Publications

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08 Feb 2021
Book

How to Make the World Better, Not Perfect

productive ways.” Setting achievable goals Philosophers and ethicists talk a lot about what it means to be “good.” The problem, says Bazerman, is that they tend to hold up the ideal rather than the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

September 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

JOANN: Joannalytics Inventory Allocation Tool

By: Kris Ferreira and Srikanth Jagabathula

Michael Joyce, Vice President of Inventory Management at JOANN, championed an effort to develop and implement an inventory allocation analytics tool that used advanced analytics to predict in-season demand of seasonal items for each of JOANN’s nearly 900 stores and... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Machine Learning; Optimization; Inventory Management; Mathematical Methods; Decision Making; Operations; Supply Chain Management; Resource Allocation; Distribution; Technology Adoption; Applications and Software; Change Management; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Ohio

2013
Working Paper

Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Application Architecture: An Exploratory Telecom Case

By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and Stephan Aier

We test a method for visualizing and measuring enterprise application architectures. The method was designed and previously used to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software applications. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Complexity; Applications and Software; Product Design; Telecommunications Industry

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26 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

Where is Home for the Global Firm?

that Nestlé's bankers fashioned a solution for Alcon that would preserve its Swiss identity for some purposes yet make it look completely American for various other reasons.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 1987 (Revised January 1988)
Case

Groen: A Dover Industries Company

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes the challenges facing the president of an old-line foodservice and food processing equipment manufacturing company as it attempted to accelerate sales and profit growth through the introduction of innovative products. The introduction of a "revolutionary"... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Labor and Management Relations; Machinery and Machining; Management Style; Management Teams; Performance Efficiency; Technological Innovation; Product Development; Organizational Culture

October 2020
Article

Task Selection and Workload: A Focus on Completing Easy Tasks Hurts Long-Term Performance

By: Diwas S. KC, Bradley R. Staats, Maryam Kouchaki and Francesca Gino

How individuals manage, organize, and complete their tasks is central to operations management. Recent research in operations focuses on how under conditions of increasing workload individuals can decrease their service time, up to a point, in order to complete work... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Knowledge Work; Discretion; Workload; Employees; Health Care and Treatment; Decision Making; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Productivity

Find at Harvard

02 Aug 2007
What Do You Think?

How Will Millennials Manage?

they are challenging and highly stimulating. So I may have an admittedly warped view of the generation. A great deal has been written about how millennials got that way. Of course, the rise of the Internet has influenced their outlook, behaviors, and skills. Some think... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

16 Nov 2015
HBS Seminar

Vish Krishnan, Professor of Innovation, Technology & Operations, University of California San Diego Rady School of Man

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

for your product or service, as well as to remove the inhibitors to purchasing. The most successful companies follow this two-pronged strategy of providing a reason for the customer to buy, while eliminating annoying problems in the order... View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

Research Summary

Overview

By: John A. Deighton

Professor Deighton conducts research at the intersection of information technology and marketing. He is interested in the complementary uses of human and artificial intelligence and creativity in areas such as advertising, content creation, and online retailing. He... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Media; Information Technology; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; North and Central America; Asia; Europe

April 2008 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Ti-Tech (A)

By: Benson P. Shapiro, John T. Gourville and Craig E. Cline

This case concerns the selection and scheduling of orders by a small industrial titanium fabricator that recently has been plagued by poor deliveries and a lack of capacity. At the time of the case, Ti-Tech must decide which of four orders to accept, with capacity... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Metals and Minerals; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Supply Chain Management; Performance Capacity; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

March 1992 (Revised April 2000)
Case

Joline Godfrey and the Polaroid Corporation (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Nancy A Kamprath

Describes how Joline Godfrey, an intrapreneur at the Polaroid Corp., introduced and developed a project that could help Polaroid move to a more service- as opposed to product-oriented focus. Also depicts the mentor-protege relationship between Godfrey and Gerald... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Rank and Position; Leading Change; Problems and Challenges; Change; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

September 1991 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Dore-Dore

By: Janice H. Hammond and Audris Wong

Dore-Dore, a French manufacturer of socks and children's knitwear, has just converted a portion of its knitwear operations to a flexible modular system to allow faster response and greater flexibility. The case provides an opportunity to assess the changes in knitwear... View Details

Keywords: Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Production; Performance Productivity; Apparel and Accessories Industry; France

2013
Working Paper

Debating the Responsibility of Capitalism in Historical and Global Perspective

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper examines the evolution of concepts of the responsibility of business in a historical and global perspective. It shows that from the nineteenth century American, European, Japanese, Indian and other business leaders discussed the responsibilities of... View Details

SSRN

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02 Aug 2016
First Look

August 2, 2016

Tightening the commercial banks' capital requirement from the status quo leads to safer commercial banks and more shadow banking activity in the economy. While the safety of the financial system increases, it provides less liquidity.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Should You Bring Advertising Expertise In-House?

reasons include structural changes in the advertising industry such as the unbundling of agency services, and improved communication tools that make it easier and more cost efficient for firms to manage some aspect of their own... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising

18 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

How Economic Clusters Drive Globalization

two locations shared knowledge of palm oil production even as they competed for market share—a contest that Malaysia eventually won thanks to its more stable political climate and higher quality of... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Agriculture & Agribusiness

January 2008 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Linear Air: Creating the Air Taxi Industry

Linear Air is an air taxi start-up established to take advantage of the emergence of Very Light Jets, which incorporate new technology that cuts jet operating costs by about 40%. Air taxis could make use of the 5400 smaller regional airports throughout the US,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Product Launch; Industry Structures; Competition; Air Transportation Industry