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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,414)
- News (226)
- Research (1,061)
- Events (4)
- Multimedia (2)
- Faculty Publications (525)
Levers of Control
Based on a ten-year examination of control systems in over 50 U.S. businesses, this book broadens the definition of control and establishes a critical bridge between the disciplines of strategy and accounting and control. In addition to the more traditional diagnostic... View Details
- January 1991
- Article
Strategic Orientation and Top Management Attention to Control Systems
By: R. Simons
Simons, R. "Strategic Orientation and Top Management Attention to Control Systems." Strategic Management Journal 12, no. 1 (January 1991): 49–62.
- May 1982 (Revised June 1982)
- Case
Air Traffic Controllers
By: Michael Beer
On August 3, 1981 President Ronald Reagan terminated 12,000 air traffic controllers, members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, for violating their no-strike oath. Provides background on the human resources policies and practices of the Federal... View Details
Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Labor and Management Relations; Government and Politics; Labor Unions; Negotiation; Employees; Air Transportation Industry; United States
Beer, Michael. "Air Traffic Controllers." Harvard Business School Case 482-056, May 1982. (Revised June 1982.)
- November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 7: Designing Asset Allocation Systems
By: Robert Simons
This module reading provides tools and analyses for acquiring and allocating resources. The module begins by reviewing the importance of setting strategic boundaries as a basis for asset acquisitions. Next, a distinction is made between new assets acquired to meet... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Asset Allocation Systems; Payback; Discounted Cash Flow; Internal Rate Of Return; Strategic Investments; Analyzing Acquisitions; Strategy; Capital Budgeting
Simons, Robert. "Strategy Execution Module 7: Designing Asset Allocation Systems." Harvard Business School Module Note 117-107, November 2016. (Revised December 2016.)
- September 2016 (Revised March 2017)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 3: Using Information for Performance Measurement and Control
By: Robert Simons
This module reading explains how managers use information to control critical business processes and outcomes. The analysis begins by illustrating how managers use information to communicate goals and track performance. Then the focus turns to the choices that managers... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Strategy Execution; Organization Process; Feedback Model; Innovation; Uses Of Information; Big Data; Benchmarking; Decision Making; Information; Performance Evaluation; Analytics and Data Science
Simons, Robert. "Strategy Execution Module 3: Using Information for Performance Measurement and Control." Harvard Business School Module Note 117-103, September 2016. (Revised March 2017.)
- Forthcoming
- Article
The Effect of a System for Sharing Best Practices Within Pre-existing Peer Networks
By: Shelley Xin Li and Tatiana Sandino
Peer networks, such as enterprise social networks (ESNs), can facilitate knowledge transfer across employees. However, such systems can also lead to information overload or difficulty in finding useful information. We examine data from a natural field experiment where... View Details
Keywords: Retail; Best Practices; Enterprise Social Media; Management Accounting And Control Systems; Social and Collaborative Networks; Communication Technology; Knowledge Sharing; Sales; Social Media; Retail Industry
Li, Shelley Xin, and Tatiana Sandino. "The Effect of a System for Sharing Best Practices Within Pre-existing Peer Networks." Management Science (forthcoming). (Pre-published online August 6, 2025.)
- Article
How New Top Managers Use Control Systems as Levers of Strategic Renewal
By: R. Simons
Simons, R. "How New Top Managers Use Control Systems as Levers of Strategic Renewal." Strategic Management Journal 15, no. 3 (March 1994): 169–189.
- winter 1994
- Article
The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems
By: M. C. Jensen
Jensen, M. C. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems." Journal of Applied Corporate Finance 6, no. 4 (winter 1994). (Reprinted in the JACF, (winter 1994); Finanzmarkt und Portfolio Management, (January 1993); and Jensen, Theory of the Firm, (HUP, 2000) & abridged version forthcoming in Management Revolution. . ., (HUP, 2001).)
- June 2025
- Article
What Board-level Control Mechanisms Changed in Banks Following the 2008 Financial Crisis? A Descriptive Study
By: Shelly Li, Shivram Rajgopal, Suraj Srinivasan and Yu Ting Forester Wong
Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) identified major shortcomings in bank board governance, contributing to systemic risk management failures. This study adapts a management control framework and empirically examines... View Details
Keywords: Board Of Directors; Management Control; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governance Controls; Risk Management; Change Management; Banks and Banking; Financial Crisis
Li, Shelly, Shivram Rajgopal, Suraj Srinivasan, and Yu Ting Forester Wong. "What Board-level Control Mechanisms Changed in Banks Following the 2008 Financial Crisis? A Descriptive Study." Art. 101596. Accounting, Organizations and Society 114 (June 2025).
- October 1996 (Revised December 1996)
- Case
United Electric Controls
By: H. Kent Bowen, Jody H. Gittell and Sylvie Ryckebusch
United Electric Controls (UE) was a small, traditional family-owned manufacturing company when Dave Reis, the youngest member of the Reis family, took over the business. This case describes Reis's efforts to change UE's traditional work practices in order to make the... View Details
Keywords: Change Management; Family Business; Production; Business Strategy; Human Resources; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Decisions; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States
Bowen, H. Kent, Jody H. Gittell, and Sylvie Ryckebusch. "United Electric Controls." Harvard Business School Case 697-006, October 1996. (Revised December 1996.)
- 1995
- Book
Levers of Control: How Managers Use Innovative Control Systems to Drive Strategic Renewal
By: R. Simons
Keywords: Management Systems
Simons, R. Levers of Control: How Managers Use Innovative Control Systems to Drive Strategic Renewal. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1995.
- 1990
- Article
The Role of Management Control Systems in Creating Competitive Advantage: New Perspectives
By: R. Simons
Simons, R. "The Role of Management Control Systems in Creating Competitive Advantage: New Perspectives." Accounting, Organizations and Society 15, nos. 1-2 (1990): 127–143.
- Teaching Interest
Financial Reporting and Control
By: Suraj Srinivasan
Financial Reporting and Control (FRC) covers topics about how managers can design and use performance measurement systems for external reporting and internal management to build more effective organizations. Throughout their careers, business leaders are required to... View Details
Keywords: Financial Reporting
- Teaching Interest
Finance Reporting and Control
Financial Reporting and Control (FRC) is a course about how leaders can design and use performance measurement systems to build more effective organizations. Throughout their careers, business leaders are required to... View Details
- April 2011
- Module Note
Customer-Centric Information and Control Systems in B2B Settings: The Case for Customer-Supplier Partnerships
By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez
Martinez-Jerez, Francisco de Asis. "Customer-Centric Information and Control Systems in B2B Settings: The Case for Customer-Supplier Partnerships." Harvard Business School Module Note 111-106, April 2011.
- October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
- Case
Maxwell Appliance Controls
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details
Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Management Teams; Quality; Performance Improvement; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Production; Manufacturing Industry
Kaplan, Robert S. "Maxwell Appliance Controls." Harvard Business School Case 192-058, October 1991. (Revised September 1998.)
- August 1982 (Revised January 1988)
- Case
Assuming Control at Altex Aviation (A)
Two young and inexperienced MBAs buy a virtually bankrupt company. They design a decentralized control system organized around profit centers. View Details
Churchill, Neil C., and Kenneth A. Merchant. "Assuming Control at Altex Aviation (A)." Harvard Business School Case 183-058, August 1982. (Revised January 1988.)
- July 2002 (Revised August 2003)
- Case
EXP Systems
By: Malcolm S. Salter and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Discusses selecting investors and avoiding board-level conflicts of interest in start-ups. Using the "term sheet" in third-round financing as a negotiation over future governance and control rights. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details
Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Startups; Management Teams
Salter, Malcolm S., and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld. "EXP Systems." Harvard Business School Case 903-022, July 2002. (Revised August 2003.)
- February 1987 (Revised August 1988)
- Case
Gillette Personal Care Division: Marketing Planning and Control
Bill Ryan, president of the Gillette Co.'s Personal Care Division, is considering changing the division's planning and control system for marketing. White Rain, the division's most recent success, had been launched by taking shortcuts through the system, while other... View Details
Bonoma, Thomas V. "Gillette Personal Care Division: Marketing Planning and Control." Harvard Business School Case 587-099, February 1987. (Revised August 1988.)
- TeachingInterests
Financial Reporting and Control
By: Paul M. Healy
Throughout their careers, business leaders are required to measure and evaluate their organization's economic performance, improve resource allocation and strategy implementation within their organizations, and build accountability for performance through effective... View Details