Decision Making in a Tanzanian Mobile Money Field Experiment
By: Jason Acimovic, Chris Parker, David F. Drake and Karthik Balasubramanian
When workers make operational decisions, the firm's global knowledge and the workers’ domain-specific knowledge complement each other. Oftentimes workers have the final decision-making power. Two key decisions a firm makes when designing systems to support these... View Details
Keywords: Employees; Decision Making; Training; Performance Improvement; Money; Mobile Technology; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Services Industry
Acimovic, Jason, Chris Parker, David F. Drake, and Karthik Balasubramanian. "Show or Tell? Improving Agent Decision Making in a Tanzanian Mobile Money Field Experiment." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-106, May 2018.
- September 2009
- Article
Virtue out of Necessity? Compliance, Commitment and the Improvement of Labor Conditions in Global Supply Chains
By: Akshay Mangla, Richard Locke and Matthew Amengual
Private, voluntary compliance programs, promoted by global corporations and nongovernmental organizations alike, have produced only modest and uneven improvements in working conditions and labor rights in most global supply chains. Through a detailed study of a major... View Details
Mangla, Akshay, Richard Locke, and Matthew Amengual. "Virtue out of Necessity? Compliance, Commitment and the Improvement of Labor Conditions in Global Supply Chains." Politics & Society 37, no. 3 (September 2009): 319–351.
- Research Summary
Overview
By: Ryan W. Buell
From creating flight itineraries online, to interacting with tellers to complete complex banking transactions, to engaging with the government to address civic problems, customers are playing an increasingly vital role in the performance of operations in a broadening... View Details
- 02 Sep 2014
- News
Many of the best ideas for improving health care are quite simple
Managers know that individuals who have experience working together can influence team performance. Yet most managers underestimate the benefit of such familiarity, according to Robert S. Huckman, Professor and Chair of the MBA Required Curriculum. Studying teams in... View Details
- Research Summary
"On design of operations & production management technology-base and performance database for empowerment of global/local industries in the international business environment"
His current research interests are in the reinforcement of continuous improvement schemes such as TPM, its global transfer and road-mapping for empowerment of industries. One of his aims while at Harvard TOM Unit is to establish infrastructure which enables... View Details
- fall 2002
- Article
How Much Does the Market Value an Improvement in a Product Attribute?
By: Elie Ofek and V. Srinivasan
Ofek, Elie, and V. Srinivasan. "How Much Does the Market Value an Improvement in a Product Attribute?" Marketing Science 21, no. 4 (fall 2002): 398–411.
- 2005
- Book
Best Face Forward: Why Companies Must Improve Their Service Interfaces With Customers
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Bernard J. Jaworski
Keywords: Technology; Digital; Services; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Marketing
Rayport, Jeffrey F., and Bernard J. Jaworski. Best Face Forward: Why Companies Must Improve Their Service Interfaces With Customers. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2005.
- July – August 2011
- Article
Deliberate Learning to Improve Performance in Dynamic Service Settings: Evidence from Hospital Intensive Care Units
By: I. M. Nembhard and A. L. Tucker
Dynamic service settings-characterized by workers who interact with customers to deliver services in a rapidly changing, uncertain, and complex environment (e.g., hospitals)-play an important role in the economy. Organizational learning studies in these settings have... View Details
Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Focus and Relationships; Learning; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Performance Improvement; Quality; Groups and Teams; Cooperation; Health Industry
Nembhard, I. M., and A. L. Tucker. "Deliberate Learning to Improve Performance in Dynamic Service Settings: Evidence from Hospital Intensive Care Units." Organization Science 22, no. 4 (July–August 2011): 907–922.
- 2010
- Book
The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics Are Transforming the Supply Chain and Improving Performance
By: Marshall Fisher and Ananth Raman
Retailers today are drowning in data but lacking in insight: They have huge volumes of information at their disposal. But they're unsure of how to sort through it and use it to make smart decisions. The result? They're struggling with profit-sapping supply chain... View Details
Keywords: Profit; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Mathematical Methods; Retail Industry
Fisher, Marshall, and Ananth Raman. The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics Are Transforming the Supply Chain and Improving Performance. Harvard Business Press, 2010.