Operational Focus - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Dec 2018
News

Hard Choices

Business schools have sometimes taught that shareholder-value maximization is the holy grail, the sole proper focus of corporate managements. So I ask, should managements be focused solely on a company’s share price, which itself is... View Details

Keywords: Seth Klarman (MBA 1982)

01 Dec 2016
News

Case Study: Sweat the Technique

opportunity to grow and engage its user base by tapping into data and analytics and could add value to Nix in the eyes of prospective acquirers. Should Nix stay the analog course, make the transition to digital, or split limited resources between both paths? The... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

01 Sep 2011
News

Charged Up

driven by the automotive industry, followed by smart grid stabilization solutions that provide “fill-in” power when customer demand outstrips supply. Given the technology’s potential applications and finite employee resources, the case boils down to this: Should A123... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; batteries; Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing; Manufacturing

22 Jul 2021
News

Mentoring Fashion Startups in Singapore; Rising Star Accolades for Mid-Career Women

McCarthy, an Officer Engineer on the USS Ohio, leads a department of 70 officers and sailors and is charged with the safe operations of a nuclear power plant and all pressure boundary systems on the submarine. She also serves as a mentor... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

Web

Field Course: Investing for Impact - Course Catalog

opportunity to understand the challenges and opportunities for community-based impact investing by conducting diligence on an operating company in the Boston area that is looking to access capital for growth. The View Details

15 Nov 2020
News

Exploring China’s Belt & Road Initiative

Cizik Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration, the course was designed to help students understand the BRI from both an operations and a political-economy perspective. “China’s global efforts, especially its overseas... View Details

15 Jan 2025
Blog Post

Building Bridges to Sustainable Infrastructure with Allied Climate Partners

The firm operates with a mission to deploy hundreds of millions of dollars across regions like Africa, India, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia—essentially targeting places where sustainable infrastructure is often most needed yet... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

07 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 8, 2018

process-improvement strategies. We used TDABC to evaluate the cost of providing pain control to patients undergoing thoracic surgery and to estimate the impact of specific process improvements on cost. Retrospective healthcare utilization data, with a View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Selling Luxury to Everyone

established middle-market and even lower-market players." For example, she said, "eight years ago, Starbucks was a luxury game on the east coast. . . . Now, Starbucks is daily standard operating procedure—a mass business."... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Consumer Products

01 May 2020
In Practice

COVID-19’s Hard Lessons Might Prepare Business for Climate Change

operations and supply chain will not only better enable them to manage future pandemics, but also some of the disruptions that climate change is bringing like more intensive storms, droughts, and flooding. I also hope that this pandemic... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

25 Aug 2022
News

3-Minute Briefing: Arnon Mishkin (MBA 1989)

of the whole. When Trump had a horrible news week, we saw in the polls that Hillary Clinton didn’t make any gains as a result of his missteps. The joke I used to make about the 2016 presidential election is, “We were shocked but not surprised.” Our work is a team... View Details

Keywords: elections; consulting; analysis; polls

17 Sep 2020
Blog Post

HBS Grads Launch Cybersecurity Nonprofit to Fight Infodemic

just returned to the U.S. after a gap between his two years at HBS, during which he launched an e-commerce startup in Indonesia. He made the decision to sell his startup, switching his focus to working on impact-only projects like... View Details

01 Dec 2008
News

Designing Change

Hill, who expects the case to be taught in Marketing and Organizational Behavior courses as well as in design schools. “Most of our change-management cases focus on a CEO or senior leader, not a middle manager, and few consider how to... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

01 Mar 2009
News

Health Care a Top Priority at HBS

that focus on health care and health-care delivery. Simply put, we want to improve the performance of global health care and make an impact on the industry worldwide.” Related Links Model Patient View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Health, Social Assistance

February 2016 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Chilli Beans: Peace, Love, and Sunglasses

By: José B. Alvarez, Robert Mackalski and Andrew Otazo

This case illustrates how Chilli Beans became the most popular sunglasses retailer in Brazil and the issues it faced when expanding into the United States. View Details

Citation

Educators

Purchase

01 Jun 2020
News

Meal Plan

will continue to be very tricky because revenues will be lower with fewer people dining out and restaurants operating at less than full capacity. There will be fewer restaurant employees. Compensation as a function of what restaurants... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; restaurants; COVID-19; pandemic; recovery; Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

07 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

Big Infrastructure May Not Always Produce Big Benefits

their focus to developing countries, which have undertaken ambitious and dramatic infrastructure projects in recent years. India’s Golden Quadrilateral highway received new sections and major upgrades between 2001 and 2006, when 95... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Construction

19 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 19

Authors:Jonathan R. Clark and Robert S. Huckman Abstract The long-standing argument that focused operations outperform others stands in contrast to claims about the benefits of broader operational scope. The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2018
News

Case Study: A Good Fit

billion in disability benefits a year, Eldridge says. Gain Life’s existing wellness market has good prospects, although it’s highly competitive, “almost to the point of commoditization,” he adds, and the sales cycles can last up to a year. Should Gain Life View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

February 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Product Development at OPOWER

By: Thomas Eisenmann and Rob Go

OPOWER, a software startup that helps utilities engage their customers in ways that reduce energy consumption, is scaling rapidly. The company's new head of product management has designed a system to address a point of constant tension: whether to build custom... View Details