Publications

SSRN

September 24, 2024
Article

4 Steps That Can Optimize Your Sales Process

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Scott Peterson and Daniel Weinfurter

Sales is a performance art where outcomes matter, so most advice here focuses on closing the sale. But a close is the result of actions and choices that occur earlier in the process: how much time and effort to spend on customer discovery (understanding what and to... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Customer Satisfaction; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage

August 2002 (Revised June 2006)
Background Note

Steps Toward Self-Assessment

Provides an overview of the self-assessment process and data-generating instruments employed in the course Self-Assessment and Career Development. The major steps in the outlined process are: gathering data through the instruments; reacting to the data and instruments;... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career

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2019
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 8 Rationalizing Flow Processes

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the value structure of flow production processes and to explain why it is necessary to rationalize flow processes using the tools of systematic management. I first explain the problems facing managers of multi-step flow... View Details

Keywords: Flow Processes; Bottlenecks; Systematic Management; Production; Management; Problems and Challenges

November 1995
Background Note

Reengineering a Business Process

By: Richard L. Nolan and Thomas H. Davenport

Describes the six steps included in most reengineering initiatives: selecting the processes for reengineering; identifying change enablers; developing a business vision of process objectives; understanding and measuring existing processes; designing and prototyping the... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Change Management; Measurement and Metrics

November 1992 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Process Control at Polaroid (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes the initial efforts at a film production plant to shift from a traditional QC inspection mentality to a worker-based process control mentality. Students can prepare SPC charts, propose actions needed, and combine steps into an overall action plan. View Details

Keywords: Management Systems; Operations; Quality; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Business Processes; Change Management; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry

October 1987 (Revised January 1989)
Background Note

Purchasing a Business: The Search Process

Describes the steps necessary to purchase a small to medium size company. Provides an eight-part analytical framework. Issues covered in the framework include the following: the self-assessment, deal criteria, deal sources, resources necessary to purchase a business,... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Framework; Resource Allocation; Negotiation Deal; Business Processes; Valuation

August 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Background Note

Process of "Going Public" in the United States, The

Summarizes the process of going public: the steps for SEC approval, the role of the SEC, and the roles of major players such as underwriters and printers. View Details

Keywords: Going Public; United States

09 Jul 2007
Research & Ideas

Five Steps to Better Family Negotiations

a family member doesn't know what his or her interests really are, a supportive family can encourage the family member to talk about possible scenarios and gradually uncover his or her true interests. This process requires patience and a... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Davis and Deepak Malhotra

05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Understanding the Process of Innovation

Michael Collins is looking to diversify. His company, Big Idea Group, currently produces only children's toys, but he thinks his process for discovering, refining, and bringing ideas to market can work in other niches. As the Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gray

24 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

Managing Alignment as a Process

business units and, in particular, how they would work together to create synergy. Align the business units with the corporate strategy. Align the support units with the business units. Create a governance process to ensure that alignment... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Retail

08 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Systems vs. Step Processes—The Value of Options and the Power of Modularity

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin

September 1986 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Solagen: Process Improvement in the Manufacture of Gelatin at Kodak

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey

Kodak must decide whether to make a major investment in a production facility designed around a new technique for producing the gelatin critical to so many film and paper products. Currently, gelatin making is an arcane art, unchanged in 150 years and heavily dependent... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Buildings and Facilities; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Experience and Expertise; Engineering; Investment; Time Management; Production; Research and Development; Semiconductor Industry

14 Jun 2023
Research & Ideas

Four Steps to Building the Psychological Safety That High-Performing Teams Need

authors identify four research-backed steps that leaders can take to cultivate psychological safety among their employees. When properly understood, focusing on these four areas can boost team performance and work culture across... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

31 Oct 2023
Research & Ideas

Beyond the 'Business Case' in DEI: 6 Steps Toward Meaningful Change

terms of the benefits and “bottom line” are the least likely to follow their commitments with action. Conversely, leaders who take steps to expand opportunity tend to be people who acknowledge the underlying inequality and believe that... View Details

Keywords: by Katherine Hutt Scott and Barbara DeLollis

2013
Working Paper

Increased Speed Equals Increased Wait: The Impact of a Reduction in Emergency Department Ultrasound Order Processing Time

By: Jillian Berry Jaeker, Anita L. Tucker and Michael H. Lee

We exploit an exogenous process change at two emergency departments (EDs) within a health system to test the theory that increasing capacity in a discretionary work setting increases wait times due to additional services being provided to customers as a consequence of... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Demand and Consumers; Service Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Business Processes; Health Industry

Article

Reflections: Toward a Normative and Actionable Theory of Planned Organizational Change and Development

By: Michael Beer

A normative and actionable theory of planned organizational change and development is proposed based on fifty years of engagement by the author as a scholar-consultant. Five principles are central features of the theory and practice proposed: 1) Organizations are... View Details

Keywords: Consultant; Process; Systems; Silence; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Learning; Management Teams

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11 Nov 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Increased Speed Equals Increased Wait: The Impact of a Reduction in Emergency Department Ultrasound Order Processing Time

Keywords: by Jillian Berry Jaeker, Anita L. Tucker & Michael H. Lee; Health

October 2004
Background Note

A Note on Drawing Implications from Themes

Discusses the process of generating implications from life themes, a necessary step for completing the Self-Assessment and Career Development final paper. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career

August 1997
Case

Natural Blends, Inc.

By: H. Kent Bowen, Ramchandran Jaikumar and Karen Krause

Describes the continuous flow process used to generate orange juice concentrate. Production involves several tightly coupled process steps with varying production rates and setup times. Given production constraints and customer requirements, management choices must be... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Product; Performance Capacity; Performance Productivity