Publications

July 2025
Case

Osteoboost: Go-To-Market Strategy in a Healthcare Startup

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Ben Creo, Jacob M. Cook and Rachel Lev-Corn

Osteoboost focuses on how a health care Medtech startup with a new device for treating osteopenia. The firm decides among alternative go-to-market strategies, including B2B (the firm to healthcare providers), DTC (directly to consumers), or some combination of the two... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Innovation Strategy; Financial Strategy; Health Industry; Health Industry; United States

February 2025
Article

Disclosure, Humanizing, and Contextual Vulnerability of Generative AI Chatbots

By: Julian De Freitas and I. Glenn Cohen

In the wake of recent advancements in generative AI, regulatory bodies are trying to keep pace. One key decision is whether to require app makers to disclose the use of generative AI-powered chatbots in their products. We suggest that some generative AI-based chatbots... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Applications and Software; Well-being

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13 Sep 2010
News

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

08 Feb 2018
News

How to give a Valentine's Day gift that says 'I love you'

2024
Book

The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions

By: Michael Norton

Our lives are filled with repetitive tasks meant to keep us on track—what we come to know as habits. Over time, these routines (for example, brushing your teeth or putting on your right sock first) tend to be performed automatically. But when we’re more mindful about... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Happiness; Performance Productivity; Attitudes

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January 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Nivea (A)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Johann Fuller, Volker Bilgram and Greta Friar

The case describes the efforts of Beiersdorf, a worldwide leader in the cosmetics and skin care industries, to generate and commercialize new R&D through open innovation using external crowds and "netnographic" analysis. Beiersdorf, best known for its consumer brand... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation Management; Crowdsourcing; Big Data; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Research and Development; Social and Collaborative Networks; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Analytics and Data Science; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry

December 2015
Article

Task Shifting in Surgery: Lessons from an Indian Heart Hospital

By: Budhaditya Gupta, Robert S. Huckman and Tarun Khanna

We present a case study that illustrates task shifting, the transfer of activities from senior to junior colleagues, in the context of cardiac surgery at the Narayana Health City Cardiac Hospital (NH) in India. The case discusses the factors driving the adoption of... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Rank and Position; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; India

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Research Summary

Overview

Observing how globalization and technological innovation are transforming economies, Professor Steinwender is motivated by understanding what drives these factors. She uses the careful empirical identification of causal effects—and often the lens of history—to examine... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Productivity; Innovation; Information Technology; Telegraph; Technological Change; Firm Behavior

Research Summary

Overview

By: Nancy F. Koehn

My research focuses on crisis leadership and how leaders and their teams rise to the challenges of high-stakes situations. Using the lens of history, my work examines how individual leaders from business, government and other walks accomplish important—often seemingly... View Details

Keywords: Courageous Leadership In Turbulent Times; Emotional Experience Of Leaders; History Of Leadership; Leadership; Entrepreneurship; History; Media And Broadcasting Industry; Health Industry; Beauty And Cosmetics Industry; Fashion Industry; Advertising Industry; United States; Europe

August 1998
Case

Record Masters

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael J. Roberts and Laurence E. Katz

Kent Dauten, a former general partner at the Chicago private equity firm of Madison Dearborn Partners, has engaged in a search to personally sponsor a buyout in which he can play an active management role. He has received a selling memorandum for Record Masters, a... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Leveraged Buyouts; Valuation; Negotiation Deal; Investment

Article

A Blueprint for Pharmacy Benefits Managers to Increase Value

By: William Shrank, Michael E. Porter, Sachin H. Jain and Niteesh K. Choudhary

Pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) have a unique opportunity to promote public health and generate value in the healthcare system. However, PBMs are largely evaluated on their ability to control costs rather than improve health. PBMs should be evaluated along three... View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Health; System; Cost Management; Partners and Partnerships; Motivation and Incentives; Value; Innovation and Invention; Performance Effectiveness; Health Industry; Health Industry

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03 Aug 2022
News

How Will Amazon Approach U.S. Primary Care?

March 2007 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Burt's Bees: Leaving the Hive

Rapid growth is pushing Burt's Bees' natural personal care products into mass distribution channels, with products and brand elements that are less quirky, more commercial than they used to be. Indeed, CEO John Replogle believes that by focusing on efficacious,... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Consumer Behavior; Asset Pricing; Entrepreneurship; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

14 Jul 2006
Op-Ed

The Case for Consumer-Driven Medicaid

Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R) has suggested an option that is worth serious consideration in other states. His plan gives Medicaid enrollees a choice: Every recipient would obtain catastrophic and preventive coverage as well as a personal View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger

10 Sep 2019
News

New Survey Shows U.S. Businesses Taking Steps to Foster Culture Of Health, But Room to Grow

November 2023
Case

The Commons Project in Rwanda—Building Digital Infrastructure for the Global Public Good

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Tom Quinn

In September 2022, The Commons Project Foundation (TCP) CEO Zhenya Lindgardt and her team met on a Zoom call to discuss building tools to help Rwandans manage their health data. They believed that helping Africa build digital infrastructure would improve much-needed... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Capital; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Health Care and Treatment; Information Management; Adaptation; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology Industry; Rwanda; United States

2009
Working Paper

Broadening Focus: Spillovers, Complementarities and Specialization in the Hospital Industry

By: Jonathan R. Clark and Robert S. Huckman

The long-standing argument that focused operations outperform others stands in contrast to claims about the benefits of broader operational scope. The performance benefits of focus are typically attributed to reduced complexity, lower uncertainty, and the development... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Performance Capacity; Diversification; Health Industry

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Dec 04 2019
Interview

Good Management Can Save Your Life

October 13, 2021
Editorial

How Companies Can Improve Employee Engagement Right Now

By: Daniel Stein, Nick Hobson, Jon M. Jachimowicz and Ashley Whillans

A year and a half into the pandemic, employees’ mental “surge capacity” is likely diminished. Managers must take proactive steps to increase employee engagement, or risk losing their workforce. Engaged employees perform better, experience less burnout, and stay in... View Details

Keywords: Employee Retention; Employee Engagement; Employee Relationship Management; Work-Life Balance