Publications

May 2008 (Revised April 2018)
Case

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: Interdisciplinary Cancer Care

By: Michael E. Porter and Sachin H. Jain

In 2006, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was an internationally leading institution for cancer care, education, and research. Since 1996, it had successfully reorganized itself from a cancer hospital that was physically organized around clinical... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Health Disorders; Organizational Structure; Medical Specialties; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Value Creation; Service Delivery; Research; Health Care and Treatment; Education Industry; Health Industry; Texas

22 May 2020
In Practice

Post-COVID Health Care: More Screens, Less Red Tape?

high-paying ones. Wherever possible, health care professionals have shifted from their normal service lines to serve COVID patients. Primary care provider offices and outpatient services are empty. As a... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

22 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The ‘Mother of Fair Trade’ was an Unabashed Price Protectionist

“She also offered medical advice, delivery services, and prescription compounding—services not offered by department stores,” writes Sawyer. “Gleason also cultivated a reputation for providing indigent community members with medical... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Legal Services; Legal Services; Legal Services

June 2020
Case

MOD Pizza: A Winning Recipe? (Abridged)

By: Boris Groysberg, John D. Vaughan and Matthew Preble

This is an abridged version of “MOD Pizza: A Winning Recipe?” HBS Case No. 416-004. Scott and Ally Svenson, the founders of MOD Pizza, had to make a number of decisions in planning how to scale their small company. They wanted to grow MOD from 45 stores as of May 2015... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States

11 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 11, 2008

between customized and standardized approaches to care and challenges students to examine their preconceived notions of the social role of a health care delivery organization. Dr. Heidi Behforouz, PACT's director, must decide whether a... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 1997 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Corn Products International, Inc.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

A firm that started in corn processing and moved up the value-added food chain decides to spin-off the original commodity part of the business. How does the new spin-off survive and how does it develop a strategy? Firms in the food system are separating out their... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Development; Service Delivery; Vertical Integration; Food and Beverage Industry

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Ground-Floor Opportunities for Retail in India

the customer." Jain said competition in India includes delivery services that bring items as inexpensive as a Diet Coke to a customer's door in five minutes. "How do you work against that?"... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Consumer Products; Retail

09 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

A Diagnostic for Disruptive Innovation

specific customer groups either are overserved or are unsatisfied nonconsumers. Overserved customers consume a product or service but don't need all its features or functionality. Three specific indicators point to this customer group:... View Details

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

January 2025 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Gavi and the 'Next' Pandemic

By: Tarun Khanna and Kerry Herman

In 2025, CEO Dr. Sania Nishtar and her team consider the lessons the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunizations (GAVI) learned from the pandemic. GAVI successfully brought COVID-19 vaccines to large swaths of the undeveloped and under-developed world by pooling... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management; Success; Innovation and Invention; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Pharmaceutical Industry; Africa

21 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

Faculty Research Looks to Latin America

between the service delivery process, human resources and marketing policy, and on how these factors interact to affect service quality. Current research, with Professor... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

June 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Hôpital de Pontoise

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Simon Harrow

In 2010, Andre Razafindranaly, managing director of a large French public hospital, considers which organizational structure will help them adjust to the changing health sector environment. The move from global budget to activity-based funding has led his and many... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Leading Change; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Health Industry; France

Find at Harvard

26 Apr 2016
First Look

April 26

April 2016 Review of Economic Studies Landing the First Job: The Value of Intermediaries in Online Hiring By: Stanton, Christopher, and Catherine Thomas Abstract—Online markets for remote labor services allow workers and firms to contract... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2001 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Herman Miller(B): Creating Innovation Streams

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

In 1997, Mike Volkema faced the difficulty of attempting to revitalize a once dynamic organization. Volkema wondered how he could incorporate advances made within subsidiaries, such as Miller SQA's business model innovation, into the company as a whole while also... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Product Design; Product Development; Product; Supply Chain Management; Business Model; Service Delivery; Customer Value and Value Chain; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry

November 2022
Case

The Battle Among Channels for Marketing Pharmaceuticals: UpScript, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, and Direct-to-Consumer Sales

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Tiffany Farrell

Can an online, direct-to-consumer pharmacy both improve the quality and speed of care for patients who need branded drugs and stabilize profits for pharmaceutical manufacturers? UpScript, after years spent achieving legal and regulatory compliance and simultaneous... View Details

Keywords: DTC; Internet and the Web; Marketing Channels; Customer Value and Value Chain; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competitive Strategy; Service Delivery; Growth and Development Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; Health Industry; Retail Industry

01 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

The Slow, Steady Battle to Fix Cancer Care

Developed in 2006, the Value-Based Health Care Delivery strategy includes a seven-part agenda to restructure health care. Part one calls for creating "integrated practice units," each organized around a particular medical... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

September 2017
Teaching Note

Dick's Sporting Goods

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew G. Preble

This is the teaching note to accompany Rajiv Lal, Jose B. Alvarez, and Matthew G. Preble, “Dick’s Sporting Goods,” HBS No. 517-007 (Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2017). View Details

February 2017
Case

Dick's Sporting Goods

By: Rajiv Lal, Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew G. Preble

Edward Stack, chairman and CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), faced a rapidly changing sporting goods landscape in October 2016. Two large competitors—The Sports Authority and Sport Chalet—had folded earlier that year, and DKS had to contend with increasingly robust... View Details

June 2010 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Atlantis Paradise Island Resort & Casino: Improving Performance with a New Vision and Mission

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Gabriele Piccoli

Atlantis Paradise Island adopted a new vision and mission to provide its guests and employees an enhanced brand experience. The dilemma Atlantis faced was how to integrate the new vision and mission into all the brand touch points in order to improve customer... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Customer Satisfaction; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Employee Relationship Management; Brands and Branding; Service Delivery; Mission and Purpose; Performance Improvement; Accommodations Industry