Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,155)
- Faculty Publications (179)
- August 2004
- Article
Capital Controls, Risk and Liberalization Cycles
By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk
The paper presents an overlapping-generations model where agents vote on whether to open or close the economy to international capital flows. Political decisions are shaped by the risk over capital and labor returns. In an open economy, the capitalists (old) completely... View Details
Keywords: Business Cycles; Development Economics; Voting; Risk and Uncertainty; Cash Flow; Saving; Investment; Economy; Wages
- 2004
- Article
Sources of Structural Inequality in Managerial Labor Markets
By: Rakesh Khurana and Mikolaj Jan Piskorski
This article proposes two mechanisms that allow actors to obtain unearned advantages in labor markets. The first mechanism is consistent with collusive closure arguments. However, it questions the assumption that those who seek to benefit from collusive closure will... View Details
- August 2003 (Revised October 2003)
- Case
C&S Wholesale Grocers: Self-Managed Teams
By: Thomas J. DeLong, Tejal Mody and David Ager
Rick Cohen, president and CEO of C&S Wholesale Grocers, is trying to decide whether and how to implement the self-managed teams concept in his warehouse. Eight months earlier, C&S had begun to act as principal wholesaler to A&P throughout New England, a decision that... View Details
- December 1999 (Revised July 2000)
- Case
Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives
By: Lynn S. Paine
Presents the perspectives of two Russian software developers working for Cimetrics in Moscow. A central issue from the Russian perspective is whether a more structured and formal arrangement is needed for managing the Russian team. View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Applications and Software; Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Labor and Management Relations; Product Development; Performance Evaluation; Information Technology Industry; Russia; Canada; United States
- July 1999
- Background Note
Comments on Standard Times and the Division of Labor
By: Roy D. Shapiro
A brief note on the origins and uses of standard times in production process flow diagrams and on the benefits and drawbacks of division of labor. A rewritten version of two earlier notes. View Details
- May 1999 (Revised December 2003)
- Case
European Monetary Union
By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Sabina M. Ciminero
On January 1, 1999, 11 European countries unified their currencies--48 years after their first integrative efforts. This marks a huge development in the structure of Europe and the world's economy. This case examines the integrative process, the Single Europe Act and... View Details
- February 1999 (Revised June 2000)
- Case
Cimetrics Technology (A-1)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Jose Royo
Jim Lee, president of Cimetrics (a young, fast growing, software start-up) is reevaluating his small company's geographically dispersed product development model. To take advantage of talented low-cost labor in Russia, the company has relied on two software engineering... View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Applications and Software; Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Labor and Management Relations; Product Development; Performance Evaluation; Information Technology Industry; Russia; Canada; United States
- June 1998 (Revised April 2000)
- Case
GM Powertrain
By: Amy C. Edmondson and Mikelle Eastley
Discusses a young MBA plant manager who is improving the operations of a small General Motors components plant in Fredericksburg, Virginia. At 29 years old, Joe Hinrichs is the youngest plant manager at GM, and in his new assignment, he is faced with the daunting... View Details
- January 1998 (Revised April 1998)
- Case
Lincoln Electric: Venturing Abroad
By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Jamie O'Connell
Lincoln Electric, a 100-year-old manufacturer of welding equipment and consumables based in Cleveland, Ohio, motivates its U.S. employees through a culture of cooperation between management and labor and an unusual compensation system based on piecework and a large... View Details
- 1997
- Book
Finding Time: How Corporations, Individuals, and Families Can Benefit from New Work Practices
By: Leslie Perlow
Why do Americans work so hard? Are the long hours spent at work really necessary to increase organizational productivity? Perlow documents the work life of employees who assume that for their own success and the success of their organization they must put in extended... View Details
- July 1997 (Revised December 1997)
- Case
Allentown Materials Corporation: The Electronic Products Division (A)
By: Michael Beer
A division of Allentown Materials Corp. has financial and organizational problems. Conflict and lack of coordination exist between functional groups. Employees do not have a sense of direction, and morale is low. The cause of these problems is found in a change in... View Details
- April 1997
- Case
Peoria Engine Plant (A): (Abridged)
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton
Describes the cost control system used at an automobile engine plant for labor and overhead costs. The finance staff prepares daily, weekly, and monthly variance reports against budgets. Department supervisors, finance staff, and the plant manager discuss the use and... View Details
- January 1997 (Revised June 1997)
- Case
Corporate New Ventures at Procter & Gamble
By: Teresa M. Amabile and Dean Whitney
Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble is faced with an urgent need to revitalize new-product innovation, given its recent focus on incremental product improvements and its aggressive growth goals. As part of this effort, the company's top executives form a small,... View Details
- June 1994 (Revised June 1995)
- Case
Chandler Home Products: European Rationalization
Chandler, a large U.S. consumer products firm, is rationalizing its European operations. Tony Pesci, protagonist, is deciding which plants to close for maximum efficiency. The manufacturing/marketing relationship is strained as efficiency is being weighed against... View Details
- October 1993 (Revised September 1994)
- Background Note
Accounting for Productivity Growth
Introduces students to the arithmetic of the accounting for national productivity growth. It defines labor productivity, capital productivity, and total factor productivity, describes the relationships among them, and discusses the phenomena that cause them to change... View Details
- December 1992 (Revised March 1997)
- Case
Peoria Engine Plant (A)
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton
Describes the cost control system used at an automobile engine plant for labor and overhead costs. The finance staff prepares daily, weekly, and monthly variance reports against budgets. Department supervisors, finance staff, and the plant manager discuss the use and... View Details
- spring 1991
- Article
Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett
Most managers recognize that good service is a direct result of having effective, productive people in customer contact positions. However, most service companies perpetuate a cycle of failure by tolerating high turnover and expecting employee dissatisfaction. This... View Details
- July 1990 (Revised October 1999)
- Case
Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (A)
By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston
In 1989, the performance measurement systems and compensation policies of Nordstrom Department Stores unexpectedly came under attack by employees, unions, and government regulators. The case describes the "sales-per-hour" monitoring and compensation system that many... View Details
- September 1989 (Revised July 1991)
- Case
Caterpillar, Inc.: George Schaefer Takes Charge
For over half a century, Caterpillar, Inc. (CAT) had been a world leader in the manufacture of earthmoving and construction machinery. In 1982, just months after it recorded the highest sales and profits in its history, CAT experienced its greatest crisis. Demand fell... View Details
Keywords: Machinery and Machining; Crisis Management; Labor Unions; Demand and Consumers; Management Teams; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Business Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry