Publications

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

November 1994 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Pepsi's Regeneration, 1990-1993

By: David A. Garvin and Donald N. Sull

Craig Weatherup, the president and CEO of Pepsi Cola, leads a change process that completely transforms his company. It includes a new vision, operating philosophy, strategy, and organizational structure. He also introduces process improvement techniques and builds new... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Systems; Standards; Organizational Structure; Outcome or Result; Performance Improvement; Problems and Challenges; Food and Beverage Industry

February 2016 (Revised February 2020)
Teaching Note

Oberoi Hotels: Train Whistle in the Tiger Reserve

By: Ryan W. Buell and Ananth Raman

Celebrated as one of the world's premiere luxury hotel brands, Oberoi Hotels attracts and serves some of the most quality sensitive guests in the world. The case considers the challenge of how an organization with a standardized service model can repeatedly delight... View Details

Keywords: Service Quality; Service Management; Service Quality Competition; Customer Management; Customer Service Excellence; Employee Empowerment; Employee Engagement; Employee Training; Hospitality; Hotel Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Employees; Training; Quality; Accommodations Industry; India

2020
Working Paper

Social Influence in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Community Establishments’ Closure Decisions Follow Those of Nearby Chain Establishments

By: Abhishek Nagaraj, Mathijs de Vaan, Saqib Mumtaz and Sameer Srivastava

As conveners that bring various stakeholders into the same physical space, firms can powerfully influence the course of pandemics such as COVID-19. Even when operating under government orders and health guidelines, firms have considerable discretion to keep their... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Peer Influence; Closure Decisions; Health Pandemics; Business Ventures; Decisions; Business and Community Relations

2018
Chapter

Behavioral Household Finance

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

This chapter provides an overview of household finance. The first part summarizes key facts regarding household financial behavior, emphasizing empirical regularities that are inconsistent with the standard classical economic model and discussing extensions of the... View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Global Range; Household; Behavior; Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Product Design; Welfare

20 Nov 2007
First Look

First Look: November 20, 2007

problem for the consortium is how much to raise its previous bid. A reasonable bid must be based upon how much value the private equity consortium can create through improvements in Hertz's global operations on the one hand, and a more... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 2005 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Electronic Data Capture and Clinical Trial Management

By: Robert S. Huckman and Mark J. Cotteleer

Considers whether the management of Procter & Gamble (P&G) Pharmaceuticals should adopt Web-based electronic data capture (EDC) as the default standard for the management of its clinical drug trials. Provides a detailed description of the existing paper-based process... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Adoption; Business Processes; Industry Structures; Technological Innovation; Service Operations; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

26 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 26, 2008

tests always involve a vigorous search not only for confirming evidence, but for disconfirming evidence as well. We undertake such a search in the context of a single well-known case: the Federal Radio Commission's (FRC's) 1927 decision not to expand the broadcast... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Jan 2013
Working Paper Summaries

These Are the Good Old Days: Foreign Entry and the Mexican Banking System

Keywords: by Stephen Haber & Aldo Musacchio; Banking

26 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 26

acquisition (CPA). However, these standard online advertising metrics are plagued with attribution problems and do not account for dynamics. These issues can easily lead firms to overspend on some actions and thus waste money, and/or... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2009
Article

Virtue out of Necessity? Compliance, Commitment and the Improvement of Labor Conditions in Global Supply Chains

By: Akshay Mangla, Richard Locke and Matthew Amengual

Private, voluntary compliance programs, promoted by global corporations and nongovernmental organizations alike, have produced only modest and uneven improvements in working conditions and labor rights in most global supply chains. Through a detailed study of a major... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Ethics; Supply Chain; Governance Compliance; Globalization

Find at Harvard

November 2010 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Computerized Provider Order Entry at Emory Healthcare

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, F. Warren McFarlan, Mark Keil, Andrew Katz, Michael Morgan and David LaBorde

The Computerized Provider Order Entry at Emory Healthcare case presents one hospital system's efforts to implement computerized provider order entry (CPOE) across all of its hospitals and the challenges they faced in doing so. Issues such as standardization of care,... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Information Management; Management Systems; Standards; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Projects; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Health Industry

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

$15 Billion in Five Years: What Data Tells Us About MacKenzie Scott’s Philanthropy

categorized these organizations using standard classifications used by the nonprofit world. So, what did we find? Scott directed funds to larger organizations The average Scott grantee took in five times more revenue than the typical... View Details

Keywords: by Matthew Lee, Brian Trelstad, and Ethan Tran

2013
Working Paper

Delegation in Multi-Establishment Firms: Evidence from I.T. Purchasing

By: Kristina McElheran

Recent contributions to a growing theory literature have focused on the tradeoff between adaptation and coordination in determining delegation within firms. Empirical evidence, however, is limited. Using establishment-level data on decision rights over information... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Business Headquarters; Decision Choices and Conditions; Operations; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Power and Influence; Adaptation; Cooperation

SSRN

October 2002 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Dell Computers (A): Field Service for Corporate Clients

By: Frances X. Frei, Amy C. Edmondson and Corey B. Hajim

Explores the highly successful PC and low-end server manufacturer's entry into the large-scale server market in the United States. A key difference of this new market is the intense service element required to support the larger hardware. Specifically, the industry... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Customer Relationship Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Service Operations; Business or Company Management; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Service Delivery; Computer Industry; United States