Publications

July–August 2011
Article

Robust Optimization Made Easy with ROME

By: Joel Goh and Melvyn Sim

We introduce ROME, an algebraic modeling toolbox for a class of robust optimization problems. ROME serves as an intermediate layer between the modeler and optimization solver engines, allowing modelers to express robust optimization problems in a mathematically... View Details

Keywords: Robust Optimization; Algebraic Modeling Toolbox; MATLAB; Stochastic Programming; Decision Rules; Inventory Control; PERT; Project Management; Portfolio Optimization; Information Technology; Mathematical Methods; Operations

December 2012
Case

Delwarca Software Remote Support Unit

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Paul E. Morrison

Delwarca Software provides business software to large corporate clients around the world. The firm serves customers who prefer to assemble corporate solutions using a combination of software programs from various suppliers rather than implementing a single enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Service Delivery; Mathematical Methods; Applications and Software; Problems and Challenges; Customer Satisfaction; Information Technology Industry

June 2012
Case

Microsoft IT India

By: Willy C. Shih, Margaret Pierson, Alexander Down, William Gustave Jair-Shemuel Jurist, Diego Medicina and Helen Wang

Raj Biyani faced tough challenges managing Microsoft IT India: leading a remote development organization in which key decisions were made in Redmond, and managing an organization that was perceived as less strategic than its sister Microsoft India Development Center... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Development; Cross-functional Management; Foreign Subsidiaries; Strategy Alignment; Organizational Behavior; Indian Software Development; Global Distributed R＆D; Software Industry; Organizational Structure; Research and Development; Operations; Leadership; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Subsidiaries; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Technology Industry; India

July 2006
Article

Dynamic Mixed Duopoly: A Model Motivated by Linux vs. Windows

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pankaj Ghemawat

This paper analyzes a dynamic mixed duopoly in which a profit-maximizing competitor interacts with a competitor that prices at zero (or marginal cost), with the cumulation of output affecting their relative positions over time. The modeling effort is motivated by... View Details

Find at Harvard

2022
Article

Fairness via Explanation Quality: Evaluating Disparities in the Quality of Post hoc Explanations

By: Jessica Dai, Sohini Upadhyay, Ulrich Aivodji, Stephen Bach and Himabindu Lakkaraju

As post hoc explanation methods are increasingly being leveraged to explain complex models in high-stakes settings, it becomes critical to ensure that the quality of the resulting explanations is consistently high across all subgroups of a population. For instance, it... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Mathematical Methods; Research; Analytics and Data Science

06 May 2002
Research & Ideas

A Toolkit for Customer Innovation

ranging from minor modifications to major new innovations. The user-friendly tools, often integrated into a package we call a "tool kit for customer innovation," deploy new technologies like computer simulation View Details

Keywords: by Stefan Thomke & Eric Von Hippel

2022
Article

Towards Robust Off-Policy Evaluation via Human Inputs

By: Harvineet Singh, Shalmali Joshi, Finale Doshi-Velez and Himabindu Lakkaraju

Off-policy Evaluation (OPE) methods are crucial tools for evaluating policies in high-stakes domains such as healthcare, where direct deployment is often infeasible, unethical, or expensive. When deployment environments are expected to undergo changes (that is, dataset... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Research

Find at Harvard

May–June 2025
Article

Slowly Varying Regression Under Sparsity

By: Dimitris Bertsimas, Vassilis Digalakis Jr, Michael Lingzhi Li and Omar Skali Lami

We consider the problem of parameter estimation in slowly varying regression models with sparsity constraints. We formulate the problem as a mixed integer optimization problem and demonstrate that it can be reformulated exactly as a binary convex optimization problem... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science

2023
Working Paper

Distributionally Robust Causal Inference with Observational Data

By: Dimitris Bertsimas, Kosuke Imai and Michael Lingzhi Li

We consider the estimation of average treatment effects in observational studies and propose a new framework of robust causal inference with unobserved confounders. Our approach is based on distributionally robust optimization and proceeds in two steps. We first... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Mathematical Methods

16 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Resolving Patent Disputes that Impede Innovation

prompted a new research paper that starts to investigate ways to make these patents less volatile and more efficient—and makes the case for increased government involvement. "Standards are ubiquitous... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Technology

15 Feb 2000
Lessons from the Classroom

Delivering Information Services: A 30-Year Perspective

As the information economy emerges and technology transforms "business-as-usual," senior-level executives need to understand the "big picture" of how IT impacts their entire... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

August 2000 (Revised September 2000)
Case

Extraprise

By: Srikant M. Datar, Krishna G. Palepu and Sarah S. Khetani

In the three years since it was founded, the Boston-based Internet strategy consulting firm, Extraprise, has changed its strategy three times. Jennifer Gabler, the CFO, considers what kinds of control systems she can put in place to ensure the company can continue to... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Mathematical Methods; Information Technology; Outcome or Result; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Boston

06 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Microsoft vs. Open Source: Who Will Win?

Casadesus-Masanell decided to dive in. Most research to date into the OSS movement has focused on the organization and management issues surrounding OSS. Ghemawat and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

August 2012 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Intuit Inc.: Project AgriNova

By: Thomas Eisenmann and Tanya Bijlani

In late 2008, a team from Intuit's office in Bangalore, India, is evaluating an opportunity to launch a new venture that would use SMS to deliver crop price information to farmers in India. The case describes the structure of Indian agriculture and the problems... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Venturing; Entrepreneurship; Research; Business Ventures; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Bangalore

January 2013
Supplement

Cabot Corporation: The Fuel Cell Decision (B)

By: Willy Shih and Ying Zhou

Managers at Cabot Corporation are faced with deciding the future of its fuel cell program. The (A) case recounts the view of the business manager and the technical project lead, and the (B) case describes the perspective of a senior manager who is the head of the New... View Details

March 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Technical Note

Linear Regression

By: Iavor I. Bojinov, Michael Parzen and Paul Hamilton

This note provides an overview of linear regression for an introductory data science course. It begins with a discussion of correlation, and explains why correlation does not necessarily imply causation. The note then describes the method of least squares, and how to... View Details

Keywords: Data Science; Linear Regression; Mathematical Modeling; Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science

28 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Manufacturing Matters

factories to make flat-panel displays. The next thing to watch is the replacement of the incandescent lighbulb. The lighting industry is moving to LED technology at a very high speed. And all the LED... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Manufacturing

2023
Working Paper

An Experimental Design for Anytime-Valid Causal Inference on Multi-Armed Bandits

By: Biyonka Liang and Iavor I. Bojinov

Typically, multi-armed bandit (MAB) experiments are analyzed at the end of the study and thus require the analyst to specify a fixed sample size in advance. However, in many online learning applications, it is advantageous to continuously produce inference on the... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; AI and Machine Learning; Mathematical Methods