Critical Performance Variables - Publications - Faculty & Research

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

When Benchmarks Don’t Work

assembly plant could change its stamping presses from one model to another in eight minutes, compared with the eight hours GM plants spent to change over the same basic equipment. Clearly a deviation of this magnitude between its current View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan; Service

06 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

Latest Isn’t Always Greatest: Why Product Updates Capture Consumers

Because consumers gravitate to merchandise labeled as “updated,” even if the items are not necessarily improved, according to the results. "Once something says ‘revised’ on it, it makes you suspend critical judgment." “After showing... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products; Retail

15 Nov 2022
Op-Ed

Why TikTok Is Beating YouTube for Eyeball Time (It’s Not Just the Dance Videos)

Open-mic performances. It’s a platform where you perform for the community as a whole, finding your audience with the help of hashtags and the algorithm. You may dance, sing, perform a skit, impersonate a... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

21 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

What Machine Learning Teaches Us about CEO Leadership Style

CEOs into distinct communication styles that, among other things, appear to be correlated with the financial performance of their companies. “There is a whole ocean of data out there that people aren’t using” The research was conducted by... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Web

Curriculum - Business & Environment

KHC/3G's offer undervalued Unilever and its long-term value creation strategy. Engine No.1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil Key concepts: Impact Investing; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance Invest or... View Details

28 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Making the Decision to Franchise (or not)

decentralize their operations more; or they may provide more variable pay to employees when operating across diverse market types," Campbell continues. "Reporting structures, performance measurement systems,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

21 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

Inside the OR: Disrupted Routines and New Technologies

organizations successfully integrate new technologies into their operations. "In an industry context in which individual heroism and skill are assumed to be critical determinants of important outcomes," they write, "this... View Details

Keywords: by Hilah Geer

09 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

It’s Time to Reset Decision-Making in Your Organization

a hierarchy that flows from the most enduring element, the corporate mission, through values, vision, strategy, and, ultimately, the implementation and monitoring of that strategy via tools such as balanced scorecards and key performance... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

Web

Systems Integration - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

critical component of an effective regional expansion program is centralized scheduling of patients and clinicians by individuals who know the various IPUs and the system. The bottom line of transparency is essential and patients and... View Details

Web

Philanthropy - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

social benefit for comparable cost, or achieves an equivalent social benefit with fewer dollars. Foundations create value in four ways: selecting better grantees, signaling other funders, improving the performance of grantees, and... View Details

January 2016
Case

Haiti Hope: Innovating the Mango Value Chain

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

This case study examines a market-based approach to economic development through the eyes of NGO TechnoServe's project manager, implementing a US$9.5 million five-year public-private partnership between Coca-Cola, IDB, and USAID. The case ends at the beginning of the... View Details

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Strategy Execution Online Course | HBS Online

profit planning Identify critical performance variables and develop goals, measures, and targets corresponding to them Analyze a range of incentive types and identify the most... View Details

Blog

Leading in Tough Times: HBS Faculty Member Amy C. Edmondson on Psychological Safety

Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, has long studied the performance of teams in the workplace. Her latest book is The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the... View Details

2017
Working Paper

Digital Agility: The Impact of Software Portfolio Architecture on IT System Evolution

By: Alan MacCormack, Robert Lagerström, Martin Mocker and Carliss Y. Baldwin

The modern industrial firm increasingly relies on software to support its competitive position. However, the uncertain and dynamic nature of today’s global marketplace dictates that this software be continually evolved and adapted to meet new business challenges. This... View Details

Keywords: Information Systems; Software; Architecture; Modularity; Agility; Coupling; Applications and Software; Design; Decisions; Performance

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06 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: June 6, 2017

also identifies criteria that make a decision strategic and derives explanations why strategies often reflect the background of the strategist. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52726 And the Children Shall Lead: Gender Diversity and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Nov 2015
What Do You Think?

Why Does Gender Diversity Improve Financial Performance?

Does Gender Diversity in Management Enhance Performance? Why? A variety of explanations for the positive correlation between gender diversity and better business performance found in a recent McKinsey study were advanced in responses to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

21 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Are You Sabotaging Your Own Company?

their work.” “Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.” The spy manual struck a chord with Stefan H. Thomke, the William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, since he... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

14 Aug 2006
HBS Case

On Managing with Bobby Knight and “Coach K”

discipline and intimidation, which some critics say goes too far. Knight was fired from a long career at Indiana University for grabbing a student, and prior to that he was filmed clutching one of his own players by the neck. And then... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports

24 Jun 2014
First Look

First Look: June 24

instead of participating in negotiated exchange offers. This paper critically examines this claim and argues that the incentives for holdout litigation are limited because of (1) significant constraints on creditor litigation, (2)... View Details