Publications

July 2004
Article

Determinants of Control System Design in Divisionalized Firms

By: Margaret A. Abernethy, Jan Bouwens and Laurence van Lent

We investigate two determinants of two choices in the control system of divisionalized firms, namely decentralization and use of performance measures. The two determinants are those identified in the literature as important to control system design: (1) information... View Details

Keywords: Design; Organizational Design; Business Divisions; Management Systems; Performance Evaluation

Research Summary

Overview

By: Susanna Gallani

In her current research, Professor Gallani draws on economic and sociological theories to analyze the design of incentive and performance management systems. She explores the effectiveness of monetary and non-monetary incentives, feedback systems, and types of... View Details

Article

AI Companions Reduce Loneliness

By: Julian De Freitas, Zeliha Oğuz-Uğuralp, Ahmet K. Uğuralp and Stefano Puntoni

Chatbots are now able to engage in sophisticated conversations with consumers in the domain of relationships, providing a potential coping solution to widescale societal loneliness. Behavioral research provides little insight into whether these applications are... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Well-being; Emotions; Applications and Software

13 Mar 2025
HBS Seminar

Sonny Tambe, Wharton

August 2023
Case

WayCool: Reimagining the Food Supply Chain

By: Paul Gompers and Kairavi Dey

Founded in 2015, WayCool, is an Indian agri-tech start-up that built a B2B operation acquiring fruits and vegetables from product-specific agriculture companies and small-holding farmers. It sold them to business customers, such as local retail stores, restaurants, and... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Digital Transformation; Operations; Business Strategy; Supply Chain; Performance; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Technology Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; South Asia

February 2011
Article

Target Ratcheting and Effort Reduction

By: J. Bouwens and Peter Kroos

In this paper, we examine how retail store managers reduce their sales activity in response to target ratcheting. We find that managers with favorable sales performance in the first three quarters reduce their sales activity in the final quarter. We also document that... View Details

Keywords: Target-setting; Ratchet Effect; Manipulating Real Economic Activities; Goals and Objectives; Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Sales

06 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Conducting Layoffs: ’Necessary Evils’ at Work

which help. But it is equally important for managers to prepare for the spark of emotion they will experience during the actual situation. Therefore, for everyone who must perform a necessary evil, best... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2014
Article

Pareto Efficiency in Robust Optimization

By: Dan Iancu and Nikolaos Trichakis

This paper formalizes and adapts the well-known concept of Pareto eﬃciency in the context of the popular robust optimization (RO) methodology for linear optimization problems. We argue that the classical RO paradigm need not produce solutions that possess the... View Details

Keywords: Robust Optimization; Pareto Optimality; Resource Allocation; Game Theory

Srikant M. Datar became the eleventh dean of Harvard Business School on 1 January 2021. During his tenure as a faculty member, he served as Senior Associate Dean for University Affairs (including Faculty Chair of the Harvard Innovation Lab), for Research, for... View Details

Keywords: management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting

08 Feb 2019
News

Does it matter if Amy Klobuchar is a mean boss?

December 1997 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Wolfgang Keller at Konigsbrau-TAK (A)

By: John J. Gabarro

Wolfgang Keller, manager of the Ukrainian subsidiary of a German beer company, faces a managerial dilemma. His subordinate, Dmitri Brodsky, is a talented and experienced commercial director who is not meeting his goals expediently and often requires considerable... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Performance Evaluation; Management Style; Managerial Roles; Behavior; Conflict Management; Situation or Environment; Failure; Employee Relationship Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Ukraine; Germany

April 1999 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Pilgrim Drug Company

David Thomas takes his first sales management assignment and is faced with a sales rep revolt because of a possible territory reorganization. In addition, his sales division is performing well below the national average. Rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Salesforce Management; Performance; Pharmaceutical Industry

Research Summary

Entrepreneurship in Education Reform

This work explores two questions in the US public education system. First, is there a correlation between improved leadership and management practices and increased student outcomes? And second, can the introduction of market forces such as customer choice among... View Details

Apr 25 2012
Testimonial

The OPM Program Structure

28 Jun 2010
HBS Case

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

details how one institution has implemented its own version of health-care reform, taking overall performance levels from well below average to the top 10 percent in the industry. Coauthored by HBS assistant professor Anita Tucker and... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

Allison H. Mnookin

Allison Mnookin is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Unit at the Harvard Business School. She currently is the co-chair of the first-year MBA Technology and Operations Management course. In addition, she... View Details

March 2018
Case

EKOL Logistics: Thinking Outside the Box

By: Willy C. Shih and Esel Çekin

This case describes Ekol, an intermodal transportation and logistics company, and how it manages capacity planning. Its busiest routes linked motor vehicle assemblers in Germany and Turkey with many of their parts suppliers, but it had also developed key links in... View Details

November 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Oracle Corporation

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Oracle Corp., the world's second-largest independent software company (behind Microsoft) was the world's dominant supplier of database software. Oracle also sold application software, such as the popular enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Applications and Software; Management Teams; Innovation and Invention; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry