Improving Productivity - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Jun 2009
News

Cynthia Carroll

several fatalities there. There were 28,000 employees at that mine; we brought people up from below ground and worked to retrain and refocus them. We lost millions of dollars while production was curtailed, but it was the right thing to... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Management; Mining

10 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

What Happens When Business Owners Turn to ChatBots for Advice

AI’s capabilities to help solve business problems, particularly in parts of the world with fewer resources and less access to technology. “The fact that generative AI was a little over a year old, and we could use it to advise several hundred Kenyan entrepreneurs how... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

19 Jul 2011
News

Brightening the Future

in the Philippines, Jaime “Jim” Ayala (MBA ’88) decided to put his considerable business experience to work improving the lives of some of his native country’s poorest citizens. Explaining his 2009 decision to leave Ayala Land, which had... View Details

Keywords: Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services

28 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Eyes Shut: The Consequences of Not Noticing

shopped at Walmart at least once or twice, and you likely are aware of their "Everyday low prices" tagline. Have you ever thought about the connection between their everyday low prices and the safety of the products Walmart... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman; Retail

01 Dec 1999
News

Water, Water Everywhere

right to have it," Mark explained. "But not much has been done to increase the supply and quality of the supply of water and to be able to economically allocate it to the right locations." Mark grew up on a farm and as a result was savvy from an early age about crop... View Details

18 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

Marketing After the Recession

out under-performing distributors, shed unprofitable or unreliable customers, deleted poor-selling products from your portfolio, and concentrated your marketing dollars on media and channels that you could prove delivered a strong return... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Retail

01 Sep 2018
News

An SUV Built for African Roads—by African Workers

production facility that are different from typical original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). And the vehicle’s design allows for an efficient production process at low volumes and with manual labor. Because... View Details

Keywords: Amy Yee

04 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 4, 2008

Inc.—Engineered Products Division Harvard Business School Case 709-434 Curled Metal Incorporated has declining sales but has developed a new product (curled metal pile driver pads) that, in field tests,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Partnering and the Balanced Scorecard

improvements in performance.3 We created the Balanced Scorecard because financial measurements had become insufficient for contemporary organizations. Strategies for creating value had shifted from managing tangible assets to... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

01 Dec 2007
News

Where Are the Innovators in Health Care?

drove productivity in the IT sector. These entrepreneurs, and so many others, have fundamentally improved our economy by making goods and services better, cheaper, and more accessible. But can you name any... View Details

Keywords: Regina E. Herzlinger; Health, Social Assistance; Management

01 Jun 2012
News

What Industrial Policy?

for only about one in 10 American jobs. A major reason for the decline in manufacturing employment in recent decades is the huge increases in the productivity of American factories. With those productivity... View Details

Keywords: Gary P. Pisano; Agriculture; Construction of Buildings; Construction; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance; Health, Social Assistance; Manufacturing

Profile

Drew Richard

one product and figure out a way to enter a new market, then present my findings and recommendations. It’ll allow me to solidify the academic work I’ve done here and help me move on my own entrepreneurial path. How do your HBS ambitions... View Details

Fast Answer

Sustainability in CPG and Retail

2018: Companies must collaborate across the value chain to improve sustainability. Fashion’s new must-have: Sustainable sourcing at scale. McKinsey, October 2019. Highlights the sustainable sourcing targets... View Details

01 Dec 2010
News

The Father of Modern Advertising

Don Draper and the rest of the Mad Men crew can thank Albert D. Lasker for their fame. A new biography convincingly nominates Lasker as the “father of modern advertising,” noted for creating brilliant ad campaigns selling everything from Kotex — an unknown View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services; Professional Services

20 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 20

the U.S. Department of Agriculture's approval of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), we find that product assessments by powerful stakeholders and peer agencies influence product approval and that their... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 24, 2017

By: Kerr, William R., and Ufuk Akcigit Abstract—We build a tractable growth model where multi-product incumbents invest in internal innovations to improve their existing products, while new entrants and incumbents invest in external... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2014
Module Note

Implementing Environmentally Sustainable Operations

By: Michael W. Toffel

Citation

Purchase

17 Dec 2001
Research & Ideas

Risks and Rewards of the Intrapreneur

Christensen). Look at the product to be developed and assess its chances for success, Barron said. A start-up that develops a so-called disruptive business—one that dramatically improves upon the status-quo... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

13 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

How to Pick Managers for Disruptive Growth

succeed in that context. The "graduates" of this school would have finely honed operational skills in managing quality programs, process improvement teams, and cost-control efforts. Even the most senior manufacturing executives... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Raynor

28 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Novo Nordisk

In January 2023, Professors Willy Shih and Mike Toffel led more than 40 HBS MBA students on site visits to witness the energy transition and innovative sustainable production activities throughout Denmark and the Netherlands, in their new... View Details

Publications