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New research on business operations from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including the digital supply chain, supply chain strategy, outsourcing and evolving skillsets.
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India’s Food Supply Chain During the Pandemic

by Matt Lowe, G V Nadhanael, and Benjamin N. Roth

Policy makers in the developing world face important tradeoffs in reacting to a pandemic. The quick and complete recovery of India’s food supply chain suggests that strict lockdown measures at the onset of pandemics need not cause long-term economic damage.

Where the Cloud Rests: The Economic Geography of Data Centers

by Shane Greenstein and Tommy Pan Fang

This study quantifies how data center managers make a trade-off between the setup and operational costs of running a facility and capturing local demand.

Centrino and the Restructuring of Wi-Fi Supply

by Roberto Fontana and Shane Greenstein

This study examines Intel’s launch of Centrino and interprets it as a platform leader’s attempt to restructure a supply chain.

Can Shared Service Delivery Increase Customer Engagement? A Study of Shared Medical Appointments

by Ryan W. Buell, Kamalini Ramdas, and Nazlı Sönmez

Shared service delivery means that customers are served in groups rather than individually. Results from a large-scale study of glaucoma follow-up appointments at a major eye hospital indicate that shared service delivery can significantly improve patients’ verbal and non-verbal engagement.

Is the 'Experimentation Organization' Becoming the Competitive Gold Standard?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP: Digital experimentation is gaining momentum as an everyday habit in many organizations, especially those in high tech, say James Heskett's readers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Racism and Digital Design: How Online Platforms Can Thwart Discrimination

by Kristen Senz

Poor design decisions contribute to racial discrimination on many online platforms. Michael Luca and colleagues offer tips for reducing the risk, used by Airbnb and other companies. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Open Source Software and Global Entrepreneurship

by Nataliya Langburd Wright, Frank Nagle, and Shane Greenstein

Does more activity in open source software development lead to increased entrepreneurial activity and, if so, how much, and in what direction? This study measures how participation on the GitHub open source platform affects the founding of new ventures globally.

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

A survey of 50 companies across countries and industries reveals business leaders are hard at work adapting to the COVID threat. Research by Raffaella Sadun and colleagues. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Corporate Resilience and Response During COVID-19

by Alex Cheema-Fox, Bridget LaPerla, George Serafeim, and Hui (Stacie) Wang

Investors look for evidence during a market crisis that a company is resilient. This study includes findings that challenge the notion that companies need to adopt practices that hurt their employees because investors want them to do so.

Are Digital Organizations Better at Overcoming COVID?

by Danielle Kost

Experts from Harvard Business School's Digital Initiative discuss how technology is helping leading companies gain an edge during the coronavirus pandemic. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Will Challenged Amazon Tweak Its Retail Model Post-Pandemic?

by James Heskett

James Heskett's readers have little sympathy for Amazon's loss of market share during the pandemic. Has the organization lost its ability to learn? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How Leaders Are Fighting Food Insecurity on Three Continents

by Howard Stevenson and Shirley Spence

The pandemic could almost double the number of people facing food crises in lower-income populations by the end of 2020. Howard Stevenson and Shirley Spence show how organizations are responding. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Has Occupational Licensing Outlived Its Usefulness?

by Martha Lagace

A recent study shows that consumers do not value occupational licensing of their contractors or the higher prices they charge. Research by Chiara Farronato. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

No Line Left Behind: Assortative Matching Inside the Firm

by Achyuta Adhvaryu, Vittorio Bassi, Anant Nyshadham, and Jorge Tamayo

This paper studies how buyer relationships influence suppliers' internal organization of labor. The results emphasize that suppliers to the global market, when they are beholden to a small set of powerful buyers, may be driven to allocate managerial skill to service these relationships, even at the expense of productivity.

The Effects of Hierarchy on Learning and Performance in Business Experimentation

by Sourobh Ghosh, Stefan H. Thomke, and Hazjier Pourkhalkhali

Do senior managers help or hurt business experiments? Analyzing a dataset of more than 6,300 experiments on the A/B/n testing platform Optimizely, this study suggests that involving senior executives in experimentation teams can have surprising consequences.

How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business

by Dina Gerdeman

We asked Harvard Business School experts how the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to change business practice. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How Entrepreneurs Can Find the Right Problem to Solve

by Julia Austin

Identifying a customer's pain points is the first step for entrepreneurs in developing a new product. Julia Austin offers tips for choosing the right "job to be done." Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

China-based Fuyao Glass Considers Manufacturing in the US

Not many Chinese companies open manufacturing facilities in the US, but automotive glass maker Fuyao is considering just that. In a recent case study, Willy Shih examines factors that go into deciding where companies should locate production centers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Impact of the General Data Protection Regulation on Internet Interconnection

by Ran Zhuo, Bradley Huffaker, KC Claffy, and Shane Greenstein

While many countries consider implementing their own versions of privacy and data protection regulations, there are concerns about whether such regulations may negatively impact the growth of the internet and reduce technology firms’ incentives in operating and innovating. Results of this study suggest limited effects of such regulations on the internet layer.

Intelligent Design of Inclusive Growth Strategies

by Robert S. Kaplan, George Serafeim, and Eduardo Tugendhat

How companies, working with a catalyst, can redesign supply chains to achieve economic, environmental, and social returns.