Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,144)
- Faculty Publications (380)
- February 1996 (Revised November 2003)
- Case
Indianapolis: Activity-Based Costing of City Services (A)
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A new administration in the City of Indianapolis is initially determined to privatize many municipal services. Before taking this action, however, the city managers want to know the current cost of performing these services with the municipal workers. Existing... View Details
- 1996
- Article
Limits on Interest Rate Rules in the IS Model
By: William R. Kerr and Robert G. King
There has been a substantial amount of research on interest rate rules. This literature finds that the feasibility and desirability of interest rate rules depends on the structure of the model used to approximate macroeconomic reality. We employ a series of... View Details
- 1995
- Working Paper
Managing Marketing by the Customer Equity Criterion
By: Robert C. Blattberg and John Deighton
- May 1995 (Revised April 1998)
- Case
AT&T Paradyne
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A company making data communication devices has adopted a Total Quality philosophy for working with suppliers, employees, and customers. The finance group finds its existing cost system has become obsolete because of a shift from manual to automatic production... View Details
- March 1995 (Revised April 1997)
- Case
Co-operative Bank, The
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Srikant M. Datar
A British bank with strong roots in the cooperative movement encounters declining profitability in an increasingly competitive and deregulated financial services industry. It attempts to grow by broadening its customer base and increasing the range of products and... View Details
- September 1993
- Background Note
The Private Label Movement
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Ray A. Goldberg
Private labels, previously weak in the U.S. market, are making inroads in the United States and Canada. Reasons for this include a weak economy, better quality of private label goods, and a desire by retailers to increase profitability. View Details
- May 1993 (Revised January 1994)
- Case
Cummins Engine Company, The: Starting Up "B" Crankshaft Manufacturing at the San Luis Potosi Plant
By: Robert H. Hayes
Cummins Engine Co. is starting up production of diesel engine crankshafts in its plant in central Mexico. This operation requires much tighter tolerances than any product previously produced at the plant, and the young (recent MBA) manager who is in charge of the... View Details
- January 1993 (Revised April 1993)
- Case
Chadwick, Inc.: The Balanced Scorecard
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The pharmaceutical division of a diversified company has been asked to develop a Balanced Scorecard. Research and development projects take about ten years to bring a new product to the marketplace and the division depends on good relations and active feedback from its... View Details
- December 1992 (Revised May 1993)
- Case
Porsche AG
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Describes the financial management of the research and development departments of an automobile manufacturer and technology supplier. Existing cost systems measure accurately the costs incurred by department and by project. But little formal information is provided... View Details
- May 1992 (Revised January 2000)
- Supplement
ABB: Accountability Times Two (B)
By: Robert L. Simons
Describes internal allocation conflicts in a complex global company structured as a matrix organization. ABB Switzerland has secured and will build an important power station project; however, internal market allocation policies dictate that this work be handled by ABB... View Details
- October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
- Case
Maxwell Appliance Controls
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details
- April 1991 (Revised July 1991)
- Supplement
RJR Nabisco Board: Guardians of the Gate? (B)
By: Jay W. Lorsch
The special committee of the RJR Nabisco board has extended the bidding deadline for the company by 10 days. The case explains the process by which Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the management group bid against one another for ownership of RJR Nabisco. The board of... View Details
- March 1991 (Revised May 1991)
- Case
New York Life Insurance Co.: Pension Department
By: Robert J. Dolan
Analyzes competition in the pension fund industry. In particular, New York Life must decide whether to compete head-to-head with mutual fund giants by offering record-keeping services or to just continue to focus on selling investment products. Presents the results of... View Details
- February 1991 (Revised November 2010)
- Case
Tennessee Controls: The Strategic Ranking Problem
By: Robert L. Simons and Dale Geiger
Tennessee Controls has instituted a new formal asset acquisition process to rank competing proposals. Judy Starnes, the new division manager, is asked to rank three proposals by using techniques to quantify economic returns, risk, as well as the credibility of the... View Details
- January 1991 (Revised March 2010)
- Case
Westchester Distributing, Inc. (A)
By: Robert L. Simons and Robert Boxwell
Focuses on the three-way interaction among internal controls, employee behavior, and incentives. Salesmen are illegally providing kickbacks to customers of this beer-distribution firm. In turn, salesmen are reimbursing themselves by filing fraudulent expense reports.... View Details
- January 1991 (Revised March 2010)
- Supplement
Westchester Distributing, Inc. (B)
By: Robert L. Simons and Robert Boxwell
Describes the actions taken by the owner/president to resolve the dilemma. View Details
- January 1991 (Revised March 1992)
- Case
USA Today
By: Robert L. Simons
USA Today is a national newspaper struggling to achieve profitability. This case focuses on the use of management control systems to identify emerging opportunities and the formulation of new strategies. The interactive system used by top managers--the Friday... View Details
Keywords: Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Managerial Roles; Forecasting and Prediction; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Labor and Management Relations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk and Uncertainty; Journalism and News Industry; United States
- October 1990
- Case
Manufacturers Hanover Corp.: Customer Profitability Report
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Banking company noting declining profitability from its traditional lending activities has started to measure the total profitability of its lending relationships. A loan pricing model estimates the profit and return-on-equity from commercial loans. Additional work was... View Details
- July 1990 (Revised October 1999)
- Case
Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (A)
By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston
In 1989, the performance measurement systems and compensation policies of Nordstrom Department Stores unexpectedly came under attack by employees, unions, and government regulators. The case describes the "sales-per-hour" monitoring and compensation system that many... View Details
- July 1990 (Revised October 1997)
- Case
Siemens Electric Motor Works (A) (Abridged)
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Explores how a cost system can help support a firm's decision to change strategies. In the process, the students are introduced to a simple activity-based cost system. Siemens Electric Motor Works found itself facing an increasingly competitive environment and so made... View Details