Publications

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January 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Major Steckleson at the National Training Center (A)

By: Scott A. Snook, Robert Kaderavek and Jeremy Schneider

Major Steckleson is facing his toughest challenge yet. As an experienced observer-controller at the U.S. Army's National Training Center, Steckleson is responsible for helping leaders of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Squadron learn from a deadly mistake in simulated combat... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Learning; Training; Spoken Communication; Groups and Teams; United States

24 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 24, 2009

Liberal Self-Government in an Age of Uncertainty, edited by Faulkner Robert and Susan Shell. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, forthcoming Abstract Chapter excerpt: "Most American occupations of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 4

particular context such as a workplace. First explored by pioneering organizational scholars in the 1960s, psychological safety experienced a renaissance starting in the 1990s and continuing to the present. Organizational research has... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Case

InterfaceRAISE: Sustainability Consulting

By: Michael W. Toffel, Robert G. Eccles and Casey Taylor

InterfaceRAISE is a sustainability management consulting firm created to leverage the capabilities of its parent company Interface Inc., a carpet manufacturer recognized as a global leader in corporate environmental sustainability. This case illustrates the challenges... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Environmental Accounting; Profit; Marketing Strategy; Human Resources; Business Model; Leveraged Buyouts; Salesforce Management; Consulting Industry; Manufacturing Industry

December 2016
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 10: Using the Job Design Optimization Tool to Build Effective Organizations

By: Robert Simons

This module reading provides directions for using the online Job Design Optimization Tool (JDOT) which is available free of charge from Harvard Business School Publishing at https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/resources/marketing/multimedia/JDOT/index.html. This tool can... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Span Of Control; Span Of Accountability; Performance Measurement; Job Design; Organization Design; Strategy; Entrepreneurship

May 2017
Case

ATH Technologies: Making the Numbers

By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard

An exercise that takes students through five stages of growth in an entrepreneurial start-up in the medical devices industry: 1) founding, 2) growth, 3) push to profitability, 4) relocation process, and 5) takeover by new management. At each stage, students must... View Details

Keywords: Balancing Innovation And Control; Performance Evaluation; Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Profit; Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Innovation and Invention; Management Succession; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

31 May 2016
First Look

May 31, 2016

have a higher probability of walking by the clinic for reasons other than vaccination. Method: We obtained data from an employer with a free workplace influenza vaccination clinic. Using each employee’s building entry/exit swipe card... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 1997 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Harrington Financial Group

By: Robert C. Merton and Alberto Moel

In early 1997, Harrington Bank, a small Indiana savings and loan (thrift) wondered what its next move should be. Harrington was acquired in 1988 by the principals of Smith Breeden Associates, a money-management and consulting firm specializing in the application of... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Mergers and Acquisitions; Price; Risk Management; Mortgages; Contracts; Asset Management; Investment; Financial Services Industry

2017
Working Paper

Discretionary Task Ordering: Queue Management in Radiological Services

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

Work scheduling research typically prescribes task sequences implemented by managers. Yet employees often have discretion to deviate from their prescribed sequence. Using data from 2.4 million radiological diagnoses, we find that doctors prioritize similar tasks... View Details

SSRN

21 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 21

well-established organizations to act in new ways is never easy. This book is designed to support business leaders and organizational scholars who are grappling with this challenge by pulling together leading-edge insights from some of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 4: Organizing for Performance

By: Robert Simons

This module reading explores the implications of different business models on organization design. After discussing the distinction between units focused on work processes and those devoted to markets, the analysis provides insight as to when to organize businesses by... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Customer Focused Organization; Specialization; Span Of Control; Span Of Accountability; Span Of Attention; Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure

14 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 14

list of the most eminent psychological scientists, provide a broad range of insightful perspectives. This book is essential reading for students, researchers, and professionals interested in learning about the development of the biggest ideas in modern psychological... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2018
Article

Hospital Budget Systems are Holding Back Innovation

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Michael S. Jellinek and Derek A. Haas

Nearly 800 digital health startups were funded in 2017, an all-time high. Each of the new companies offers the hope of transforming the performance of the U.S. health care system. The audience for such innovation wants to be receptive: A recent American Hospital... View Details

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10 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 10

Corstjens and Rajiv Lal Publication:Harvard Business Review 90, no. 4 (April 2012) Abstract Most companies assume that the easiest way to grow is by investing overseas and that the developing world offers the best opportunities for... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

23 Oct 2015
News

The Mayo Clinic Model for Running a Value-Improvement Program

14 Oct 2013
News

Intelligent Redesign of Health Care

06 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 6, 2008

handset business made up increasingly large shares of its operations. In early 2008, on the strength of sky-rocketing sales in those areas and by resurgent sales of Macintosh products, Apple's revenues and its stock price reached record... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

1,582 loans financing private equity-sponsored leveraged buyouts between 1993 and 2005, we find that bank relationships explain cross-sectional variation in the loan interest rate and covenant structure. Our results indicate that two channels allow leveraged buyouts... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Article

Defining, Measuring, and Improving Value in Spine Care

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Derek Haas

This chapter discusses how to measure and improve spine care outcomes and costs. Today’s commonly used outcome metrics, such as readmission and complication rates, are actually process and quality metrics. They are not the outcomes, such as improvement in pain and... View Details

Keywords: Spine Care; Outcomes Measurement; Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Improvement; Value