Publications

May 2009
Case

Tokyo Electron Ltd.

By: Willy C. Shih and Andrew A. King

Tokyo Electron Ltd. operates in a constrained innovation environment, defined by modular boundaries that are long standing in the industry that it serves, the global semiconductor manufacturing industry. While the original motivation for these boundaries was division... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance Controls; Technological Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Boundaries; Manufacturing Industry; Semiconductor Industry

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March 1990 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Mary Kay Cosmetics: Sales Force Incentives (A)

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

Describes the incentive system by which Mary Kay Cosmetics motivates the sales force of 200,000 independent agents who comprise the firm's only distribution channel. Illustrates the powerful effect on sales-force behavior that results when creative types of employee... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Cost Management; Salesforce Management; Distribution Channels; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

October 2018 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Khan Academy 2018

By: William Sahlman and Nicole Tempest Keller

Founded in 2008, Khan Academy was a global educational nonprofit with a mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone anywhere in the world. By 2018, the organization had expanded into numerous content areas, product areas, and geographic markets.... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneur; Sustainability; Scaling; Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Strategy; Education; Entrepreneurship; Teaching; Education Industry; California

16 Feb 2022
News

How Job Applicants Try to Hack Résumé-Reading Software

October 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Marketing Chateau Margaux

By: John A. Deighton, Leyland Pitt, Vincent Marie Dessain, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Anders Sjoman

Chateau Margaux, luxury brand or connoisseur brand? Although France is awash with unsold wine, demand has never been stronger for the very finest Bordeaux. How should Margaux sustain and grow its business? The Chateau management team is wondering if it can take more... View Details

Keywords: Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Distribution; Luxury; Food and Beverage Industry; France

04 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Navigating Consumer Data Privacy in an AI World

to democratic systems as a whole. Now, with ChatGPT and other gen AI tools, the questions regarding data privacy have become more complex: “Where is the data coming from? Is it sensitive to someone?” If regulators or customers ask this... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

November 1984 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Mayers Tap, Inc. (A)

Mayers Tap, Inc. has a poorly designed cost accounting system and is in the process of redesigning it. This case provides background details for the rest of the Mayers Tap, Inc. series. View Details

Keywords: Management Systems

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Research Summary

The Role of Information Technology in the Provision of Services

By: James I. Cash

James I. Cash, Jr. is exploring the role of information technology in service management. Specifically, he is studying the implications of the ubiquity of information technology at three levels in service-providing organizations. (In the United States today, service... View Details

April 2023
Article

Perceptions Related to Engaging in Non-driving Activities in an Automated Vehicle While Commuting: A Text Mining Approach

By: Yilun Xing, Linda Ng Boyle, Raffaella Sadun, John D. Lee, Orit Shaer and Andrew Kun

Automated vehicles (AVs) offer human operators the opportunity to participate in non-driving activities while on the move. In this study, we examined and compared drivers' perception of non-driving activities in two driving modes: highly AVs in the future and current... View Details

Keywords: Perception; Behavior; Surveys; Auto Industry

February 2016 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Weathering the Storm at NYU Langone Medical Center

By: Robert S. Huckman, Raffaella Sadun and Michael Norris

In the fall of 2012, Hurricane Sandy forced a full evacuation of NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. The institution, which comprised NYU Medical School and several teaching hospitals, had been on an upward trajectory for several years under the leadership of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Technology; Culture; Information Technology; Crisis Management; Health Care and Treatment; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

15 Jul 2019
Book

Many Executives Are Afraid of Finance. Here's How They Can Gain Confidence

what’s the best way for managers to communicate financial information to shareholders? “People who want to have advanced roles in enterprise confront financial questions more and more, and they have to be more fluent in the financial... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

August 2002 (Revised December 2002)
Case

Quality Imaging Products (QIP)

Martin Stein, a recent business school graduate, is the new owner of Quality Imaging Products (QIP), a $10-million-a-year remanufacturer of printer and copier ink cartridges. Within weeks of buying the company, QIP's vp for finance, gives an ultimatum: a raise or he... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Crisis Management; Manufacturing Industry

Samuel G. Hanson is the William L. White Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Harvard Economics department. He teaches Finance 1... View Details

Keywords: asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management

Research Summary

Antecedents and Consequences of Trust in Intraorganizational Relations: An International Comparison

This project moves the level of analysis to the intraorganizational level. The empirical context consists of internal relationships between the Information Systems (IS) function and the user groups. Are better project management techniques, better software development... View Details

February 2001
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc.: Solaris Strategy

In the late 1990s, Sun Microsystems' Solaris has emerged as the dominant UNIX-based alternative to Microsoft for server operating systems. At the same time, the open source operating system Linux has appeared unexpectedly, and it is generating significant excitement... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Competition; Open Source Distribution; Standards

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21 Nov 2016
News

Giving Patients an Active Role in Their Health Care

1 PM – 2 PM EDT, 17 Sep 2015
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Risk of Unfunded Public Pension Fund and Health Care Benefits in the US

Detroit is the canary in the coal mine on the issue of unfunded pension and health care liabilities. Had the city not declared bankruptcy, it was projected that 67% of every incremental revenue dollar would have been allocated to these legacy benefits by 2017. Yet even... View Details

Article

Why Build in Web3

By: Jad Esber and Scott Duke Kominers

A major change is coming to the internet. While today’s dominant platforms have guarded their troves of user data and maintained an advantage through network effects, new companies—working in what they're calling a “Web3” model—are proposing a new value proposition to... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; User Experience; Digital Platforms; Network Effects; Internet and the Web; Competition; Web Services Industry