Publications

Educators

June 2017
Teaching Note

Organizing for Performance: Four Vignettes

By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard

Teaching Note for HBS No. 117-062. View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Organization; Span Of Control; Resource Allocation

January 2009 (Revised April 2017)
Teaching Note

American Cancer Society: Access to Care

Teaching Note for [109015]. View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Strategy And Execution; Levers Of Control; Non-profit; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations

March 2014
Article

Choosing the Right Customer

Companies that win in competitive markets identify a primary customer and dedicate maximum resources to meeting that customer's needs. This article will show you how to identify the best primary customer for your business by analyzing perspective, capabilities, and... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Execution; Customer Focus; Organization Design; Accountability; Management Control Systems; Customer Relationship Management; Organizational Design

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22 May 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack & John Rusnak

25 Feb 2025
Blog Post

Making a Broader Impact with Multiple Disciplines: Santosh Iyer (MBA 2020)

parallel with building Moonshot, I’ve worked on some of the most ambitious challenges in medtech. My graduate studies in biomedical engineering equipped me with a deep understanding of robotics, cellular biology, and computer science, which allowed me to develop motion... View Details

May 1991 (Revised March 2018)
Teaching Note

Automation Consulting Services

Teaching Note for 190-053 View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Levers Of Control; Consulting Industry

April 1991 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Automatic Data Processing: The EFS Decision

Teaching Note for (9-190-059). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Boundary Systems; Information Technology; Decision Making

24 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

SuperCorp: Values as Guidance System

another aligned with the core set of principles. This kind of human control system does not work perfectly by itself, but it certainly reduces the need for rules and thus helps people feel autonomous. Rather... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

2021
Article

How Top Managers Use the Entrepreneurial Gap to Drive Strategic Change

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Prior research provides strong evidence for the association between business strategy and the design and use of management control systems. We complement this research by examining the role of management control systems in situations of strategic change. We report the... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Accountability; Strategic Change; Organization Change And Adaptation; Organizational Performance; Management Systems; Organizational Structure; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance

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March 2005 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Capital Controls in Chile in the 1990s (B)

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Financial Crisis; Foreign Direct Investment; Currency Exchange Rate; Inflation and Deflation; Demand and Consumers; Interest Rates; Capital; System; Central Banking; Chile

Educators

2015
Chapter

How Leaders Use Values-based Guidance Systems to Create Dynamic Capabilities

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Matthew Bird, Ethan Bernstein and Ryan Raffaelli

How do strategic leaders create change-adept organizations? Based on qualitative field research, this chapter argues that well-defined institutionalized purpose, values, and principles act as an organizational guidance system that integrates and strengthens the... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Capabilities; Field Research; Intrinsic Motivation; Organizational Identity; Ecosystem; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Motivation and Incentives; Research; Management Systems; Change

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03 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Lehman Brothers Plus Five: Have We Learned from Our Mistakes?

system is in better shape. Professors Victoria Ivashina, David Scharfstein, and Arthur Segel, all members of the Harvard Business School Finance Unit, examine the current state of affairs. victoria Ivashina Is the US financial View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Banking; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

12 Aug 2020
Video

Community Health Workers on the Front Lines of Disease Control

April 2012 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Capitalizing for the Future: HSBC in 2010

By: Anette Mikes and Dominique Hamel

Following the financial crisis of 2007/2008, HSBC CEO Michael Geoghegan saw a fundamental change in global opportunities and risks. With increasing regulation and fierce competition between banks, the Western hemisphere was going to be a tougher place to do business.... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Competitive Strategy; Control Systems; Finance; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Emerging Markets; Risk Management; Business Strategy; Banking Industry

Educators

25 Mar 2016
News

The Race Is On to Control Artificial Intelligence, and Tech’s Future

May 2017
Supplement

ATH Technologies (E)

By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard

Supplements the (A) case. Designed as an in-class handout. View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Balancing Innovation And Control; Health Industry