Publications

February 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Asociacion Colombiana de Industrias Plasticas (Acoplasticos)

By: Michael E. Porter and Willis M. Emmons III

Acoplasticos was established in 1961 as a lobbying group for Colombia's major plastics manufacturing companies. In the early 1980s, the organization shifted its focus toward improving the productivity of the Colombian plastics and rubber cluster, which also included... View Details

Keywords: Cooperation; Information Technology; Alliances; Research and Development; Business and Government Relations; Performance Productivity; Developing Countries and Economies; Manufacturing Industry; Chemical Industry; Colombia

December 1992 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Peoria Engine Plant (A)

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton

Describes the cost control system used at an automobile engine plant for labor and overhead costs. The finance staff prepares daily, weekly, and monthly variance reports against budgets. Department supervisors, finance staff, and the plant manager discuss the use and... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Cost Accounting; Budgets and Budgeting; Earnings Management; Reports; Financial Reporting; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Auto Industry

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22 Feb 2021
Working Paper Summaries

Private and Social Returns to R&D: Drug Development and Demographics

Keywords: by Efraim Benmelech, Janice Eberly, Dimitris Papanikolaou, and Joshua Krieger; Pharmaceutical

05 Mar 2019
Working Paper Summaries

The Impacts of Increasing Search Frictions on Online Shopping Behavior: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Keywords: by Donald Ngwe, Kris J. Ferreira, and Thales Teixeira; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

11 AM – 12 PM EST, 13 Jan 2016
Webinars: Trending@HBS

What Great Service Leaders Know and Do: Creating Breakthroughs in Service Firms

In their recently completed book by the same title, Professor Schlesinger and coauthors and fellow HBS faculty members James L. Heskett (emeritus) and W. Earl Sasser posit the following: that management has within its control the authority, and, they think, the... View Details

December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Dragon's Teeth Vineyards

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Marius Leibold, Sven Voelpel and Kerry Herman

Dragon's Teeth Vineyards (DTV) is a South African wine producer that is considering whether to use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its wine-making process. GMOs promise to lower the costs of wine production significantly through increased yields and reduced... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Genetics; Transition; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Product Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technology Adoption; Food and Beverage Industry; Biotechnology Industry; South Africa

May 2010
Article

Modern Management: Good for the Environment or Just Hot Air?

By: Nicholas Bloom, Christos Genakos, Ralf Martin and Raffaella Sadun

We use an innovative methodology to measure management practices in over 300 manufacturing firms in the U.K. We then match this management data to production and energy usage information for establishments owned by these firms. We find that establishments in better... View Details

Keywords: Energy Conservation; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Productivity; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Manufacturing Industry; United Kingdom

22 Sep 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Task and Temporal Microstructure of Productivity: Evidence from Japanese Financial Services

Keywords: by Bradley R. Staats & Francesca Gino; Banking

September 2014
Article

Colonial Institutions, Trade Stocks, and the Diffusion of Elementary Education in Brazil, 1889–1930

By: Aldo Musacchio, Andre C. Martinez Fritscher and Martina Viarengo

We show how the decentralization of fiscal responsibility among Brazilian states between 1889 and 1930 promoted an unequal expansion of public schooling. We document how the variation in state export tax revenues, product of commodity booms, explains improvements in... View Details

Keywords: Institutions; Economic History; Education; Development Economics; Policy; Brazil

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Research Summary

Overview

By: Natalia Rigol

My research focuses primarily on how to design, target, and deliver financial products to the poor, and, in particular, how financial inclusion can improve the socio-economic position of women. My projects have analyzed how the design and delivery of microfinance... View Details

05 May 2022
HBS Seminar

Caleb Kwon, Harvard Business School

30 May 2023
Research & Ideas

Can AI Predict Whether Shoppers Would Pick Crest or Colgate?

value of AI as an important tool for increasing productivity, reducing costs, and improving the quality of survey designs and insights generated within the fast-growing, $80 billion market research industry. “We’re not saying everyone... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

18 Apr 2016 - 19 Apr 2016
Other Presentation

Creating Shared Value in Health Care

By: Michael E. Porter

The overall purpose of the conference was to inspire CEOs to become more aware of their public health footprint, how they can improve the sustainability of their products and health of their workforce and their untapped power to influence change and progress in the... View Details

Keywords: Society; Health Care; Community Impact; Shared Value; Value Creation; Organizations; Civil Society or Community; Health Care and Treatment; Business and Community Relations

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March 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Sealed Air Taiwan (A) (Abridged)

By: Lynn S. Paine

The general manager for U.S.-based Sealed Air Corp.'s Taiwan subsidiary must decide how to improve productivity and achieve profitability. In addition to considering a new approach to compensation, he is wondering how to bridge the gap between Sealed Air's corporate... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Relationships; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Management Skills; Compensation and Benefits; Taiwan; United States

17 Sep 2014
News

Ethan Bernstein on Balancing Privacy and Openness in the Workplace

Balancing Digital Safety and Innovation

Designers of consumer-facing digital products have tended to focus on novelty and speed (“move fast and break things”). They’ve spent more effort on innovating than on anticipating how customers—and bad actors—might engage with products. But as digital products become... View Details

June 1998 (Revised April 2000)
Case

GM Powertrain

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Mikelle Eastley

Discusses a young MBA plant manager who is improving the operations of a small General Motors components plant in Fredericksburg, Virginia. At 29 years old, Joe Hinrichs is the youngest plant manager at GM, and in his new assignment, he is faced with the daunting... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Labor Unions; Problems and Challenges; Technological Innovation; Change Management; Machinery and Machining; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; United States

February 2022
Case

US Foods: Driving Post-Pandemic Success?

By: David E. Bell, Olivia Hull and Amy Klopfenstein

In November 2021, US Foods CEO Pietro Satriano must decide his company’s trajectory following the COVID-19 pandemic. US Foods suffered due to business closures and social distancing during the height of the pandemic. While the situation improved following the return of... View Details