Publications

March 1995 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Co-operative Bank, The

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Srikant M. Datar

A British bank with strong roots in the cooperative movement encounters declining profitability in an increasingly competitive and deregulated financial services industry. It attempts to grow by broadening its customer base and increasing the range of products and... View Details

Keywords: Product; Competition; Expansion; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Maxwell Appliance Controls

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Management Teams; Quality; Performance Improvement; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Production; Manufacturing Industry

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Article

A Public Option Can Be a Triple Win for U.S. Healthcare

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Richard Boxer

The United States needs to control healthcare costs and quality while reaching universal coverage. The strongest choice is a public option that allows people to choose between Medicare and private payers. But a public option needs sustainable financing mechanisms that... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Public Option; Universal Health Coverage; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Quality; United States

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Research Summary

The Economics of Enterprise IT

By: Shane M. Greenstein

Why do some organizations adopt new information systems while others do not? Why do some face high costs while others do not? Professor Greenstein has been pursuing this stream of research throughout his career, analyzing the factors shaping the costs of acquiring... View Details

April 1995 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Pillsbury: Customer Driven Reengineering

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Pillsbury is transforming itself from an integrated producer of flour and bakery products to a value-added supplier of premium branded products. After initial successes applying activity-based costing to manufacturing operations, two senior executives decide to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Production; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Food and Beverage Industry

15 Apr 2012
News

Why Medical Bills Are a Mystery

17 Dec 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Integrity: Without It Nothing Works

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

July 2016
Article

Economic Implications of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Embryo Transfer Guidelines: Healthcare Dollars Saved by Reducing Iatrogenic Triplets

By: Malinda S. Lee, Brady T. Evans, Ariel Dora Stern and Mark D. Hornstein

Objective: To estimate the national cost savings resulting from reductions in higher-order multiple (HOM) live births (defined as three or more fetuses), following the initial publication of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) guidelines on ET in... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Cost Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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11 Apr 2023
Cold Call Podcast

A Rose by Any Other Name: Supply Chains and Carbon Emissions in the Flower Industry

Keywords: Re: Willy C. Shih & Michael W. Toffel; Agriculture & Agribusiness

December 1997
Case

Wriston Manufacturing Corporation

By: Janice H. Hammond

Wriston Manufacturing is a broad-line maker of components for the automotive industry. It has developed a network of nine plants as its product line has grown. Newer, higher-volume products tend to be made in newer, focused, high-volume plants, while older product... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost Management; Business or Company Management; Production; Performance Efficiency; Auto Industry

Jun 11 2018
Testimonial

Transforming Outcomes in Health Care

April 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Background Note

Note on Mobile Healthcare

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Delivering health care to the global population was a challenge. Health care costs accounted for ten percent of world GDP by 2013. In the U.S., health care costs were expected to top $3.1 trillion in 2014. New technologies, shortages of trained personnel and... View Details

16 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Can Decades of Military Overspending be Fixed?

little progress has been made in reducing cost overruns even though more than 20 reform proposals were launched during this time. "Despite the focus and effort dedicated towards reform in the past fifty years, important systemic... View Details

Keywords: by J. Ronald Fox; Service

December 1996 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Colorscope, Inc.

By: V.G. Narayanan and Joseph Cha

A small company in the graphic arts business faces severe price competition. The company must respond by cutting costs and making process improvements. View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Price; Business Processes; Performance Improvement; Competition; Fine Arts Industry

14 Jul 2006
Op-Ed

The Case for Consumer-Driven Medicaid

for the private sector's consumer-driven experiences with lower-income populations, the experience of Whole Foods, a supermarket chain, is instructive. As of 2004, its employees, primarily blue collar, have saved $14 million in health savings accounts, while View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger

November 2006 (Revised December 2012)
Background Note

Note on U.S. Public Education Finance (B): Expenditures

Describes the cost structure and spending policies of U.S. public school districts. View Details

Keywords: Spending; Education; Public Administration Industry; Education Industry; United States

October 2019
Case

Regtech at HSBC

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and James Weber

Mark Cooke, Global Head of Operational Risk, needed to decide between a traditional regulatory control system and a new regtech system to manage non-financial risks. Non-financial risks failures such as money laundering and tax evasion had cost HSBC billions of... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Banks and Banking; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Banking Industry; Information Technology Industry; United Kingdom; United States

April 1988 (Revised March 1991)
Case

Tektronix: Portable Instruments Division (B)

Describes the new material-burdening system they have implemented and the cycle-time-burdening system they are proposing. Asks students to analyze the new cost system. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Production; Management Systems; Manufacturing Industry