Publications

Educators

09 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

A Diagnostic for Disruptive Innovation

the draw anymore. By conducting a series of diagnostics, companies in any industry can quickly identify the most promising opportunities. This article shows how to conduct customer, portfolio, and competitor diagnostics to pinpoint the... View Details

Keywords: by Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson & Matt Eyring

2015
Chapter

Optimal Process Control of Symbolic Transfer Functions

By: Christopher Griffin and Elisabeth Paulson

Transfer function modeling is a standard technique in classical Linear Time Invariant and Statistical Process Control. The work of Box and Jenkins was seminal in developing methods for identifying parameters associated with classical (r, s, k) transfer functions.... View Details

Keywords: Transfer Functions; Markov Processes; Stochastic Models; Process Control; Research; Information Technology

Read Now

1987
Article

Accounting Control Systems and Business Strategy: An Empirical Analysis

By: R. Simons

Keywords: Accounting; System; Business Strategy

01 Dec 2020
News

AI Enhances Diagnostic Care

changing the field of medicine. In the past several decades, the growing use of artificial intelligence in the health care sector has made it possible for computer systems and diagnostic machines to learn... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

June 1999 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Guidant Corporation: Shaping Culture Through Systems

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Dávila

Teaching Note for (9-198-076). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk And Uncertainty; Service Industry; Financial Services Industry

January 1991
Article

Strategic Orientation and Top Management Attention to Control Systems

By: R. Simons

Keywords: Management; System; Strategy

June 2014 (Revised March 2017)
Teaching Note

Agero: Enhancing Capabilities for Customers

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This is the teaching note for Agero: Enhancing Capabilities for Customers (HBS No. 113-001) View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Execution; Organization Structure; Diagnostic Control Systems; Interactive Control Systems; Performance Goals; Performance Measurement; Strategy; Organizational Design; Performance Evaluation; Customer Focus and Relationships

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

Educators

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

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

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

04 Sep 2019
News

Advancing Diagnostics that Can Save Lives

Above: photo by Len Rubenstein No disease can be slowed or stopped until it is diagnosed. For diseases with available treatments, the facts are simple: The earlier they are detected, the higher the survival rates. Two companies at the Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab are... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Article

How New Top Managers Use Control Systems as Levers of Strategic Renewal

By: R. Simons

Keywords: Management; System; Strategy

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

SSRN

Read Now

1995
Book

Levers of Control: How Managers Use Innovative Control Systems to Drive Strategic Renewal

By: R. Simons

Keywords: Management Systems

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

1990
Article

The Role of Management Control Systems in Creating Competitive Advantage: New Perspectives

By: R. Simons

Keywords: Management; System; Competitive Strategy

winter 1994
Article

The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems

By: M. C. Jensen

Keywords: System; Failure

SSRN