Publications

01 Aug 2022
What Do You Think?

Does Religious Belief Affect Organizational Performance?

research has concentrated on the influence that a CEO’s background can have on his or her attitude toward uncertainty and willingness to take risks, with subsequent outcomes for the organizations studied. But there hasn’t been much research on how senior View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

October 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

GoPro: Becoming a Subscription Hero

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2021, Nick Woodman, founder and CEO of GoPro, was reviewing the company’s subscription offering, considering whether to extend it beyond benefits that were directly related to the company’s iconic camera. Founded in 2002, GoPro had gained renown for its innovative... View Details

Keywords: Subscription Model; Pricing; Lifestyle Brands; Value Proposition; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; California

October 2017 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Improving Worker Safety in the Era of Machine Learning (A)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Dan Levy, Jose Ramon Morales Arilla and Matthew S. Johnson

Managers make predictions all the time: How fast will my markets grow? How much inventory do I need? How intensively should I monitor my suppliers? Which potential customers will be most responsive to a particular marketing campaign? Which job candidates should I... View Details

Keywords: Machine Learning; Policy Implementation; Empirical Research; Inspection; Occupational Safety; Occupational Health; Regulation; Analysis; Forecasting and Prediction; Policy; Operations; Supply Chain Management; Safety; Manufacturing Industry; Construction Industry; United States

13 Nov 2008
Working Paper Summaries

The Effect of Labor on Profitability: The Role of Quality

Keywords: by Zeynep Ton

24 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 24

divisions. Our two studies allow us to demonstrate that spontaneous within-game dialogue and manipulated pre-game talk lead to the same results. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-039.pdf PublicationsCost Structure Patterns in the Asset View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (A) (Abridged)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Owens & Minor (O&M) performed lean inventory services for Virginia Mason (VM) as its Alpha Vendor, but the outdated industry pricing model created perverse incentives and could not capture O&M's costs. Together, O&M and VM created an activity-based pricing model: Total... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Activity Based Costing and Management; Business Model; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Motivation and Incentives; Asset Pricing; Cost Accounting; Fair Value Accounting; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Research Summary

Overview

By: Antonio Moreno

Professor Moreno’s research explores how digital technologies are reshaping operational processes, with a particular focus on retail and service industries. His early work examined omnichannel retail—the integration of online and offline channels to create seamless... View Details

Keywords: Omnichannel; Omni-channel; Omnichannel Retail; Omnichannel Retailing; Retail; Operations; Supply Chain Management; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; Service Industry; Europe; Spain; Latin America

2013
Working Paper

Improving Store Liquidation

By: Nathan Craig and Ananth Raman

Store liquidation is the time-constrained divestment of retail outlets through an in-store sale of inventory. The retail industry depends extensively on store liquidation, not only as a means for investors to recover capital from failed ventures, but also to allow... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Financial Condition; Operations; Retail Industry

Read Now

07 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

What Drives Supply Chain Behavior?

[when a fluctuation becomes exaggerated along the supply chain -ed.] and its related stretches of wasted inventory and unmet demand. Q: What are some of the behavioral dynamics that supply chain managers... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston

November 2012
Case

New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. (Abridged)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Robert S. Huckman, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Matthew Preble

Considers whether New Balance, one of the world's five largest manufacturers of athletic footwear, should respond to Adidas' planned acquisition of Reebok—a transaction that would join the second- and third-largest companies in the industry. Highlights the unique... View Details

Keywords: Production; Competitive Strategy; Supply Chain; Brands and Branding; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry; Retail Industry; Asia; United States

06 Oct 2015
First Look

October 6, 2015

unavoidably exert influence over politics through power that is generated by both structure and process. While both political economy and management scholars address international firms, neither field has an adequate understanding of the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Richard F. Meyer

Richard F. Meyer is Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. Professor Meyer received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and spent the first ten years of his career in the Management Services Division of Arthur D. Little, Inc., serving as a... View Details

June 2010
Case

FoldRite Furniture Company: Planning to Meet a Surge in Demand

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Afarin Bellisario

Demand for folding and stackable chairs and tables at FoldRite Furniture Co. is unexpectedly strong. The company spent the previous two years improving manufacturing quality and efficiency, dropping poor-performing product lines, developing new products that are... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Production Capacity; Production Scheduling; Risk Management; Growth Management; Production; Logistics; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Europe

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Priceline WebHouse Club

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jon K Rust

Priceline empowered consumers to "name their own price" for airline tickets and hotel rooms; then it shopped these offers to marketers. Priceline's founder Jay Walker described the resulting transactions as a new ecosystem, that helped consumers realize lower prices... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry

01 Sep 2006
What Do You Think?

Are We Ready for Self-Management?

that many. Under the "self-management" initiative, employees were trained and given new technology to enable them to hire, train, and supervise their new colleagues; manage the day-to-day inventory... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

April 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Virginia Mason Medical Center (VM) hired Owens & Minor (O&M) as its alpha vendor for medical/surgical supplies in 2004. By 2005, O&M was performing Just-in-Time and Low Unit of Measure services for VM, but they believed the pricing model in the industry was outdated.... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Price; Distribution; Supply Chain Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

20 Nov 2017
Research & Ideas

How Independent Bookstores Have Thrived in Spite of Amazon.com

line of research “technology reemergence.” It began with his study of the Swiss watch industry, which collectively reinvented itself (and thus survived) in the wake of digital watches. Five years ago, he set out to discover how independent bookstores View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel (with video by Amelia Kunhardt); Retail

06 Mar 2025
HBS Seminar

Vivek Farias, MIT Sloan

April 1998
Case

Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (C)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

Jim Sharpe, president of Extrusion Technology, describes the first five years at the aluminum extrusion company he purchased. He begins with day one as he introduced himself to the employees in 1987 and assured them of the company's continuity. Over the next two years,... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost Management; Profit; Innovation Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Mining Industry