Publications

July 2016
Article

Do Prices Determine Vertical Integration?

By: Laura Alfaro, Paola Conconi, Harald Fadinger and Andrew F. Newman

What is the relationship between product prices and vertical integration? While the literature has focused on how integration affects prices, this paper provides evidence that prices can affect integration. Many theories in organizational economics and industrial... View Details

Keywords: Price; Vertical Integration; Product

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05 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Raise Their Prices: Because They Can

Grocery bills may be ridiculously high these days, but supply chain problems, energy costs, and inflation aren’t the only factors to blame. New research suggests that companies are raising prices simply because they can. In 2021, US companies logged their most... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

21 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 21, 2018

financial risk. Our findings highlight the challenges of using ACOs as a mechanism to achieve financial cost savings. Bundled payments, which focus on narrower episodes of care, may involve fewer operational complexities and be better... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

13 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 13

PublicationsDriven to Lead: Good, Bad, and Misguided Leadership Author:Paul R. Lawrence Publication:Jossey-Bass, forthcoming (2010) Abstract The author applies the four drive theory of human behavior (to acquire, to defend, to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 12, 2017

Joy M., Liana Victorino, Ryan W. Buell, Michael J. Dixon, Susan M. Goldstein, Larry J. Menor, Madeleine E. Pullman, Aleda Roth, Enrico Secchi, and Jie Zhang Abstract—The purpose of this article is to present exciting and innovative research questions in service View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Nov 2017
What Do You Think?

What Are the Real Lessons of the Wells Fargo Case?

SUMMING UP Respondents to this month’s Wells Fargo “case study” identified problem symptoms, diagnosed causes, proposed remedies, and even suggested a title for a follow-on case. Mitch says that when one company is consistently more successful than others in that... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Banking

27 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Should Share Their DEI Data (Even When It’s Unflattering)

“There’s definitely a sunshine effect where, when a company shares this information, it increases brand attitude, and the company is seen as having more commitment to diversifying the workforce,” Buell says. The paper, to be published in Production and View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta

Article

Fighting Bias on the Front Lines

By: Alexandra C. Feldberg and Tami Kim

Most companies aim for exceptional customer service, but too few are attentive to the subtle discrimination by frontline employees that can alienate customers, lead to lawsuits, or even cause lasting brand damage by going viral.
This article presents research... View Details

Keywords: Customer Service; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Delivery; Diversity; Prejudice and Bias; Organizational Change and Adaptation

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March 2009 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center: Spine Care

By: Robert S. Huckman, Michael E. Porter, Rachel Gordon and Natalie Kindred

Describes the Spine Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a multidisciplinary unit that offers patients suffering from spinal problems "one-stop" access to a range of providers including orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, neurologists, medical specialists in... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Integration; Value Creation; Health Industry; United States

07 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: February 7

mimic the three-stage CDM process. To model airline disruption responses, an integer optimization model was developed to balance operational and passenger considerations in determining which flights to cancel, swap, or delay. The value of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2022
Technical Note

Leader Action Orientations

By: Ryan Raffaelli, Akshaya Varghese and Laura Weimer

Leaders are responsible for planning and executing actions that advance organizational goals. As individuals gain career experience, they tend to develop and rely on implicit mental models that shape how they go about “getting things done.” Without knowing it, most... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Prejudice and Bias; Cognition and Thinking; Decision Making; Behavior

June 2001
Teaching Note

Coordinating + Managing Supply Chains: Course Overview Note TN

By: Ananth Raman

Describes the MBA elective course on supply chain management at HBS. Coordinating and Managing Supply Chains focuses on the managerial aspects of supply chains. Acquaints students with practical issues in a variety of supply chains and then identifies barriers to, and... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Framework; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Management Practices and Processes; Managerial Roles; Marketing; Supply Chain Management; Performance Improvement; Planning; Behavior; Integration

December 2018 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Shiseido: Reinvesting in Brand

By: Jill Avery and Nobuo Sato

Shiseido was in the midst of a six year corporate turnaround, trying to reverse the effects of decades of under-investment in R&D and marketing which had led to a cycle of declining customer support and brand value. Would the CEO’s VISION 2020 plan, centered on four... View Details

July 2012
Article

The IKEA Effect: When Labor Leads to Love

By: Michael I. Norton, Daniel Mochon and Dan Ariely

In four studies in which consumers assembled IKEA boxes, folded origami, and built sets of Legos, we demonstrate and investigate boundary conditions for the IKEA effect—the increase in valuation of self-made products. Participants saw their amateurish creations as... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Product; Valuation; Labor

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30 Nov 2021
In Practice

What's the Role of Business in Confronting Climate Change?

The 26th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, also known as COP26, ended with a hard-fought pact that called on businesses and governments to meet their climate change goals faster. The event followed an August report by the Intergovernmental... View Details

Keywords: by Lynn Schenk and Dina Gerdeman

07 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovation Corrupted: How Managers Can Avoid Another Enron

"reserve requirement" to back up supply commitments. Enron had a major advantage over competitors as a middleman between producers and consumers because it operated one of the nation's largest natural gas pipeline networks.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

12 May 2021
Book

The Hard Truth About Being a CEO

Fubini, a senior lecturer in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School, poured that knowledge, along with a list of lessons learned from researching leaders past and present into the book Hidden Truths: What Leaders Need... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

November 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Uber: Changing the Way the World Moves

By: Youngme Moon

In 2015, Uber is building what may be the largest point-to-point transportation network of its kind; it is literally changing the way the world moves. But unlike traditional transportation logistics companies like FedEx, Uber has an incredibly lightweight... View Details

Keywords: Service; Innovation; Pricing; Customer Loyalty; Uber; Taxi; Sharing Economy; On-demand Economy; Marketing; Operations; Strategy; Disruption; Customer Satisfaction; Transportation; Consumer Behavior