Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,380)
- Faculty Publications (517)
- 2007
- Working Paper
Modularity, Transactions, and the Boundaries of Firms: A Synthesis
This paper constructs a unified theory of the location of transactions and the boundaries of firms. It proposes that systems of production can be viewed as networks of tasks. Transactions, defined as mutually agreed-upon transfers with compensation, are located... View Details
- July 2007 (Revised January 2008)
- Case
Turnaround at the Veterans Health Administration (A)
By: Amy C. Edmondson, Brian R. Golden and Gary J. Young
Investigates the challenges that Dr. Kenneth W. Kizer confronted in seeking to create organizational change at the largest integrated health care system in North America, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Kizer was appointed as the Under Secretary of Health, to... View Details
- June 2007 (Revised October 2007)
- Case
Information Technology and Clinical Operations at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, F. Warren McFarlan and Julia Rose Adler-Milstein
Describes the history of clinical computing at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital and the development, since the 1996 merger to form the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, of an information system designed to support the delivery of patient care. The hospitals' CIO, John... View Details
- May 2007 (Revised April 2009)
- Case
Netflix
By: Willy C. Shih, Stephen P. Kaufman and David Spinola
Reed Hastings founded Netflix with a vision to provide a home movie service that would do a better job satisfying customers than the traditional retail rental model. But as it encouraged challenges it underwent several major strategy shifts, ultimately developing a... View Details
- May 2007 (Revised July 2011)
- Case
The West German Headache Center: Integrated Migraine Care
By: Michael E. Porter, Clemens Guth and Elisa M. Dannemiller
Describes the joint efforts of the German health plan KKH and Essen University Hospital to develop an integrated practice unit (IPU), and the West German Headache Center's efforts to improve the quality of migraine care. Provides an overview of the German health care... View Details
- April 2007
- Article
Wintel: Cooperation and Conflict
We study competitive interactions between Intel and Microsoft, two producers of complementary products. In a system of complements, like the PC, the value of the final product depends on how well the different components work together. This, in turn, depends on the... View Details
- March 2007 (Revised April 2007)
- Case
McDonald's Corporation: Managing a Sustainable Supply Chain
By: Ray A. Goldberg and Jessica Droste Yagan
McDonald's seeks to learn from a successful response to Greenpeace's Amazon deforestation campaign in order to make its supply chain more socially and environmentally responsible. View Details
- February 2007 (Revised May 2007)
- Case
Li & Fung 2006
By: F. Warren McFarlan, William C. Kirby and Tracy Manty
Describes the opportunities and strategy facing one of the most innovative global supply-chain companies, and the strategy it has chosen to deal with the expanding demand for its services. Li & Fung links thousands of factories in India, China, and elsewhere to nearly... 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
- January 2007 (Revised December 2007)
- Case
Digital China Holdings Limited: Managing the Transition from a Product-oriented to a Service-oriented Company
By: F. Warren McFarlan, Guoqing Chen, Kai Reimers and Xunhua Guo
Digital China is the largest Chinese independent systems integrator (IBM and HP are larger). Describes their history and their current strategy and invites the student to advise them as to how they should continue to grow in the future. This is the closest China... View Details
- January 2007
- Article
Introducing the First Management Control Systems: Evidence from the Retail Sector
By: Tatiana Sandino
Focusing on a sample of US retailers, I study the management control systems (MCS) that firms introduce when they first invest in controls, and identify four categories of initial MCS, which are defined in terms of the purposes these MCS fulfill. The first category,... View Details
- December 2006 (Revised January 2007)
- Case
Restructuring Navigator Gas Transport Plc
By: C. Fritz Foley
How should creditors pursue their claims in a multi-jurisdiction bankruptcy? David Butters, Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, negotiates a restructuring of Navigator Gas Transport, a shipping company that is headquartered in Switzerland, incorporated in the Isle of... View Details
- December 2006 (Revised October 2007)
- Case
Monsanto: Realizing Biotech Value in Brazil
By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman
In 2003, Monsanto's patented "Roundup Ready" technology was used illegally on 70-80% of the soybean area in southern Brazil. Under pressure from U.S. soybean growers, who were paying to license the technology, the firm implemented an innovative delivery-based... View Details
- October 2006 (Revised February 2010)
- Case
Linux vs. Windows
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Jordan Mitchell
As of 2006, Microsoft is finding that its dominant position in client and server operating systems is under attack from Linux. While Linux has only 3% of the worldwide installed base of PC operating systems, it had captured 20% of the server market by the end of 2005... View Details
- August 2006
- Case
Dreyer's Slow Churned(TM) Ice Cream
By: Noel H. Watson, Steven C. Wheelwright and Brian DeLacey
Examines capacity forecasting and planning in a complex new product introduction scenario. The introduction at Dreyer's, a large dairy snack manufacturer, involves not only a new product but a new manufacturing process and product package, thus implying a significant... View Details
- July 2006
- Article
Dynamic Mixed Duopoly: A Model Motivated by Linux vs. Windows
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pankaj Ghemawat
This paper analyzes a dynamic mixed duopoly in which a profit-maximizing competitor interacts with a competitor that prices at zero (or marginal cost), with the cumulation of output affecting their relative positions over time. The modeling effort is motivated by... View Details
Keywords: Open Source Software; Demand-side Learning; Network Effects; Linux; Mixed Duopoly; Competitive Dynamics; Business Models; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Business Model; Mathematical Methods; Digital Platforms; Profit; Balance and Stability; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; SWOT Analysis; Competition; Price; Information Technology Industry
- May 2006
- Case
Esterline Technologies: Lean Manufacturing
By: Richard L. Nolan, Karen A. Brown and Subodha Kumar
Raises the issue of the appropriate role of IT in lean manufacturing. Most large manufacturing companies have implemented ERP IT systems to support lean manufacturing practices. The Kerry plant of Esterline Technologies attempted an ERP implementation and then... View Details
- March 2006
- Module Note
Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World
Describes the second module of the 30-session Harvard Business School elective course Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome these challenges. The course... View Details
- 22 Mar 2006
- Lecture
Political Control and Operational Command: Building a Balanced Disaster Control System
By: Dutch Leonard and Arnold M. Howitt