Publications

February 1996 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Indianapolis: Activity-Based Costing of City Services (A)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A new administration in the City of Indianapolis is initially determined to privatize many municipal services. Before taking this action, however, the city managers want to know the current cost of performing these services with the municipal workers. Existing... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Public Sector; Activity Based Costing and Management; Service Delivery; Privatization; City; Indianapolis

06 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 6

accompanies the cases "Medtronic: Patient Management Initiative" (A) and (B), HBS Nos. 302-005 and 309-064. Purchase this note:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/310075-PDF-ENG Jet Propulsion... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2008
Chapter

Conceptual Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard

By: Robert S. Kaplan

David Norton and I introduced the Balanced Scorecard in a 1992 Harvard Business Review article. The article was based on a multi-company research project that studied performance measurement in companies whose intangible assets played a central role in value... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Management Systems; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Improvement; Strategy

31 May 2016
First Look

May 31, 2016

Revealing Hand By: Kaplan, Robert S., and Anette Mikes Abstract—Many believe that the recent emphasis on enterprise risk management function is... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 29

Managers Become Influential? A Field Study in Two Financial Institutions By: Hall, Matthew, Anette Mikes, and Yuval Millo Abstract—This paper, based on a five-year longitudinal study at two UK-based banks,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2009 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Elkay Plumbing Products Division

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The vice president of sales learns that the most profitable 1% of the division's customers generate 100% of profits, and that two of the division's largest customers lose 50% of profits. The division has just finished a project to install a time-driven activity-based... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Management Systems; Consumer Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

21 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 21

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=42640 Managing Risks: Towards a Contingency Theory of Enterprise Risk Management By: Mikes, Anette, and Robert Kaplan Abstract—Enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 11

Maintenance of Certification Examinations By: Valentine, Melissa A., S. Barsade, Amy C. Edmondson, A. Gal, and R. Rhodes Abstract—Context: Physicians can demonstrate mastery of the knowledge that supports... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2018
Case

Partners In Health: Costing Primary Care in Haiti

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Mahek A. Shah

Partners in Health, a global NGO focused on delivering health care to residents of rural underserved communities, conducts a project on the cost of primary care at five sites in the Central Highlands of Haiti. It devises a simple approach for tracking the resources... View Details

Keywords: Global Health; Public Health; Health Care and Treatment; Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost Accounting; Rural Scope; Health Industry; Haiti

20 Sep 2016
First Look

September 20, 2016

Feeley, Robert S. Kaplan, and Steven J. Frank Abstract—Question: Can we create a value-based tool to visualize the outcomes and cost of various... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

The CMS New Rule on Ambulatory Surgical Centers Earns Only Partial Credit

By: Junaid Nabi and Robert S. Kaplan

The Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it will be removing more... View Details

Keywords: Ambulatory Care; Payment Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

July – August 2011
Article

Managing the Multiple Dimensions of Risk: Part I

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Anette Mikes

Based on an extensive program of case-writing and teaching on risk management, we identify three categories of risk and elaborate on the ways companies can identify and mitigate them, with particular emphasis on strategy execution risks. View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy

Find at Harvard

2020
Working Paper

Updating the Balanced Scorecard for Triple Bottom Line Strategies

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David McMillan

Many companies are now attempting to achieve triple bottom line performance on financial, environmental, and societal metrics. Successful strategies for such performance, however, generally require new relationships among multiple players in multiple sectors across a... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Adaptation; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Performance; Strategy

SSRN

January 2007 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Fulton County School System: Implementing the Balanced Scorecard

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Monica Nah Lee

Illustrates the adaptation and implementation of a private sector management tool, the Balanced Scorecard, to a public school district. As part of a continuous improvement initiative, the Director of Planning and Policy facilitates the development of a strategy map and... View Details

Keywords: Education; Governance; Leadership; Balanced Scorecard; Performance Improvement; Strategy; Education Industry

September 2016
Article

Communicating Value in Healthcare Using Radar Charts: A Case Study of Prostate Cancer

By: Nikhil G. Thaker, Tariq N. Ali, Michael E. Porter, Thomas W. Feeley, Robert S. Kaplan and Steven J. Frank

Question: Can we create a value-based tool to visualize the outcomes and cost of various treatments that could facilitate patient-centered decision making?

Summary Answer: We developed a standardized value framework by using radar charts to visualize and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

14 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 14

Applied Corporate Finance When One Size Doesn't Fit All: Evolving Directions in the Research and Practice of Enterprise Risk Management By: Mikes, Anette, and Robert View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

Mandate Outcomes Reporting

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Michael E. Porter

Currently, few health care providers measure and report their patient outcomes, which leads to several problems. Attempts to introduce price transparency without outcomes transparency could trigger a “race to the bottom.” Should Medicare coverage be expanded to... View Details

Keywords: Outcomes Reporting; Outcomes Measurement; Medicare; Medicaid; Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Measurement and Metrics

September – October 2011
Article

Managing the Multiple Dimensions of Risk-Part II: The Office of Risk Management

By: Anette Mikes and Robert S. Kaplan

In the second article of our two-part series, we explore the concept of an Office of Risk Management along with a case study of an innovative risk management function at JP Morgan Private Bank. We also look at the "softer" components of risk management, including a... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Innovation and Invention; Management Style; Managerial Roles; Risk Management

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2021
Working Paper

How to Fix ESG Reporting

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Karthik Ramanna

Investors, advocacy groups, academics, and the 200 CEOs of the US Business Roundtable have asked corporations to take on an added purpose beyond a narrow pursuit of shareholder value. In response, many companies now issue ESG (Environmental, Societal, and Governance)... View Details

Keywords: ESG Reporting; Sustainability; Corporate Purpose; Greenhouse Gas; Activity-Based Costing; Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Measurement and Metrics; Goals and Objectives; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Accountability

SSRN