Technology & Operations Management
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- 2025
- Article
Educating Students and Professionals on the Business Implications of Climate Change
As climate change poses unprecedented challenges and opportunities, the private sector must play a pivotal role in both adaptation and mitigation efforts. This article discusses the new Harvard Business School Online course, Business and Climate Change, designed to equip participants—whether fulltime students or professionals—with practical tools to understand how companies are addressing climate-related risks and opportunities. After introductory coverage of climate science and government policies, the course introduces a range of managers from companies around the world and across different sectors to explain how they are enacting practical solutions to improve their climate adaptation and decarbonise their products, operations, and supply chains. With engaging videos, short readings, and exercises, the course seeks to enable future leaders to integrate climate solutions into core business strategies, product and service design, operational decisions, and more. Given the increasing demand from Gen Z and Millennials—and MBA students—for meaningful, impactful careers, the course addresses an urgent need to align business education with the realities of a changing planet.
- 2025
- Article
Educating Students and Professionals on the Business Implications of Climate Change
As climate change poses unprecedented challenges and opportunities, the private sector must play a pivotal role in both adaptation and mitigation efforts. This article discusses the new Harvard Business School Online course, Business and Climate Change, designed to equip participants—whether fulltime students or professionals—with practical tools...
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- February 2025
- Article
Variation in Batch Ordering of Imaging Tests in the Emergency Department and the Impact on Care Delivery
By: Jacob C. Jameson, Soroush Saghafian, Robert S. Huckman and Nicole HodgsonObjectives: To examine heterogeneity in physician batch ordering practices and measure the impact of a physician's tendency to batch order imaging tests on patient outcomes and resource utilization. Study Setting and Design: In this retrospective study, we used comprehensive EMR data from patients who visited the Mayo Clinic of Arizona Emergency Department (ED) between October 6, 2018 and December 31, 2019. Primary outcomes are patient length of stay (LOS) in the ED, number of diagnostic imaging tests ordered during a patient encounter, and patients' return with admission to the ED within 72 h. The association between outcomes and physician batch tendency was measured using a multivariable linear regression controlling for various covariates. Data Sources and Analytic Sample: The Mayo Clinic of Arizona Emergency Department recorded approximately 50,836 visits, all randomly assigned to physicians during the study period. After excluding rare complaints, we were left with an analytical sample of 43,299 patient encounters. Principal Findings: Findings show that having a physician with a batch tendency 1 standard deviation (SD) greater than the average physician was associated with a 4.5% increase in ED LOS (p < 0.001). It was also associated with a 14.8% (0.2 percentage points) decrease in the probability of a 72-h return with admission (p < 0.001), implying that batching may lead to more comprehensive evaluations, reducing the need for short-term revisits. A batch tendency 1SD greater than that of the average physician was also associated with an additional 8 imaging tests ordered per 100 patient encounters (p < 0.001), suggesting that batch ordering may be leading to tests that would not have been otherwise ordered had the physician waited for the results from one test before placing their next order. Conclusions: This study highlights the considerable impact of physicians' diagnostic test ordering strategies on ED efficiency and patient care. The results also highlight the need to develop guidelines to optimize ED test ordering practices.
- February 2025
- Article
Variation in Batch Ordering of Imaging Tests in the Emergency Department and the Impact on Care Delivery
By: Jacob C. Jameson, Soroush Saghafian, Robert S. Huckman and Nicole HodgsonObjectives: To examine heterogeneity in physician batch ordering practices and measure the impact of a physician's tendency to batch order imaging tests on patient outcomes and resource utilization. Study Setting and Design: In this retrospective study, we used comprehensive EMR data from patients who visited the Mayo Clinic of Arizona Emergency...
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- 2025
- Working Paper
The Hidden Costs of Working Multiple Jobs: Implications for Spending Behavior and Wellbeing
By: Paige Tsai and Ryan W. BuellAcross three studies, combining survey data, transaction-level analysis from 90,548 customers of a nationwide retail bank, and insights from the General Social Survey, we study whether people with multiple jobs spend their labor income differently than people who earn the same total income from a single job. Inclusive of housing spend, we find that individuals who are more reliant on multiple jobs spend 17.0 percentage points (p.p.) less of their labor income overall, which is driven by a 15.5 p.p. decrease in the share of income spent on necessities and a 1.9 p.p. decrease in the share of income spent on indulgences. Examining differences in spend by expenditure category reveals that peoples’ lived experiences differ meaningfully based on their income composition: individuals with multiple jobs spend meaningfully more on education and transportation, but notably less in all other key spending areas including groceries, dining out, healthcare, entertainment, home improvement and shopping. Although it’s not possible in our data to directly assess whether these spending differences drive differences in individual wellbeing, we observe that those who are reliant on multiple jobs spend meaningfully less in categories traditionally associated with enhanced physical and mental wellbeing, such as healthcare and food, and less on experiential categories traditionally associated with enhanced emotional wellbeing, such as travel and entertainment. These patterns converge with responses from the General Social Survey, in which equivalently-compensated individuals who rely on multiple jobs report lower general happiness and financial satisfaction than their single-income counterparts. These findings suggest that it’s not only the amount a person earns, but also the way they earn it, that links to variations in spending behavior and overall wellbeing, which offers significant insights for the design of sustainable work in operations.
- 2025
- Working Paper
The Hidden Costs of Working Multiple Jobs: Implications for Spending Behavior and Wellbeing
By: Paige Tsai and Ryan W. BuellAcross three studies, combining survey data, transaction-level analysis from 90,548 customers of a nationwide retail bank, and insights from the General Social Survey, we study whether people with multiple jobs spend their labor income differently than people who earn the same total income from a single job. Inclusive of housing spend, we find...
About the Unit
As the world of operations has changed, so have interests and priorities within the Unit. Historically, the TOM Unit focused on manufacturing and the development of physical products. Over the past several years, we have expanded our research, course development, and course offerings to encompass new issues in information technology, supply chains, and service industries.
The field of TOM is concerned with the design, management, and improvement of operating systems and processes. As we seek to understand the challenges confronting firms competing in today's demanding environment, the focus of our work has broadened to include the multiple activities comprising a firm's "operating core":
- the multi-function, multi-firm system that includes basic research, design, engineering, product and process development and production of goods and services within individual operating units;
- the networks of information and material flows that tie operating units together and the systems that support these networks;
- the distribution and delivery of goods and services to customers.
Recent Publications
Intenseye: Powering Workplace Health and Safety with AI (B)
- February 2025 |
- Supplement |
- Faculty Research
Preparing Business Leaders for an Era of Climate Instability: Understanding and Managing Physical Climate Risk
- February 2025 |
- Tutorial |
- Faculty Research
Educating Students and Professionals on the Business Implications of Climate Change
- 2025 |
- Article |
- Global Focus: The EFMD Business Magazine
Data Infrastructure
- February 2025 |
- Technical Note |
- Faculty Research
Variation in Batch Ordering of Imaging Tests in the Emergency Department and the Impact on Care Delivery
- February 2025 |
- Article |
- Health Services Research
New Belgium Brewing and Climate Change
- January 2025 |
- Teaching Note |
- Faculty Research
Note on Estate Planning
- January 2025 |
- Technical Note |
- Faculty Research
Knowledge Transfer: Toyota, NUMMI, and GM
- January 2025 |
- Teaching Plan |
- Faculty Research
Harvard Business Publishing
Seminars & Conferences
There are no upcoming events.