Publications

May 2021
Simulation

Customer Compatibility Exercise Application

By: Ryan W. Buell

Customers impose considerable variability on the operating systems of service organizations. They show up when they wish (arrival variability), they ask for different things (request variability), they vary in their willingness and ability to help themselves (effort... View Details

Keywords: Customer Compatibility; Customer Relationship Management; Strategy; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Performance Efficiency; Analysis; Consumer Behavior; Analytics and Data Science

Web

Podcast - Business & Environment

insights into his journey, the business strategy of a niche climate-focused digital media and event platform, and the critical role of a media platform in advancing climate... View Details

Web

Teaching by the Case Method - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

Teaching Questions for Class Discussions Teaching Quantitative Material Strategies and Tactics for Sensitive Topics Curriculum Innovation The case method has evolved so students may act as decision-makers in... View Details

February 1997 (Revised September 1997)
Case

Bidding for Antamina

By: Peter Tufano

In June 1996, executives of the multinational mining company RTZ-CRA contemplate bidding to acquire the Antamina copper and zinc mine in Peru. The Antamina project is being offered for sale by auction as part of the privatization of Peru's state mining company. RTZ-CRA... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Mining; Mining Industry; Peru

Career Coach

Katherine Manweiler

Katherine is eager to support students in a variety of ways including: consulting, VCPE, and hedge fund case interview prep; behavioral interview prep; crafting a cohesive and compelling personal narrative;... View Details

May 2010
Article

Managing the New Primary Care: The New Skills That Will Be Needed

By: Richard Bohmer

Developing new models of primary care will demand a level of managerial expertise that few of today's primary care physicians possess. Yet medical schools continue to focus on the basic sciences, to the exclusion of such managerial topics as running effective teams.... View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Health Care and Treatment; Management Skills; Managerial Roles; Service Delivery; Practice; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 16 Sep 2014
Career Events

Returning to Work After a Break

As a "relauncher" herself, Carol Cohen (MBA 1985) understands the challenges of returning to work after multi-year career breaks. She has also engaged with hundreds of hiring managers to understand their biases and the risk they associate with hiring people who are... View Details

December 8, 2022
Article

What Companies Still Get Wrong about Layoffs

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Marilyn Morgan Westner

Research has long shown that layoffs have a detrimental effect on individuals and on corporate performance. The short-term cost savings provided by a layoff are often overshadowed by bad publicity, loss of knowledge, weakened engagement, higher voluntary turnover, and... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Employment; Selection and Staffing; Performance

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05 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 5

if they did not obtain the second reward. We discuss implications for research on motivation and incentives. Bringing Science to the Art of Strategy Authors:A.G. Lafley, Roger L. Martin, Jan W. Rivkin, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2009
Book

High Commitment, High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organization for Sustained Advantage

By: Michael Beer

Integrating knowledge from strategic management, performance management, and organization design, strategic human resource expert and Harvard Business School Professor Michael Beer outlines what the high-commitment, high-performance organization looks like and provides... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Leadership; Management; Goals and Objectives; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Performance; Practice; Business Strategy; System

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February 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Mona Sinha

Describes the Mumbai-based Dabbawala organization, which achieves very high service performance (6 Sigma equivalent or better) with a low-cost and very simple operating system. The case explores all aspects of their system (mission, information management, material... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Logistics; Alignment; Management Systems; Human Resources; Innovation and Invention; Mumbai

July 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Game Time Decision for AppDirect

By: Andrei Hagiu, Laura Arjona and Emily Zhang

AppDirect is a start-up that offers small businesses software-as-a-service solutions through a business app marketplace and portal. Daniel Saks, co-founder and co-CEO, is faced with the key question of deciding distribution strategy: should AppDirect find channel... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Distribution; Applications and Software; Innovation Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry; United States

December 2017 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Amazon Buys Whole Foods

By: José B. Alvarez, David Lane and Joni Coughlin

The June 2017 news that e-commerce giant Amazon was paying $13.7 billion for organic supermarket chain Whole Foods precipitated a broad sell-off in the shares of grocery retailers and suppliers. Behind the precipitous declines lay recognition that Amazon’s bold move... View Details

Keywords: Amazon; Whole Foods; Grocery; Grocery Delivery; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Business Models; Food Value Chain; Agribusiness; Mergers and Acquisitions; Operations; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

January 1976 (Revised December 1988)
Case

Webster Industries (A)

The manufacturing manager of Webster's largest division is told to cut his managerial payroll by 15%. Provides company background data and a description of the manufacturing manager's reactions to the proposed reduction. Provides the students with an opportunity to... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Cost Management

March 2001
Case

Breakup of AT&T, The: Project "Grand Slam"

Focuses on AT&T's 2000 restructuring, in which the company broke itself into four units: business services, consumer services, broadband, and wireless. Examines the strategy of the company during this time: (1) to deliver information in any form (voice, video, data)... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Telecommunications Industry