Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(3,032)
- Faculty Publications (414)
- July 2017 (Revised September 2017)
- Case
Sampark Foundation: Transforming Primary Education in India
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Shweta Bagai
Founders Vineet and Anupama Nayar had rapidly scaled their foundation to reach 3 million primary school children (grades 1 to 3) in two states with math and English programs. Their goal was to reach 10 million children by 2025 and completely spend down the $100 million... View Details
- May 2017
- Case
Nestle's Commodity Systems Approach in Venezuela: Laying the Foundation for Shared Value in a Time of Crisis
By: Ray A. Goldberg, Jessica M. Newman and Jessica Grisanti
- Article
The Error at the Heart of Corporate Leadership
By: Joseph L. Bower and Lynn S. Paine
Agency theory, a new model of governance promulgated by academic economists in the 1970s, is behind the idea that corporate managers should make shareholder value their primary concern and that boards should ensure they do. The theory regards shareholders as owners of... View Details
- March 2017 (Revised May 2017)
- Teaching Note
The Strategy Execution Series
By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard
This is the teaching note for the 15-module Strategy Execution series. New management tools and techniques are needed to implement strategy in the 21st century. Rapid innovation, entrepreneurial competitors, and increasingly demanding customers have radically altered... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Strategy Execution; Performance Measurement; Profit Planning; Organization Design; Profitable Growth; Management Attention; Organizational Conflict; Job Design; Business Strategy; Management Systems; Entrepreneurship; Competition; Organizational Design; Performance Evaluation; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques
- March 2017
- Teaching Plan
The Maine Food Cluster Project
By: Karen Mills
The case introduces Craig Denekas, the head of the Libra Foundation, an unusual, private foundation based in Maine, which owns three locally based food companies. Denekas has initiated a project to explore how to grow the food sector in Maine, benefiting not only... View Details
- January–February 2017
- Article
Africa's New Generation of Innovators
By: Clayton M. Christensen, Efosa Ojomo and Derek van Bever
With a young, urbanizing population, abundant natural resources, and a growing middle class, Africa seems to have all the ingredients necessary for huge growth. Nevertheless, a number of multinationals have recently left the continent, discouraged by widespread... View Details
- December 2016
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 10: Using the Job Design Optimization Tool to Build Effective Organizations
By: Robert Simons
This module reading provides directions for using the online Job Design Optimization Tool (JDOT) which is available free of charge from Harvard Business School Publishing at https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/resources/marketing/multimedia/JDOT/index.html. This tool can... View Details
- December 2016
- Course Overview Note
The Entrepreneurial Manager: Course Overview, 2017 Winter Term
By: Paul Gompers
This note serves as an overview of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit’s required curriculum course, "The Entrepreneurial Manager (TEM)." General management has been a core educational organizing framework at the Harvard Business School (HBS) since its inception. Today... View Details
- December 2016 (Revised May 2018)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 15: Using the Levers of Control to Implement Strategy
By: Robert Simons
This module reading pulls together key concepts and techniques from the Strategy Execution series into an integrated model—the levers of control. The four levers are: (1) belief systems, (2) boundary systems, (3) diagnostic control systems, and (4) interactive control... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Levers Of Control; Balancing Innovation And Control; Managing Growing Businesses; Turn Around Management; Human Behavior; Organizational Life Cycle; Strategy; Management Systems; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Behavior
- November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 14: Managing Strategic Risk
By: Robert Simons
This module reading provides an overview of the business conduct boundaries, strategic boundaries, and internal control systems used to manage risk. Boundary systems—linked to clear, enforceable sanctions—are essential whenever demanding performance goals are set and... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Strategy Execution; Boundary Systems; Innovation; Internal Controls; Fraud; Human Behavior; Staff Experts; Strategy; Risk Management; Behavior; Governance Controls; Management Practices and Processes; Boundaries; Employees; Business Strategy; Innovation and Invention
- November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 13: Identifying Strategic Risk
By: Robert Simons
This module reading begins by describing the three sources of strategic risk—operations risk, asset impairment risk, and competitive risk—and demonstrates how these risks can undermine an entire business. To assist in the identification of these risks, the risk... View Details
- November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 11: Using Diagnostic and Interactive Control Systems
By: Robert Simons
This module reading introduces diagnostic and interactive control systems. Diagnostic control systems are the management-by-exception systems that managers use to monitor the achievement of their business strategy. Interactive control systems are the systems that top... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Performance Measurement; Diagnostic Control Systems; Interactive Control Systems; Emergent Strategy; Goal Setting; Incentives; Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Management Systems; Performance Evaluation
- November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 12: Aligning Performance Goals and Incentives
By: Robert Simons
This module reading explains how managers use performance goals and incentives to ensure that employee actions align with the overall business strategy of the organization. The module begins by discussing how managers use goals to communicate business strategy, the... View Details
- November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 8: Linking Performance to Markets
By: Robert Simons
This module reading shows how to link profit plans and other performance measurement systems to both internal and external markets. Starting with the transfer of goods and services within a firm, the module discusses the different methods of designing transfer pricing... View Details
- November 2016 (Revised March 2018)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 9: Building a Balanced Scorecard
By: Robert Simons
This module reading explains how to construct a strategy map and build a balanced scorecard. Using an internal value chain model, the module illustrates how a balanced scorecard can support and enable customer management, innovation, operations, and post-sale service... View Details
- November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 7: Designing Asset Allocation Systems
By: Robert Simons
This module reading provides tools and analyses for acquiring and allocating resources. The module begins by reviewing the importance of setting strategic boundaries as a basis for asset acquisitions. Next, a distinction is made between new assets acquired to meet... View Details
- October 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 6: Evaluating Strategic Profit Performance
By: Robert Simons
This module reading demonstrates how to calculate and analyze the profit generated by different business strategies. Formulas and examples are provided to calculate profit generated by changes in market share, revenue growth, efficiency improvements, and support costs.... View Details
- October 2016 (Revised February 2019)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 5: Building a Profit Plan
By: Robert Simons
This module reading describes how to build a profit plan to reflect the strategy of a business in economic terms. After introducing the profit wheel, cash wheel, and ROE wheel, the module illustrates how to use a profit plan to assess the viability of different... View Details
Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Profit Planning; Cash Flow Analysis; Asset Utilization; Return On Equity; Business Planning; Testing Strategy; Analyzing Strategic Alternative; Strategy; Asset Management; Cash Flow; Investment Return; Management Systems; Profit
- September 2016 (Revised April 2022)
- Case
Zhang Xin and the Emergence of Chinese Philanthropy
By: Geoffrey Jones and Amanda Yang
This case examines the recent emergence of Chinese business philanthropy through the case of the SOHO China Foundation established by the wife and husband real estate moguls Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi. It begins by describing the early careers of Zhang and Pan, and how... View Details
- September 2016 (Revised January 2018)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 4: Organizing for Performance
By: Robert Simons
This module reading explores the implications of different business models on organization design. After discussing the distinction between units focused on work processes and those devoted to markets, the analysis provides insight as to when to organize businesses by... View Details