Publications

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

What Really Drives Your Strategy?

can write whatever they want about growth in their strategy or annual report, but top management responds to the capital market's need for quarterly earnings, and it turns out that quarterly earnings drive the View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

04 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 4

facilitate speaking up. Download the paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=43673 Cases & Course MaterialsIntuit Inc.: Project AgriNova Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tanya BijlaniHarvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

22 Apr 2020
Research Event

How Investors Are Sizing Up Climate Change’s Risks—and Opportunities

Until a few years ago, climate change’s potential impact seemed abstract for many investors. Now, as sea levels rise, hurricanes intensify, and droughts threaten food supplies, many investors are confronting its financial realities. But it’s not a simple calculation.... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

01 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

Sometimes Success Begins at Failure

Research Center lab. When it didn't see the results it sought, Xerox terminated further funding for projects that we know today as Ethernet (by 3Com) and PostScript (by Adobe). These View Details

Keywords: by Henry Chesbrough; Health; Pharmaceutical

September 2011 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Ganging Up on Cancer: Integrative Research Centers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (A)

By: Heidi K. Gardner, Edo Bedzra and Shereef M. Elnahal

Dr. Barrett Rollins, Chief Scientific Officer of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, attempts to engender cross-scientist collaboration by applying project management principles to medical research. The resulting innovation, Integrative Research Centers, are novel in... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Motivation and Incentives; Employees; Performance Evaluation; Leadership Style; Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management

September 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Mobil USM&R (C): Lubricants Business Unit

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The general manager of a Lubricants Business Unit in Mobil's U.S. Marketing and Refining division launched a project to develop a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for his unit. The purpose was to provide focus for all employees of the unit, enabling it to operate on an... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Employees; Customization and Personalization; Performance Evaluation; Measurement and Metrics; Management Teams; Projects; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

January 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

People Analytics at McKinsey

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Olivia Hull

A private equity–backed fast food chain has hired McKinsey’s new People Analytics group to help it improve performance. As the final client workshop approaches, Associate Partner Alex DiLeonardo ponders the best way to present the team’s findings, especially those that... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Customer Relationship Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost Management; Human Resources; Employees; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Measurement and Metrics; Performance; Performance Capacity; Performance Efficiency; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Consulting Industry; Service Industry

27 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Employee-Suggestion Programs That Work

previous research suggests increases such programs' positive impact on culture. The process generated a tick list of approximately 20 items, which was evaluated by the senior and unit leadership together in... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Guttry

22 Mar 2016
First Look

March 22, 2016

highly interactive and intrusive dialogues to surface and prioritize risks, help to allocate resources to mitigate them, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: November 22

and with the firm's future performance. The results do not support the view that executive and outside directors use their connections to extract rents. Rather the company compensates these individuals for... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 8

clinical psychologists and journal editors, divide a continuous flow of judgments into subsets. College admissions interviewers, for instance, evaluate but a handful of applicants a day. We conjectured that... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

05 Jul 2016
First Look

July 5, 2016

conservation problem as a behavior change problem, understand behavioral mechanisms and identify appropriate approaches for behavior change (awareness, incentives, nudges), and View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Ball: EVA Driving the World's Leading Can Manufacturer (A)

By: Jonas Heese and Susan Pinckney

The case describes Ball’s multi decade history of using Economic Value Added to drive decision making and workforce compensation. In 2016, the company acquired Rexam PLC and became the world’s leading metal beverage container company. Consumer demand for varied... View Details

November 1976 (Revised January 1984)
Case

Norton Co.: Strategic Planning for Diversified Business Operations

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes an elaborate approach to strategic planning for diversified business operations. Includes the use of the BCG experience curve and growth share matrices and of PIMS profit-factor data. (Both sets of ideas are described in appendices to the case.) Also... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Diversification; Operations; Business Growth and Maturation; Business or Company Management; Resource Allocation