Publications

November 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

American Cancer Society: Access to Care

By: Robert L. Simons and Kathryn Rosenberg

CEO John Seffrin decides to radically change the strategy of the American Cancer Society. The new Access to Care strategy relies on advocacy to change public policy and increase the number of Americans eligible for cancer prevention and treatment. The new strategy... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Governance Controls; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Nonprofit Organizations; Business Strategy; Health Industry; United States

March 1990 (Revised November 1999)
Case

MCI Communications: Planning for the 1990s

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

Concentrates on the evolution of MCI's strategy-setting process following a period of dramatic growth. Opportunistic strategies during MCI's early years have given top managers a dislike of formal strategic planning and a strongly-held belief in top down strategy... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Growth and Development; Planning; Strategic Planning; Growth Management; Business or Company Management; Competition; Alignment; Communications Industry

January 2000
Case

Cross Country Group, The: A Piece of the Rock (B)

By: Robert L. Simons and Indra Reinbergs

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Industry; Employment Industry

June 1999 (Revised December 2001)
Teaching Note

Birch Paper Company TN

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Teaching Note for (9-158-001). View Details

June 2018
Case

Verona Group

By: Robert L. Simons and Sarah Abbott

Are a salesperson's struggles her own fault or the result of a problematic job design? Anna George works as a salesperson at Verona Group, a company that designs and wholesales high-end women's apparel. She had spent nearly 20 years in sales with another fashion label... View Details

Keywords: Jobs and Positions; Design; Analysis; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Salesforce Management; Organizational Design

April 1998 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Guidant Corporation: Shaping Culture Through Systems

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Guidant is a successful IPO start-up selling pacemakers and defibrillators. The case describes how managers install systems to balance innovation and control. Three parts of a shareholder value strategy are described. Controls include incentive systems, beliefs... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Planning; Risk Management; Management Systems; Business Strategy; Value Creation; System; Service Industry; Financial Services Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

June 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Teaching Note

Asea Brown Boveri: The ABACUS System TN

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Teaching Note for (9-192-140). View Details

August 1994 (Revised July 1995)
Background Note

Financial Reporting and Control, Course Overview

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Keywords: Financial Reporting

Find at Harvard

November 1997 (Revised June 1999)
Teaching Note

Becton Dickinson: Designing the New Strategic, Operational, and Financial Planning Process TN

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Teaching Note for (9-197-014). View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Planning; Finance

May 2010 (Revised June 2010)
Supplement

Pfizer: Letter from the Chairman (B)

By: Robert L. Simons and Kathryn Rosenberg

This case continues the story begun in "Pfizer: A Letter from the Chairman" (HBS No. 110-003), revealing the letter Chairman and CEO Jeff Kindler wrote for the 2008 Annual Report. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Annual Reports; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

05 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 5

and operations theory suggests that the longer people wait, the less satisfied they become; we demonstrate that due to what we term the labor illusion, when websites engage in operational transparency by signaling that they are exerting... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Nov 2015
First Look

November 3, 2015

these models, the demand curve alone can be used to make welfare statements, a fact relied on by much empirical work. There is ample evidence, though, that people misuse care for a different reason: mistakes or "behavioral... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2024
Teaching Note

Muhammad Ali: Changing the World

By: Robert L. Simons and Shirley Sun

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 121-053. View Details

October 2022
Supplement

Henkel: Building a Winning Culture (C)

By: Robert L. Simons and Carolyn Deller

This three-page case is the second update to Henkel: Building a Winning Culture (A). In this supplement, dated 2015, managers discuss the problems that are emerging with the company’s performance management system and offer several potential solutions that students can... View Details

Keywords: Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Problems and Challenges

October 2022
Case

Margaret Thatcher: Changing the World

By: Robert L. Simons and Shirley Sun

This case traces the rise of Margaret Thatcher, the daughter of a shopkeeper, from a small industrial town in England to the longest-serving leader in the Western world. The case describes how she became interested in politics at an early age, attended Oxford, and... View Details

Keywords: Politics; Leadership Style; Personal Characteristics; Business ＆ Government Relations; Values And Beliefs; Work-life Balance; Mission And Purpose; Government Administration; Power and Influence; Great Britain; Europe

June 1998 (Revised June 1999)
Teaching Note

Asea Brown Boveri and ABB: Accountability Times Two (A) and (B) TN

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Teaching Note for (9-192-139), (9-192-141), and (9-192-142). View Details

March 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Cross Country Group, The: A Piece of the Rock (A)

By: Robert L. Simons and Indra Reinbergs

A new MBA graduate joins a privately held family business and sets ambitious growth goals for the next five years. To enhance motivation, he proposes a new incentive plan that will grant him a share of the wealth he creates. However, the family owners have a more... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Decisions; Motivation and Incentives; Business Strategy; Performance Efficiency; Risk and Uncertainty; Growth and Development; Planning; Accounting Industry; Employment Industry

September 1995 (Revised June 1996)
Background Note

Preparing and Using the Statement of Cash Flows

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Explains the concepts and procedures behind the statement of cash flows. Presents an overview of the reporting objectives of this report, and describes in detail the preparation of the cash flow statement using both the indirect method and the direct method. A complete... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Cash Flow