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- All HBS Web (595)
- Faculty Publications (178)
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- Article
Market Heterogeneity and Local Capacity Decisions in Services
By: Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei
We empirically document factors that influence how local operating managers use discretion to balance the tradeoff between service capacity costs and customer sensitivity to service time. Our findings, using data from one of the largest financial services providers in... View Details
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Cost; Standards; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Performance Capacity; Performance Productivity; Financial Services Industry; United States
Campbell, Dennis, and Frances X. Frei. "Market Heterogeneity and Local Capacity Decisions in Services." Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 13, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 2–19. (Lead Article.)
- 23 Jul 2001
- Research & Ideas
Sam Walton: Great From the Start
compound annual growth rate in sales of over 28 percent. He was the leading variety store operator in Arkansas, and probably in the adjacent states as well. And then, in a heartbeat, he lost everything. The problem was the lease Walton... View Details
- 2012
- Working Paper
When Supply-Chain Disruptions Matter
By: William Schmidt and Ananth Raman
Supply-chain disruptions have a material effect on company value, but this impact can vary considerably. Thus, it is important for managers and investors to recognize the types of disruptions and the organizational factors that lead to the worst outcomes. Prior... View Details
Schmidt, William, and Ananth Raman. "When Supply-Chain Disruptions Matter." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-006, July 2012. (Revised January 2013.)
- Research Summary
Anonymity and Identity
By: John A. Deighton
In most consumer markets, consumers are accustomed to operating in relative anonymity. A complex social adjustment is occurring as people realize that anonymity is often no longer their default condition - it must be sought and in some cases bought. New conceptions of... View Details
- December 2009
- Article
Hiding the Evidence of Valid Theories: How Coupled Search Processes Obscure Performance Differences Among Organizations
By: Nicolaj Siggelkow and Jan Rivkin
Theorists argue that an organization's high-level choices, such as its organizational design or the attributes of its top management team, should influence its performance, yet empirical researchers have struggled to detect such influence. The impact of high-level... View Details
Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Teams; Organizational Design; Performance Effectiveness; Power and Influence; Balance and Stability
Siggelkow, Nicolaj, and Jan Rivkin. "Hiding the Evidence of Valid Theories: How Coupled Search Processes Obscure Performance Differences Among Organizations." Administrative Science Quarterly 54, no. 4 (December 2009): 602 – 634.
- 2009
- Chapter
Nonlinear Pricing
By: Raghuram Iyengar and Sunil Gupta
A nonlinear pricing schedule refers to any pricing structure where the total charges payable by customers are not proportional to the quantity of their consumed services. We begin the chapter with a discussion of the broad applicability of nonlinear pricing schemes. We... View Details
Keywords: Price; Demand and Consumers; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Monopoly; Service Operations; Research
- 2021
- Working Paper
Multiple Team Membership, Turnover, and On-Time Delivery: Evidence from Construction Services
By: Hise O. Gibson, Bradely R. Staats and Ananth Raman
Firms who want to compete in dynamic markets are finding that they must build more agile operations to ensure success. One way for a firm to increase organizational agility is to allocate employees to multiple project teams, simultaneously—a practice known as multiple... View Details
Keywords: Multiple Team Membership; Turnover; Fluid Teams; Project Management; Groups and Teams; Projects; Management; Performance
Gibson, Hise O., Bradely R. Staats, and Ananth Raman. "Multiple Team Membership, Turnover, and On-Time Delivery: Evidence from Construction Services." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-004, July 2021.
- 2015
- Working Paper
The Logic of Agglomeration
By: Gilles Duranton and William R. Kerr
This review discusses frontier topics in economic geography as they relate to firms and agglomeration economies. We focus on areas where empirical research is scarce but possible. We first outline a conceptual framework for city formation that allows us to contemplate... View Details
Keywords: Agglomeration; Clusters; Cities; Innovation; Industry Clusters; City; Innovation and Invention
Duranton, Gilles, and William R. Kerr. "The Logic of Agglomeration." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-037, September 2015.
- 2010
- Working Paper
Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank
By: Bradley R. Staats and Francesca Gino
Sustaining operational productivity in the completion of repetitive tasks is critical to many organizations' success. Yet research points to two different work-design related strategies for accomplishing this goal: specialization to capture the benefits of repetition... View Details
Keywords: Employees; Working Conditions; Service Delivery; Performance Productivity; Financial Services Industry; Japan
Staats, Bradley R., and Francesca Gino. "Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 11-015, August 2010. (Revised May 2011.)
- April 2012
- Article
Broadening Focus: Spillovers, Complementarities and Specialization in the Hospital Industry
By: Jonathan R. Clark and Robert S. Huckman
The long-standing argument that focused operations outperform others stands in contrast to claims about the benefits of broader operational scope. The performance benefits of focus are typically attributed to reduced complexity, lower uncertainty, and the development... View Details
Keywords: Performance Capacity; Operations; Advertising; Production; Corporate Strategy; Relationships; Medical Specialties; Complexity; Risk and Uncertainty; Experience and Expertise; Diversification; Quality; Health Industry
Clark, Jonathan R., and Robert S. Huckman. "Broadening Focus: Spillovers, Complementarities and Specialization in the Hospital Industry." Management Science 58, no. 4 (April 2012): 708–722.
- August 2018
- Article
Growth Through Heterogeneous Innovations
By: Ufuk Akcigit and William R. Kerr
We build a tractable growth model where multi-product incumbents invest in internal innovations to improve their existing products, while new entrants and incumbents invest in external innovations to acquire new product lines. External and internal innovations generate... View Details
Keywords: Endogenous Growth; Innovation; Citations; Scientists; Entrepreneurs; External; Internal; Patents; Innovation Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Economic Growth; Research and Development; Science
Akcigit, Ufuk, and William R. Kerr. "Growth Through Heterogeneous Innovations." Journal of Political Economy 126, no. 4 (August 2018): 1374–1443.
- 2018
- Chapter
The Logic of Agglomeration
By: Gilles Duranton and William R. Kerr
This review discusses frontier topics in economic geography as they relate to firms and agglomeration economies. We focus on areas where empirical research is scarce but possible. We first outline a conceptual framework for city formation that allows us to contemplate... View Details
Keywords: Agglomeration; Clusters; Innovation; Cities; Industry Clusters; City; Innovation and Invention
Duranton, Gilles, and William R. Kerr. "The Logic of Agglomeration." In The New Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography, edited by Gordon Clark, Maryann Feldman, Meric Gertler, and Dariusz Wojcik, 347–365. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
- 2016
- Working Paper
Pros vs Joes: Agent Pricing Behavior in the Sharing Economy
By: Jun Li, Antonio Moreno and Dennis J. Zhang
One of the major differences between markets that follow a “sharing economy” paradigm and traditional two-sided markets is that the supply side in the sharing economy often includes individual nonprofessional decision makers, in addition to firms and professional... View Details
Keywords: Two-sided Market; Sharing Economy; Behavioral Economics; Revenue Management; Hospitality; Two-Sided Platforms; Price; Behavior; Experience and Expertise
Li, Jun, Antonio Moreno, and Dennis J. Zhang. "Pros vs Joes: Agent Pricing Behavior in the Sharing Economy." Michigan Ross School of Business Working Paper, No. 1298, August 2016.
- Article
Repositioning and Cost-Cutting: The Impact of Competition on Platform Strategies
By: Robert Seamans and Feng Zhu
Organizational structures are increasingly complex. In particular, more firms today operate as multi-sided platforms. In this paper, we study how platform firms use repositioning and cost-cutting in response to competition, elucidate external and internal factors that... View Details
Keywords: Platform Strategy; Repositioning; Cost-cutting; Intra-firm Learning; Multi-Sided Platforms; Cost Management; Product Positioning; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Knowledge Acquisition; Journalism and News Industry
Seamans, Robert, and Feng Zhu. "Repositioning and Cost-Cutting: The Impact of Competition on Platform Strategies." Strategy Science 2, no. 2 (June 2017): 83–99.
- Research Summary
Overview
My research lies in the intersection of economic growth and political economy focusing on the role of historical legacies, biogeography and culture in shaping contemporary economic performance. As growth economists our understanding of comparative economic development... View Details
Keywords: Institutions; Ethnicity; Economic Growth; Development Economics; Macroeconomics; Culture; Religion; Africa; Asia
- 2009
- Working Paper
Broadening Focus: Spillovers, Complementarities and Specialization in the Hospital Industry
By: Jonathan R. Clark and Robert S. Huckman
The long-standing argument that focused operations outperform others stands in contrast to claims about the benefits of broader operational scope. The performance benefits of focus are typically attributed to reduced complexity, lower uncertainty, and the development... View Details
Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Performance Capacity; Diversification; Health Industry
Clark, Jonathan R., and Robert S. Huckman. "Broadening Focus: Spillovers, Complementarities and Specialization in the Hospital Industry." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 09-120, April 2009. (Revised April 2011.)
- 2012
- Article
Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank
By: B. Staats and F. Gino
Sustaining operational productivity in the completion of repetitive tasks is critical to many organizations' success. Yet research points to two different work-design-related strategies for accomplishing this goal: specialization to capture the benefits of repetition... View Details
Keywords: Motivation; Productivity; Specialization; Variety; Work Fragmentation; Boundaries; Performance Productivity; Organizations; Research; Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Opportunities; Market Transactions; Resource Allocation; Performance; Goals and Objectives; Learning
Staats, B., and F. Gino. "Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank." Management Science 58, no. 6 (June 2012): 1141–1159.
- 2025
- Working Paper
Blockchain-Induced Supply Chain Transparency and Firm Performance: The Role of Capacity Utilization
By: ShinWoo Lee Lee, Jedson Pinto, Daniel Rabetti and Gil Sadka
This study empirically investigates how blockchain adoption affects firm profitability. Employing a quasi-experimental design triggered by regulatory changes across the United States, we provide novel empirical evidence to recent theory, proposing that blockchain... View Details
Keywords: Blockchain; Supply Chain; Technology Adoption; Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States
Lee, ShinWoo Lee, Jedson Pinto, Daniel Rabetti, and Gil Sadka. "Blockchain-Induced Supply Chain Transparency and Firm Performance: The Role of Capacity Utilization." Working Paper, February 2025.
- 2009
- Article
Placing the Normative Logics of Accountability in 'Thick' Perspective
By: Alnoor Ebrahim
This article provides a critical reflection on the heavily normative nature of current accountability debates. In particular, it explores three streams of normative discourse on nonprofit accountability: improving board governance, improving performance-based... View Details
Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Accounting; Governance; Performance Evaluation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Organizational Structure; Relationships; Accounting Industry
Ebrahim, Alnoor. "Placing the Normative Logics of Accountability in 'Thick' Perspective." American Behavioral Scientist 52, no. 6 (2009): 885–904.
- 2020
- Article
Assessing the Impact of Big Data on Firm Innovation Performance: Big Data is not Always Better Data
By: Maryam Ghasemaghaei and Goran Calic
In this study, we explore the impacts of big data’s main characteristics (i.e., volume, variety, and velocity) on innovation performance (i.e., innovation efficacy and efficiency), which eventually impacts firm performance (i.e., customer perspective, financial... View Details
Ghasemaghaei, Maryam, and Goran Calic. "Assessing the Impact of Big Data on Firm Innovation Performance: Big Data is not Always Better Data." Journal of Business Research 108 (2020): 147–162.