Publications

SSRN

25 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity

Companies all over the world have striven for transparency in the workplace, literally tearing down walls in an effort to let managers and employees observe each other. Take, for example, one of the 14 key principles of The Toyota Way,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

August 2005 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Electronic Data Capture and Clinical Trial Management

By: Robert S. Huckman and Mark J. Cotteleer

Considers whether the management of Procter & Gamble (P&G) Pharmaceuticals should adopt Web-based electronic data capture (EDC) as the default standard for the management of its clinical drug trials. Provides a detailed description of the existing paper-based process... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Adoption; Business Processes; Industry Structures; Technological Innovation; Service Operations; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

11 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The High Risks of Short-Term Management

Companies that manage for short-term gain rather than long-term growth have been blamed for everything from popularizing celebrity CEOs to causing a significant chunk of the current financial crisis. Now new research findings suggest that... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

August 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Case

InsideSales.com (A)

By: Frank V. Cespedes

This case focuses on growth requirements for a company moving from its base in SMB customers (Small and Mid-Sized businesses) to Enterprise customers (companies with more than 500 employees). It examines the differences in buying processes, product requirements,... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Change And Adaptation; Organizational Design; Talent; Talent Management; Organizations; Growth Management; Sales; Salesforce Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Technology Industry; United States

April 1998 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.: Supply Management

By: Francis Aguilar, Paul Clark and Xin Xi He

This case depicts the supply-management practices--including planning, production, and distribution--at Pioneer Hi-Bred International, the world's leader in the genetically engineered hybrid crop-seed industry. Set in the context of a supply-management planning... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Production; Distribution; Marketing Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Logistics; Planning; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry

14 Oct 2015
HBS Seminar

Scott Stern, Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management

August 2003 (Revised December 2003)
Background Note

Formalizing Business Relationships: Note on Contract Formation for Managers

Equips managers with a basic understanding of how to use contracts to define, formalize, and strengthen business relationships. Explains how managers can use properly structured contracts to increase predictability; to create or preserve valuable legal, financial, and... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Relationships

03 Oct 2020
News

Managing Stakeholder Trust During Supply Chain Disruptions

winter 1995
Article

How to Manage an IT Outsourcing Alliance

By: F. W. McFarlan and R. L. Nolan

Keywords: Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology; Alliances

July 2012
Case

Johannes Linden: Managing the Global Executive Committee

By: Linda A. Hill and Mark Rennella

Johannes Linden is the Director of the Washer and Dryer division of Fluss, a large Swiss appliance manufacturer. Soon after the company completes its revenue projections and bonus targets for the upcoming year, Linden shares some good news with his leadership team, the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Groups and Teams; Organizational Culture; Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence; Multinational Firms and Management; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Switzerland

This HBS working paper focuses on the relationship between business strategy, organization structure, and diagnostic control systems. The project analyzes data from 75 field studies to illustrate how managers adjust span of accountability and span of control to... View Details

04 Oct 2022
What Do You Think?

Have Managers Underestimated the Need for Face-to-Face Contact?

GenZers’ need for “connection” be any less than that of preceding generations? Has the pandemic so affected their outlook and behavior that they in turn will affect the way work is performed and businesses are organized and led? Have View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2009
Article

Customer Experience Creation: Determinants, Dynamics and Management Strategies

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Peter C. Verhoef, Katherine N. Lemon, A. Parasuraman, Anne Roggeveen and Michael Tsiros

Retailers, such as Starbucks and Victoria's Secret, aim to provide customers a great experience across channels. In this paper we provide an overview of the existing literature on customer experience and expand on it to examine the creation of a customer experience... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry

Read Now

June 2010 (Revised October 2014)
Teaching Note

Enterprise Risk Management at Hydro One (A)

By: Anette Mikes

Teaching Note for 109-001 View Details

Keywords: SWOT Analysis; Risk Management; Climate Change; Renewable Energy; Technology Adoption; Strategy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Perspective; Goals and Objectives; Capital Budgeting; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Energy Industry

July 1991 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Eastman Kodak Co.: Managing Information Systems Through Strategic Alliances

By: Lynda M. Applegate

In January 1988, Colby Chandler, Kodak CEO, created the Corporate Information Systems (CIS) and appointed Katherine Hudson head. She at once became the first head of IT and first woman corporate vice president in the company. Throughout 1989, Hudson inaugurated a... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Information Technology; Partners and Partnerships; Organizational Structure; Success; Trends; Information Management; Service Operations; Manufacturing Industry

Article

Course Research: Using the Case Method to Build and Teach Management Theory

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Paul R. Carlile

Some in the Academy have questioned the usefulness of case studies in teaching sound management theory (Shugan 2006). Our research and experience suggests exactly the opposite-that case studies can unite the development of theory with the teaching of it in a single... View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Curriculum and Courses; Teaching; Cases; Research; Theory

August 1996
Case

Howard, Shea & Chan Asset Management (B); The Partnership Meeting

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Continues the plot about growth and sales strategies, and adds interesting pricing and sales compensation elements. The partners' meeting sharpens the disagreements among the five partners, and forces Anne Howard, the managing partner, to develop a clear action plan. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Price; Sales; Strategy; Asset Management; Partners and Partnerships; Service Industry

July 2010 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Customer Lifetime Value Analysis (2024)

By: Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery

Customers are increasingly being viewed as assets that bring value to the firm. Customer lifetime value is a metric that allows managers to understand the overall value of their customer base and relate it to three customer strategies firms employ: asset... View Details

Keywords: Customer Lifetime Value; Return On Investment; Customer Acquisition; Customer Retention; Customer Churn; ＂Marketing Analytics＂; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Value