Publications

June 2021
Supplement

Reversing Course on a Reverse E-Auction (D)

By: Kym Lew Nelson, James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

Global consumer products powerhouse LSP has found enormous savings in a trial run of a new competitive bidding tool for their procurement organization known as a reverse e-auction. But when Jen Baldwin is asked to achieve the same savings from her suppliers for a... View Details

Keywords: Reverse E-auctions; Bids and Bidding; Auctions; Complexity; Cost vs Benefits

June 2021
Supplement

Reversing Course on a Reverse E-Auction (B)

By: Kym Lew Nelson, James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

Global consumer products powerhouse LSP has found enormous savings in a trial run of a new competitive bidding tool for their procurement organization known as a reverse e-auction. But when Jen Baldwin is asked to achieve the same savings from her suppliers for a... View Details

Keywords: Reverse E-auctions; Bids and Bidding; Auctions; Complexity; Cost vs Benefits

09 Sep 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Disintermediation of Financial Markets: Direct Investing in Private Equity

Keywords: by Lily Fang, Victoria Ivashina & Josh Lerner

2019
Working Paper

Government Technology Policy, Social Value, and National Competitiveness

By: Frank Nagle

This study seeks to better understand the impact that government technology procurement regulations have on social value and national competitiveness. To do this, it examines the impact of a change in France’s technology procurement policy that required government... View Details

Keywords: Social Value; Competitiveness; Government Administration; Information Technology; Acquisition; Policy; Value

SSRN

2014
Working Paper

Opting Out of Good Governance

By: C. Fritz Foley, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Jonathan Greenstein and Eric Zwick

Cross-listing on a U.S. exchange does not bond foreign firms to follow the corporate governance rules of that exchange. Hand-collected data show that 80% of cross-listed firms opt out of at least one exchange governance rule, instead committing to observe the rules of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Globalization; Corporate Governance

Find at Harvard

Conventional wisdom holds that the more contact an operation has with its customers, the less efficiently it will run. But when customers are partitioned away from the operation, they are less likely to fully understand and appreciate the work going on behind the... View Details

February 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

BASIX

By: Shawn A. Cole and Peter Tufano

BASIX, an Indian microfinance corporation, must decide whether to continue to sell weather insurance to its clients. A brand-new financial product, weather insurance pays if measured rainfall during the growing season falls below a pre-specified limit. Mr. Sattaiah,... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Microfinance; Insurance; Risk Management; Banking Industry; India

January 2011 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Elizabeth Jacobs: Price-Earnings Ratios and Employee Stock Option Grants

By: David F. Hawkins

Analyst questions the value of accounting measurement of earnings per share and stock option costs for equity valuation purposes. View Details

Keywords: Earnings Management; Business Earnings; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Stock Shares; Employee Ownership; Stock Options; Equity; Accounting Audits; Valuation; Profit Sharing; Accounting Industry

2009
Working Paper

In Favor of Clear Thinking: Incorporating Moral Rules into a Wise Cost-benefit Analysis

By: Max H. Bazerman and Joshua D. Greene

Bennis, Medin, and Bartels (2009) have contributed an interesting paper on the comparative benefit of moral rules versus cost-benefit analysis. Many of their specific comments are accurate, useful, and insightful. At the same time, we believe they have misrepresented... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Moral Sensibility; Cognition and Thinking

22 Jul 2014
First Look

First Look: July 22

Publications August 2013 hfm (Healthcare Financial Management) Improving Value with TDABC By: Kaplan, Robert S. Abstract—The article discusses the benefits of time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Graphic Packaging: Project Cowboy

In July 2019, Graphic Packaging CEO Michael Doss was proposing a $600 million investment in a new machine to produce coated recycled board (CRB), a type of paper packaging used for consumer products (cups, cereal boxes, beverage boxes, etc.) that utilized recycled... View Details

27 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

The Most Popular Stories and Research Papers of 2015

Research that explores how children benefit from having a working mom blew away the field for most popular feature article on Harvard Business School Working Knowledge in 2015. With nearly 84,000 visits, twice the number of the second... View Details

2010
Working Paper

Evaluating the Effects of Large-Scale Health Interventions in Developing Countries: The Zambian Malaria Initiative

By: Nava Ashraf, Gunther Fink and David N. Weil

Since 2003, Zambia has been engaged in a large-scale, centrally coordinated national anti-malaria campaign which has become a model in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper aims at quantifying the individual and macro level benefits of this campaign, which involved mass... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Developing Countries and Economies; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Performance Evaluation; Programs; Health Industry; Zambia

04 Mar 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Dirty Laundry of Employee Award Programs: Evidence from the Field

Keywords: by Timothy Gubler, Ian Larkin & Lamar Pierce; Service

April 1991 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Cat Fight in the Pet Food Industry (A)

By: David J. Collis

Describes the pet food industry in the mid-eighties prior to the breakout of a major competitive battle as manufacturers fight for share. Illustrates how when there are benefits to play in multiple markets, competitors will take action in one market to preserve their... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Markets; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Ownership Stake; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

September 2012
Case

BASIX (Abridged)

By: Shawn Cole and Peter Tufano

BASIX, an Indian microfinance corporation, must decide whether to continue to sell weather insurance to its clients. A brand-new financial product, weather insurance pays if measured rainfall during the growing season falls below a pre-specified limit. Mr. Sattaiah,... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Microfinance; Household; Risk Management; Insurance; Banking Industry; India

October 2006
Article

Location Choices across the Value Chain: How Activity and Capability Influence Collocation

By: Juan Alcacer

There has been a recent revival of interest in the geographic component of firm strategy. Recent research suggests that two opposing forces—competition costs and agglomeration benefits—determine whether firms collocate in a given geographic market. Unexplored is (1)... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Sales; Research and Development; Cost Accounting; Cost Management; Markets; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Distribution; Cost vs Benefits; SWOT Analysis; Telecommunications Industry