Publications

February 2024
Module Note

Collaborate on the Core, Compete on the Edges

By: Frank Nagle

In the rapidly evolving environment of modern business, the digitization of economic activity and the ubiquitous integration of technology across industries are fundamentally altering how companies develop and implement strategy. The rise of digital technologies has... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Competition; Cooperation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

May 2020
Article

Measuring Collaboration in Modern Organizations

By: Stephen Michael Impink, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

Internal communication has been a central theme in organizational economics, as employee collaboration provides insight into the structure of firms. Use of electronic communications data can be transformational for organizational economics, as these data provide a... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Employees; Interactive Communication; Measurement and Metrics; Organizations; Performance

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June 2013
Article

Vacancies in Supply Chain Networks

By: John William Hatfield and Scott Duke Kominers

We use the supply chain matching framework to study the effects of firm exit. We show that the exit of an initial supplier or end consumer has monotonic effects on the welfare of initial suppliers and end consumers but may simultaneously have positive and negative... View Details

Keywords: Matching; Networks; Stability; Vacancy Chains; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain

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Research Summary

Bricks and Clicks: The Effect of Store Assortment on E-tail Format (with R. Lal and E. Ofek)

An often neglected aspect in existing studies of the Internet selling process is the high volume of product returns. Such returns reflect a major logistic expenditure on behalf of companies that sell over the net. The problem is reduced when consumers shop in physical... View Details

13 Apr 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Incorporating Price and Inventory Endogeneity in Firm-Level Sales Forecasting

Keywords: by Saravanan Kesavan, Vishal Gaur & Ananth Raman; Retail

March 2006
Background Note

Influencing Customer Behavior in Service Operations

By: Frances X. Frei and Amy C. Edmondson

Explores ways in which service firms can influence the behavior of their customers. Drawing from research on employee motivation and applying it to customer motivation, the note describes two levels of managerial control: instrumental control, which shapes behavior... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Governance Controls; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence; Service Industry

Research Summary

Strategic Human Capital

My research focuses on the links between managerial background, job attributes, organizational/firm characteristics, and firm performance. Broadly speaking, I am interested in how a manager's skills, knowledge, connections, experiences, and other attributes... View Details

2009
Working Paper

Does Competition Favor Delegation?

By: Christian Alejandro Ruzzier

This paper studies the consequences of product-market competition on firms' decisions to delegate more or fewer decision-making responsibilities to managers. By simultaneously addressing the choice of both competitive actions and organizational design, the paper makes... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Competition; Decision Making

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29 Apr 2025
HBS Seminar

Magie Cheng & David Huang

May 1996
Background Note

The GM's Operational Challenge: Managing Through People

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Highlights and explores how a general manager adds value to the firm at the operational level by managing through people. Discusses how assumptions about human motivation influence the employment contract that the general manager implicitly enters into with the workers... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Selection and Staffing; Contracts; Managerial Roles; Operations; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Value

27 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Customer Loyalty Programs That Work

retailers are making when it comes to customer loyalty schemes. “Loyalty schemes are not being used to their best advantage” "Most retailers are at a very basic level in how they use loyalty programs, and many customers see loyalty... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Retail

March 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

DigiPlex: Ante-Up or Cash Out

By: Josh Lerner and James Mason

In November 2020, the co-founders of DigiPlex study the future growth trajectory of their Nordic data center venture. A critical question was on the agenda: was now finally the right time to sell DigiPlex? Originally a $2.75 million investment in one small data center... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Decision Making

October 2014 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Caesars Entertainment

By: Janice H. Hammond and Aldo Sesia

This case describes the introduction of a regression analysis model for forecasting guest arrivals to Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company will use the forecast to staff the front desk in the hotel. The staff is unionized and the company has little... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting; Staffing; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Hotel Industry; Decision Making; Forecasting and Prediction; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Operations; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Accommodations Industry; Travel Industry; Tourism Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Las Vegas

31 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Why the Largest Minority Group Faces the Most Hate—and How to Push Back

growth rate. The data predicts that a group that moves from last to first in rank will experience an almost 62 percent increase in frequency of hate crimes. “It doesn't really matter how large a minority group is in absolute values or... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

Spring 2013
Article

Does Mandatory IFRS Adoption Improve the Information Environment?

By: Joanne Horton, George Serafeim and Ioanna Serafeim

We examine the effect of mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on firms' information environment. We find that after mandatory IFRS adoption, consensus forecast errors decrease for firms that mandatorily adopt IFRS relative to forecast... View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Financial Reporting; Standards; Information; Quality; Earnings Management