Publications

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April 1984 (Revised November 1988)
Background Note

Statistical Quality Control for Process Improvement

Describes systematic methods for process debugging and improvement, based on statistical quality control. Examples are from manufacturing settings, but techniques are also useful for services and sales, and to quantity improvement as well as quality improvement. View Details

Keywords: Quality; Performance Improvement; Business Processes

May 15, 2012
Article

Ensuring Quality Cancer Care: A Follow-Up Review of the Institute of Medicine’s 10 Recommendations for Improving the Quality of Cancer Care in America

By: Tracy E. Spinks, Heidi W. Albright, Thomas W. Feeley, Ron Walters, Thomas W. Burke, Thomas Aloia, Eduardo Bruera, Aman Buzdar, Lewis Foxhall, David Hui, Barbara Summers, Alma Rodriguez, Raymond DuBois and Kenneth I. Shine

Responding to growing concerns regarding the safety, quality, and efficacy of cancer care in the United States, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences commissioned a comprehensive review of cancer care delivery in the US health care system... View Details

Keywords: Cancer; Quality; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Quality Improvement; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; North and Central America

February 2023
Supplement

Performance Management at Afreximbank (B)

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Siko Sikochi, Anna Ngarachu and Namrata Arora

Supplements the (A) case. Founded in October 1993, the Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) was a specialized continental financial institution designed to address the low level of intra-African trade, the decline in financial flows to Africa, the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Performance Evaluation; Organizational Culture; Crisis Management; Banking Industry; Africa

December 2005 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A)

CVS's retail pharmacy operations are functioning poorly and dissatisfying customers. Many customers are defecting as a result. A pharmacy service improvement team has documented the current prescription fulfillment process, its exception rates, and the problems... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Performance Improvement; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

May 2003
Module Note

Product Development Process Design and Improvement

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Describes the conceptual foundations and pedagogy for a module on the design and improvement of processes for the development of products and services. Can also be used as part of a more general course on Managing Technology and Innovation. Central to Managing Product... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Design; Performance Improvement; Innovation and Management; Information Technology; Customers; Information Management; Business Processes; Learning; Transformation; Service Operations

Research Summary

Governance, Accountability, and Performance for Social Enterprise

By: Dutch Leonard

This project examines the relationship between governance structures, accountability relationships, and performance outcomes for social enterprises. Most previous work in this area has examined these topics separately, or in pairs; the purpose of this project is to... View Details

10 Jun 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Going Digital: Implications for Firm Value and Performance

Keywords: by Wilbur Chen and Suraj Srinivasan

2024
Working Paper

The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance

By: Nicholas G. Otis, Rowan Clarke, Solène Delecourt, David Holtz and Rembrand Koning

Scalable and low-cost AI assistance has the potential to improve firm decision-making and economic performance. However, running a business involves a myriad of open-ended problems, making it difficult to know whether recent AI advances can help business owners make... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Performance Improvement; Small Business; Decision Choices and Conditions; Kenya

SSRN

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March 2021
Case

The U.S. Home Improvement Sector in 2020

By: José Alvarez and David Lane

Provides an overview of the U.S. home improvement sector in 2020, reviewing sources of growth in the decade ending in 2020, with special attention to the impact of COVID-19 on market leaders Home Depot and Lowe’s and the spike in online revenues for both. Also noted... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Trends; Leading Change; Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance; Technology; Construction Industry; United States

February 2021
Article

Health Care Measurements That Improve Patient Outcomes

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Lara Jehi, Clifford Y. Ko, Andrea Pusic and Mary Witkowski

This article describes the challenges and solutions in determining whether a patient’s treatment has been successful. Such an assessment depends on multiple factors, including the patient’s pretreatment status; the qualifications of personnel performing the treatment;... View Details

Keywords: Outcomes Measurement; Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Measurement and Metrics

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December 1987 (Revised August 1990)
Case

Florida Power & Light's Quality Improvement Program

Describes a major electric utility's highly successful effort to institute a comprehensive quality improvement program throughout the organization. Designed to be used in a comparative analysis of the quality improvement effort described in Paul Revere Insurance Co.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Quality; Performance Productivity; Utilities Industry; Florida

May 2013
Article

The Performance Frontier: Innovating for a Sustainable Strategy

By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim

By now most companies have sustainability programs. They're cutting carbon emissions, reducing waste, and otherwise enhancing operational efficiency. But a mishmash of sustainability tactics does not add up to a sustainable strategy. To endure, a strategy must address... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Innovation; Environment; Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility; Governance; Strategy; Value; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention

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2010
Working Paper

A New Paradigm of Individual, Group and Organizational Performance

By: Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen and The Barbados Group

"The committee is therefore unable to draw conclusions, based on scientific evidence, on what does or does not work to enhance organizational performance" —Committee on Techniques for the Enhancement of Human Performance of the U.S. National Research Council Commission... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Performance Improvement; Research; Opportunities

SSRN

November 2020
Supplement

Improving Access at VA (Update)

By: Ryan W. Buell

In November 2020, Chief Veterans Experience Officer, Lynda Davis, and Deputy Chief Veterans Experience Officer, Barbara C. Morton reflect on a busy four years leading the Veterans Experience Office at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The case provides an update... View Details

Keywords: Government; Service Management; Leading Change; Transformation; Service Operations; Management; Health Care and Treatment; Government Administration; Performance Improvement; Public Administration Industry; United States

October 1992 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program

Describes the design and implemenation of a quality improvement program. Sterling Chemical's management hoped the program would improve teamwork and productivity at the plant. View Details

Keywords: Quality; Groups and Teams; Performance Productivity; Performance Improvement; Chemical Industry

27 Nov 2006
What Do You Think?

What’s to Be Done About Performance Reviews?

suggestions for how to improve them. Typical of these were Thad Juszczak's recommendation that "The process of performance feedback should be continuous." Continuous feedback is an antidote to Hany... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

September 2011 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Cleveland Clinic: Improving the Patient Experience

By: Ananth Raman and Anita L. Tucker

Healthcare has traditionally focused on medical outcomes and financial performance. The big question is always, "How much is it going to cost?" What would happen, though, if healthcare also considered the question of "How does the patient feel?" This case looks at the... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Customer Satisfaction; Performance Improvement; Service Delivery; Value Creation; Personal Characteristics; Human Needs