Publications

June 1997 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Walker and Company: Profit Plan Decisions

By: Robert L. Simons and Ramsey Walker

Ramsey Walker, a second-year MBA student, must decide how to control a family business as an absentee owner. After providing background details on the publishing industry, the case requires the reader to: 1) make a product segmentation decision; 2) prepare a profit... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Family and Family Relationships; Market Design; Management Systems; Planning; Profit; Performance Evaluation; Segmentation; Corporate Strategy; Investment Return; Publishing Industry

July 1990 (Revised April 1998)
Supplement

Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (B)

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

Presents a follow-up to the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Rank and Position; Conflict and Resolution; Consumer Products Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

November 1989 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Automatic Data Processing: The EFS Decision

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

Illustrates how ADP's top management uses formal planning and control systems to establish strategic boundaries for its business units. Top management has developed a detailed list of strategic criteria that ADP managers use to evaluate products and business units, as... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Strategic Planning; Management Systems; Accounting; Acquisition

September 2003
Teaching Note

Bausch & Lomb, Inc.: Pressure to Perform (TN)

By: Robert L. Simons and Indra Reinbergs

Teaching Note to (9-198-009). View Details

Keywords: Public Relations Industry

June 1999
Teaching Note

Hamilton Financial Investments: A Franchise Built on Trust TN

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Teaching Note for (9-198-089). View Details

Keywords: Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry

June 2018
Case

Verona Group

By: Robert L. Simons and Sarah Abbott

Are a salesperson's struggles her own fault or the result of a problematic job design? Anna George works as a salesperson at Verona Group, a company that designs and wholesales high-end women's apparel. She had spent nearly 20 years in sales with another fashion label... View Details

Keywords: Jobs and Positions; Design; Analysis; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Salesforce Management; Organizational Design

April 1998 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Guidant Corporation: Shaping Culture Through Systems

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Guidant is a successful IPO start-up selling pacemakers and defibrillators. The case describes how managers install systems to balance innovation and control. Three parts of a shareholder value strategy are described. Controls include incentive systems, beliefs... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Planning; Risk Management; Management Systems; Business Strategy; Value Creation; System; Service Industry; Financial Services Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

June 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Teaching Note

Asea Brown Boveri: The ABACUS System TN

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Teaching Note for (9-192-140). View Details

August 1994 (Revised July 1995)
Background Note

Financial Reporting and Control, Course Overview

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Keywords: Financial Reporting

Find at Harvard

November 1997 (Revised June 1999)
Teaching Note

Becton Dickinson: Designing the New Strategic, Operational, and Financial Planning Process TN

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Teaching Note for (9-197-014). View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Planning; Finance

May 2010 (Revised June 2010)
Supplement

Pfizer: Letter from the Chairman (B)

By: Robert L. Simons and Kathryn Rosenberg

This case continues the story begun in "Pfizer: A Letter from the Chairman" (HBS No. 110-003), revealing the letter Chairman and CEO Jeff Kindler wrote for the 2008 Annual Report. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Annual Reports; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

03 Nov 2015
First Look

November 3, 2015

these models, the demand curve alone can be used to make welfare statements, a fact relied on by much empirical work. There is ample evidence, though, that people misuse care for a different reason: mistakes or "behavioral... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Supplement

Henkel: Building a Winning Culture (D)

By: Robert L. Simons and Carolyn Deller

This three-page case is the third update to Henkel: Building a Winning Culture (A). In this supplement, dated 2021, a new CEO has taken over Henkel and implemented a new strategy. His changes to the original performance management system are presented as a new... View Details

Keywords: Execution; Management Control Systems; Performance Goals; Incentives; Levers Of Control; Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Performance Evaluation

January 1998 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Cafes Monte Bianco: Building a Profit Plan

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Alert: This case has been revised since its original publication; all amounts have been converted to euros and the dates have been updated to 2020. If you’ve taught with this case in the past, please note that changes may affect teaching plans and classroom use. Using... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Cash Flow; Investment Return; Profit; Financial Statements; Food and Beverage Industry; Italy

March 1997 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Purity Steel Corporation, 2012

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Managers introduce a new performance evaluation system based on sales growth and return-on-investment (ROI). A branch manager wonders whether his new warehouse should be leased to mitigate the impact on ROI. Formulas and performance calculations are provided. A... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Judgments; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Efficiency; Compensation and Benefits; Salesforce Management; Performance Consistency; Performance Productivity; Steel Industry

October 2024
Teaching Note

Muhammad Ali: Changing the World

By: Robert L. Simons and Shirley Sun

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 121-053. View Details

October 2022
Supplement

Henkel: Building a Winning Culture (C)

By: Robert L. Simons and Carolyn Deller

This three-page case is the second update to Henkel: Building a Winning Culture (A). In this supplement, dated 2015, managers discuss the problems that are emerging with the company’s performance management system and offer several potential solutions that students can... View Details

Keywords: Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Problems and Challenges