Publications

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Summer 2013
Article

Analyzing Performance of Service Organizations: Balanced Benchmarking Can Identify Best Practices That Are Often Hidden

By: H. David Sherman and Joe Zhu

Just as sports teams have increasingly relied on rigorous quantitative analyses, so have many businesses. In particular, a growing number of service organizations have been investigating the use of a sophisticated linear programming technique called DEA, or data... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Benchmarking; Management

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February 2011
Article

Welfare Payments and Crime

By: C. Fritz Foley

Analysis of daily reported incidents of major crimes in twelve U.S. cities reveals an increase in crime over the course of monthly welfare payment cycles. This increase reflects an increase in crimes that are likely to have a direct financial motivation like burglary,... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Motivation and Incentives; Welfare; United States

SSRN

Article

Payment Depreciation: The Behavioral Effects of Temporally Separating Payments from Consumption

By: J. T. Gourville and Dilip Soman

Keywords: Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Money

April 1980 (Revised June 1984)
Case

Two Cases of Questionable Payments

2010
Working Paper

Conceptual Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard

By: Robert S. Kaplan

David Norton and I introduced the Balanced Scorecard in a 1992 Harvard Business Review article (Kaplan & Norton, 1992). The article was based on a multi-company research project to study performance measurement in companies whose intangible assets played a central role... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Balanced Scorecard; Management Systems; Performance Improvement; Strategy

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June 2014
Simulation

Balanced Scorecard Simulation

By: V.G. Narayanan

In this multi-player simulation, students experience the benefits and challenges of using a scorecard to implement strategic initiatives and monitor firm performance. Small teams of students work together to choose a strategy for their company, create a strategy map,... View Details

In the fall of 2016, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm, an Indian mobile payments and commerce platform, received the coveted "Entrepreneur of the Year" award from the Economic Times, a leading Indian business newspaper. Despite the public honor... View Details

August 2018
Supplement

Garanti Payment Systems: Digital Transformation Strategy (B)

By: Shelle M. Santana and Esel Çekin

Supplements the (A) case. Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu, executive vice president of marketing at Garanti Payment Systems (GPS), a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, is grappling with three questions. First, should GPS create its own mobile app for credit card customers or leverage... View Details

2008
Working Paper

Welfare Payments and Crime

By: C. Fritz Foley

This paper tests the hypothesis that the timing of welfare payments affects criminal activity. Analysis of daily reported incidents of major crimes in twelve U.S. cities reveals an increase in crime over the course of monthly welfare payment cycles. This increase... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Motivation and Incentives; Welfare; United States

SSRN

2008
Chapter

Conceptual Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard

By: Robert S. Kaplan

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

October 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

PhonePe: Democratizing Payments in India

By: Michael Chu and Rachna Tahilyani

The co-founders of PhonePe, India’s leading digital payment platform are considering pursuing various growth opportunities in a huge country just entering the digital age. In a highly competitive industry, the founders are keenly aware that making the right choices is... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platform; Digital Banking; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Financial Services Industry; Asia; India

August 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Consumer Payment Systems — Japan

By: Benjamin Edelman and Andrei Hagiu

In 2008, the Japanese consumer payments landscape featured ongoing widespread use of cash, limited use of credit cards and rapid rise of e-money systems based on contactless technology embedded in cards and especially mobile phones. The case details the alliances that... View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Digital Platforms; Alliances; Competitive Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Japan

17 Mar 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Conceptual Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan

May 2001 (Revised March 2007)
Background Note

Balance Sheet, The

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

Discusses the accounting equation and defines common terms found in the statement. Also provides an example of the balance sheets of Coca-Cola Co., Ariba, Inc., and Safeway, Inc. View Details

Keywords: Accounting

August 2018
Case

Garanti Payment Systems: Digital Transformation Strategy (A)

By: Shelle M. Santana and Esel Çekin

Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu, executive vice president of marketing at Garanti Payment Systems (GPS), a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, is grappling with three questions. First, should GPS create its own mobile app for credit card customers or leverage the bank’s already... View Details

November 1981
Case

Questionable Payments Abroad: Gulf in Italy

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Gulf Oil in Italy was confronted by the need to increase the authorized capacity at a refinery in the face of substantial opposition. Raises the issue of their use of "facilitating gratuities" to minor officials, payments to influence news reports, and the employment... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; Italy

April 2020
Article

A Theory of Experimenters: Robustness, Randomization, and Balance

By: Abhijit Banerjee, Sylvain Chassang, Sergio Montero and Erik Snowberg

This paper studies the problem of experiment design by an ambiguity-averse decisionmaker who trades off subjective expected performance against robust performance guarantees. This framework accounts for real-world experimenters’ preference for randomization. It also... View Details

Keywords: Experiment Design; Experimenters; Theory; Performance