Publications

May 2017
Supplement

ATH Technologies (B)

By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard

Supplements the (A) case. Designed as an in-class handout. View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Performance Management; Balancing Innovation And Control; Management Systems; Performance; Health Industry

May 2013
Supplement

Elasto Therm: The Next Step

This is the spreadsheet supplement for case ElastoTherm: The Next Step(813030). This contains the electronic copy of exhibits 1 and 2. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurs; Pricing; Pricing Policies; Pricing Strategy; Pricing Structure; Sales Force Management; Acquisitions; Work/family Balance; Family-owned Business; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Work-Life Balance; Manufacturing Industry; Rubber Industry; United States

May 2025
Case

The Micro-Family Office: Aamir Rehman

By: Lauren Cohen and Sophia Pan

With a successful career and strong academic credentials, Aamir Rehman sought to design a life grounded in autonomy. For him, this meant serving on boards, continuing his professorship, and ensuring a secure and comfortable life for his family. While he didn’t possess... View Details

January–February 2018
Article

Inclusive Growth: Profitable Strategies for Tackling Poverty and Inequality

By: Robert S. Kaplan, George Serafeim and Eduardo Tugendhat

More than a billion people in the developing world remain in extreme poverty and outside the formal economy. Traditional CSR programs have done little to alleviate the situation and rarely produce transformative change.
Instead of trying to fix local problems,... View Details

Keywords: Inclusive Growth; Sustainability; Social Impact; Business Strategy; Shared Value; Impact Investing; Inequality; Corporate Governance; Balanced Scorecard; Strategy Execution; Economic Growth; Developing Countries and Economies; Poverty; Equality and Inequality; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategy; Investment

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April 2021 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Mahatma Gandhi: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case traces the rise of Mohandas Gandhi from his early days in British-controlled India to the inspirational martyr who, through personal deprivation and leadership, inspired millions and became the catalyst for India to break away from Britain. The case describes... View Details

Keywords: Mission And Purpose; Values And Beliefs; Personal Characteristics; Power And Influence; Diversity; Leadership Development; Work-life Balance; History; Leadership Style; Leading Change; India

October 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Supplement

Henkel's CEO Kasper Rorsted: On Building a Winning Culture

By: Robert L. Simons

Keywords: Performance Measurement; Performance Appraisals; Human Resource Management; Work/life Balance; Strategy Execution; Values; Organizational Transformations; Pay For Performance; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Values and Beliefs; Work-Life Balance; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits

December 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 15: Using the Levers of Control to Implement Strategy

By: Robert Simons

This module reading pulls together key concepts and techniques from the Strategy Execution series into an integrated model—the levers of control. The four levers are: (1) belief systems, (2) boundary systems, (3) diagnostic control systems, and (4) interactive control... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Levers Of Control; Balancing Innovation And Control; Managing Growing Businesses; Turn Around Management; Human Behavior; Organizational Life Cycle; Strategy; Management Systems; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Behavior

June 2013
Supplement

Elasto Therm: The Next Step (Video Supplement)

By: Jim Sharpe

This is the Video Supplement for Elasto Therm: The Next Step (HBS Case #813030). View Details

December 2002 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (Abridged)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

Jim Sharpe, 10 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his... View Details

23 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

How to Keep Employees Productive: Support Caregivers

report guides organizations in supporting work-life balance for caregivers. Fuller finds that there are strong incentives to support these employees with benefits; payoffs include lower turnover and less absenteeism. Instead of urging... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

23 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

The Strategy-Focused Organization

In The Strategy-Focused Organization, HBS professor Robert Kaplan and David Norton, president of the Balanced Scorecard Collaborative, share the results of ten years of research into companies that have implemented the View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

23 Oct 2019
Blog Post

How to Talk Gooder in Business and Life

more people suffer from being too nervous during their conversations than being too confident. I hope a large part of this course will help students find the right balance between speaking and listening—between confidence and... View Details

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

When Benchmarks Don’t Work

is fundamentally different. Is It Possible To Evaluate Differentiated Services? The question remains: how to evaluate the effectiveness of service units that offer differentiating outputs? Dave Norton and I argue that the cause-and-effect linkages in a service unit's... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan; Service

September 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

From Beirut With Love (A)

By: Christina R. Wing, Esel Y. Cekin and Samer Al-Rachedy

This case describes how Robert Fadel, CEO and chairman of ABC, one of Lebanon’s leading retail and real estate groups, professionalized the family business. Robert was the second son of the company’s founder, Maurice Fadel, who had run it single-handedly. Concerned... View Details

January 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Amanco: Developing the Sustainability Scorecard

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

Describes the challenges of using the Balanced Scorecard to implement a triple-bottom-line strategy for delivering excellent economic, environmental, and social performance. The owners and senior executive team of Amanco, a producer of plastic pipe and complete water... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Strategy; Construction Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Latin America; Brazil

25 Apr 2016
Book

A Three-Box Solution to Managing Innovation

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

22 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Work, Family, Private Life: Why Not All Three?

How should men and women strike a balance between work and personal life in order to feel as happy and fulfilled as possible? In a packed auditorium, three speakers at the Möbius Leadership forum session titled "Walking the Tight... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

September 2013
Case

The Case of the Unidentified Industries—2013

By: Mihir A. Desai, William E. Fruhan Jr. and Elizabeth A. Meyer

Helps students to understand how the characteristics of a business are reflected in its financial statements. This case consists of an exercise in which students are given balance sheet data in percentage form and other selected financial data for companies in 14... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Accounting Statements; Ratio Analysis; Financial Statements; Finance

January 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Identifying Firm Capital Structure

Students are asked to link concealed balance sheets with firm descriptions. The case helps students understand how balance sheets reflect industry and firm characteristics. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Business Ventures; Capital Structure