Publications

August 1975 (Revised July 1983)
Case

Lincoln Electric Co.

By: Norman A. Berg

Covers the strategy and management practices of the world's largest manufacturer of welding equipment. Discusses the compensation system and company culture, and the leadership style of management. View Details

Keywords: Construction; Compensation and Benefits; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

03 May 2023
Research & Ideas

Why Confronting Racism in AI 'Creates a Better Future for All of Us'

turns out that the people who created the internet, primarily White men, didn’t classify or tag themselves as anything. This means that when you ask the AI system – which uses information up to the year 2020—to show an image View Details

Keywords: by Barbara DeLollis

17 Oct 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Quantile Forecasts of Product Life Cycles Using Exponential Smoothing

Keywords: by Xiaojia Guo, Kenneth C. Lichtendahl Jr., and Yael Grushka-Cockayne

Research Summary

Mastering Strategy Execution

By: Robert Simons

Professor Robert Simons’ research encompasses three areas of management accountability that are the foundation for successful strategy execution: organization design, performance measurement and control, and risk management. In addition, Simons is interested in the... View Details

2002
Case

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Julie Lang

Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart in 1962, had the vision for his store to sell low cost, branded products. By setting up its own distribution system and truck fleet, and evaluating retail stores as separate investment centers, Wal-Mart's control systems helped to build... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry; United States

Article

Valuing Time Over Money Predicts Happiness After a Major Life Transition: A Preregistered Longitudinal Study of Graduating Students

By: A.V. Whillans, Lucia Macchia and Elizabeth Dunn

How does prioritizing time or money shape major life decisions and subsequent well-being? In a preregistered longitudinal study of approximately 1000 graduating university students, respondents who valued time over money chose more intrinsically rewarding activities... View Details

Keywords: Time Use; Trade-offs; Career Decisions; Time Management; Money; Happiness; Values and Beliefs; Personal Development and Career

Read Now

26 Jan 2024
Blog Post

Career Advice from the Guests of the HBS Climate Rising Podcast

afraid to go deep and specialize if you can identify that intersection point, they said. There are many new areas in the climate arena with a shortage of subject matter experts. Steven Rothstein, Managing... View Details

12 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

Customers at the Back of the Line Are Anxious—Can You Keep Them from Leaving?

the UPS Foundation Associate Professor of Service Management in the Technology and Operations Management Unit. “When we are feeling bad, one way we cope is by comparing... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail; Service

August 1994
Case

Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd.

Describes the introduction of two profit planning and control systems at Kirin as part of its shift from a production-oriented to a consumer-oriented strategy. Specifically, documents Kirin's use of profit centers to increase efficiency and its use of pseudo profit... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Organizational Structure; Management Systems; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan

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03 Jan 2023
What Do You Think?

How Would the Leadership Style of Girl Scouts' Frances Hesselbein Fare Today?

Efforts were made to extend membership among girls of color. No ad appeared without girls from diverse backgrounds. It achieved some success. The Boy Scouts consistently received more contributions than the Girl Scouts, reflecting the... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

29 Oct 2019
Blog Post

Merging the Worlds of Finance, Investing, and Environmental Impact

Established in 2010, the HBS Business & Environment Initiative (BEI) works to deepen understanding of the environmental challenges facing business leaders and inspire new ideas and practical, effective solutions. BEI has established a... View Details

September 2020
Case

Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network

By: Anita Elberse and Julia McNicholas

Chip and Joanna Gaines, who have shot to fame as stars of the hit television show Fixer Upper, are preparing to launch their own television network. It is April 2019, a year since the home-renovation show Fixer Upper’s fifth season on cable channel HGTV ended, and more... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Television; Superstars; Innovation; Creative Industries; Talent; General Management; Celebrities; Television Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Joint Ventures; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

April 1997
Case

Peoria Engine Plant (A): (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton

Describes the cost control system used at an automobile engine plant for labor and overhead costs. The finance staff prepares daily, weekly, and monthly variance reports against budgets. Department supervisors, finance staff, and the plant manager discuss the use and... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Cost Management; Financial Reporting; Performance Improvement; Budgets and Budgeting; Auto Industry

01 Sep 2003
News

HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors: President’s Report

Interactive was contracted in the Spring to provide a series of useful administrative tools including data updates, membership renewal, event management and web templates. Thanks to the work View Details

Keywords: Ted Fischer; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

June 2009
Case

The Role of the Audit Committee in Risk Oversight

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

An audit committee chair considers how he can help his committee become more effective given the increasing regulatory demands on audit committees. He also wrestles with the lack of specificity in audit committee duties and whether his committee should take on... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Laws and Statutes; Risk Management

10 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Learning Curve: Making the Most of Outsourcing

telemedicine and specialized providers of niche services such as retail clinics, single-specialty hospitals, and disease management companies. The research, he says, reflects the traditional pendulum swing... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Guttry; Health

16 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

Reintroducing Intellectual Ambition to the Study of Business History

state-owned enterprises as a chief instrument of state intervention? 6. Business and Democracy. The relation between business and democracy is contentious. Although many scholars since Douglass North have linked the growth View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones & Walter Friedman

Summer 2016
Article

Open Content, Linus' Law, and Neutral Point of View

By: Shane Greenstein and Feng Zhu

The diffusion of the Internet and digital technologies has enabled many organizations to use the open-content production model to produce and disseminate knowledge. While several prior studies have shown that the open-content production model can lead to high-quality... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Internet and the Web; Balance and Stability; Operations; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Dissemination

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December 1992 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Peoria Engine Plant (A)

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton

Describes the cost control system used at an automobile engine plant for labor and overhead costs. The finance staff prepares daily, weekly, and monthly variance reports against budgets. Department supervisors, finance staff, and the plant manager discuss the use and... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Cost Accounting; Budgets and Budgeting; Earnings Management; Reports; Financial Reporting; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Auto Industry