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- All HBS Web (522)
- Faculty Publications (190)
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- January 1991 (Revised March 2010)
- Case
Westchester Distributing, Inc. (A)
By: Robert L. Simons and Robert Boxwell
Focuses on the three-way interaction among internal controls, employee behavior, and incentives. Salesmen are illegally providing kickbacks to customers of this beer-distribution firm. In turn, salesmen are reimbursing themselves by filing fraudulent expense reports.... View Details
Keywords: Financial Reporting; Crime and Corruption; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Salesforce Management; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Distribution Industry; Food and Beverage Industry
Simons, Robert L., and Robert Boxwell. "Westchester Distributing, Inc. (A)." Harvard Business School Case 191-118, January 1991. (Revised March 2010.)
- 02 Sep 2008
- First Look
First Look: September 3, 2008
Exercise of Leadership, a New Model Authors:Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen, Steve Zaffron, Kari L. Granger Abstract This paper is the (pre-course) introduction document to an experimental course developed View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- 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
Simons, Robert. "Strategy Execution Module 4: Organizing for Performance." Harvard Business School Module Note 117-104, September 2016. (Revised January 2018.)
- March 1990 (Revised October 1999)
- Case
Turner Construction Company: Project Management Control Systems
By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston
After providing a brief overview of Turner Construction Co.'s structure and project work, the case gives a detailed description of its project management control system, the IOR system. In addition to explaining the mechanics of the IOR system, the case identifies the... View Details
Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Cost Management; Performance Evaluation; Risk Management; Strategic Planning; Planning; Management Systems; Management Teams; Construction Industry
Simons, Robert L., and Hilary Weston. "Turner Construction Company: Project Management Control Systems." Harvard Business School Case 190-128, March 1990. (Revised October 1999.)
- November 2016 (Revised March 2018)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 9: Building a Balanced Scorecard
By: Robert Simons
This module reading explains how to construct a strategy map and build a balanced scorecard. Using an internal value chain model, the module illustrates how a balanced scorecard can support and enable customer management, innovation, operations, and post-sale service... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Performance Measurement; Strategy Map; Business Goals; Customer Measures; Strategy; Balanced Scorecard; Business Model
Simons, Robert. "Strategy Execution Module 9: Building a Balanced Scorecard." Harvard Business School Module Note 117-109, November 2016. (Revised March 2018.)
- February 2021 (Revised June 2023)
- Case
Henry Ford: Changing the World
By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer
This case traces the rise of Henry Ford from a small farm in Michigan to the controlling shareholder of the Ford Motor Company. The case describes how Ford, as young man, acquired engineering skills and the risks he took as he built and marketed one of the first... View Details
Keywords: Technology; Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Business Startups; Management; Success; Values and Beliefs; Technological Innovation; Personal Development and Career; Auto Industry; United States; Michigan
Simons, Robert, and Max Saffer. "Henry Ford: Changing the World." Harvard Business School Case 121-063, February 2021. (Revised June 2023.)
- January 1990 (Revised March 1991)
- Case
American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region
By: Robert L. Simons
Recounts the financial difficulties and management changes experienced by American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region (NER) during the 1980s. After summarizing industry-wide changes in the collection, testing, and distribution of blood and blood products, the... View Details
Keywords: Change Management; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Management; Restructuring; Health; SWOT Analysis; Social Enterprise; Marketplace Matching; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; North and Central America
Simons, Robert L. "American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region." Harvard Business School Case 190-078, January 1990. (Revised March 1991.)
- February 1991 (Revised November 2010)
- Case
Tennessee Controls: The Strategic Ranking Problem
By: Robert L. Simons and Dale Geiger
Tennessee Controls has instituted a new formal asset acquisition process to rank competing proposals. Judy Starnes, the new division manager, is asked to rank three proposals by using techniques to quantify economic returns, risk, as well as the credibility of the... View Details
Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Governance Controls; Management Systems; Strategic Planning; Mathematical Methods; Electronics Industry
Simons, Robert L., and Dale Geiger. "Tennessee Controls: The Strategic Ranking Problem." Harvard Business School Case 191-083, February 1991. (Revised November 2010.)
- 04 May 2010
- First Look
First Look: May 4
PublicationsAnnual Review of Financial Economics Editors:Andrew W. Lo and Robert C. Merton Publication:Vol. 1. Palo Alto: Annual Reviews, 2009 An abstract is unavailable at this time. Publisher's Book Abstract:... View Details
Keywords: Martha Lagace
- December 2016
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 10: Using the Job Design Optimization Tool to Build Effective Organizations
By: Robert Simons
This module reading provides directions for using the online Job Design Optimization Tool (JDOT) which is available free of charge from Harvard Business School Publishing at https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/resources/marketing/multimedia/JDOT/index.html. This tool can... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Span Of Control; Span Of Accountability; Performance Measurement; Job Design; Organization Design; Strategy; Entrepreneurship
Simons, Robert. "Strategy Execution Module 10: Using the Job Design Optimization Tool to Build Effective Organizations." Harvard Business School Module Note 117-110, December 2016.
- 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
Simons, Robert. "Strategy Execution Module 7: Designing Asset Allocation Systems." Harvard Business School Module Note 117-107, November 2016. (Revised December 2016.)
- June 2017
- Teaching Note
Google to Alphabet: Two Job Opportunities
By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard
This is the teaching note for "Google to Alphabet: Two Job Opportunities" HBS No.116-046
The case describes two job postings for positions at Google. The first job posting is for a Software Engineer in the Google Maps unit and the second job posting is for an Account... View Details
- November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 12: Aligning Performance Goals and Incentives
By: Robert Simons
This module reading explains how managers use performance goals and incentives to ensure that employee actions align with the overall business strategy of the organization. The module begins by discussing how managers use goals to communicate business strategy, the... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Performance Goals; Performance Measures; Incentives; Benchmarks; Motivation; Compensation; Bonuses; Strategy
Simons, Robert. "Strategy Execution Module 12: Aligning Performance Goals and Incentives." Harvard Business School Module Note 117-112, November 2016. (Revised December 2016.)
- 2019
- Working Paper
Self-Interest: The Economist's Straitjacket
By: Robert Simons
This paper examines contemporary economic theories that focus on the design and management of business organizations. In the first part of the paper, a taxonomy is presented that describes the different types of economists interested in this subject—market economists,... View Details
Keywords: Self-interest; Economist; Moral Philosophers; Regulation; Capture; Organization Design; Economy Theory; Organization Theory; Management Theory; Commitment; Controls; Governance; Customers; Conflict of Interests; Business or Company Management; Competition; Organizational Design; Business Education; Agency Theory; Economics; Theory; Boundaries
Simons, Robert. "Self-Interest: The Economist's Straitjacket." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-045, October 2015. (Revised January 2019.)
- September 2001 (Revised October 2018)
- Case
DIENA
By: Robert Simons and Indra Reinbergs
Requires students to draw a new organization structure diagram for a rapidly evolving business. A/S DIENA is a newspaper publisher founded during Latvia's 1990/91 struggle for independence from the USSR with a clear social mission to support democracy. With the help of... View Details
- 13 Apr 2010
- First Look
First Look: April 13
course developed by the authors over five years (2004-2008) at the University of Rochester Simon School of Business working with students, alumni, executives, and faculty from various academic institutions.... View Details
Keywords: Martha Lagace
- May 2017
- Case
ATH Technologies: Making the Numbers
By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard
An exercise that takes students through five stages of growth in an entrepreneurial start-up in the medical devices industry: 1) founding, 2) growth, 3) push to profitability, 4) relocation process, and 5) takeover by new management. At each stage, students must... View Details
Keywords: Balancing Innovation And Control; Performance Evaluation; Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Profit; Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Innovation and Invention; Management Succession; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry
Simons, Robert, and Jennifer Packard. "ATH Technologies: Making the Numbers." Harvard Business School Case 117-012, May 2017.
- 01 Nov 2011
- First Look
First Look: Nov. 1
Authors:David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman Publication:Harvard Business Review 89, no. 11 (November 2011) An abstract is unavailable at this time. Read the article: http://hbr.org/2011/11/kfcs-radical-approach-to-china/ar/1 Tax Policy and... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- October 8, 2012
- Column
Henkel's Culture Shift
By: Robert Simons
This case descriibes a CEO-led organizational transformation driven by stretch goals, performance measurement, and accountability. When Kasper Rorsted became CEO of Henkel, a Germany-based producer of personal care, laundry, and adhesives products, in 2008, he was... View Details
- 23 Nov 2010
- First Look
First Look: November 23
behave ethically and actual self-interested behavior. This relationship was mediated by the more extensive mental simulation that occurred with eyes closed rather than open, which, in turn, intensified emotional reactions to the ethical... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne