Publications

August 1994
Case

Kyocera Corporation: The Amoeba Management System

Describes Kyocera's unusual approach to profit centers. The firm's basic units of operation are profit centers called "amoebas," which are sales or manufacturing units with full responsibility for their planning, decision making, and administration. Amoebas are... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Organizational Structure; Profit; Management Systems; Manufacturing Industry

June 2010 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Scientific Glass Incorporated: Inventory Management

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and William Schmidt

Scientific Glassware is a fast-growing, privately held company that provides specialized glassware for laboratory and research facilities. Excess inventory is tying up extra capital needed to fund the company's expansion plans. The newly hired Manager of Inventory... View Details

Keywords: Inventory Control; Inventory Management; Materials Management; Order Processing; Warehousing; Salesforce Management; Logistics; Operations; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Finance; Consumer Products Industry; Technology Industry

Research Summary

Overview

My research broadly examines design choices of management control systems, with a special focus on organizational culture as an informal control mechanism and how it interacts with other formal control system View Details

01 Jul 2016
News

P&G Overhauls Bonus System for Managers

February 1986
Article

Design of a Management Support System for Hospital Strategic Planning

By: L. M. Applegate, R. O. Mason and D. Thorpe

Keywords: Design; Management; System; Planning; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

04 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

An Ounce of Prevention: The Power of Public Risk Management in Stabilizing the Financial System

Keywords: by David A. Moss; Banking; Financial Services

May 1991 (Revised March 2018)
Teaching Note

Automation Consulting Services

Teaching Note for 190-053 View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Levers Of Control; Consulting Industry

April 2002 (Revised September 2002)
Background Note

Capital Controls

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Laura Alfaro

Only in the waning years of the 20th century did international financial markets begin to enjoy the freedom from government regulation that they had experienced before the first world war. By 2002, international capital markets had grown to be enormous--$1.2 trillion... View Details

Keywords: History; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Change Management; Cost vs Benefits; Governance Controls; Governance Compliance; Emerging Markets; Financial Markets; Network Effects; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

Research Summary

Managing Innovation in the Emerging Industrial Research System

The second track of Chesbrough's research looks at issues of how firms manage technology in an environment where research capability is increasingly distributed across the globe. Chesbrough sees the research system in the United States undergoing significant change,... View Details

April 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Levels: The Remote, Asynchronous, Deep Work Management System

By: Joseph B. Fuller and George Gonzalez

Levels is a highly innovative startup in the health care space. They intend to revolutionize health by linking behavior—eating, exercise, sleeping, etc.—to changes in metabolism. They believe metabolic health can be managed through careful monitoring of changes in... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Business Startups; Organizational Culture; Management Style; Technology Industry; United States

Teaching Interest

Financial Reporting and Control

By: Suraj Srinivasan

Financial Reporting and Control (FRC) covers topics about how managers can design and use performance measurement systems for external reporting and internal management to build more effective organizations. Throughout their careers, business leaders are required to... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting

01 Jan 1986
Conference Presentation

Design of a Management Support System for Hospital Strategic Planning

By: L. M. Applegate, R. O. Mason and D. Thorpe

Keywords: Design; Management Systems; Strategic Planning; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

June 2017
Teaching Note

Organizing for Performance: Four Vignettes

By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard

Teaching Note for HBS No. 117-062. View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Organization; Span Of Control; Resource Allocation

Blog

Take Control of Your Personal Brand

branding is all about. We all want to be well thought of in the minds of others who are important to our happiness and to the achievement of our goals. We all have a personal... View Details

July 1991 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Eastman Kodak Co.: Managing Information Systems Through Strategic Alliances

By: Lynda M. Applegate

In January 1988, Colby Chandler, Kodak CEO, created the Corporate Information Systems (CIS) and appointed Katherine Hudson head. She at once became the first head of IT and first woman corporate vice president in the company. Throughout 1989, Hudson inaugurated a... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Information Technology; Partners and Partnerships; Organizational Structure; Success; Trends; Information Management; Service Operations; Manufacturing Industry

January 2009 (Revised April 2017)
Teaching Note

American Cancer Society: Access to Care

Teaching Note for [109015]. View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Strategy And Execution; Levers Of Control; Non-profit; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations

March 1999 (Revised March 2017)
Teaching Note

J Boats, Inc.

Teaching Note for J Boats (197-015) View Details

Keywords: Execution; Control Systems; Levers Of Control; Strategy

Awards

Emerging Scholar Competitive Manuscript Award

By: Tatiana Sandino

Won the 2011 Emerging Scholar Competitive Manuscript Award from the Institute of Management Accountants for “Introducing the First Management Control Systems: Evidence from the Retail Sector” (Accounting Review, January 2007). View Details

June 2005 (Revised March 2017)
Teaching Note

Siebel Systems: Organizing for the Customer

Teaching Note to (103-014). The Siebel Systems case describes the unusual accountability and organizing choices made by managers of a successful, rapidly growing software development company. The case is set in 2002, but details the critical decisions made by founder... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Execution; Organization Design; Structure; Job Design; Diagnostic Control Systems; Customers; Strategy; Organizational Design