COST Control - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

How Politics Drives Business Decisions in a Polarized Nation

analysts) downward-adjusted ratings more often than aligned analysts covering the same firm at the same time, the study shows. The partisan leanings of intermediaries, such as credit-rating analysts, can have “sizable effects on firms’ View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

23 Aug 2010
Research & Ideas

The Drive to Acquire’s Impact on Globalization

now give to the overall benefits of globalization. As practiced today, Ricardo's classic system results in win-win exchanges when both trading partners are either (1) industrialized nations with modern impulse/check/balance governments, no excessive unemployment, and... View Details

Keywords: by Paul R. Lawrence

02 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

Food Stamp Entrepreneurs: How Public Assistance Enables Business Bootstrapping

Gareth Olds grew up toeing the poverty line. For years his parents struggled to support three children in Anchorage, Alaska, where food costs run high. His stepfather held down a steady but low-paying job as a dental assistant, and his... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

30 May 2007
Research & Ideas

Health Care Under a Research Microscope

game is supposed to be quality up and cost down. And this is one where that has not happened. And it's been very slow with the quality movement." Professor Regina Herzlinger, who has studied the health care system for three decades,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health; Biotechnology

15 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

The Founding CEO’s Dilemma: Stay or Go?

VC firm called Onset Ventures, which lays out a "test" for all entrepreneurs it considers backing. It's called the "Rich versus King" test. It gets to this essential trade-off around what drives an entrepreneur: Is it the need to View Details

25 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Studying Japan from the Inside

political leaders in the country are wrestling with the question, what comes next? Will Japanese companies adopt western business practices, and at what cost to its own uniqueness? As with the School's four other international research... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

05 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 5, 2008

relatively low concentration of ownership and control in large firms before 1910. Archival evidence such as company statutes and shareholder lists document that in many Brazilian corporations voting rights provisions, in particular,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Feb 2001
News

Drilling Down

you never have it figured out. Unlike other industries, you can't manufacture endless quantities of the product on a predictable cost curve." As the hunt for oil goes on, even optimists agree that the search will only present more... View Details

Keywords: Hanna, Julia; Matthew R. Simmons; Oil and Gas Extraction; Mining; Natural Gas Distribution; Utilities

24 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Reducing Risk with Online Advertising

tells HBS Working Knowledge. "Indeed, if you paid your suppliers more slowly they'd almost certainly pay their suppliers more slowly, which would have the desired effect. "You have no control, and yet you have full control... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Video Game; Web Services

17 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 17

Projects By: MacCormack, Alan, and Anant Mishra Abstract—Formal contracts represent an important governance instrument with which firms exercise control of and compensate partners in R&D projects. The specific type of contract used,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Feb 2017
Op-Ed

What Africa Can Teach the United States About Funding Infrastructure Projects

Senegal, is a public-private partnership where the private sector supplied most of the capital and is compensated mostly by toll revenue, but the low “policy price” tolls would not have paid back the full cost. The government of Senegal contributed to first View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction

02 Apr 2010
What Do You Think?

Why Are Fewer and Fewer U.S. Employees Satisfied With Their Jobs?

Joyce Dias puts it, "People give up what they enjoy doing most in order to submit to the unnatural process of doing something— anything in order to earn their living." Combine this with research that cites a high correlation between job satisfaction and View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

06 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Where Do Workers Go When the Robots Arrive?

on such shifts is available. They also controlled for conditions during the Great Recession, to see if the pattern held even in recession. It did. Three fewer people move into a region for each robot added versus an area where local... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing

06 Jun 2012
What Do You Think?

Is Something Wrong with the Way We Work?

easier and faster being 'on call' 24/7 is now viewed by many as the norm." Phil Clark faulted leaders for failing to provide "healthy leadership" on this issue, saying "We have created a 24/7 world that is not necessary." The View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Consulting

02 Jul 2010
What Do You Think?

Is Profit as a “Direct Goal” Overrated?

set goals around creating value faster than costs (his preferred goal)." Deepak Alse reminded us that "the world of business is an unbounded system! The 'Corporation' is in effect an acceptance of the idea that profit seeking... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

08 Jun 2023
Blog Post

Koppert Cress: Macro Greenhouses, Microgreens

greenhouses providing eight different climatic zones, which enable it to grow microgreens from around the world in controlled conditions. The plants themselves are grown in cellulose, which is not only highly absorbent (ideal for roots to... View Details

01 Sep 2005
News

Predictable Surprises

security, but politically, it would have been a very unpopular decision. The airlines, which had contributed to the Clinton-Gore campaign, didn’t want it, it would have cost taxpayers $3 billion, and we all would have had to wait in much... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

11 May 2020
News

Better Than Cash

in sanitation or health or education, it starts with a payment system everyone can use.” Goodwin-Groen offers the example of a mother who has to pay for her children’s schooling once each semester. She needs to save money for several months to do so; in low-income... View Details

01 Oct 1998
News

Short Takes

who doesn't stockpile at all risks getting an inferior deal the next time around. Retailers' ability to control their inventory storage costs also plays an important role in this balancing act. As Chun... View Details

Keywords: Eileen K. McCluskey

01 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 1, 2008

balancing profit, growth and control. Difficulties encountered in the business are due to management's attempts to design and use formal control systems to achieve profit and performance goals. Purchase this case:... View Details