Publications
Publications
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(8,004)
- Faculty Publications (801)
- April 2011
- Case
Porcini's Pronto: "Great Italian cuisine without the wait!"
By: James L. Heskett and Richard Luecke
Porcini's Inc. operates a chain of 23 full-service restaurants located near shopping malls and downtown areas in the northeastern United States. Known for providing excellent service, Porcini's serves high-quality Italian cuisine made from fresh ingredients. Looking... View Details
Keywords: Franchising; Syndication; Quantitative Analysis; Performance Measurement; Human Resource Management; Incentives; Motivation; Consumer Behavior; Measurement and Metrics; Quality; Customer Value and Value Chain; Selection and Staffing; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Service Delivery; Franchise Ownership; Customer Focus and Relationships; Product Marketing; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry; Northeastern United States
- 2011
- Working Paper
The 'IKEA Effect': When Labor Leads to Love
By: Michael I. Norton, Daniel Mochon and Dan Ariely
In a series of studies in which consumers assembled IKEA boxes, folded origami, and built sets of Legos, we demonstrate and investigate the boundary conditions for what we term the "IKEA effect&"—the increase in valuation of self-made products. Participants saw their... View Details
- February 2011 (Revised February 2012)
- Case
Online Marketing at Big Skinny
By: Benjamin Edelman and Scott Duke Kominers
Describes a wallet maker's application of seven Internet marketing technologies: display ads, algorithmic search, sponsored search, social media, interactive content, online distributors, and A/B testing. Provides concise introductions to the key features of each... View Details
- February 2011 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
Hindustan Unilever's 'Pureit' Water Purifier
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Mona Sinha
The case asks students to formulate a strategy to respond to various competitive threats to its Pureit Water purifier, launched in 2008, targeted at millions of low-income Indian consumers who did not have access to safe drinking water. The case describes in detail the... View Details
- January 2011 (Revised January 2012)
- Supplement
The Case of the Unidentified Healthcare Companies2010 (CW)
By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Ethan S Bernstein, Margarita Krivitski and Srinidhi Reddy
This case presents financial statements and selected rations for 14 unidentified healthcare organizations and asks that each set of financial information be matched with one of the following healthcare companies: a biotechnology firm, a community nursing company, a... View Details
- January 2011 (Revised January 2012)
- Case
The Case of the Unidentified Healthcare Companies2010
By: Richard Bohmer, Ethan Bernstein, Margarita Krivitski and Srinidhi Reddy
This case presents financial statements and selected ratios for 14 unidentified healthcare organizations and asks that each set of financial information be matched with one of the following healthcare companies: a biotechnology firm, a community nursing company, a... View Details
- January 2011 (Revised August 2013)
- Case
An Intern's Dilemma
By: Sandra J. Sucher and Matthew Preble
An HBS student is asked to misrepresent himself during the course of his summer internship by his employer in order to obtain data from industry competitors. View Details
- 2011
- Article
A Choice Prediction Competition for Social Preferences in Simple Extensive Form Games: An Introduction
By: Eyal Ert, Ido Erev and Alvin E. Roth
Two independent, but related, choice prediction competitions are organized that focus on behavior in simple two-person extensive form games: one focuses on predicting the choices of the first mover and the other on predicting the choices of the second mover. The... View Details
- January 2011
- Article
Building a Better America—One Wealth Quintile at a Time
By: Michael I. Norton and Dan Ariely
Disagreements about the optimal level of wealth inequality underlie policy debates ranging from taxation to welfare. We attempt to insert the desires of "regular" Americans into these debates, by asking a nationally representative online panel to estimate the current... View Details
- Article
Is Life Nasty, Brutish, and Short? Philosophies of Life and Well-Being
By: Michael I. Norton, Lalin Anik, Lara B. Aknin and Elizabeth W. Dunn
Three studies examine the extent to which laypeople endorse Thomas Hobbes' (1651) view of life as "nasty, brutish, and short" and explore the relationships between this philosophy and well-being. We asked participants to answer two binary choice questions: Is life... View Details
- Article
The Artful Dodger: Answering the Wrong Question the Right Way
By: Todd Rogers and Michael I. Norton
What happens when speakers try to "dodge" a question they would rather not answer by answering a different question? In 4 studies, we show that listeners can fail to detect dodges when speakers answer similar-but objectively incorrect-questions (the "artful dodge"), a... View Details
- November 2010 (Revised May 2012)
- Background Note
Assessing a Company's Future Financial Health
By: Thomas R. Piper
The case provides students with (1) an understanding of the essence of long-term financial health; (2) familiarity with the calculation and meaning of various financial ratios; and (3) an understanding of the influence of a company's operating and competitive... View Details
- 2010
- Book
Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution
By: Robert L. Simons
To stay ahead of the pack, you must translate your organization's competitive strategy into day-to-day actions that will enable your company to win in the marketplace. This means channeling resources into the right efforts, striking a balance between innovation and... View Details
- November 2010
- Article
Stress-Test Your Strategy: The 7 Questions to Ask
By: Robert Simons
An economic downturn can quickly expose the shortcomings of your business strategy. But can you identify its weak points in good times as well? And can you focus on those weak points that really matter? I identify seven questions all executives should ask in order to... View Details
- October 2010 (Revised July 2012)
- Supplement
Robin Bienenstock at Sanford C. Bernstein
By: Linda A. Hill and Dana Teppert
Robin Bienenstock, a senior sell-side equity research analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, considers how to build her research franchise given the changing nature of the industry and the firm. A collaborative research paper called "Computer in Your Pocket" was recently... View Details
- September 2010
- Supplement
Compass Maritime Services, LLC: Valuing Ships (CW)
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Albert W. Sheen
Tom Roberts, a founding partner of Compass Maritime Services, a New Jersey-based shipping research and consulting firm, has been asked by a new potential customer in May 2008 for advice on purchasing a capesize bulk carrier. After identifying a suitable ship with his... View Details
- September 2010 (Revised December 2010)
- Case
Compass Maritime Services, LLC: Valuing Ships
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Albert W. Sheen
Tom Roberts, a founding partner of Compass Maritime Services, a New Jersey-based shipping research and consulting firm, has been asked by a new potential customer in May 2008 for advice on purchasing a capesize bulk carrier. After identifying a suitable ship with his... View Details
- July 2010 (Revised December 2010)
- Case
Post-Crisis Compensation at Credit Suisse (A)
By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia
On October 20, 2009, Brady Dougan, the CEO of Credit Suisse Group, announced a new compensation plan for the bank. The announcement had followed quickly on the heels of the G-20 meeting the prior month where, in the wake of the financial crisis, the major governments... View Details
- 2010
- Book
The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics Are Transforming the Supply Chain and Improving Performance
By: Marshall Fisher and Ananth Raman
Retailers today are drowning in data but lacking in insight: They have huge volumes of information at their disposal. But they're unsure of how to sort through it and use it to make smart decisions. The result? They're struggling with profit-sapping supply chain... View Details
- May 2010
- Case
Clayton Industries, Inc.: Peter Arnell, Country Manager for Italy
By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Benjamin H. Barlow
Clayton Industries, a sixty-year-old U.S.-based firm in the HVAC industry (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), with nearly $1 billion in revenues, has gradually built a presence in a number of countries, including several in Europe. Peter Arnell, previously... View Details