Publications

Research Summary

Overview

By: Tatiana Sandino

In studying management control systems, Professor Sandino aims to understand how different control mechanisms can help lead employees within an organization to achieve common goals. Her work builds on contingency theory by exploring environmental, strategic, and... View Details

19 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

How Mercadona Fixes Retail’s ’Last 10 Yards’ Problem

about how poor operational decisions create unnecessary complications that lead to quality problems and lower labor productivity and, in general, make life hard for retail employees." Ton is interested in demonstrating how View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Food & Beverage

May 2014
Case

Groupon, Inc.

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Blythe J. McGarvie and James Weber

Internet coupon site "Groupon" grew revenues rapidly and went public, but struggled to impress investors or operate profitably. Did it have a sustainable business model? Groupon sold coupons called Groupons which purchasers used to acquire goods or services at... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Entrepreneurship; Financial Management; Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Organizational Culture; Strategy; Web Services Industry; United States

February 2012
Article

Americans Do IT Better: US Multinationals and the Productivity Miracle

By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

US productivity growth accelerated after 1995 (unlike Europe's), particularly in sectors that intensively use information technologies (IT). Using two new micro panel datasets we show that US multinationals operating in Europe also experienced a "productivity miracle."... View Details

Keywords: IT Productivity; American IT Productivity; Information Technology; Performance Productivity; Multinational Firms and Management; Management Practices and Processes; United States; Europe

03 Dec 2024
HBS Seminar

Jing Dong, Columbia

Article

Enfranchisement of Service Workers

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett

Enfranchisement is achieved through an integration of empowerment with methods of pay for performance. Evidence from Ito Yokado Group in Japan and Nordstrom in the US demonstrates the positive effects of enfranchisement. Successful efforts to enfranchise employees: 1.... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Franchise Ownership; Employees; Compensation and Benefits; Service Industry; Japan; United States

Read Now

12 Nov 2010
News

Something for the weekend

05 Jul 2022
What Do You Think?

Have We Seen the Peak of Just-in-Time Inventory Management?

(iStockphoto/aydinmutlu) Logistics issues have taken on unexpected and possibly unwanted “glamour” among those who study business and economics, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and its global aftermath. It’s a throwback to the days when railroad View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

08 May 2020
News

Why the Unemnployment Rate is 15 Percent. Here's Why the Stock Market Doesn't Mind.

09 Mar 2023
HBS Seminar

Gerard Cachon, Wharton

2013
Working Paper

The Impact of Conformance and Experiential Quality on Healthcare Cost and Clinical Performance

By: Claire Senot, Aravind Chandrasekaran, Peter T. Ward and Anita L. Tucker

The quality of operational processes is an important driver of performance in hospitals. In particular, processes that reliably deliver both evidence-based and patient-centered care, which we call conformance and experiential quality, respectively, have been argued to... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Experiential Quality; Conformance Quality; Clinical Outcomes; Cost Efficiency; Quality; Service Operations; Health Care and Treatment; Performance; Outcome or Result; Health Industry

Read Now

19 Jul 2022
News

Regulated Human Capital Disclosures

September 2010
Case

Bush Brothers & Company

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Chad Carr

The chairman and CEO of Bush Brothers grapples with leading and managing changes in strategy, governance and board composition, as well as succession, compensation and ownership issues, as he takes the family owned/family operated business into its fourth generation.... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Change Management; Decision Making; Selection and Staffing; Leading Change; Management Succession; Governing and Advisory Boards; Wages; Values and Beliefs; Growth and Development Strategy

December 2002
Article

Something Old, Something New: A Longitudinal Study of Search Behavior and New Product Introduction

By: Riitta Katila and Gautam Ahuja

We examine how firms search, or solve problems, to create new products. According to organizational learning research, firms position themselves in a unidimensional search space that spans a spectrum from local to distant search. Our findings in the global robotics... View Details

Keywords: Problem Solving; New Products; Organizational Learning; Uncertainty; Organizational Research; Knowledge Management; Robotics; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Effectiveness; Innovation Adoption; Strategy; Product Design; Business Processes; Product Development

Find at Harvard

November 2017
Teaching Note

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-455. On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales.... View Details

Keywords: Best Buy; Hubert Joly; Renew Blue; Showrooming; Webrooming; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Marketplaces; Turnaround; Consumer Electronics; Consumer Electronics Accessories; Appliances; Stores-within-stores; Store Experience; Store Size; Store Pickup; Store Management; Delivery; Delivery Models; Amazon; Amazon.com; Pricing Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Cost; Selection and Staffing; Reports; Technological Innovation; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Human Capital; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Media; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution Channels; Infrastructure; Product; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Programs; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Technology; Hardware; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Search Technology; Software; Web; Web Sites; Wireless Technology; Resource Allocation; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; United States; Minnesota; Minneapolis; Saint Paul; St. Paul

November 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Darby's Investment in Sirma: Professionalizing an Entrepreneurial Firm

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Eren Kuzucu

In March 2010, Burak Dalgın (HBS MBA 2004) led private equity firm Darby's investment in Sırma, a local Turkish water and beverage company. Sırma was owned and managed by members of two Turkish business families. The existing management, while being highly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Variance Analysis; Emerging Markets; Debt; Family Ownership; Turkey; Valuation; Business or Company Management; Private Equity; Financial Reporting; Investment; Budgets and Budgeting; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey

13 Apr 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Incorporating Price and Inventory Endogeneity in Firm-Level Sales Forecasting

Keywords: by Saravanan Kesavan, Vishal Gaur & Ananth Raman; Retail

November 1994 (Revised May 2002)
Case

K-III: A Leveraged Build-Up

By: George P. Baker III, Nicola Bamford and Nicolas Greenspan

Explores the strategy, financing, and governance of a new type of organizational form, dubbed the Leveraged Build-Up by its inventor, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. The company makes leveraged acquisitions of small publishing companies, managing them in a very... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Financial Management; Leveraged Buyouts; Cash Flow; Organizational Structure; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Publishing Industry

November 1996 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Historical Society of Pennsylvania, The

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Stephanie L. Woerner

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) runs one of the nation's most important research libraries and a museum focusing on colonial history. Financial analysis shows that the society has absorbed increased costs of operation over the past decade through slow but... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Cost; Human Resources; Leadership Style; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Managerial Roles; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Strategy; Pennsylvania