Publications

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February 1996 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Indianapolis: Activity-Based Costing of City Services (A)

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

Keywords: Cost Management; Public Sector; Activity Based Costing and Management; Service Delivery; Privatization; City; Indianapolis

11 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 11

Maintenance of Certification Examinations By: Valentine, Melissa A., S. Barsade, Amy C. Edmondson, A. Gal, and R. Rhodes Abstract—Context: Physicians can demonstrate mastery of the knowledge that supports continued clinical competence... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September–October 1993
Article

Putting the Balanced Scorecard to Work

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David Norton

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard

Article

Accounting for Climate Change

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Karthik Ramanna

Corporations are facing growing pressure—from investors, advocacy groups, politicians, and even business leaders themselves—to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their operations and their supply and distribution chains. About 90% of the companies in the S&P... View Details

Keywords: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation; Social Accounting; E-liabilities; Business And The Environment; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability

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September 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Mobil USM&R (C): Lubricants Business Unit

The general manager of a Lubricants Business Unit in Mobil's U.S. Marketing and Refining division launched a project to develop a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for his unit. The purpose was to provide focus for all employees of the unit, enabling it to operate on an... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Employees; Customization and Personalization; Performance Evaluation; Measurement and Metrics; Management Teams; Projects; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

2008
Chapter

Conceptual Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard

David Norton and I introduced the Balanced Scorecard in a 1992 Harvard Business Review article. The article was based on a multi-company research project that studied performance measurement in companies whose intangible assets played a central role in value... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Management Systems; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Improvement; Strategy

Web

HBS Entrepreneurship Summit - Alumni

Programs & Events HBS Entrepreneurship Summit NOV 4-5 4-5 NOVEMBER 2022 HBS ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT: LEADING HIGH-GROWTH VENTURES IN AN UNPREDICTABLE WORLD Brought to you by the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship and Alumni Relations... View Details

March 2003
Article

Technological Development and Medical Productivity: The Diffusion of Angioplasty in New York State

By: David M. Cutler and Robert S. Huckman

A puzzling feature of many medical innovations is that they simultaneously appear to reduce unit costs and increase total costs. We consider this phenomenon by examining the diffusion of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)—a treatment for coronary... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Cost; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Performance Improvement; Product; New York (state, US)

Web

Documenting the Wartime Effort | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Boyart Studio in Salt Lake City—that had easy access to nearby plants. Robert Yarnall Richie. Open pit ore mine, Hull-Rust Mine, Hibbing, Minnesota. Show caption Hide caption U.S. Steel assembled images from these sources into large... View Details

26 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 26, 2017

worked are positively correlated with firm performance, and differences between family and non-family CEOs account for approximately 18% of the performance gap between family and non-family firms. We investigate the sources of the differences in CEO labor supply across... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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

Keywords: Product; Competition; Expansion; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

September 2009 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Elkay Plumbing Products Division

The vice president of sales learns that the most profitable 1% of the division's customers generate 100% of profits, and that two of the division's largest customers lose 50% of profits. The division has just finished a project to install a time-driven activity-based... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Management Systems; Consumer Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

September – October 2000
Article

Having Trouble with Your Strategy? Then Map It

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton

Keywords: Strategy

01 Jun 2008
News

Faculty Books

Competitive Advantage by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton (DBA ’73) (HBS Press) Building on their previous works on strategy-focused... View Details

Keywords: Educational Services; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Management

September–October 1988
Article

Measure Costs Right: Make the Right Decisions

By: Robin Cooper and Robert S. Kaplan

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Cost; Decision Making

November 2003 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Flextronics International, Ltd.

By: Robert S. Huckman and Gary P. Pisano

Describes Flextronics' evolution from providing outsourced manufacturing services for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the electronics industry to developing entire unbranded products for purchase by OEMs. In 2001, Flextronics began a development program that... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Production; Service Operations; Performance Effectiveness; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry