Publications

Read Now

March 2002
Background Note

Virtuous Cycles: Improving Service and Lowering Costs in E-Commerce

Illustrates how various elements in a customer's encounter with Internet services relying on physical service (labor-intensive customer support and/or logistics) affect one another. Presents a framework that suggests: 1) that improving service quality in specific... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Performance Efficiency; Performance Effectiveness; Service Industry

Educators

Web

Faculty & Advisors | MBA

way clinical trials bottlenecked the development of new treatments for patients, compelling him to start TrialSpark. TrialSpark is a tech-driven drug development company that can run higher quality clinical trials at a fraction of the... View Details

21 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Are We Thinking Too Little, or Too Much?

executive might get caught up in comparing the graphics capabilities and audio quality of various options, when in fact the only factors of importance to users are the size, weight, and security features. Worse yet, even if they narrow... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

08 Dec 2016
HBS Seminar

Joel Waldfogel, University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management

2015
Book

MOVE: Putting America's Infrastructure Back in the Lead

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Americans are stuck. We live with travel delays on congested roads; shipping delays on clogged railways; and delays on repairs, project approvals, and funding due to gridlocked leadership. These delays affect us all, whether you are a daily commuter, a frequent flyer,... View Details

Regina E. Herzlinger is the Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. She was the first woman to be tenured and chaired at Harvard Business School and serve on many established and start-up corporate health care/medical... View Details

Keywords: health care; insurance industry; medical devices; retailing; digital health

April 2023
Article

Performance on Patient Experience Measures of Former Chief Medical Residents as Physician Exemplars Chosen by the Profession

By: Lucy Chen and J. Michael McWilliams

OBJECTIVE To compare care for patients of primary care physicians (PCPs) who were former chiefs with care for patients of nonchief PCPs.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Using 2010 to 2018 Medicare Fee-For-Service Consumer Assessment of Healthcare... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Forecasting and Prediction; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Competency and Skills; Surveys; Health Industry

12 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 12

standard, the FASB predicted managers will, on average, use the fair value estimates to convey private information on future cash flows. The current fair value of goodwill is unverifiable because it depends in part on management's future... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

22 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Humans vs. Machines: Untangling the Tasks AI Can (and Can't) Handle

School faculty worked closely with BCG to test AI in real-world simulations. They found that consultants using AI complete certain kinds of tasks faster, with results that are 40 percent higher in quality (though AI may somewhat stifle... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology; Information Technology

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

Educators

Program

Managing Health Care Delivery

Summary Today's health care organizations need leaders who can respond to the challenge of delivering greater value through a combination of higher quality, lower cost, and broader access. Managing Health Care Delivery will help you innovate and build the capabilities... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care

2015
Working Paper

Online Word of Mouth and Product Review Disagreement

By: Frank Nagle and Christoph Riedl

Studies of online word of mouth have frequently posited―but never systematically conceptualized and explored―that the level of disagreement between existing product reviews can impact the volume and the valence of future reviews. In this study we develop a theoretical... View Details

Keywords: Online Word Of Mouth; Online Communities; Viral Marketing; Online Product Reviews; Quality; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Reference Programs; Social and Collaborative Networks; Digital Marketing; Analytics and Data Science

SSRN

Read Now

January 2020 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Freelancer, Ltd.

By: Christopher Stanton, Karim R. Lakhani, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Jin Hyun Paik and Nina Cohodes

Over the course of the 2010s, the rapid advancement of mobile technologies and the rise of online freelancing platforms seemed to portend a radical transformation of labor markets into on-demand, flexible talent pools. Even though several Fortune 500... View Details

Keywords: Freelancers; Platforms; Digital Labor; Labor; Human Resources; Management; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Industry; Australia; United States; Philippines

Educators

13 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

Breaking Through the Self-Doubt That Keeps Talented Women from Leading

comprehension, which was drawn from the Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) exam. Prolific users also completed a brief sociodemographic survey and built a resume that included their test score, basic education information, and details of their work View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

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

2010
Working Paper

Integrity: A Positive Model That Incorporates the Normative Phenomena of Morality, Ethics, and Legality Abridged

By: Werner H. Erhard, Michael C. Jensen and Steve Zaffron

We present a positive model of integrity that, as we distinguish and define integrity, provides powerful access to increased performance for individuals, groups, organizations, and societies. Our model reveals the causal link between integrity and increased... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Performance Productivity; Information Technology; Knowledge; Moral Sensibility; Opportunities; Competitive Advantage; Legal Liability; Cost vs Benefits

SSRN

April 2015
Article

Measuring Teamwork in Health Care Settings: A Review of Survey Instruments

By: Melissa Valentine, Ingrid M. Nembhard and Amy C. Edmondson

Background: Teamwork in health care settings is widely recognized as an important factor in providing high quality patient care. However, the behaviors that comprise effective teamwork, the organizational factors that support teamwork, and the relationship... View Details

Keywords: Teamwork; Psychometric Properties; Survey Instruments:; Measurement and Metrics; Surveys; Groups and Teams; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry