Publications

November 2002 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Building a Cluster: Electronics and Information Technology in Costa Rica

By: Michael E. Porter and Niels W. Ketelhohn

Describes the actions of Costa Rica President Figueres and his cabinet in attracting an Intel assembly and testing plant to their country. The effort was part of a government strategy that sought to develop further the Costa Rican electronics and information technology... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Costa Rica

06 Jun 2008
What Do You Think?

Why Don’t Managers Think Deeply?

colleagues, trained to admire and teach action, would walk away shaking their heads and asking each other, "Is he alright?" It is perhaps no coincidence that Tony often came up with some of the most profound insights at faculty meetings and View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

January 1999
Case

State Street Corporation: Leading with Information Technology (B)

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kelley Porter

With Multi-currency HORIZON, a real-time multi-currency accounting system that replaced the traditional batch-oriented single-currency accounting system, successfully launched, State Street Corp. (State Street) began to focus on growing the scope of its business... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Trends; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry

Article

Managing Proprietary and Shared Platforms

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

In a platform-mediated network, users rely on a common platform, provided by one or more intermediaries, that encompasses infrastructure and rules required by users to transact with each other. A fundamental design decision for firms that aspire to develop... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Digital Platforms; Infrastructure; Competition; Cooperation; Information Infrastructure

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October 1998 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Spotfire: Managing a Multinational Start-Up

Spotfire, a software start-up, must address the question of dividing its effort between Sweden and the United States in addition to raising venture capital, obtaining new customers, and managing early-stage growth. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry; United States; Sweden

February 1990
Background Note

Information Technology in Organizations: Emerging Issues in Ethics and Policy

Introduces a framework for identifying and analyzing the ethical and policy issues triggered by the various capabilities of information technology (IT). Ten IT capabilities are defined (access, capture, speed, permanence/storage. duplication, tracking, monitoring, data... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Information Technology; Ethics; Organizations; Policy

February 1996 (Revised May 2002)
Teaching Note

Xerox: Outsourcing Global Information Technology Resources TN

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Teaching Note for (9-195-158). View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology; Global Range; Resource Allocation; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry

04 May 2007
What Do You Think?

How Do Managers Think?

Summing Up Can managers acquire ways of thinking or ways of learning from doctors? Managers can learn from an understanding of how doctors think. But whether the lessons are profound or even totally... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

September 1997
Case

Information at the World Bank: In Search of a Technology Solution (A)

By: W. Earl Sasser, Josep Valor and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Information Technology Services Director Mohamed Muhsin planned to restructure the World Bank's information technology in response to President Jim Wolfensohn's call to build a knowledge bank. Several reorganization efforts taken by the bank in the 1980s led to a... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Information; Knowledge Management; Mission and Purpose; Technology; Public Administration Industry

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November 2000 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Activity-Based Management at W.S. Industries (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Sanjay Pothen

W.S. Industries undertakes the design and implementation of an activity based costing (ABC) system, and the ABC information empowers workers to make process improvement decisions. Workers' incentive pay is tied to cost savings from process improvements. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Evaluation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Knowledge Management; Energy Industry; India

December 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Managing Segway's Early Development

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron

Describes the early development of the Segway Human Transporter and focuses on the organizational issues that arise between the parent company and the new company that is being spun out to produce and market the Segway. Key issues are the distribution of bonuses and... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Business Startups; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Resource Allocation; Organizational Design; Technology Adoption

02 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Casino Payoff: Hands-Off Management Works Best

good customers up to a value of 40 percent of what the customer is expected to spend, the "theoretical win." (Casinos, as you might expect, are experts at predicting what their favored customers will spend during a visit). If a casino host decides on her own to exceed... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Entertainment & Recreation

June 2000
Article

Information Technology Security: A Challenge for Directors

By: Robert B. Stobaugh, Rosina B. Dixon, Thomas R. Horton and Roger W. Raber

Keywords: Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Management

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06 Mar 2013
What Do You Think?

Who Should Manage Our Work Time?

individuals routinely measure and manage their time" by providing high-quality administrative support for the effort. How do we account for the renewed interest in these ideas? Is it a cyclical interest? Is it the result of new... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

05 Mar 2008
What Do You Think?

Where Will Management Innovation Take Us?

extraordinary amount of information at all levels and devote a great deal of resources to making sure that all employees are connected. All "herald a future in which the work of managers is performed... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

05 Dec 2018
Working Paper Summaries

The Salary Taboo: Privacy Norms and the Diffusion of Information

Keywords: by Zoë B. Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia

January 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Course Overview Note

Managing Customers for Growth: Course Overview for Students

By: Eva Ascarza

Managing Customers for Growth (MCG) is a 14-session elective course for second-year MBA students at Harvard Business School. It is designed for business professionals engaged in roles centered on customer-driven growth activities. The course explores the dynamics of... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Decision Making; Analytics and Data Science; Growth Management; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry; Travel Industry