Publications

Educators

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System

The Toyota Production System is a paradox. On the one hand, every activity, connection, and production flow in a Toyota factory is rigidly scripted. Yet at the same time, Toyota's operations are enormously... View Details

Keywords: by H. Kent Bowen & Steven Spear; Manufacturing; Transportation; Auto

27 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Following Best Business Practices Can Improve Health Care

accounting have to do with improving patient outcomes in Haiti? HBS faculty members discuss their research and what it means for patients, providers, and industries. A Good Place to Start Clayton Christensen on Disrupting Health CareIn a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health; Medical Devices & Supplies

2013
Working Paper

How Does Risk Management Influence Production Decisions? Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Shawn Cole, Xavier Gine and James Vickery

Weather is a key source of income risk, particularly in emerging market economies. This paper uses a randomized controlled trial involving a sample of Indian farmers to study how an innovative rainfall insurance product affects production decisions. We find that... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Production; Weather; Insurance; Emerging Markets; Agribusiness; Insurance Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Corporate Transparency Improves For Foreign Firms in U.S. Markets

Are international firms that interact with U.S. capital, labor, and product markets more likely to be more transparent than companies without those interactions? In this e-mail interview, HBS Suraj Srinivasan delves into a recent working... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

August 2021 (Revised February 2023)
Supplement

Fair Park Covid-19 Mass Vaccination Site (B)

By: Willy Shih

This case is an opportunity to apply the methods of the Toyota Production System (TPS) to the analysis of an everyday service application: administering Covid-19 vaccines. It describes the start-up of a drive-up Covid-19 mass vaccination site at the Texas State Fair... View Details

Keywords: Operations Management; Operations Improvement; Operations And Processes; Toyota Production System; COVID-19 Pandemic; Operations; Service Operations; Health Pandemics; Service Delivery; Problems and Challenges; Goals and Objectives; Measurement and Metrics; Health Industry; United States

2024
Working Paper

Incorporating Micro Data into Differentiated Products Demand Estimation with PyBLP

We delineate a general framework for incorporating many types of micro data from summary statistics to full surveys of selected consumers into Berry, Levinsohn, and Pakes (1995) style estimates of differentiated products demand systems. We extend recommended practices... View Details

August 1988 (Revised September 1988)
Case

Productivity and Performance Systems: A Comparative Analysis of Northern Telecom and United Parcel Service

Explores the issue of measuring and improving service quality and productivity by examining the radically different approaches of Northern Telecom and United Parcel Service. View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Performance Productivity; Performance Improvement; Performance Evaluation; Service Industry; United States

Educators

October 1995
Teaching Note

Procter & Gamble: Improving Consumer Value Through Process Design TN

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Teaching Note for (9-195-126). View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Focus and Relationships; Distribution Channels; Information Technology; Value Creation; Logistics; Management Practices and Processes; Consumer Products Industry

2017
Working Paper

Intermediation in the Supply of Agricultural Products in Developing Economies

By: Kris J. Ferreira, Joel Goh and Ehsan Valavi

Problem Definition: Farmers face several challenges in agricultural supply chains in emerging economies that contribute to extreme levels of poverty. One common challenge is that farmers only have access to one channel, often an auction, for which to sell their crops.... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries; Agricultural Supply Chain; Intermediation; Multiple Cahnels; Walrasian Auction; Developing Countries and Economies; Supply Chain; Distribution Channels; Profit; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

12 Mar 2024
HBS Case

How Used Products Can Unlock New Markets: Lessons from Apple's Refurbished iPhones

Some of Apple’s most loyal customers think nothing of upgrading to the latest iPhone every time one comes out. But what about consumers who can’t splurge on a $1,000 iPhone 15 Pro? And what about the electronic waste that would accrue if people threw away functional... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Electronics; Information Technology

25 Feb 2020
Research & Ideas

For Migrant Workers, Homesickness Can Reduce Productivity

Freedom to use vacation time to attend celebrations with family and friends helps improve performance for employees who work far away from their hometowns, new research by Prithwiraj Choudhury suggests. When employees move away from their... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

July–August 2017
Article

Why Outlet Stores Exist: Averting Cannibalization in Product Line Extensions

By: Donald Ngwe

Outlet stores are a large and growing component of many firms' retailing strategies, particularly in the fashion industry. Outlet stores offer attractive prices in locations far from central shopping districts. The main perspectives on why outlet stores exist can be... View Details

Keywords: Fashion; Industrial Organization; Outlet Stores; Price Discrimination; Retail; Channel Management; Luxury; Product Marketing; Price; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry

Find at Harvard

06 Jun 2023
Blog Post

Van den Ende Rozen: Greenhouse Rose Production

facility management. To improve scalability and production efficiency, they installed a chip system throughout the rose garden. Before cutting the roses, the growers use a chip sensor that helps monitor the... View Details

Web

the Art of American Advertising - Advertising Products

Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia, exhibits featured the latest improvements in printing technologies and the products of commercial lithographers including the marvels of chromolithography.... View Details

25 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity

together to facilitate visibility. The idea was that watching the workers would help managers improve operations and replicate innovations on one line across others, thus increasing productivity and driving... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

27 Sep 2019
Blog Post

Learning the Language of Product at Duolingo

other user pain points. By talking with users and observing how they used the app, I developed two additional product changes focused on improving onboarding for experienced learners: one that got users to... View Details

Keywords: Technology

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

16 Jul 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Selection, Reallocation, and Spillover: Identifying the Sources of Gains from Multinational Production

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro & Maggie X. Chen

June 2010
Case

FoldRite Furniture Company: Planning to Meet a Surge in Demand

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Afarin Bellisario

Demand for folding and stackable chairs and tables at FoldRite Furniture Co. is unexpectedly strong. The company spent the previous two years improving manufacturing quality and efficiency, dropping poor-performing product lines, developing new products that are... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Production Capacity; Production Scheduling; Risk Management; Growth Management; Production; Logistics; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Europe

Educators