Operations - Publications - Faculty & Research

March 2006
Background Note

Customer-Introduced Variability in Service Operations

Presents a typology of customer-introduced variability and offers guidance on how to manage each type. Central to the ideas developed is how to mitigate the effects of the apparent trade-off between reducing variability and diminishing the service experience or... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Six Sigma; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Performance Efficiency

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April 2003 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Operational Execution at Arrow Electronics

By: Ananth Raman and Zeynep Ton

Distribution center operations (from order taking to order fulfillment) and the importance of attending to process details at Arrow Electronics, a large distributor of electronic components and computer products are described. The case also details the actions the... View Details

Keywords: Information; Distribution; Logistics; Strategy; Electronics Industry

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December 2024
Supplement

Vanguard Retail Operations

By: Antonio Moreno, Willy C. Shih and Margaret Underwood

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Dataset

Carrefour: Countries of Operation

Dataset

McDonald's: Countries of Operation

TeachingInterests

Technology and Operations Management (TOM)

By: Willy C. Shih

This course enables students to develop the skills and concepts needed to ensure the ongoing contribution of a firm's operations to its competitive position. It helps them to understand the complex processes underlying the development and manufacture of products as... View Details

Operations in an Omnichannel World

The world of retailing has changed dramatically in the past decade. This edited book examines the challenges and opportunities arising from the shift towards omni- channel retail. We examine these issues through the lenses of operations management, emphasizing... View Details

February 2016
Exercise

Jim Sharpe: Operational Cash Flow Tool

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

In this exercise, you will examine the cash flow implications of different operating model assumptions and the effect that this has on financing decisions. View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Financing and Loans

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Research Summary

Managing Service Operations Course Development

By: Frances X. Frei

Managing Service Operations is an Elective Curriculum course taught at HBS. Over thirty cases and exercises have been created for the course. For a list of the cases developed for this course, please see the Publications link below. For the most recent syllabus,... View Details

2013
Working Paper

Work Design Drivers of Organizational Learning about Operational Failures: A Laboratory Experiment on Medication Administration

By: Anita L. Tucker

Operational failures persist in hospitals, in part because employees work around them rather than attempt to prevent recurrence. Drawing on a process improvement tool—the Andon cord—we examine three work design components that may foster improvement-oriented behaviors:... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Process Improvement; Organizational Learning; Behavioral Operations; Prosocial Behavior; Experiments; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Behavior; Performance Improvement; Health Care and Treatment; Business Processes; Health Industry

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01 Sep 2003
News

Incentives and Operational Excellence

Operational problems can be the cause of an organization’s demise. Often they can be traced to poor controls in interorganizational settings, according to HBS associate professor V.G. Narayanan, a specialist in measurement systems and... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Retail Trade

April 2010
Module Note

Balancing Specialization and Diversification in Operations

By: Robert S. Huckman

This note describes a module—taught as part of Operations Strategy, a second–year MBA elective at Harvard Business School—that helps students understand and manage the tradeoff between specialization and diversification in operations. The module introduces students to... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Diversification; Organizational Design; Curriculum and Courses

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May 2021 (Revised February 2025)
Teaching Note

Migros Turkey: Scaling Online Operations

By: Antonio Moreno and Anibha Singh

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 621-026, 621-027, and 621-062. As Migros, one of Turkey’s largest grocery chains, forays into online groceries, the company faces operational challenges related to inventory management, fulfillment and last mile delivery and strategics... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Management; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey

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April 2008
Teaching Note

Exercise: Challenging Operational Assumptions

By: Frances X. Frei and Christine van Keuren

Teaching Note for [608128]. View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Performance Improvement

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12 Sep 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Can Remote Surgeries Digitally Transform Operating Rooms?

Keywords: Health

Research Summary

Technology and Operations Management

Last updated: Aug 2007

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2013
Other Teaching and Training Material

Operations Management Reading: Forecasting

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Ann B. Winslow

This reading provides an introduction to forecasting methods. It includes a brief summary of methods based on judgment and a longer section on quantitative analysis. It also provides sample data so students can develop an understanding of concepts such as correlation,... View Details

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November 1994
Case

Hewlett-Packard: French Manufacturing Operations

By: Robin Cooper, Patricia Bost and Robert S. Kaplan

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost Accounting; France

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November 1999 (Revised June 2011)
Background Note

Accounting for Foreign Operations

By: David F. Hawkins

Students are required to compute and explain the quality annual earnings per share figures and major differences between managing domestic and global operations. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Financial Statements; International Accounting; Globalized Firms and Management

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