Publications

07 Mar 2016
HBS Seminar

Scott Stern, MIT Sloan School of Management

Article

A Blueprint for Pharmacy Benefits Managers to Increase Value

By: William Shrank, Michael E. Porter, Sachin H. Jain and Niteesh K. Choudhary

Pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) have a unique opportunity to promote public health and generate value in the healthcare system. However, PBMs are largely evaluated on their ability to control costs rather than improve health. PBMs should be evaluated along three... View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Health; System; Cost Management; Partners and Partnerships; Motivation and Incentives; Value; Innovation and Invention; Performance Effectiveness; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

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July 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Rocky Mountain Condiments: Close Encounters with the Legal System for the First Time

By: Lena G. Goldberg

The founder of a Colorado start-up focused on developing a line of condiments confronts a host of legal issues that threaten the viability of her young enterprise. She is suing a co-packer for, among other things, breach of contract, theft of recipes and trade secrets,... View Details

Keywords: Law And Regulation; Start-ups; Founders' Agreements; Cross-Border Jurisdiction; Torts; Consumer Protection; Non-disclosure Agreements; Intellectual Property Protection; Fraud; Legal Remedies; Law; Lawsuits and Litigation; Laws and Statutes; Business Startups; Contracts; Intellectual Property; Food and Beverage Industry

11 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The High Risks of Short-Term Management

managed for the long term." The research team was interested in several issues: Do short-term companies attract a particular kind of investor? Is investing in these firms riskier than investing in companies with longer-term View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

14 May 2007
Research & Ideas

The Key to Managing Stars? Think Team

cultivate stars. But if there are only a few stars, these individuals will tend to have a tougher time sustaining top performance. Q: What else are you working on? A: We also examine the portability of performance in a different labor... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

05 Dec 2007
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing Marketing

merchant's direct channel sales after she opens a retail store in the area. The study used a proprietary longitudinal data set from a multichannel retailer to understand what happens and to probe the implications for channel management... View Details

December 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Case

The Euro in Crisis: Decision Time at the European Central Bank

By: J. Gunnar Trumbull, Dante Roscini and Diane Choi

This case traces the origins and evolution of the European Central Bank, with attention to its 2010 decision concerning the purchase of Greek sovereign debt. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Currency; Central Banking; Financial Management; Sovereign Finance; Policy; Crisis Management; Europe; Greece

03 Dec 2014
What Do You Think?

Can the Brilliant Jerk Be Managed Effectively?

our values." (By the timing of his actions, he also illustrated one problem of managing the brilliant jerk—the event occurred 12 years after Welch assumed the role of CEO. My conclusions in the past... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Functional Centralization and the Division of Labor in Management

By: Julie Wulf, Maria Guadalupe and Hongyi Li

This paper shows that the trend towards flatter hierarchies in large US firms since the mid-80's has been accompanied by increased centralization of activities at the top of the organization. In particular, the number of functional managers (e.g., Chief Financial... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Management Teams; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy; Diversification; Information Technology; United States

Web

Technology & Operations Management - Faculty & Research

Technology & Operations Management Overview Faculty Curriculum Seminars & Conferences Awards & Honors Doctoral Students July 2025 Case AeroVironment: The MacCready Works Dilemma By: Willy Shih and Sophie Zimmerman Scott Newbern, the head... View Details

February 15, 2022
Article

How Managers Can Build a Culture of Experimentation

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Neil Hoyne

Testing in business presents qualitatively different challenges than those in clinical trials and most scientific research. There are very few opportunities for randomized control experiments in a changing, competitive market. Yet, change and competition make testing a... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Management; Decision Making

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Summer 2020
Article

Is It Time to Rethink Globalized Supply Chains?: The COVID-19 Pandemic Should Be a Wake-up Call for Managers and Prompt Them to Consider Actions That Will Improve Their Resilience to Future Shocks

By: Willy C. Shih

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the complex interdependencies of globalized supply chains. While these global multistage production networks had spread during a relatively benign environment of falling trade barriers and increasing interdependencies among countries,... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chains; Pandemic; Resilience; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Global Range; Health Pandemics; Disruption; System Shocks; Crisis Management; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Asia; Europe; China

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11 Aug 2020
Blog Post

Supporting Independent Workers During COVID-19: One Phone Call at a Time

lot of the concepts we learned in TOM (RC class Technology and Operations Management) about bottlenecks to ensure that our clients were quickly attended to.” Adding to the challenge of managing their volunteer team was the evolving... View Details

January 2005
Case

Managing Failure: American Bankruptcy Law at a Crossroads

By: David A. Moss, Mary Oey and Jonathan Lackow

Introduces the core principles and challenges of bankruptcy law (both individual and corporate) against the backdrop of the early 1970s, when the U.S. bankruptcy system appeared to be failing. With personal bankruptcy filings at record levels and successful corporate... View Details

Keywords: Change; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Policy; Government Legislation; United States

01 Mar 2014
News

3-Minute Briefing: Frank Blethen (PMD 35, 1978)

of a sudden I became the credit manager in the worst economic times we'd had since the Depression. I'M THE ONLY PERSON in my family who didn't grow up in Seattle. I've always felt I can walk away anytime,... View Details

Keywords: Hanna, Julia; Seattle Times Company; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Information

November 2016 (Revised April 2017)
Case

Basecamp: Pricing

By: Frank Cespedes and Robb Fitzsimmons

A data analyst at Basecamp is evaluating the results of pricing research and its potential implications for the venture’s latest version of its project management software product. View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Entrepreneurial Management; Data Analysis; Marketing; Customer Acquisition; Customer Retention; Value Proposition; Sales Management; Product Management; Market Research; Life Time Value; Testing; Entrepreneurship; Analytics and Data Science; Customers; Value; Sales; Product Marketing; United States