Publications

July – August 2010
Article

How Will You Measure Your Life?

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics

March 2023
Background Note

A Primer on OKRs

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan (Jason) Ni

The OKR framework is a popular goal-setting and strategy execution tool that uses goal setting through “Objectives” and measuring performance using “Key Results” on a periodic basis to measure and drive performance. The OKR framework has been adopted and practiced at... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Talent and Talent Management; Framework; Corporate Governance; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Management Systems; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Evaluation; Performance Expectations; Performance Productivity; Performance Efficiency

1996
Book

Creativity in Context

By: T. M. Amabile

Keywords: Creativity; Theory; Research; Motivation and Incentives; Situation or Environment; Organizational Culture; Measurement and Metrics; Personal Characteristics; Cognition and Thinking; Performance; Performance Evaluation; Social Psychology

November 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

KhataBook

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Allison H. Mnookin and James Barnett

In January 2020, India-based KhataBook, a digital ledger app for small businesses, is led by CEO Ravish Naresh, as his team faces a series of dilemmas regarding where to focus next. View Details

Keywords: Monetization; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Marketing; Measurement and Metrics; Technology Industry; India; Bangalore; Mumbai; Southeast Asia

December 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Four Seasons Goes to Paris: '53 Properties, 24 Countries, 1 Philosophy'

By: Roger H. Hallowell, David Bowen and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Illustrates how Four Seasons manages hotels in countries with strong and distinct national cultures. Focuses on how the chain meets its exacting service standards in a variety of settings worldwide, with special attention on France. View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Global Range; Global Strategy; Standards; Accommodations Industry; Paris

05 Jun 2009
What Do You Think?

What Does Slower Economic Growth Really Mean?

bad . Quantitative metrics serve as best indicators when they are based on qualitative platforms." Along this line, Ken Ackerman reminded us that "Growth is a product of confidence we spend too little time measuring the mood of... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

January – February 2008
Article

Managing the Impact of Employee Turnover on Performance: The Role of Process Conformance

By: Zeynep Ton and Robert S. Huckman

We examine the impact of employee turnover on operating performance in settings that require high levels of knowledge exploitation. Using 48 months of turnover data from U.S. stores of a major retail chain, we find that, on average, employee turnover is associated with... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Governance Compliance; Retention; Standards; Service Operations; Business Processes; Retail Industry; United States

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14 Apr 2022
Op-Ed

Let’s Move Forward from COVID—Without Forgetting What We’ve Learned

innovation. Organizations consistently applied new metrics to measure performance but used activity and time logged into systems to proxy for the actual value. Forging a new, better workplace Businesses are only as good as their people,... View Details

Keywords: by Hise O. Gibson and MaShon Wilson

31 Jan 2007
HBS Case

When Good Teams Go Bad

people trying to do the perfect golf swing at the same time, all together, 200 times in a row." Like most of his peers, Coach P used a variety of quantifiable metrics for each rower to determine who would sit in the varsity boat.... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

21 Aug 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

Companies Love Big Data But Lack the Strategy To Use It Effectively

“Results show strong correlations between business performance metrics and analytics capabilities, and highlight a variety of tasks in which top performing companies use analytics ” Feng Zhu, who teaches Digital Innovation and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

January 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

People Analytics at McKinsey

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Olivia Hull

A private equity–backed fast food chain has hired McKinsey’s new People Analytics group to help it improve performance. As the final client workshop approaches, Associate Partner Alex DiLeonardo ponders the best way to present the team’s findings, especially those that... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Customer Relationship Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost Management; Human Resources; Employees; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Measurement and Metrics; Performance; Performance Capacity; Performance Efficiency; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Consulting Industry; Service Industry

2023
Working Paper

New Facts and Data about Professors and Their Research

By: Kyle Myers, Wei Yang Tham, Jerry Thursby, Marie Thursby, Nina Cohodes, Karim R. Lakhani, Rachel Mural and Yilun Xu

We introduce a new survey of professors at roughly 150 of the most research-intensive institutions of higher education in the US. We document seven new features of how research-active professors are compensated, how they spend their time, and how they perceive their... View Details

Keywords: Research; Higher Education; Compensation and Benefits; Measurement and Metrics; Equality and Inequality; Performance Productivity

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Article

Transforming the Balanced Scorecard from Performance Measurement to Strategic Management: Part I

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Transformation; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Strategy; Management

07 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

The Better Way to Forecast the Future

Whether it’s booking a hotel, renting a movie, or buying a car, many of us consult multiple reviews before deciding. It’s called aggregating opinions, and we do it without even thinking about it. Crowdsourcing works so well, in fact, says Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Air Transportation; Transportation

November 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Martini Klinik: Prostate Cancer Care 2019

By: Michael E. Porter, Jens Deerberg-Wittram and Thomas W. Feeley

Since its establishment in 2005, Hamburg’s Martini Klinik had single mindedly focused on prostate cancer care with a commitment to measure long-term health outcomes for every patient. A wholly owned subsidiary of the University Hospital Hamburg, Martini Klinik was a... View Details

31 Aug 2020
What Do You Think?

Why Don’t More Organizations Understand the Power of Diversity and Inclusion?

varied. “While diversity is easier to measure quantitatively,” Laurie pointed out, “inclusion metrics are currently qualitative and inconsistent.” Bob put it in personal terms: “I was able to hold myself accountable for diversity results,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

May 1994
Article

The Work Preference Inventory: Assessing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Orientations

By: T. M. Amabile, K. G. Hill, B. A. Hennessey and E. M. Tighe

The Work Preference Inventory (WPI) is designed to assess individual differences in intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations. Both the college student and the working adult versions aim to capture the major elements of intrinsic motivation (self-determination,... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Motivation and Incentives; Measurement and Metrics; Higher Education; Employees; Personal Characteristics

January – February 2011
Article

How to Design a Winning Business Model

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Joan E. Ricart

Most executives believe that competing through business models is critical for success, but few have come to grips with how best to do so. One common mistake is enterprises' unwavering focus on creating innovative models and evaluating their efficacy in standalone... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Design; Strength and Weakness; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage