Publications

August 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

The case raises issues around sales force deployment and management issues in the SaaS industry. Specifically, VTS sells a software product to the real estate industry and has designed a Go-to-Market strategy for what the founders perceive to be the unique... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Managerial Roles; New York (city, NY)

14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

utilities." For starters, panelists talked about how the majority of the world's controlled water resources are dedicated to agriculture, leaving precious little for drinking, cooking, and bathing.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

April 1988 (Revised July 1990)
Case

Schulze Waxed Containers, Inc.

Schulze Waxed Containers has recently lost 20% of its business. The firm's cost accounting system spreads fixed costs over the volume produced. The 1987 costs reflect the lower production volume and are higher. The firm has recently adopted a minimum mark up. The... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Production; Management Systems; Manufacturing Industry

Fall 2012
Article

The Flattening Firm—Not As Advertised

By: Julie Wulf

For decades, management consultants and the popular business press have urged large firms to flatten their hierarchies. Flattening (or delayering, as it is also known) typically refers to the elimination of layers in a firm's organizational hierarchy and the broadening... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Governance Controls; Decision Making

Read Now

23 May 2011
Op-Ed

Leading and Lagging Countries in Contributing to a Sustainable Society

at the number of times investors accessed environmental and social data on Bloomberg terminals and ranked countries based on the number of "hits," accounting for the size of... View Details

Keywords: by Robert G. Eccles & George Serafeim

December 1985 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Scovill, Inc.: NuTone Housing Group

Describes a conflict between the corporate controller and a division president about labor standards, which the division purposefully overstates to protect its margins. Illustrates the multiple roles of standards, and the roles of controllers and line management in... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Standards; Management Teams; Conflict and Resolution

Web

Responsibilities and Acceptable Use - Research Computing Services

much as possible by the LSF scheduler, OS sandboxing (CGROUPS), and identity management permissions. However, there are a number of things to keep in mind while using this shared resource so that the View Details

March 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Montefiore Medical Center

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Syeda Noorein Inamdar

A large urban medical center implements the Balanced Scorecard management tool. Elaine Brennan, senior VP of operations, has reorganized a highly functional health care organization into decentralized patient care centers and support units. Having recently endured the... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Health Care and Treatment; Management Systems; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Leadership Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Reporting; Budgets and Budgeting; Cost Accounting; Corporate Accountability; Communication; Health Industry

01 Jun 1997
News

Blockbuster Deals

Michael Jensen, a finance expert, how what is happening today compares to what transpired in the 1980s. A decade ago, Jensen explains, M&As; were often associated with downsizing and what he describes as "the freeing of equity trapped in... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons and Nancy O. Perry

01 Dec 1997
News

Growing Together

course for the future, which she outlines in her Harvard Business Review article "Effective Oversight" and her book Financial Accounting and Managerial View Details

Keywords: Marguerite Rigoglioso and Nancy O. Perry

24 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Can Obamacare Be Saved?

single-payer system. Few national politicians are working to uncover why the public exchanges aren’t working for either insurers or consumers. While it’s difficult, the question everyone should be working to answer is: How can the system... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch and Emily Boudreau; Insurance; Health

August 1994
Case

Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd.

Describes the introduction of two profit planning and control systems at Kirin as part of its shift from a production-oriented to a consumer-oriented strategy. Specifically, documents Kirin's use of profit centers to increase efficiency and its use of pseudo profit... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Organizational Structure; Management Systems; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Organizational Culture; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Performance Productivity; Problems and Challenges; Management Practices and Processes; Business Divisions; Information Management; Information Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

February 1991 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Appex Corp.

By: Nitin Nohria

1990 Business Week named Appex Corp. the fastest growing high-technology company in the United States. Appex provided management information systems and intercarrier network services to cellular telephone companies. During its rapid growth, the company went through... View Details

The design of an organization—the accountability system that defines roles, rights, and responsibilities throughout the firm—has a direct impact on the performance of every employee. Yet, few leaders devote focused attention to how this design is chosen, implemented,... View Details

01 Dec 1996
News

Organizations and Markets: A Challenging View of the World

human brain is defective," says Jensen, whose life's work has reached out beyond his research in economics, finance, and accounting to include psychology, sociology, neuroscience, View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

June 1977 (Revised September 1992)
Case

Sorenson Research Co. (Abridged)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Presents the issues facing a high volume, high margin (but lightweight) medical products business. The company is trying to improve its inventory control to reduce inventory investment and improve service. The present multi-site inventory system is described and major... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Investment; Volume; Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Performance Improvement; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry