Publications

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October 2023
Article

Health System Perspective on Cost for Delivering a Decision Aid for Prostate Cancer Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing

By: David R. Ho, Robert S. Kaplan, Jonathan Bergman, David F. Penson, Benjamin Waterman, Kristin C. Williams, Jefersson Villatoro, Lorna Kwan and Christopher S. Saigal

Previsit decision aids (DAs) have been shown to improve decisional quality. But the cost to deploy a DA has not been previously estimated. We interviewed or observed relevant personnel at three institutions that had implemented DA programs for men with prostate cancer.... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Accounting; Health Industry

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April 21, 2023
Article

When Scenario Planning Fails

By: Kalle Heikkinen, William R. Kerr, Mika Malin, Panu Routila and Eemil Rupponen

How can organizations perform scenario planning when they are hit by shocks outside of leaders’ field of vision? Interviews with Nordic executives, who experienced both the Covid-19 pandemic and were in close proximity to Russia as the country invaded Ukraine, can... View Details

Keywords: Planning; Crisis Management; Organizational Structure; Forecasting and Prediction; System Shocks; Organizational Change and Adaptation

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September 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Case

Merck & Co., Inc. (A)

Merck & Co., Inc., a major pharmaceutical company, is in the process of reviewing and evaluating its personnel policies and practices. Employee interviews revealed that rewards for excellent performance were not adequate: outstanding performers received salary... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Pharmaceutical Industry

15 Jul 2020
News

Coronavirus could be ‘under control’ in weeks if everyone wore masks, CDC director says

16 Feb 2018
News

Spotted at LearnLaunch 2018: Speakers Address Career Pathways, Alternative Credentials, and Skills Vs. Degrees

February 2021
Background Note

Jobs to Be Done: A Toolbox

By: Derek C. M. van Bever, Bob Moesta, Iuliana Mogosanu, Shaye Roseman and Katie Zandbergen

The Jobs to Be Done methodology is both a theory and a practical approach for understanding customer behavior and why people make the choices they make. Many practitioners, whether they work for startups or incumbent businesses, find Jobs to Be Done useful because it... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Knowledge Acquisition; Attitudes; Perception; Theory; Behavior; Customer Relationship Management

August 2016
Article

The Activities of Buy-Side Analysts and the Determinants of Their Stock Recommendations

By: Lawrence D. Brown, Andrew C. Call, Michael B. Clement and Nathan Y. Sharp

We survey 344 buy-side analysts from 181 investment firms and conduct 16 detailed follow-up interviews to gain insights into the activities of buy-side analysts, including the determinants of their compensation, the inputs to their stock recommendations, their beliefs... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Human Capital; Compensation and Benefits; Stocks; Financial Services Industry

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2010
Other Unpublished Work

Fashioning an Industry: Cognitive Processes and the Construction of Worth in the Institutionalization of a New Industry

By: Mukti Khaire

This inductive study of the high-end fashion industry in India explores how the worth of a new industry is constructed. Interviews with entrepreneurs and constituents of the field revealed that the worth of the industry was constructed through framing by early... View Details

Keywords: Market Design; Framework; Entrepreneurship; Value; Cognition and Thinking; Industry Structures; Fashion Industry; India

March 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Background Note

Seeing What's on Red Auerbach's Mind

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and John T. Gourville

Analysis of an interview with Red Auerbach, HBR No. 87201. Alan M. Webber, who conducted the interview, probed for the lessons that Auerbach has learned from a long and productive career coaching and managing the Boston Celtics, a professional basketball team in the... View Details

Keywords: Markets; Research; Sports; Product Development; Communication Intention and Meaning; Sports Industry

15 Nov 2018
News

Good ‘Food Citizens’: Why Collaboration Is Key to Feeding the World

Research Summary

Political Economy of Business Development

In an ongoing research stream, Professor Fabbe is studying the political economy of business development in fragile societies. Her newest project in this research stream explores the opportunities for complementarities and joint ventures between Syrian and Turkish... View Details

April 2019 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Innovation and Business in Emerging Markets

By: Geoffrey Jones, Tarun Khanna, Nataliya Langburd Wright and Morgan Spencer

The case is built around video clips from top business leaders in emerging markets who were interviewed for Harvard Business School’s innovative Creating Emerging Markets oral history project. The case is focused on the issue of innovation in emerging markets from a... View Details

Keywords: Oral History; Innovation and Invention; Business Ventures; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges

April 10, 2017
Article

The Different Approaches Firms Use to Set Strategy

By: Kimberly Teti, Mu-Jeung Yang, Nicholas Bloom, Jan Rivkin and Raffaella Sadun

Many senior executives struggle to describe how they make strategic decisions. That’s a serious problem since the process for making strategic decisions can shape the strategy itself. To understand better how companies really make strategic choices, we interviewed 92... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Decision Making

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September 1994
Case

Bob Fifer

By: David A. Thomas and Doug Cohen

Explores the life and concerns of Bob Fifer, HBS class of 1979 and CEO of Kaiser Associates. Explores the many influences on Bob's development and his subsequent career choices. It is written as a biography with extensive quotes from interviews with Bob. He describes... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Identity; Leadership Style; Ethnicity; Management Teams