Publications

2022
Article

Diffusing Management Practices within the Firm: The Role of Information Provision

By: Michael J. Lenox and Michael W. Toffel

Why are some firms more successful in adopting profitable environmental management practices than others? A key role of corporate managers is to encourage subsidiaries to adopt innovative practices. We examine the conditions under which corporate managers use... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Strategy; Information Provision; Environmental Management; Knowledge Dissemination

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Research Summary

Overview

Navid has worked with different organizations across various industries, from the Federal Reserve to medical device manufacturers, heavy construction equipment sellers, and B2B software providers, to assemble proprietary datasets in studying organizational buying.... View Details

27 Feb 2017
News

How Ford will create a new generation of driverless cars

Research Summary

Overview

By: John T. Gourville

John's research focuses on behavioral decision theory, which studies all the ways in which people systematically deviate from rational decision making. To date, his work has looked at the ways in which people irrationally respond to pricing, to product portfolios, and... View Details

Keywords: Marketing

July 2024
Case

Knowledge-Enabled Financial Advice: Digital Transformation at Edward Jones

By: Lauren Cohen, Richard Ryffel, Grace Headinger and Sophia Pan

Edward Jones, a wealth management advisory firm that prided itself on its interpersonal connections and face-to-face interactions, was eager to augment their services with AI capabilities. Built on 1-to-1 close-knit relationships, the firm had more than 15,000 offices... View Details

February 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Teaching Note

Making stickK Stick: The Business of Behavioral Economics

By: Leslie K. John and Michael Norton

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

This Teaching Note explains the theory of the case and teaching plan for the case: Making sticK Stick: The Business of Behavioral Economics (514019). The case focuses on a... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Behavior Change; B2B Vs. B2C; Human Resource Management; Marketing Of Innovations; Health ＆ Wellness; Weight Loss; Charitable Giving; Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Health; Business Model; Sales; Human Resources; Health Industry; United States

19 Feb 2008
Research & Ideas

Radical Design, Radical Results

When furniture designer Herman Miller presented a prototype of its sleek, mesh Aeron chair to a consumer focus group, many asked if they could see a finished, upholstered version. Innovative product design can be a risky proposition. Yet... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Consumer Products

05 Feb 2015
News

Tech Meets Fashion

2022
Working Paper

Talent Flows and the Geography of Knowledge Production: Causal Evidence from Multinational Firms

By: Dany Bahar, Prithwiraj Choudhury, Sara Signorelli and James M. Sappenfield

Leveraging a unique dataset merging patent data with all work-related migration reforms that took place in 15 countries over 26 years, we show that reforms discouraging inventor mobility decrease the patenting of MNE subsidiaries within a country, while reforms... View Details

Keywords: Migration; Technology; Policy Evaluation; Patents; Information Technology; Immigration; Policy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Globalization

SSRN

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2010
Working Paper

Conceptual Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard

By: Robert S. Kaplan

David Norton and I introduced the Balanced Scorecard in a 1992 Harvard Business Review article (Kaplan & Norton, 1992). The article was based on a multi-company research project to study performance measurement in companies whose intangible assets played a central role... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Balanced Scorecard; Management Systems; Performance Improvement; Strategy

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2007
Chapter

Process Management, Technological Innovation, and Organizational Adaptation

By: Mary Benner and M. Tushman

The promise of process management practices is that as organizations focus on variance reduction and increased process control, they will drive both speed and organizational efficiency. However, this promise also accentuates the dark side of process management. These... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Management Practices and Processes; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design

June 2023
Case

Barton Malow: Building From the Top-Down

By: Hise O. Gibson and Alicia Dadlani

In 2023, Detroit-based Barton Malow completed the first high-rise building in the U.S. built from the top-down using LIFTbuild, a patented methodology that aimed to make construction safer and more efficient. By completing building work at ground level and then... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Construction Industry

December 1994 (Revised June 1995)
Case

State Street Boston Corporation: Leading with Information Technology

A financial institution, State Street Boston Corp., is transformed from regional bank to global custodian and money manager. The corresponding evolution of the company's information systems is illustrated, focusing on the role attributed to information technology in a... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Information Technology; Business Strategy; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

January 2020
Case

SK Group: Social Progress Credits

By: George Serafeim, Ethan Rouen and David Freiberg

SK Group was one of the largest companies South Korea. A family-run conglomerate consisting of around 120 subsidiaries and employing more than 100,000, SK was tightly knit into the fabric of Korean society. SK viewed their future success as contingent upon the strength... View Details

July 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Vytal: Packaging-as-a-Service

By: George Serafeim, Michael W. Toffel, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

The Germany-based startup Vytal operated the largest digital-native reusable packaging-as-a-service network globally, having raised nearly €15 million, established a large network of restaurant partners, and prevented the use of millions of single-use take-out food... View Details

21 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Artificial Intelligence Isn't a Sure Thing to Increase Productivity

(USPTO), which has used innovative practices around employees working remotely. “I found the US patent office fascinating,” Choudhury says. “It is not only a large organization with more than 10,000 people, but also an organization that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology; Information

July 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Washington Hospital Center (D): Emergency Medicine After September 11

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Michelle Heskett

The all-risks-ready emergency room prototype project becomes widely accepted as a need after September 11, 2001. The already operational medical informatics system, Insight, comes under heavy demand after its strong performance during crises and is noticed by various... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Health Care and Treatment; Nonprofit Organizations; Medical Specialties; Organizational Culture; Crisis Management; Technological Innovation; Higher Education; Performance Productivity; Health Industry; District of Columbia

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Learning Tradeoffs in Organizations: Measuring Multiple Dimensions of Improvement to Investigate Learning-Curve Heterogeneity

Keywords: by Francesca Gino, Richard M.J. Bohmer, Amy C. Edmondson, Gary P. Pisano & Ann B. Winslow; Health

March 2000
Case

Aspect Medical Systems

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Naomi Atkins

Entrepreneur Nassib Chamoun has created an innovative anesthesiology device that monitors patients' consciousness levels during surgery. This case tracks how Chamoun and his executive team built the infrastructure of the company and actively managed the adoption... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Independent Innovation and Invention; Infrastructure; Product Design; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Adoption; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry