Publications

SSRN

January–February 2024
Article

Shared Service Delivery Can Increase Client Engagement: A Study of Shared Medical Appointments

By: Ryan W. Buell, Kamalini Ramdas, Nazlı Sönmez, Kavitha Srinivasan and Rengaraj Venkatesh

Problem Definition: Clients and service providers alike often consider one-on-one service delivery to be ideal, assuming – perhaps unquestioningly – that devoting individualized attention best improves client outcomes. In contrast, in shared service delivery, clients... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Customer Satisfaction; Outcome or Result; Performance Improvement

Find at Harvard

April 2012
Case

Renesas Electronics and the Automotive Microcontroller Supply Chain (A)

By: Willy Shih and Margaret Pierson

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan in March 2011 caused extensive damage to Renesas Electronics wafer fabrication facility, a critical link in the global automotive supply chain. Many OEMs sole-sourced customized microprocessors from the fab, so its... View Details

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Crisis Management; Supply Chain Management; Production; Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; Auto Industry; Japan

Educators

30 Nov 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The New Face of Chinese Industrial Policy: Making Sense of Anti-Dumping Cases in the Petrochemical and Steel Industry

Keywords: by Regina Abrami & Yu Zheng; Manufacturing; Chemical

Forthcoming
Article

Punitive but Discerning: Reputation Can Fuel Ambiguously-Deserved Punishment, but Does Not Erode Sensitivity to Nuance

By: Jillian J. Jordan and Nour Kteily

The desire to appear virtuous can motivate people to punish wrongdoers, a desirable outcome when punishment is clearly deserved. Yet claims that “virtue signaling” is fueling a culture of outrage suggest that reputation concerns may inspire even potentially unmerited... View Details

Keywords: Outrage; Signaling; Ideology; Moralistic Punishment; Reputation; Moral Sensibility

2017
Chapter

Institutional Theory and the Natural Environment: Building Research Through Tensions and Paradox

By: P. Devereaux Jennings and Andrew J. Hoffman

The focus of institutional theory is directed towards an understanding of situations where context is strong and binding, yet subtly experienced; where agency is often diffuse, embodied in an arrangement or system of actors rather than in an individual; and where... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Theory; Natural Environment; Research

Find at Harvard

2023
Working Paper

Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games

By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Julian Runge

One of the most crucial aspects and significant levers that gaming companies possess in designing digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in... View Details

Keywords: Freemium; Retention/churn; Field Experiment; Field Experiments; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Monetization; Monetization Strategy; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Customers; Retention; Product Design; Strategy

September 2016
Case

Hotel Vertu: Financing the Venture in the Boutique Hotel Industry

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Michael J. Roberts

Two recent MBA graduates are considering a business opportunity in the boutique hotel industry. Having found a seemingly attractive property in Savannah, Georgia, Yvonne D'Arcy and Elisabeth Whiting face questions about financing, deal structure, and unequal power... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Accommodations Industry

Educators

November 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Supplement

Allianz Turkey: Focus on the Customer (B)

By: W. Earl Sasser and Gamze Yucaoglu

At the age of 39, Solmaz Altın took over the helm at Allianz Turkey. Solmaz quickly realized that, although the insurance market was thinly penetrated in Turkey, the company was operating in a very competitive environment with pressure on prices and, hence, cost... View Details

Keywords: Service Excellence; Customer Experience; Customer Service; Emerging Market; Customer Focus; Net Promoter Score; Customer Relationship Management; Competition; Leading Change; Service Operations; Emerging Markets; Customer Satisfaction; Insurance Industry; Turkey

2014
Working Paper

Mobilizing Culture for Public Action: Community Participation and Child Rights in Rural Uttar Pradesh

By: Akshay Mangla

Community-based initiatives that work to empower the poor and promote their participation have gained strong support among scholars and practitioners of development. Yet the questionable assumptions about culture and development that inform these initiatives render it... View Details

Keywords: India; Culture; Child Rights; Caste Relations; Child Education; Child Health; India

04 Apr 2011
HBS Case

Reinventing the National Geographic Society

out, in a different organization, perhaps their natural tendency when faced with problem X again is to do Y, but maybe problem X is a little different in this organization and this context than the other one. So maybe this time you don't... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Publishing

13 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

to increase consumers' purchase intentions, brand loyalty, and real choice. We explored the contexts and situations in which these brand biographies are likely to be more effective. Our studies also examined the underlying psychological... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

2013
Working Paper

Managers and Market Capitalism

By: Rebecca Henderson and Karthik Ramanna

In a capitalist system based on free markets, do managers have responsibilities to the system itself? If they do, should these responsibilities shape their behavior when they are engaging in the political process in an attempt to structure the institutions of... View Details

Keywords: Market Design; Economic Systems; Managerial Roles; Government and Politics

September 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

The Future of Iraq Project (A)

By: Noel Maurer and Sogomon Tarontsi

In March 2009, the government of Iraq decided to hold its first oil field auctions. The auctions were for service contracts on the country's southern oil fields; the winner would obtain the right to produce oil above a certain target for a fixed fee. The bidders... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Foreign Direct Investment; Policy; Auctions; Production; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; Iraq

Educators