Publications

05 Jul 2004
What Do You Think?

Work-Life: Is Productivity in the Balance?

Summing Up This month's column sought to pose a trade-off between improved work-life balance and productivity. In general, many among the large number of respondents rejected the notion. As Brian O'Leary put it, " ... finding a work-life balance will not undermine... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

13 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

The Problem with Productivity of Multi-Ethnic Teams

When Harvard Business School professor Vincent Pons went to Kenya to conduct research in advance of the 2013 national elections, he discovered surprising lessons about how the ethnic makeup of teams affects the work they do—now published in a View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

May 1992 (Revised July 1994)
Case

Breaking with the Past?: Four Examples of Product Change

Describes four examples of product change where the new version of the product makes a "break with the past" in some important respect. The four examples are those of the IBM PS/2 family of personal computers, Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet software, Nikon's line of SLR... View Details

Keywords: Product Design; Change; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Electronics Industry

June 1991 (Revised April 1995)
Background Note

Mass Production and the Beginnings of Scientific Management

Examines the coming of mass production (continuous and large-batch processes and those involving fabricating and assembling of interchangeable parts), and relates the beginnings of modern factory management to the needs and opportunities created by the new technology.... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Change Management; Production; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

12 Nov 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Product Quality and Entering Through Tying: Experimental Evidence

Keywords: by Hyunjin Kim and Michael Luca; Technology; Web Services

April 1996 (Revised June 1999)
Case

NYPD New

By: James L. Heskett

Police Commissioner Bratten and his staff have led a process designed to create a results-oriented police department from one that previously emphasized and measured effort. With increasing budgeting pressures, the next phase of effort calls for increasing emphasis on... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Performance Productivity; Leadership Style; Budgets and Budgeting; Public Administration Industry

August 1994
Case

Komatsu Ltd. (B): Profit Planning and Product Costing

Describes Komatsu's profit planning and product costing systems. Komatsu can boast a high degree of employee dedication to achieving its profit plan. Also explores the logic behind the design of a new cost system at Komatsu that is less accurate at the product level... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Cost Management; Profit

January 1997 (Revised September 1997)
Case

Improving the Product Development Process at Kirkham Instruments Corp.

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Describes the efforts of a manufacturer of scientific instruments to implement new methods of managing new product development, which its executives had learned in a Harvard Business School seminar. The executives left the seminar excited to implement a new way of... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Product Launch; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; United States

January 2021
Article

The Effects of Menu Costs on Retail Performance: Evidence from Adoption of the Electronic Shelf Label Technology

By: Ioannis Stamatopoulos, Achal Bassamboo and Antonio Moreno

We use the adoption of electronic shelf labels (ESLs) by an international grocery retailer in 2015 to identify the effects of physical menu costs (i.e., labor and material costs of price adjustment) on retail performance. We find that the installation of ESLs increased... View Details

Keywords: Retail Operations; Dynamic Pricing; Revenue Management; Operations; Price; Revenue; Management; Retail Industry

11 Mar 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Finding Missing Markets (and a disturbing epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya

Keywords: by Nava Ashraf, Xavier Giné & Dean Karlan; Food & Beverage

November–December 2019
Article

Pivoting Isn't Enough? Managing Strategic Reorientation in New Ventures

By: Rory McDonald and Cheng Gao

New ventures often experience deviations from their plans that oblige them to reorient in pursuit of better fit between their evolving products and their target customers. Yet research is largely silent on how managers explain such changes and justify their ventures in... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Reorientation; Technology Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Product Development Processes; Organizational Adaptation; Qualitative Methods (General); Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Communication Strategy

Read Now

15 Mar 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Targeted Price Controls on Supermarket Products

Keywords: by Alberto Cavallo and Diego Aparicio; Food & Beverage

May 2013
Case

Launching Krispy Natural: Cracking the Product Management Code

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Heather Beckham

Pemberton Products is a U.S. market leader in the cookie and bakery snacks segment of the sweet snack market. Looking to expand into the salty snack market, the company acquires Krispy Inc., a maker of salty snack crackers located in the southeastern U.S. To compete... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Competition; Organizational Culture; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Acquisition; Food and Beverage Industry; Ohio; United States

January 2023 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Klopfenstein

This case concerns the industrial automation division at Belden, a hardware manufacturer. While Belden historically sold products such as cables, wires, and other networking devices, EVP of Industrial Automation Ashish Chand recognized that IT vendors were entering the... View Details

Keywords: Implementation; Sales Cycle; Digital Transformation; Sales; Product Positioning; Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Supply and Industry; Technology Industry; North America; United States

26 Oct 2016
Blog Post

From Product Development to Business School

to clean it again through my novel filter. I had filed the patent. Lined up suppliers. Met the ridiculous margin requirements of a Fortune 500 company. The category was declining. Our last two product launches fared poorly. The buyer... View Details

06 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

Latest Isn’t Always Greatest: Why Product Updates Capture Consumers

Suppose you’re in the market for a new selfie stick for an upcoming vacation. You see two models online—one that extends to 24 inches and the other to 16. Seems obvious that you’d pick the longer one, right? Bigger and better panoramic... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

2003
Case

Capston-White's Document Management and Production Services

By: Vijay Govindarajan, Chris Trimble and Julie Lang

The development of multi-function devices that could copy, print, fax, and scan created a convergence in the markets for these devices. Copiers and printers had previously been purchased and managed in very different manners by large organizations. Facing an uncertain... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Service Delivery; Service Industry