Publications

Find at Harvard

March 2023
Case

Innovation at Google Ads: The Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL) (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2018, Ana Owczarzak was appointed to lead Google Ads' new innovation and accelerator team - the Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL). The purpose of SAIL was to offer testing and incubation services for individuals within Google Ads who were developing new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Design; Technology Industry; Advertising Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

March 2023
Supplement

Innovation at Google Ads: The Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL) (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2018, Ana Owczarzak was appointed to lead Google Ads' new innovation and accelerator team - the Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL). The purpose of SAIL was to offer testing and incubation services for individuals within Google Ads who were developing new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Leadership; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Advertising Industry; United States

Research Summary

Estimating Demand Uncertainty Using Judgmental Forecasts

Measuring demand uncertainty is a key activity in supply chain planning, but is difficult when demand history is unavailable such as for new products. One method that can be applied in such cases uses dispersion among forecasting experts as a measure of demand... View Details

June 1986 (Revised July 1990)
Case

OTISLINE (A)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Donna B. Stoddard

Describes the company's use of information technology to strengthen its position in the elevator sales and service market. Also demonstrates how information technology can be used to better manage and control a large geographically dispersed service organization. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Sales; Marketing; Rank and Position; Salesforce Management; Service Operations; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Global Range; Accounting; Business Ventures; Industry Growth

November 2002
Case

Siemens ShareNet: Building a Knowledge Network

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Sven Volpel and Kerry Herman

Describes the development of ShareNet, an innovative knowledge management system used by a division of Siemens. ShareNet attempts to capture the knowledge and experience of Siemen's many dispersed sales and marketing units around the globe, making it available to all.... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Investment Return; Revenue; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Management; Sales

September 2009 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Elkay Plumbing Products Division

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The vice president of sales learns that the most profitable 1% of the division's customers generate 100% of profits, and that two of the division's largest customers lose 50% of profits. The division has just finished a project to install a time-driven activity-based... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Management Systems; Consumer Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

August 2020
Article

Workplace Knowledge Flows

By: Jason Sandvik, Richard Saouma, Nathan Seegert and Christopher Stanton

We conducted a field experiment in a sales firm to test whether improving knowledge flows between coworkers affects productivity. Our design allows us to compare different management practices and to isolate whether frictions to knowledge transmission primarily reside... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Interpersonal Communication; Employees; Performance Productivity; Sales; Motivation and Incentives

Find at Harvard

Read Now

Research Summary

India Transformed? Insights from the Firm Level 1988-2005 (with Anusha Chari)

By: Laura Alfaro

Using firm-level data this paper analyzes, the transformation of India’s economic structure following the implementation of economic reforms. The focus of the study is on publicly-listed and unlisted firms from across a wide spectrum of manufacturing and services... View Details

2009
Working Paper

India Transformed: Insights from the Firm Level 1988-2005

By: Laura Alfaro and Anusha Chari

Using firm-level data this paper analyzes, the transformation of India's economic structure following the implementation of economic reforms. The focus of the study is on publicly-listed and unlisted firms from across a wide spectrum of manufacturing and services... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Economic Sectors; Economy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth and Development Strategy; India

Read Now

31 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

State and Local Governments Peer Into the Pandemic Abyss

Cities and states are feeling the financial pain of this recession more quickly than in past downturns after pandemic-induced lockdowns swiftly decimated sales tax revenue that helps fund their operations. In fact, new research finds that... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

09 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 9, 2008

distribution, pooled intra-organizational coordination, and agency relationships—result in a trade-off between centralized and dispersed growth strategies. Which strategy prevails depends on how policy—enabling branching interacts with... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 19

September 2017 Management Science Channel Integration, Sales Dispersion, and Inventory Management By: Gallino, Santiago, Antonio Moreno, and Ioannis Stamatopoulos Abstract—We study the effects of the introduction of cross-channel... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 20

appeared to have put the troubles of the past behind it. For over 70 years, Sainsbury's had been the UK's largest grocer, but Tesco had overtaken it in 1995, and then Asda knocked it into third position in 2003. When Justin King took over as CEO in 2004, UK View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2009
Article

India Transformed: Insights from the Firm Level 1988–2007

By: Laura Alfaro and Anusha Chari

Using firm-level data, this paper analyzes the transformation of India's economic structure following the implementation of economic reforms. The focus of the study is on publicly listed and unlisted firms from across a wide spectrum of manufacturing and services... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Transformation; Economics; Ownership; Assets; Sales; Profit; Stock Shares; Private Sector; Investment Return; Manufacturing Industry; Service Industry; India