Cost Efficiency - Publications - Faculty & Research

09 Feb 2016
First Look

February 9, 2016

turnover in sales is 25% to 30%, while direct replacement costs for a telesales employee ranges from $75,000 to $90,000 and other sales positions cost as much as $300,000. Moreover, these figures do not... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Philips: Redefining Telehealth

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Alec Petersen, Natalie Kindred and Sara M. McKinley

As one of the world’s largest healthcare companies, Philips sought to reach beyond the walls of the hospital and expand its hospital-to-home program to gain future competitive advantage through technology solutions combining predictive analytics with care delivery. By... View Details

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Research Summary

Overview

My focus is empirical financial accounting research, with particular interests in governance, valuation, M&A, and short-sellers. All three of my papers to date fall under the broad heading of “alternative governance mechanisms”—studies of how accounting information is... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Valuation; Law

Research Summary

Overview

My focus is empirical financial accounting research, with particular interests in governance, valuation, M&A, and short-sellers. All three of my papers to date fall under the broad heading of “alternative governance mechanisms”—studies of how accounting information is... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Valuation; Law

05 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Raise Their Prices: Because They Can

it is consistent with consumers becoming less price sensitive.” Will prices rise even faster? Meanwhile, company costs have declined over time as firms have squeezed more productivity out of increasingly View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

September 2018
Article

Discretionary Task Ordering: Queue Management in Radiological Services

By: Maria Ibanez, Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman and Bradley R. Staats

Work-scheduling research typically prescribes task sequences implemented by managers. Yet employees often have discretion to deviate from their prescribed sequence. Using data from 2.4 million radiological diagnoses, we find that doctors prioritize similar tasks... View Details

Keywords: Discretion; Scheduling; Queue; Healthcare; Learning; Experience; Decentralization; Operations; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Performance; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Decisions; Time Management; Cost vs Benefits; Health Industry

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22 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

How to Make AI 'Forget' All the Private Data It Shouldn't Have

wasn't as big of a deal, because you could just retrain the model from scratch. Just throw out that data and do it again. That's really not plausible when training a model takes months and costs many millions of dollars. You can't afford... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

2017
Working Paper

Discretionary Task Ordering: Queue Management in Radiological Services

By: Maria Ibanez, Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman and Bradley R. Staats

Work scheduling research typically prescribes task sequences implemented by managers. Yet employees often have discretion to deviate from their prescribed sequence. Using data from 2.4 million radiological diagnoses, we find that doctors prioritize similar tasks... View Details

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SSRN

07 Jun 2023
HBS Case

3 Ways to Gain a Competitive Advantage Now: Lessons from Amazon, Chipotle, and Facebook

ingredients to set itself apart from Taco Bell. Fast-food customers looking for healthy options are willing to pay more for what they consider a higher-quality product. At the same time, however, “you can imagine that the cost of sourcing... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

29 Jul 2019
Research & Ideas

How Companies Benefit When Employees Work Remotely

student Cirrus Foroughi and Barbara Larson, executive professor of management at Northeastern University. While digital technology has made workers more efficient and accessible than ever before, many companies have been slow to let... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

31 Mar 2022
Op-Ed

Navigating the ‘Bermuda Triangle’ in Professional Services

easy. Small firms operate informally. Continuing an informal approach to management strains performance as a firm grows. Costs begin to increase and errors in operations and service delivery begin to cumulate. Formal systems and processes... View Details

Keywords: by Ashish Nanda

05 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

Are Virtual Tours Still Worth It in Real Estate? Evidence from 75,000 Home Sales

virtual tour can cost as little as $300 or less, or many thousands for realtors willing to hire a professional to photograph a large home. Roughly 22 percent of houses used virtual tours. To break down those listings further, the authors... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Real Estate

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

live our everyday life (Autio et al., 2021). In fact, the combined effects of these four key technologies have driven an unexpected dramatic compression in the cost of producing, searching, amassing, storing, analyzing, and sharing data.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

23 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

Creative Entrepreneurship in a Downturn

how to win? A: My advice here is simple: Think business model. Most managers tend to focus on cost management and operational efficiencies when they strategize during a downturn. While there is nothing wrong... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

22 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 22, 2007

competencies required for achieving top-line growth through global partners are different than the competencies required to be successful in reducing costs via outsourcing. Yet, many companies continue to manage global collaboration... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 11, 2018

reconsidered their planning model and whether they should build more consolidation/deconsolidation centers to optimize costs and wring out more efficiency in its operations. Purchase this... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

like knowledge and information can often be transferred more efficiently and effectively within a firm than between independent firms. There are several reasons for this, including the fact that much knowledge is tacit. Indeed, it is well... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

10 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

Truth Be Told: Unpacking the Risks of Whistleblowing

costs. It’s more like an insurance payment. Whistleblowers incur a lot of costs and get some money as compensation. That changes how we think about whistleblower incentives; it isn’t a reward. White: Is there abuse of these statutes?... View Details

Keywords: by April White

01 Oct 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Systemic Risk and the Refinancing Ratchet Effect

Keywords: by Amir E. Khandani, Andrew W. Lo & Robert C. Merton; Construction; Real Estate

September 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Algramo

By: Michael Chu, Monica Silva and Mariana Cal

Founded in 2013 by José Manuel Moller in Chile, Algramo first became known for addressing the “poverty tax” (the surcharge paid by lower income families for staples sold in smaller sizes) through specially-designed dispensers in low-income neighborhood grocery stores... View Details