Publications

September 1983 (Revised October 1984)
Case

Boston Whaler, Inc.: Managing the Dealer Network

Mr. Joseph Lawler, newly-appointed president of Boston Whaler, Inc. (BWI), believes that better dealer management is the key to his company's continued growth. BWI manufactured a high-price, high performance line of power and other boats for the recreational,... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Product Marketing; Consumer Products Industry

November 2022
Teaching Note

Proximie: Using XR Technology to Create Borderless Operating Rooms

By: Ariel D. Stern, Alpana Thapar and Menna Hassan

Founded by Nadine Hachach-Haram in 2016, Proximie was a digital medicine platform that used mixed reality and a host of digital audio and visual tools to enable clinicians, proctors, and medical device company personnel to be virtually present in operating rooms (ORs),... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decision Making; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

09 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 9, 2018

December 13, 2017 Harvard Business Review What It Takes to Become a Great Product Manager By: Austin, Julia Abstract—As an aspiring product manager (PM), there are three primary considerations when... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2000
Case

Lifeline Systems, Inc. (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Marilyn Matis

Lifeline Systems provides emergency response equipment to the elderly who live at home. The company uses local hospitals to market, sell, and install these units in homes, while the hospital monitors and calls for aid to respond to emergency calls from the elderly... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Marketing; Sales; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Service Operations; Information Infrastructure; Age; Service Delivery; Restructuring; Crisis Management; Health Industry; Service Industry

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09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

This article considers key issues relating to the organization and performance of large multinational firms in the post-Second World War period. Although foreign direct investment is defined by ownership and control, in practice the... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

10 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 10, 2017

can, under certain conditions, yield immediate post-break performance increases. We test our hypotheses using productivity data from 212 fruit harvesters collected over one harvesting season yielding nearly... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2023 (Revised May 2025)
Teaching Note

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader, Jordan Mitchell and Karen Elterman

Teaching Note for "On," HBS Case No. 723-430. On is a premium performance running shoe company founded in Switzerland in 2010. The company rapidly gained traction through its unique CloudTec cushioning technology, its innovative midsole plate called the Speedboard, and... View Details

16 May 2023
HBS Case

How KKR Got More by Giving Ownership to the Factory Floor: ‘My Kids Are Going to College!’

their improved performance creates. “There exists tremendous low-hanging fruit in creating shared value for employees and companies,” says Rouen. “The logistics are not hard; it’s the will. Top management have to be willing to give up a... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

Web

Introduction – The Human Relations Movement – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

hourly performance charts to interviews with thousands of employees. Harvard Business School’s role in the experiments represented a milestone in the dawn of the human relations movement and a shift in the study of management from a... View Details

May 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Teaching Note

Lind Equipment

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld

Teaching Note for HBS No. 212-012. Lind Equipment, a Canadian manufacturer and distributor of industrial electrical safety equipment, was purchased in December 2007 by Brian Astl (HBS 2006) and Sean Van Doorselaer. Lind’s performance was negatively impacted by the... View Details

Keywords: Recession; Seller Debt; Equity; Financial Condition; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Revenue; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Financial Management; Acquisition; Financial Crisis; Currency Exchange Rate; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

Research Summary

1. When Does Industrial Policy Work? Evidence from the Brazilian Ethanol Fuel Industry

Joint work with Tarun Khanna (Strategy Unit, Harvard Business School).

Abstract: What is the impact of a state-led industrial policy program on entrepreneurial activity, industry... View Details

September 2016
Article

History-based versus Uniform Pricing in Growing and Declining Markets

By: Oz Shy, Rune Stenbacka and David Hao Zhang

We analyze the Markov Perfect Equilibria of an infinite-horizon overlapping generations model with consumer lock-in to compare the performance of history-based and uniform pricing in growing and declining markets. Under history-based pricing, firms charge higher prices... View Details

Keywords: History-based Pricing; Introductory Discount; Uniform Pricing; Consumer Lock-in; High Switching Costs; Demand and Consumers; Competition; Price; Market Entry and Exit; Product Marketing

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31 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Where Can Digital Transformation Take You? Insights from 1,700 Leaders

growth, offering organizations unprecedented opportunities to develop new products and services, and even reimagine their businesses. In mid-2020, we set out to understand the challenges of leading in the digital era. Teaming with the... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

02 Dec 2014
Working Paper Summaries

International Trade, Multinational Activity, and Corporate Finance

Keywords: by C. Fritz Foley & Kalina Manova

April 2023
Article

Perceptions Related to Engaging in Non-driving Activities in an Automated Vehicle While Commuting: A Text Mining Approach

By: Yilun Xing, Linda Ng Boyle, Raffaella Sadun, John D. Lee, Orit Shaer and Andrew Kun

Automated vehicles (AVs) offer human operators the opportunity to participate in non-driving activities while on the move. In this study, we examined and compared drivers' perception of non-driving activities in two driving modes: highly AVs in the future and current... View Details

Keywords: Perception; Behavior; Surveys; Auto Industry

September–October 2013
Article

Learning from Customers: Individual and Organizational Effects in Outsourced Radiological Services

By: Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman and Bradley R. Staats

The ongoing fragmentation of work has resulted in a narrowing of tasks into smaller pieces that can be sent outside the organization and, in many instances, around the world. This trend is shifting the boundaries of organizations and leading to increased outsourcing.... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Medical Specialties; Health Care and Treatment; Customer Focus and Relationships; Learning; Customer Satisfaction; Health Industry

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Read Now

September 2019 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Cooking Down a Storm: Changing Culture at Pasta Serafina (A)

By: Susanna Gallani, Francesca Gino and Raffaella Sadun

Plant management at Pasta Serafina, a pasta producer in the south of Italy, is struggling to contain employee absenteeism. While the misbehavior is concentrated in a minority of the workers, its effects impact not only the plant’s performance, but also the climate and... View Details

Keywords: Absenteeism; Moral Hazard; Employees; Behavior; Problems and Challenges; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employee Relationship Management; Performance Productivity; Decision Making

14 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Mapping Polluters, Encouraging Protectors

Citizens, industrial polluters, and scholars do not usually see eye to eye—but that may change with a new Web site that monitors corporate environmental performance in the United States. According to the university professors who created... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Manufacturing; Chemical

June 1982 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Ellis Manufacturing Co.

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Ellis finds itself in a weakening competitive position largely due to the lack of rationalization in its plants. Driven by a strong traditionally decentralized sales organization, Ellis finds that all plants want control over all product lines. As a result, overall... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Cost; Analytics and Data Science; Brands and Branding; Performance Capacity; Competitive Strategy; Construction Industry