Publications

21 May 2012
Research & Ideas

OSHA Inspections: Protecting Employees or Killing Jobs?

gain access to workers' compensation data. Because the data were collected at the company level, the researchers limited their analysis to firms with only one plant, where the effects of an inspection on injury rates and View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Article

Case Study: Can Retailers Win Back Shoppers Who Browse then Buy Online?

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Sunil Gupta

This case study discusses the options that brick-and-mortar retailers can use to combat the negative consequences of 'showrooming.' View Details

Keywords: Showrooming; E-commerce; Retail Industry

Read Now

July 1990 (Revised October 1997)
Case

Siemens Electric Motor Works (A) (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Explores how a cost system can help support a firm's decision to change strategies. In the process, the students are introduced to a simple activity-based cost system. Siemens Electric Motor Works found itself facing an increasingly competitive environment and so made... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost Accounting; Cost; Adoption; Cost vs Benefits; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Production; Business Strategy; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry

August 1994 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Sony Corporation: The Walkman Line

Explores how Sony manages its Walkman line in both the domestic (Japanese) and Western markets. Describes a simple target costing system, a simple Japanese cost accounting system, and the management of product proliferation. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Japan

March 1995 (Revised April 1995)
Background Note

Scope of the Corporation, The

By: David J. Collis

Describes analyses that determine the appropriate limit to the scope of the firm. Examines both the production cost justification for firm diversification--economies of scope and shared resources, and the governance cost justification for including transactions inside... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Agency Theory; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion

July – August 1985
Article

How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage

By: Michael E. Porter and Victor A. Millar

The information revolution is sweeping through our economy. No company can escape its effects. Dramatic reductions in the cost of obtaining, processing, and transmitting information are changing the way we do business. View Details

Keywords: Information; Competitive Advantage

Find at Harvard

05 Feb 2020
Video

Abbas Akbarally

Abbas Akbarally, Chair of Akbar Brothers which is Sri Lanka’s and the world’s largest tea company, discusses the consequences of the Sri Lankan government’s nationalization of tea plantations in the... View Details

April 2019
Case

Barber Cardiosystems

By: Ranjay Gulati and Paul S. Myers

Barber Cardiosystems, based in Melbourne, Australia, designs and manufactures therapeutic devices used for treatment of coronary conditions. Over four decades, it has grown to be among the top 200 medical device companies in the world. It competes against much larger... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Strategic Alignment; Cost Management; Performance Productivity; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Design; Strategy; Leadership; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Australia

29 May 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Some Neglected Axioms in Fair Division

Keywords: by John W. Pratt

December 2012
Background Note

Jefferson County: Specific Swap Detail

Jefferson County, Alabama, faces an EPA mandate requiring sewer system upgrades. How will they finance the upgrades? What consequences will follow? View Details

Keywords: Local Government; Political Process; Bankruptcy; Debt Management; Financial Planning; Financial Management; Urban Development; City; Infrastructure; Government and Politics; Alabama

June 1985 (Revised March 1991)
Case

Camelback Communications, Inc.

Camelback Communications, Inc. has a poorly designed cost accounting system and is in the process of redesigning it. This case demonstrates how the old cost accounting system operated. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; System; Communications Industry

February 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Sandlands Vineyards

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Approximately 80% of the wineries in the U.S. break even or lose money. An even greater percentage lose money on an economic basis (i.e., after a charge for the cost of equity). Tegan Passalacqua is a successful, young, Californian winemaker who specializes in making... View Details

November 1995
Technical Note

Analyzing Standard Costs: Technical Note

By: V.G. Narayanan

Explains variance analysis. Concepts of price variance and quantity variance are introduced to analyze prime cost variances. Spending variance and capacity variance are used to analyze overhead variance. Consistent with conducting variance analysis in an activity-based... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Cost; Analysis

March 1993
Supplement

Eastwind Trading Company (B)

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Describes the aftermath of the (A) case. Describes the actions taken and the possible consequences for the company and its principals. Also describes the principals' attitudes at this point. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Finance; Management; Opportunities

Research Summary

Overview

Ovul Sezer focuses on the study of self-presentation and examines how people intuitively attempt to manage impressions of others. Her work examines both the actors and their motives underlying their self-presentation attempts, and consequences of such behavior. View Details

October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

The U.S. Health Club Industry, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2015, the U.S. health-club industry generated revenues of $25.8 billion, up from $14.8 billion in 2004. Members of health clubs accounted for 17% of the population, up from 14%. The number of clubs had grown from 26,830 in 2004 to 36,180. In the process, the list of... View Details

April 2000
Background Note

Market Failures

By: Bharat N. Anand, Tarun Khanna and Jan W. Rivkin

Examines the role of transaction costs in impeding the functioning of markets and shows how the concept of transaction costs sheds light on a broad range of issues in strategy. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Cost; Market Transactions; Industry Clusters; Failure; Internet

October 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Bluefin Robotics

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

Concentrates on the consequences of the choice of corporate partners on the growth alternatives available to a new company, in a new industry, based on a new technology. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Partners and Partnerships; Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Technological Innovation