Publications

August 1992
Article

The Demand for M0 Revisited

By: Glenn Hoggarth and Huw Pill

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2019
Working Paper

Labor Market Shocks and the Demand for Trade Protection: Evidence from Online Surveys

By: Rafael Di Tella and Dani Rodrik

We study preferences for government action in response to layoffs resulting from different types of labor-market shocks. We consider the following shocks: technological change, a demand shift, bad management, and three kinds of international outsourcing. Respondents... View Details

Keywords: Labor; Markets; System Shocks; Trade; Attitudes; Surveys

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October 2017
Article

Observability Increases the Demand for Commitment Devices

By: Christine L. Exley and Jeffrey K. Naecker

Previous research often interprets the choice to restrict one’s future opportunity set as evidence for sophisticated time inconsistency. We propose an additional mechanism that may contribute to the demand for commitment technology: the desire to signal to others. We... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Attitudes

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16 Feb 2018
Working Paper Summaries

A New Categorization of the US Economy: The Role of Supply Chain Industries in Innovation and Economic Performance

Keywords: by Mercedes Delgado and Karen G. Mills; Manufacturing

July 2015
Article

A Behavioral Model of the Popularity and Regulation of Demandable Liabilities

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

Overoptimism regarding one's ability to arrive early in a queue is shown to rationalize deposit contracts in which people can withdraw their funds on demand even if consumption takes place later. Capitalized institutions serving overoptimistic depositors emerge in... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Banks and Banking

May 2014
Article

Observation Bias: The Impact of Demand Censoring on Newsvendor Level and Adjustment Behavior

By: Nils Rudi and David Drake

In an experimental newsvendor setting we investigate three phenomena: level behavior—the decision-maker's average ordering tendency; adjustment behavior—the tendency to adjust period-to-period order quantities; and observation bias—the tendency to... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Behavior; Logistics; Decision Making

31 Jan 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Observation Bias: The Impact of Demand Censoring on Newsvendor Level and Adjustment Behavior

Keywords: by David F. Drake

2022
Case

Tesla's Battery Supply Chain: A Growing Concern

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

In October 2021, the fictional vice president of supply chain sustainability at Tesla is working on finding the best way to achieve Tesla's goal of 100% recycling for the batteries in its electric vehicles (EVs) as they reach their end of life. A major challenge in... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Governance Compliance; Metals and Minerals; Auto Industry

June 2001
Teaching Note

Role of Intermediaries in Supply Chains TN

By: Ananth Raman

Describes the role of intermediaries in the Coordinating and Managing Supply Chains elective course at HBS. Contrary to many observers' predictions, intermediaries have continued to survive and even grow. This module examines the ways in which intermediaries can add... View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital; Cost Management; Labor; Supply Chain Management; Motivation and Incentives

March 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Supply Chain Close-Up: The Video Vault

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

The owners of the Video Vault struggle to determine the optimal stocking levels of home videos in an industry fraught with new technology, new pricing paradigms, and stiff competitive pressure from large national chains. Teaching Purpose: To demonstrate the role of... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Competition; Motivation and Incentives; Price; Technological Innovation; Service Delivery; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

September 2021 (Revised October 2022)
Supplement

Hester Pharmaceuticals (B): Securing Supply

By: Dante Roscini and John Masko

Supplements the (A) case. In late 2020, demand for Hester Pharmaceutical’s (Hester’s) breakthrough oncology drug Akrozumab was outstripping the company’s most optimistic projections. In order to increase manufacturing capacity and meet the demand, Hester was... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Cost vs Benefits; Trade; Supply Chain; Global Strategy; Buildings and Facilities; Operations; Health Care and Treatment; Demand and Consumers; Global Range; Globalized Markets and Industries; Pharmaceutical Industry; Italy; China; United States; Germany

2007
Blog

Harvard Business Online—Marketing Know:How: Customers Demand and Deserve Respect

By: John A. Quelch

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April 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (A) (Abridged)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Owens & Minor (O&M) performed lean inventory services for Virginia Mason (VM) as its Alpha Vendor, but the outdated industry pricing model created perverse incentives and could not capture O&M's costs. Together, O&M and VM created an activity-based pricing model: Total... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Activity Based Costing and Management; Business Model; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Motivation and Incentives; Asset Pricing; Cost Accounting; Fair Value Accounting; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

2021
Article

Public Health Risks Arising from Food Supply Chains: Challenges and Opportunities

By: Lu Chen, Donovan Guittieres, Retsef Levi, Elisabeth Paulson, Georgia Perakis, Nicholas Renegar and Stacy Springs

Safe, healthy, and resilient food supply chains are essential to ensuring the livelihood and well-being of humans and societies, as well as local and global economies. However, the ability to provide and sustain access to nutritious and safe food continues to be a... View Details

Keywords: Food Safety; Adulteration; Malnutrition; Supply Chain; Health; Government Administration; Food and Beverage Industry

April 2001 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Supply Chain Management at World Co., Ltd.

By: Ananth Raman, Marshall L. Fisher and Anna Sheen McClelland

Describes a supply chain with very quick (i.e., two week) response times and allows students to explore how such short response times are achieved. Allows students to explore why other supply chains, with much longer response times, might not be able to replicate this... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Knowledge Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Improvement

December 2021
Article

India's Food Supply Chain during the Pandemic

By: Matt Lowe, G.V. Nadhanael and Benjamin N. Roth

We document the impact of India’s COVID-19 lockdown on the food supply chain. Food arrivals in wholesale markets dropped by 69% in the three weeks following the lockdown and wholesale prices rose by 8%. Six weeks after the lockdown began, volumes and prices had fully... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Supply Chain; Health Pandemics; Food; Policy; System Shocks; Food and Beverage Industry; India

January 2000
Article

Coordinating and Managing Supply Chains: The General Manager's Role

By: A. Raman

Keywords: Management; Supply Chain

20 Apr 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Executive Education in the Digital Vortex: The Disruption of the Supply Landscape

Keywords: by Mihnea Moldoveanu and Das Narayandas; Education

February 1982 (Revised November 1994)
Case

San Fabian Supply Co. (Philippines)

MacDowell Corp., a producer of construction supplies, terminated its exclusive distribution arrangement with San Fabian Supply Co., its sole distributor in the Philippines for nearly 20 years. Paul Cheng the owner of San Fabian had to decide whether to accept... View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Distribution Channels; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Philippines