Management Control Systems - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Sep 2012
News

What’s the Big Idea?

confronted with setbacks. Yet in a survey of 669 managers around the world, “progress” ranked dead last as a perceived source of employee motivation, falling behind more expected (but less effective) carrots such as bonuses and... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons;Julia Hanna;Roger Thompson; Management; Management; Management; Management

November 2010
Case

Children's Hospital Boston (A)

By: Scott A. Snook and Jeffrey C. Connor

Five year old Matty died at Children's Hospital Boston as a result of elective neurosurgery to "cure" his epilepsy. The organizational system, not the surgery, had failed. During post-operative recovery, he experienced a prolonged seizure that resulted in his death.... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Organizational Structure; Management Systems; Management Teams; Health Industry

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01 Jan 2007
News

Hansjörg Wyss, MBA 1965

manager for Chrysler in Pakistan, Turkey, and the Philippines before coming to HBS. But it did not prepare him for the economic disparity and differences in political systems he witnessed in these countries.... View Details

06 Dec 2021
News

In My Humble Opinion: Come Clean

Simon. But he saw an opportunity in a sleepy family company with a great reputation. He introduced systems that track customer preferences and check an order’s tiniest details, reducing the opportunity for error and improving efficiency.... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; career; life experiences; dry cleaning; leadership; music; Personal and Laundry Services; Personal Services

May 1992 (Revised January 2000)
Supplement

ABB: Accountability Times Two (A)

By: Robert L. Simons

Describes the complexity of setting and reconciling performance targets in a global, matrix company. The president of the Finnish industry and rail transport company has received targets from two bosses--his regional superior and his business area superior. Each has... View Details

Keywords: Performance Expectations; Complexity; Multinational Firms and Management; Finland

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31 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

You’re Wasting Your Employees! What You Can Do About It

leaders were trained, sophisticated strategic-planning systems were supposed to help senior managers decide which businesses to grow and which to harvest. 1 Unfortunately, all the planning and investment... View Details

Keywords: by Christopher A. Bartlett & Sumantra Ghoshal

17 Dec 2019
Cold Call Podcast

Under Pressure, Oxxo Rethinks the Convenience Store

Keywords: Re: Tatiana Sandino; Retail

11 May 2020
Op-Ed

Immigration Policies Threaten American Competitiveness

It is no secret that immigration has reshaped American innovation. Immigrants are the backbone of America’s most innovative industries, provide a quarter of our patent applications, and are numerous among our science and engineering superstars. Taken from World... View Details

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

17 Nov 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Self-Interest: The Economist's Straitjacket

Keywords: by Robert Simons

August 2024 (Revised November 2024)
Case

No Labels and the 2024 Presidential Insurance Plan

By: Robert F. White and Tom Quinn

After observing record voter dissatisfaction with the choices in the 2024 U.S. presidential election—Democratic nominee President Joe Biden and Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump—the bipartisan nonprofit No Labels decided to reserve ballot access in... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Forecasting and Prediction; Lawsuits and Litigation; Failure; System Shocks; Political Elections; Motivation and Incentives; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States

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January 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Supplement

IKEA in Saudi Arabia (B)

By: Karthik Ramanna, Jerome Lenhardt and Marc Homsy

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Values; Islam; Multinationals; Globalization; Leadership; Equality and Inequality; Multinational Firms and Management; Religion; Organizational Culture; Gender; Consumer Products Industry; Saudi Arabia; Sweden

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30 Jun 2020
Book

Capitalism Is More at Risk Than Ever

updating the 10 disruptive forces identified in the first edition, showing how managers can address these challenges, and describing how public confidence in the market system could be rebuilt. The revised... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Tips to Reinvent the Department Store

looking to become what they want to be—as opposed to a series of vendor shops.— Pat Chadwick, Bloomingdale's Alan Barnett, senior vice president of merchandise planning and information systems for Barneys New York, noted that "the... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Retail

10 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

“Blank” Inside: Branding Ingredients

ingredient is central to the functional performance of the final product. Think Shimano gear systems on performance bicycles or Monsanto's Nutrasweet, added to Equal sweetener. 3. The final products are not well-branded themselves, either... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Aerospace; Consumer Products

07 Sep 2021
News

Embracing Activism for Social Change

In 2020, the city of Detroit logged some 7,000 calls involving mental health emergencies—a critical issue, notes Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who says, “When the mentally ill turn to the police for a response, the system is broken.” To fix... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

01 Dec 2011
News

Ticktock

partner with an American product design firm and risk prohibitive expense, or to team up with a less-expensive overseas firm and risk the inherent quality control and communications issues? (Nanda, who was able to launch the product with... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel; viral marketing; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

01 Feb 1999
News

All in the Family

job." Jon and George Pellegrin were grappling with issues common to any company: managerial differences, power clashes, succession questions. But ratcheting up the intensity of their struggle was the fact that they were not just talking View Details

Keywords: Marguerite Rigoglioso

09 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

How to Revive Health-Care Innovation

similar way, write the authors. "There is little dispute that we need a system that is competitive, responsive, and consumer-driven, with clear metrics of value per dollar spent." In the following excerpt, they outline three... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Jerome H. Grossman, M.D. M.D. & Jason Hwang; Health

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

XTV: Xerox’s Attempted Recovery From “Fumbling the Future”

businesses. In reorganizing to capitalize on its technology, Xerox created a new entity in 1989, headed by Robert Adams, that effectively established a third phase for managing spin-offs. Adams had created a new business for Xerox out of... View Details

Keywords: by Henry Chesbrough

March 2008 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Opening Dot EU (A)

By: Benjamin Edelman

EURid considers possible market mechanisms to allocate initial domain names within the Internet's newly-created "dot EU." European Union regulations and community norms substantially constrain EURid's approach, preventing the use of the most natural economic mechanisms... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Resource Allocation; Auctions; Internet; Information Industry; Europe

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