Publications

26 Apr 2016
First Look

April 26

April 2016 Review of Economic Studies Landing the First Job: The Value of Intermediaries in Online Hiring By: Stanton, Christopher, and Catherine Thomas Abstract—Online markets for remote labor services allow workers and firms to contract... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2002 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Metalcraft Supplier Scorecard

By: Susan L. Kulp, V.G. Narayanan and Ronald L. Verkleeren

An automotive components company uses a supplier scorecard to make sourcing decisions and review its supplier performance. View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Quality; Performance Evaluation; Decision Making; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Supply and Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry

February 1999 (Revised October 1999)
Background Note

Note on Physician Compensation and Financial Incentives

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Melanie M Harshbarger

A review of the use and effectiveness of financial incentives in changing physician behavior. View Details

Keywords: Change; Finance; Compensation and Benefits; Performance Effectiveness; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives

Research Summary

Financial Incentives

My research examines how the performance effects of internal governance and the design of compensation vary by managerial position. For example, I document links between innovation and stock options for corporate R&D heads;... View Details

March 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Risk Management at Wellfleet Bank: Deciding about "Megadeals"

By: Anette Mikes

Inspired by one of the few banks that successfully weathered the 2007-2009 credit crisis, the case illustrates risk management in a corporate finance business. Chief executive Alastair Dowes has to decide if the risk governance process is adequate to uncover mega-risks... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Decision Making; Performance Evaluation; Credit; Balance and Stability; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation Offer; Performance Effectiveness; Corporate Finance; Banking Industry

2021
Chapter

Digital Infrastructure

By: Shane Greenstein

What determines the supply of innovative digital infrastructure and how does variance in supply shape the performance of digital services? The essay reviews research into the economic impact of deployment, innovation, and adoption of digital infrastructure. It... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Infrastructure; Economics; Policy; Research; Analysis; United States

28 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Can You Buy Creativity in the Gig Economy?

through a flat fee also propel them to produce more interesting content. The findings may prompt publishers to consider changing their pay structure in ways that reward writers for originality. Beyond publishing, the research sheds light on effective ways of tying pay... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

2006
Article

Capital Budgeting: The Role of Cost Allocations

By: Ian D. Gow and Stefan Reichelstein

A common issue for firms is how to allocate capital resources to various investment alternatives. An extensive and long-standing literature in finance has examined various aspects of capital budgeting, including capital constraints, the determination of discount rates,... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Resource Allocation; Performance Evaluation; Cost Management; Research; Investment; Cash Flow; Risk Management; Performance Capacity

September 2014 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief: What Can We Learn from Commercial Supply Chains?

By: Willy Shih and Margaret Pierson

Organizing speedy and efficient supply operations for unpredictable major natural disasters was a continuing challenge for the U.S. military, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti was both unique in its operational scope and political complexity. As he reviewed the... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chains; Humanitarian Assistance; Disaster Relief; Distribution; Logistics; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Operations; Distribution Industry; United States; Haiti

February 2005 (Revised March 2005)
Case

The Trustees of Reservations

By: Michael Chu

The executive director and chairman of the board of The Trustees of Reservations, one of the nation's oldest land conservation institutions, undertake a major governance restructuring. Reviews the forces leading to the change, the process by which its undertaken, and... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Governance Controls; Performance Effectiveness; Problems and Challenges; Social Enterprise

Find at Harvard

January 2025
Case

Moderna: Democratizing Artificial Intelligence

By: Iavor I. Bojinov, Karim R. Lakhani, Annika Hildebrandt and James Weber

The case study examines Moderna's journey in democratizing artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, across its workforce. It details the company's "digital-first, AI-focused" approach, including the rollout of OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise to all... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Innovation Strategy; Governance Controls; Biotechnology Industry

23 Oct 2018
News

Why women fall into the negative feedback trap

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

How Bank of America Turned Branches into Service-Development Laboratories

physical facilities were prepared for. So the team decided to reconfigure the twenty Atlanta branches into three alternative models: Five branches were redesigned as "express centers," efficient, modernistic buildings where consumers could quickly View Details

Keywords: by Stefan Thomke; Banking; Financial Services

2014
Chapter

Mergers and Acquisitions and Innovation

By: Gautam Ahuja and Elena Novelli

This article (a) identifies the different theoretical perspectives and abstractions used to conceptualize the M&A–Innovation relationship; (b) reviews the literature on antecedents, consequences, and integration of M&A in the context of innovation; and (c) identifies... View Details

Keywords: Mergers; Acquisitions; Innovation; Knowledge-bases; Knowledge; Mergers and Acquisitions; Innovation and Invention

Find at Harvard

August 2008 (Revised June 2012)
Case

Martingale Asset Management LP in 2008, 130/30 Funds, and a Low-Volatility Strategy

By: Luis M. Viceira and Helen Tung

In early July of 2008, William (Bill) Jacques, Chief Investment Officer at Martingale Asset Management, a quantitative value-oriented investment manager in Boston, Massachusetts, was busy preparing for an upcoming meeting with the group that made new product decisions... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Asset Management; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Product Development

13 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Reinforcing Values: A Public Dressing Down

performance to improve, only to be bitterly disappointed. For some reason, the right things still don't happen. Why is change so hard? First of all, most people are reluctant to alter their habits. What worked in the past is good enough;... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin & Michael A. Roberto

2025
Working Paper

Greenlighting Innovative Projects: How Evaluation Format Shapes the Perceived Feasibility of Early-Stage Ideas

By: Jacqueline N. Lane, Simon Friis, Tianxi Cai, Michael Menietti, Griffin Weber and Eva C. Guinan

The evaluation of innovative early-stage projects is essential for allocating limited resources. We investigate how the evaluation format affects the identification of feasibility issues through a field experiment at a leading research university. Experts were... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Evaluation; Evaluation Criteria; Feasibility Assessment; Attention Allocation; Cognitive Mechanisms; Field Experiment; Research; Performance Evaluation; Innovation and Invention; Prejudice and Bias

Read Now

November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 7: Designing Asset Allocation Systems

By: Robert Simons

This module reading provides tools and analyses for acquiring and allocating resources. The module begins by reviewing the importance of setting strategic boundaries as a basis for asset acquisitions. Next, a distinction is made between new assets acquired to meet... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Asset Allocation Systems; Payback; Discounted Cash Flow; Internal Rate Of Return; Strategic Investments; Analyzing Acquisitions; Strategy; Capital Budgeting

Article

Total Cost Control in Project Management via Satisficing

By: Joel Goh and Nicholas G. Hall

We consider projects with uncertain activity times and the possibility of expediting, or crashing, them. Activity times come from a partially specified distribution within a family of distributions. This family is described by one or more of the following details about... View Details

Keywords: Project Management; Time And Cost Control; Robust Optimization; Satisficing; Linear Decision Rule; PERT; Management; Cost Management; Projects

Find at Harvard