Publications

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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

August 1996 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Howard, Shea & Chan Asset Management (D): Sales Presentation

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Provides the context and hard copy material to accompany a video sales presentation. Participants are asked to develop criteria for evaluating a sales presentation and then to apply the criteria to the video presentation. View Details

Keywords: Sales; Presentations; Performance Evaluation

August 22, 2017
Article

Find the Right Metrics for Your Sales Team

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Robert Marsh

This article reports the results of a survey of key performance indicators (KPIs) used by more than 800 sales groups across industries. The most common KPIs are closed deals and salesperson performance against quota, which, on average, firms measure monthly. But a... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Performance Evaluation; Measurement and Metrics; Salesforce Management

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March 1989 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Avon Products

Avon Products announced both a change in its business focus and a reduction of its dividend in June 1988. To offset the likely stock price effect of the dividend reduction, Avon announced at the same time an unusual exchange offer, under which it would take up to 25%... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Capital Markets; Corporate Finance; Consumer Products Industry

January 2017
Case

SoulCycle

By: David Collis, Eric Van den Steen and Ashley Hartman

Co-founders Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler have grown SoulCycle from a business idea in 2006 to a major presence among urban boutique fitness studios in 2015. In March 2015, fitness company Equinox approaches them with an offer to buy them out. Evaluating the offer... View Details

Keywords: SoulCycle; Flywheel; Spinning; Indoor Cycling; Boutique Fitness; Fitness; Health Clubs; Community Engagement; Strategy; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Segmentation; Health Industry; Sports Industry

20 Nov 2012
News

First Impressions: The Science of Meeting People

October 2012 (Revised February 2014)
Teaching Note

Logoplaste: Global Growing Challenges (TN)

By: Juan Alcacer

The case follows Logoplaste in its transformation from a small player in the plastic container industry in Portugal to a mid-sized global firm with operations in 11 countries. The case summarizes Logoplaste's history, with an emphasis on the milestones of its global... View Details

Keywords: R＆D; Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Operations Strategy; Global Strategy; Competition; Operations; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

January 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Quantum Corporation: eSupplyChain Group

The eSupplyChain group has been recently formed with Quantum Corp.'s Hard Disk Drive Group to evaluate Internet/IT-based approaches to improving supply chain performance. The Hard Disk Drive Group has endured several quarters of poor financial performance and has... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Supply Chain Management; Business Strategy

October 2016 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Essent: From a State-Owned Utility to a Commercial Company

By: Ananth Raman and Elena Corsi

Patrick Lammers, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for the Dutch energy company Essent NV, once a state-owned company, was pleased with the progress Essent’s consumer (“B2C”) business had made: Earnings Before Income Tax (EBIT) for B2C had gone from a loss of €18 million... View Details

Keywords: Lean Management; Operation Management; Service Management; Commercialization; Operations; Management; Energy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Performance; Energy Industry; Europe

August 2022
Article

The Gender Gap in Self-Promotion

By: Christine L. Exley and Judd B. Kessler

In applications, interviews, performance reviews, and many other environments, individuals are explicitly asked or implicitly invited to assess their own performance. In a series of experiments, we find that women rate their performance less favorably than equally... View Details

Keywords: Self-promotion; Gender Gap; Experiments; Performance Evaluation; Gender

Read Now

08 Jan 2013
News

Study Suggests Fix for Gender Bias on the Job

March 2024
Module Note

Accounting Standards for the 21st Century

By: Jonas Heese

Over the past two decades, accounting standards have evolved to meet the demands of a rapidly changing business environment. This module note focuses on understanding the impact of these standards on measuring firm performance and financial position in the context of a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Standards; Performance Evaluation; Change Management

March 2022
Supplement

Pakistan Rising: Bazaar's Growth Story (B)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in January 2022 as Hamza Jawaid and Saad Jangda, co-founders of Bazaar technologies (Bazaar), the Pakistani high growth B2B e-commerce marketplace, are looking over the performance of the newly launched “buy now, play later” feature. The traction looks... View Details

Keywords: B2B; Business Model; Emerging Markets; For-Profit Firms; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Pakistan

08 Apr 2022
News

Professor Regina Herzlinger: Innovating

November 2019
Article

A Review of Bundled Payments in Total Joint Replacement

By: Olivia Manickas-Hill, Kevin J. Bozic and Thomas W. Feeley

The Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative, developed by the U.S. Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, aims to reduce health care expenditures while maintaining or improving patient outcomes.
Several published reports evaluating the impact... View Details

Keywords: Bundled Payments; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management

October 1978 (Revised March 1987)
Background Note

Note on Market Definition and Segmentation

Outlines the problems involved in defining "markets" for purposes of 1) developing competitive strategies, 2) measuring market share, and 3) evaluating the extent of competition. The primary focus is on strategic planning--specifically, the questions of delimiting the... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Markets; Segmentation

March 2011
Article

The New M&A Playbook

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Richard Alton, Curtis Rising and Andrew Waldeck

Companies spend more than $2 trillion on acquisitions every year, yet the M&A failure rate is between 70% and 90%. Executives can dramatically increase their odds of success, the authors argue, if they understand how to select targets, how much to pay for them, and... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Integration