Publications

01 Sep 2020
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for September 2020

are the best-positioned market sectors and stocks as well as those to avoid. Hot Stocks provides a roadmap detailing how to invest in this new reality, and evaluates the many ways global warming will affect... View Details

01 Dec 2017
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for December 2017

and Life by Rob and Steve Shallenberger (OPM 6, 1982) (Eagle Systems International) After four years of intensive research into 50 different organizations, the authors found... View Details

10 Mar 2021
News

New Releases: Alumni and Faculty Books, Podcasts

has ever seen. In the past, biographers of Lord Liverpool have not sufficiently acknowledged the importance of his foremost skill: economic policy (including fiscal, monetary, and banking system questions).... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

July 2005 (Revised September 2016)
Case

24 Hour Fitness (A): The Rise, 1983–2004

By: John R. Wells, Elizabeth A. Raabe and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2004, Mark S. Mastrov, CEO of 24 Hour Fitness, reflected on how far his company had come in just over 20 years. From humble beginnings in 1983 in San Leandro, California, 24 Hour Fitness had grown to become the largest privately-owned health-club chain in... View Details

Keywords: 24 Hour Fitness; Mark Mastrov; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Weight Loss; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Sales Force Compensation; Incentive Systems; Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Private Equity; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Nutrition; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Operations; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Capital Structure; Performance; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

2017
Working Paper

Explaining the Vertical-to-Horizontal Transition in the Computer Industry

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This paper seeks to explain the technological forces that led to the rise of vertically integrated corporations in the late 19th century and the opposing forces that led to a vertical-to-horizontal transition in the computer industry 100 years later. I first model the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Business History; Vertical Integration; Horizontal Integration; Digital Platforms; Computer Industry

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Omar Olivarez is a doctoral candidate in the Technology & Operations Management unit. His interests lie at the intersection of automation, labor, innovation, and managerial views of the firm. Omar received his BBA in Management Information Systems from The... View Details

February 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Mona Sinha

Describes the Mumbai-based Dabbawala organization, which achieves very high service performance (6 Sigma equivalent or better) with a low-cost and very simple operating system. The case explores all aspects of their system (mission, information management, material... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Logistics; Alignment; Management Systems; Human Resources; Innovation and Invention; Mumbai

July 2013
Case

Novozymes: Establishing the Cellulosic Ethanol Value Chain

By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai

As the world's largest producer of industrial enzymes, Novozymes had invested heavily for many years to bio-engineer enzymes that could break down cellulose into fermentable sugar. In 2010, the company had launched what it thought would become a breakthrough product... View Details

01 Mar 2016
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for March 2016

approaches to solve technological and organizational problems. This view of innovation counters the dominant paradigm, which casts firms’ profit-seeking incentives as the main... View Details

15 Dec 2008
Research & Ideas

The Surprisingly Successful Marriages of Multinationals and Social Brands

systems and capabilities that are needed for going to and operating at scale that would take the social icon years to build. So structured correctly, an acquisition strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

July 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Erin L. Henry, Andreas Georgoulias and Natalie Bartlett

Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank details the development of the bank's new Office of Outreach Partnerships to sustain a culture of innovation through maintaining and generating partnerships in order to fulfill the bank's greater... View Details

2013
Working Paper

Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case

By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and David Dreyfus

We test a method that was designed and used previously to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software systems. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover new facts about the components and their relationships in an enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Complexity; Applications and Software; Product Design; Pharmaceutical Industry