Publications

30 Jan 2013
News

Why Running a Family Doesn't Help You Run a Business

March 1993 (Revised May 2009)
Case

CF MotorFreight in 1992

By: David B. Yoffie

In June 1992, CFMF management finds that despite a number-two ranking nationwide among long-haul carriers, two smaller rivals are far more profitable for the year-ended 1991. Management confronts the issue of encroaching competition from the country's smaller regional... View Details

Keywords: Labor Unions; Business or Company Management; Distribution; Competition; Consolidation; Truck Transportation

July–August 2023
Article

Demand Learning and Pricing for Varying Assortments

By: Kris Ferreira and Emily Mower

Problem Definition: We consider the problem of demand learning and pricing for retailers who offer assortments of substitutable products that change frequently, e.g., due to limited inventory, perishable or time-sensitive products, or the retailer’s desire to... View Details

Keywords: Experiments; Pricing And Revenue Management; Retailing; Demand Estimation; Pricing Algorithm; Marketing; Price; Demand and Consumers; Mathematical Methods

Find at Harvard

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14 Apr 2020
News

Three Keys To Engaged, Productive Telework Teams

31 Jan 2014
News

How to really measure the value in health care

November 1999 (Revised July 2003)
Case

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

By: Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen

Pre-Paid Legal Services' business model reveals two key issues--managing the sales force and sales growth and managing claims. Students analyze the economics of the business and consider how to measure firm performance, how to evaluate and reward the sales force, and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Salesforce Management; Marketing Strategy; Accrual Accounting; Business Cycles; Forecasting and Prediction; Insurance; Business Growth and Maturation; Insurance Industry

September 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 4: Organizing for Performance

By: Robert Simons

This module reading explores the implications of different business models on organization design. After discussing the distinction between units focused on work processes and those devoted to markets, the analysis provides insight as to when to organize businesses by... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Customer Focused Organization; Specialization; Span Of Control; Span Of Accountability; Span Of Attention; Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure

October 1999
Case

Overhead Reduction Task Force, The

By: J. Richard Hackman, Ruth Wageman and John J. Gabarro

A middle manager is about to meet with his boss to discuss her request that he head up a task force to determine how overhead can be reduced by 20%. He must decide what to address in that meeting and how the task force should be launched and led. The focus is on team... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Leadership Style; Management Teams; Management Style; Groups and Teams

Kris Ferreira is the Edgerley Family Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Unit. She teaches the Supply Chain Management course in the MBA elective curriculum and analytics in numerous Executive Education... View Details

Keywords: retailing

2018
Working Paper

Forecasting Airport Transfer Passenger Flow Using Real-Time Data and Machine Learning

By: Xiaojia Guo, Yael Grushka-Cockayne and Bert De Reyck

Problem definition: In collaboration with Heathrow Airport, we develop a predictive system that generates quantile forecasts of transfer passengers’ connection times. Sampling from the distribution of individual passengers’ connection times, the system also produces... View Details

Keywords: Quantile Forecasts; Regression Tree; Copula; Passenger Flow Management; Data-driven Operations; Forecasting and Prediction; Data and Data Sets

SSRN

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21 Jul 2022
News

I Think Inflation Is Going to Be with Us a Long Time, Says Harvard’s Bill George

14 Feb 2023
HBS Case

Is Sweden Still 'Sweden'? A Liberal Utopia Grapples with an Identity Crisis

Even Sweden isn’t quite the Sweden that many picture. “Americans, myself included, don’t have a fully fleshed-out understanding of what Swedish capitalism is like,” Spar says. “We think it’s more like socialism, and it’s not. It’s deeply capitalist. It just View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

Srikant M. Datar

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

June 2014
Case

Riverview Law: Applying Business Sense to the Legal Market

By: Heidi K. Gardner and Silvia Hodges Silverstein

Riverview Law, run like a business rather than a traditional law firm, wants to expand its unconventional concept from the UK to the US. The firm's approach includes performing all legal work for annual fixed-price contracts, using data and analytics to advise clients... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Professional Services; Disruptive Innovation; Law Firms; Client Service; Culture; Recruiting; Management; Professional Services Firms; Business Model; Legal Services Industry; United Kingdom; United States

February 2013 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Wayne Ferrari: iAutomation at a Crossroads

By: Jim Sharpe and Michael Norris

Wayne Ferrari has bridged the gap between being an independent entrepreneur and a "professional manager." After selling his business to a Private Equity (PE) firm, Ferrari takes on the role of CEO and with their support implements a roll-up strategy to attain growth... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Leveraged Buyouts; Roll-up; Career Planning; Acquisitions; Pricing; Pricing Policies; Pricing Strategy; Pricing Structure; Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Distribution; Integration; System; Electronics Industry; Distribution Industry; United States