Critical Performance Variables - Publications - Faculty & Research

26 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 26, 2019

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55749 forthcoming Review of Economics and Statistics Healthy Business? Managerial Education and Management in Healthcare By: Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, Renata Lemos, and John Van Reenen Abstract— We investigate the... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

17 Jun 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

Excellence Comes From Saying No

We all know people who seem able to perform at a higher level than those around them; and we've all had moments ourselves where we are firing on all cylinders and everything just seems to work. But how do you achieve that kind of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

04 Jul 2005
What Do You Think?

How Can Business Schools Be Made More Relevant?

specific knowledge," and emphasis on "more variables [that] enter into people's choices than just value maximizing." Don Cameron thinks that "The problem with research is not the research itself, but what is... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

09 Jun 2022
HBS Case

From Truck Driver to Manager: US Foods’ Novel Approach to Staff Shortages

the company was able to maintain its position as one of the top three food distribution companies in the US among rivals Sysco and Performance Food Group, capturing 10 percent of market share. US Foods’ strategy provides valuable lessons... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

16 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Your Customers Have Changed. Here's How to Engage Them Again.

COVID-deaccession, it is even more critical for firms to become more customer centric by researching and understanding their customers’ new problems caused by fear, isolation, physical distancing, and financial constraints, and attempt to... View Details

Keywords: by Rohit Deshpandé, Ofer Mintz, and Imran S. Currim; Retail; Service

16 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Advice on Advice

how a leader can make critical big decisions without getting advice." Plus, many executives believe that if they seek advice, they will be viewed as incapable of making decisions on their own. Research shows that people who seek too... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

23 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 23

Business School Exercise 409-129 This exercise is designed to help students and professionals map their professional networks and identify areas of strength and weakness in their networks. "Network" refers to the set of relationships that is View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

sustainability strategies of leading German and American firms until the 1970s. However during that decade the German firms diverged from their American counterparts in using public relations strategies not only to contain fallout from View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2006
Article

Competitive Advantage and the Value Network Configuration: Making Decisions at a Swedish Life Insurance Company

By: Øystein D. Fjeldstad and Christian H.M. Ketels

When the Swedish Life Insurers Förenade Liv found themselves in difficulties in a rapidly changing market, their response was to call in the consultants. And one of the consultant's first suggestions was to use the Value Network, not the Value Chain, as a new... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Fluctuation; Networks; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Value; Quality; Decision Making; Market Transactions; Performance Effectiveness; Customers; Insurance Industry; Sweden

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HBS Alumni Conference: Accelerating Climate Solutions - Alumni

to the Secretary of Energy, US Department of Energy Gordon Jones , President, College of Western Idaho (CWI) Building the workforce is critical to scaling climate ventures, to valuation, and to public uptake of climate technologies both... View Details

25 May 2011
HBS Case

QuikTrip’s Investment in Retail Employees Pays Off

benefits including health insurance, performance bonuses, and paid vacation—all relatively rare in the industry. Blueprint For Transformation The QuikTrip (QT) case, taught in the MBA course Coordinating and Managing Supply Chains, offers... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

Web

Nonprofit Strategy & Governance | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Executive Education for Nonprofit Leaders Driving Nonprofit Performance and Innovation-Virtual Designed to help nonprofit leaders use performance measurement to enhance their organization's ability to... View Details

18 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

How New Managers Become Great Managers

organizations. We can learn vicariously from their experiences. Consider the example of one manager who was about to undergo a critical transition in her career, only four years after first becoming a manager. When she was about to step... View Details

Keywords: by Linda Hill

14 Jan 2019
Op-Ed

These 4 CEOs Created a New Standard of Leadership

Group to add healthier products to its lineup. When soft drink sales declined in 2010, shareholders criticized PepsiCo’s execution. Nooyi responded by beefing up PepsiCo’s marketing and strengthening her leadership team—but held firm to... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Health; Banking; Food & Beverage; Consumer Products

07 Jul 2011
What Do You Think?

So We Adapt. What’s the Downside?

many things are interconnected, it is harder and harder to explain why things, including success, happen. He asks why success in fact is no insurance against subsequent failure, as all writers about individual companies and their managers at the peak of their View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

01 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 1

Publisher's Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470392509.html How to Catch a Tiger: Understanding Putting Performance on the PGA TOUR Authors:Douglas Fearing, Jason Acimovic, and Stephen C. Graves... View Details

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Events - Business History

Origins of the Hilton Hotel Chain" Megan Elias (Boston University), 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm Apr 9 09 Apr 2025 Virtual Seminar Gareth Austin (University of Cambridge), "Determinants of African Business Performance in Colonial and Post-Colonial... View Details

22 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Companies Can Expand Their Talent Pool by Giving Ex-Convicts a Second Chance

Employers looking to fill critical job vacancies may want to turn to a largely untapped pool of willing workers: people with criminal records. Employers are often wary of hiring workers with past convictions, leading to double-digit... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

08 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: A Sense of Urgency

create the sense of urgency needed to perform better. An example. At a major European retailer, margins were shrinking year after year because fashionable boutiques were taking its top-of-the-line business, and discounters were taking... View Details

Keywords: by John P. Kotter

Research Summary

Overview

By: Roberto Verganti

Roberto’s research focuses on how to create innovations that are meaningful for people, for society, and for their creators. He explores how leaders and organizations generate radically new visions, and make those visions come real. His studies lie at the intersection... View Details

Keywords: Integrated Design; Strategy; Design Thinking; Innovation; Artificial Intelligence; Design; Technology; Leadership; Innovation Strategy

Publications