Publications

20 Dec 2006
Working Paper Summaries

The Demise of Cost and Profit Centers

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan

May 2018 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Apple Inc. in 2018

By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin

Many observers worried about what would happen to Apple when Steve Jobs died in 2011. But Apple had performed above everyone's expectations in Cook's six years as CEO. Apple's core business—the iPhone—continued to deliver spectacular results. In addition, Cook was... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Computer Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry

Keywords: Finance

May 2002 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Tim Blanchard at Jones Mendel & Co.

By: John J. Gabarro

Tim Blanchard struggles to balance all the demands facing him as a partner of a consulting firm. He must decide how to serve clients, mentor his people, provide strategy and direction to the high-tech group, and spend time with family. A rewritten version of an earlier... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Managerial Roles; Work-Life Balance; Consulting Industry

09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

The Challenge of the Multi-site Nonprofit

one, but rather to identify "levers of influence" system managers can employ to get their organization the desired balance between the two forces. "Headquarters should undertake actions to enhance system value and then... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

January 2018 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Saudi Arabia: Vision 2030

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman faces several challenges, both domestic and foreign. Domestically, he needs to build the country’s economy to accommodate a "youth bulge" while balancing between liberals and conservatives. And he needs to diversify the economy away from its... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Economy; Demographics; Diversification; Government and Politics; International Relations; Saudi Arabia

September 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Exercise

Drivers of Industry Financial Structure

By: Dwight B. Crane and Indra Reinbergs

This case contains common-size balance sheets and financial ratios for 10 companies, each representative of a different industry. Students are asked to identify the industries from the structure of the financial statements. View Details

Keywords: Finance

16 Dec 2013
HBS Case

D’O: Making a Michelin-Starred Restaurant Affordable

For restaurateurs, receiving a Michelin star can be a mixed blessing. Certainly it's a rare and celebrated honor—the French company bestows its one-, two-, and three-star ratings only to a select few restaurants worldwide. However, a star begets expectations of... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel & Joanie Tobin; Food & Beverage

November 1999 (Revised July 2001)
Case

New Profit Inc.: Governing the Nonprofit Enterprise

By: Robert S. Kaplan

New Profit, Inc. (NPI) is an innovative venture philanthropy fund. Founded by social entrepreneur Venessa Kirsch, NPI intends to raise large donations from individuals who wish to invest in nonprofit enterprises that could have a significant social impact and the... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Nonprofit Organizations; Venture Capital; Social Entrepreneurship; Corporate Governance; Performance Evaluation; Financial Statements; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Service Industry

29 Aug 2017
Blog Post

3 Insights from My First Year at HBS

It’s hard to believe how quickly a year can fly by. When I first started my RC year at Harvard Business School, I grossly underestimated the advice, "business school is a constant struggle to balance your social life, academics, and... View Details

March 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Montefiore Medical Center

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Syeda Noorein Inamdar

A large urban medical center implements the Balanced Scorecard management tool. Elaine Brennan, senior VP of operations, has reorganized a highly functional health care organization into decentralized patient care centers and support units. Having recently endured the... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Health Care and Treatment; Management Systems; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Leadership Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Reporting; Budgets and Budgeting; Cost Accounting; Corporate Accountability; Communication; Health Industry

07 Jun 2011
News

Second mortgages weigh down owners, economy

April 2000 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Destiny WebSolutions, Inc.

Describes Destiny's use of "pattern language" concepts to structure its business activities. The innovative approach contrasts with a process approach and helps the company balance its needs for scalability with retained agility. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Business Processes

16 Dec 2013
News

D’O: Making a Michelin-Rated Restaurant Affordable

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Microsoft Latin America

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Alberto Ballve and Antonio Davila

Mauricio Santillan, regional vice president for the Latin American division of Microsoft, has introduced a new performance measurement system to help his country managers formulate and control strategy. Microsoft Latin America's priorities are rolling out of an... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Applications and Software; Emerging Markets; Crime and Corruption; Motivation and Incentives; Management Skills; Global Strategy; Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Latin America

2007
Book

Management Control Systems

By: Robert N. Anthony and Vijay Govindarajan

Management Control Systems, now in its 13th edition, builds on strengths from prior editions by offering a rich diversity of cases balanced with current material. The primary market for Management Control Systems is an MBA level elective in control systems. The... View Details

Find at Harvard

01 Aug 2014
News

Consumer Products Companies are Seeking Less Shelf Space

January 2013 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google 2018

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Four businesses had, by 2012, grown to dominate the infrastructure that all firms rely on to reach online customers. Will the balance of power among the four persist, will one take command at the expense of the other three, or are all four more vulnerable than they... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Competitive Advantage; Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development; Service Industry; Retail Industry; United States

Forthcoming
Article

Segmented Arbitrage

By: Emil Siriwardane, Adi Sunderam and Jonathan Wallen

We use arbitrage activity in equity, fixed income, and foreign exchange markets to characterize the frictions and constraints facing intermediaries. The average pairwise correlation between the 32 arbitrage spreads that we study is 22%. These low correlations are... View Details

Keywords: Financial Intermediation; Arbitrage; Intermediary-based Asset Pricing; Finance; Segmentation

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