Publications

September 1972 (Revised February 1984)
Case

Blanchard Importing and Distribution Co., Inc.

By: Paul W. Marshall

Illustration of the two main types of errors resulting from use of the economic order quantity (EOQ) as a tool in production scheduling. Designed to permit class discussion to begin with a consideration of one common type of mistake, errors in calculation of the EOQ... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Production; Debates; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

19 Jul 2019
News

How To Innovate Inside Large Organizations

26 May 2019
News

Finding your next job: Out with CVs, in with memes

27 Aug 2018
News

Trump and Warren offer the wrong diagnosis of short-termism

2018
The Significance of Race Research in the 21st Century

Sankofa: Learning about and from Black experiences of Leadership, Race and Work

August 2012
Teaching Note

Mekanism: Engineering Viral Marketing

By: Thales S. Teixeira

The Mekanism case introduces students to a digital media production company specialized in creating viral marketing campaigns for advertising agencies and their clients (e.g., Microsoft, AXE, eBay, Toyota, etc.). Mekanism has grown tremendously from 2007 to 2010 in... View Details

Keywords: Viral Marketing; Viral Ads; Virality; Mekanism; Advertising Agency; Social Media; Influencer; Storytelling; Advertising Content; Advertising; Advertising Industry; North and Central America

July 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Ottawa Voyageurs, The

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Scott Baldwin, Chris Strong, Andrew Feng, Eliza Moody and David Ager

Manuel Tertuliano, head coach of a professional soccer club, must make some difficult decisions about the compensation of six of his players. Specifically, he must decide how to allocate $850,000 among these six players in a way that will benefit his team, which has... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Compensation and Benefits; Performance; Motivation and Incentives; Sports; Groups and Teams; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Canada

24 Feb 2020
News

Companies must include environmental and social performance measures

Howard H. Stevenson

Howard H. Stevenson is Sarofim-Rock Baker Foundation Professor emeritus, former Senior Associate Dean, Director of Publishing, and Chair of the Harvard Business Publishing Company board. The Sarofim-Rock Chair was established in 1982 to provide a continuing base for... View Details

Keywords: broadcasting; communications; computer; construction; financial services; forest products; health care; high technology; industrial goods; insurance industry; investment banking industry; manufacturing; paper; professional services; real estate; service industry; software; venture capital industry

14 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

Clay Christensen’s Milkshake Marketing

Tool Corp. has cornered the market on reciprocating saws with its trademarked Sawzall, which does the job of helping consumers safely saw through pretty much anything. Its Hole-Hawg drills, which make big holes between studs and joists,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Service; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

January 2021
Case

Anodot: Autonomous Business Monitoring

By: Antonio Moreno and Danielle Golan

Autonomous business monitoring platform Anodot leveraged machine learning to provide real-time alerts regarding business anomalies. Anodot’s solution was used in various industries in order to primarily monitor business health, such as revenue and payments, product... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Knowledge Sharing; Information Management; Sales; Value Creation; Product Positioning; Israel

Research Summary

Overview

Professor Goh’s primary research interest is applying mathematical models to real-world problems in health care in order to inform, improve, and enhance medical decision making and health policy. His recent work in this domain focuses on developing new methods for... View Details

Keywords: Uncertainty; Optimization; Inventory Management; Health; Decision Making; Supply Chain

November 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Balancing Impact: Modeling the Future at British International Investment

By: Shawn Cole and Jonah Zahnd

In 2022, British International Investment (BII), the £8.1 billion development finance arm of the British government, implemented a new impact measurement system called the Impact Score to align its financial and impact objectives systematically. The tool was designed... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Alignment; United Kingdom

2024
Working Paper

Advancing Personalization: How to Experiment, Learn & Optimize

By: Aurelie Lemmens, Jason M.T. Roos, Sebastian Gabel, Eva Ascarza, Hernan Bruno, Elea McDonnell Feit, Brett Gordon, Ayelet Israeli, Carl F. Mela and Oded Netzer

Personalization has become the heartbeat of modern marketing. Advances in causal inference and machine learning enable companies to understand how the same marketing action can impact the choices of individual customers differently. This article provides an academic... View Details

Keywords: Personalization; Targeting; Experiments; Observational Studies; Policy Implementation; Policy Evaluation; Customization and Personalization; Marketing Strategy; AI and Machine Learning

SSRN

2021
Other Unpublished Work

Computer-Implemented Methods and Systems for Measuring, Estimating, and Managing Economic Outcomes and Technical Debt in Software Systems and Projects: US Patent 11,126,427 B2

By: Daniel J. Sturtevant, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, Sunny Ahn and Sean Gilliland

An interrelated set of tools and methods is disclosed for: (1) measuring the relationship between software source code attributes (such as code quality, design quality, test quality, and complexity metrics) and software economics outcome metrics (such as... View Details

Keywords: Technical Debt; Applications and Software; Economics; Measurement and Metrics; Patents

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September 2016 (Revised September 2016)
Case

Spectio: A Digital Lighting Company

By: Rajiv Lal and Sarah McAra

Spectio Tech, founded in 2005, developed and implemented intelligent LED lighting solutions for the industrial market. Sensors and wireless connectivity embedded in its LED fixtures not only significantly reduced lighting-related energy use—by up to 90% in some... View Details

Keywords: Internet Of Things; IoT; LED Lighting; Start-up; Energy Efficiency; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Internet and the Web

*Joined Harvard Faculty: 1991
Prior Faculty Appointments: Northwestern University, 1968-75;
University of Pittsburgh, 1975-91

*Doctoral Degree in Sociology Received from: The John Hopkins University;
MBA Degree Received from: The University of... View Details

Keywords: advertising; apparel; automotive; beverage; biotechnology; consumer products; entertainment; financial services; food; health care; marketing industry; pharmaceuticals; retailing; sports; telecommunications

July 2024
Article

AI, ROI, and Sales Productivity

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now a loose term for many different things and at the peak of its hype curve. So managers hitch-their-pitch to the term in arguing for resources. But like any technology, its business value depends upon actionable use cases embraced by... View Details

Keywords: ROI; AI and Machine Learning; Sales; Investment Return

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12 Aug 2018 - 14 Aug 2018
Conference Presentation

Abstraction, Knowledge Flows, and the Rapid Dissemination of Emerging Technologies

By: Willy C. Shih

Many emerging technologies are remarkably complex and embody high levels of technological sophistication, and they often are key enablers for new products and services. Yet the speed of dispersal of the know-how required to employ these technologies and foster... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Technologies; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Dissemination