Operations →
- 23 Aug 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Capturing Benefits from Tomorrow’s Technology in Today’s Products: The Effect of Absorptive Capacity
It seems clear that firms with an existing R&D function are better able to use related outside research than firms without an R&D function. But can specific products also "absorb" a firm's knowledge of related technologies? Using patent data and the example of automobile carburetors, Daniel Snow studied how companies may adapt a component of a "radical innovation" technology for their own current-technology products. He also poses a far-reaching question for companies: Can they capture the returns of these inventive activities? Key concepts include: Firms that have experience working with a "future technology" or radical innovation can efficiently adapt components from such innovations for their own current-technology products. They are also more likely to adapt such components. For any positive effects, the future-technology components should already be closely related to the product's current components. Whether firms can capture the returns of their own inventive activity may boil down to the fact that intellectual property is difficult to protect: The possibility of free-riding may affect firms' willingness to invest in future technologies. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 26 Jul 2006
- Research & Ideas
The Strategic Way to Go to Market
Too often channel strategies develop at the last minute--when a product is ready to go to market. But this haphazard approach leaves a lot of efficiencies and synergies by the wayside, says V. Kasturi Rangan. Enter the concept of the "channel steward." Key concepts include: Distribution strategies are often supplier-conceived methods to get a product to market, but these strategies fail to capitalize fully on channel partners or customers. A "channel steward" is a player in the chain who is best positioned to look out for the interests of all involved and devise a win-win strategy. Distribution strategy needs the attention of high-level executives—not just a product manager. Think of the Internet as a complementary go-to-market tool, not a total solution. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing
Activity-based costing (ABC) has become popular in business writing and management circles. (An example of an activity would be process customer complaints.) However, calculating baselines for activities, developing the model, and retesting the model once it is implemented is time-consuming and costly. Kaplan and Anderson developed improvements in the process through what they call time-driven ABC. Time-driven ABC decreases the amount of data needed, and only requires estimates of two things: (1) the practical capacity of committed resources and their cost, and (2) unit times for performing transactional activities. Key concepts include: Building an accurate time-based algorithm in one facility will typically serve as a template that can be easily applied and customized to other plants, or even other companies in an industry. Time-driven ABC requires less time and resources to implement. At one company cited, it took two people two days per month to load, calculate, validate, and report findings, compared to the ten-person team spending over three weeks to maintain the previous (traditional ABC) model. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
The Motion Picture Industry: Critical Issues in Practice, Current Research & New Research Directions
This paper reviews research and trends in three key areas of movie making: production, distribution, and exhibition. In the production process, the authors recommend risk management and portfolio management for studios, and explore talent compensation issues. Distribution trends show that box-office performance will increasingly depend on a small number of blockbusters, advertising spending will rise (but will cross different types of media), and the timing of releases (and DVDs) will become a bigger issue. As for exhibiting movies, trends show that more sophisticated exhibitors will emerge, contractual changes between distributor and exhibitors will change, and strategies for tickets prices may be reevaluated. Key concepts include: Business tools such as quantitative and qualitative research and market research should be applied to the decision-making process at earlier stages of development. Technological developments will continue to have unknown effects on every stage of the movie-making value chain (production, distribution, exhibition, consumption). Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Why IT Matters in Midsized Firms
What does IT actually contribute to a business? Is IT a commodity like electricity or is it a crucial element of competitive advantage? In a study of over 600 medium-sized global firms to analyze the business benefits that IT can enable, the authors found that IT capability was key to profitable business growth. This was true in both the U.S. product and services sectors as well as in Germany and Brazil. Key concepts include: IT matters. IT enables firms to scale. The amount a company spends on IT is a poor indicator of IT functionality and business impact. Firms with business process scalability find it easier to overcome obstacles to growth, differentiate themselves from competitors, and quickly capitalize on opportunities. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Information Technology Ecosystem Health and Performance
An IT ecosystem is "the network of organizations that drives the creation and delivery of information technology products and services." To understand the health and well being of the IT industry in the context of an ecosystem, the authors looked at three crucial IT ecosystem metrics: productivity, robustness, and innovation. Key concepts include: The IT ecosystem is strong in all three of the most important sectors of hardware, software, and services. Since the recession and retrenchment several years ago, the IT ecosystem has regained its health, competitiveness, and productivity. There are currently significant levels of innovation from both new market entrants as well as incumbent market leaders. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Behavioral Operations
Organizations often commit to more product development projects than they can handle. And while people do not always behave rationally, most research on operations management still assumes they do. This paper explores theoretical and practical ways to study the effects of behavior and cognition on operations. Key concepts include: Recognize the role of common cognitive biases such as wishful thinking, overconfidence, and procrastination in order to understand and solve chronic problems in operations management. Such knowledge may help improve the operating systems that people design, implement, and use. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Apr 2006
- Research & Ideas
American Auto’s Troubled Road
Harvard Business School faculty dissect where U.S. auto makers went wrong, and how they might again get on the road to growth. From HBS Alumni Bulletin. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Jan 2006
- Research & Ideas
What Customers Want from Your Products
Marketers should think less about market segments and more about the jobs customers want to do. A Harvard Business Review excerpt by HBS professor Clayton M. Christensen, Intuit’s Scott Cook, and Advertising Research Foundation’s Taddy Hall. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 09 Jan 2006
- Research & Ideas
What Really Drives Your Strategy?
For better or worse, why do so many companies veer off their strategic plan? Look for a disconnect between strategy and how resources are allocated, say Harvard Business School’s Joseph L. Bower and Clark G. Gilbert. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Aug 2005
- Research & Ideas
The Hard Work of Failure Analysis
We all should learn from failure—but it's difficult to do so objectively. In this excerpt from "Failing to Learn and Learning to Fail (Intelligently)" in Long Range Planning Journal, HBS professor Amy Edmondson and coauthor Mark Cannon offer a process for analyzing what went wrong. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 20 Dec 2004
- Research & Ideas
How an Order Views Your Company
HBS Professors Benson Shapiro and Kash Rangan bring us up to date on their pioneering research that helped ignite today’s intense focus on the customer. The key? Know your order cycle management. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Jun 2004
- Research & Ideas
What Drives Supply Chain Behavior?
Surprise: Managers are not always rational decision makers. In this interview, professors Rogelio Oliva and Noel Watson discuss how human behavior affects supply chain coordination. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Apr 2004
- Research & Ideas
Operations and the Competitive Edge
Many managers expect operations organizations to fulfill only a support role. But an effective operations strategy can give you a competitive advantage. An interview with professor Robert Hayes. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Jan 2004
- What Do You Think?
How Should We Think About the Exportation of Jobs?
It looks like productivity increases in the U.S. are accommodating growth with little increase in the number of jobs. Doesn’t it suggest that the jobs that people do hold must be getting better? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 25 Aug 2003
- Research & Ideas
Why IT Does Matter
HBS professors F. Warren McFarlan and Richard L. Nolan respond to the much-discussed assertion by Nicholas Carr that company investments in IT are less and less likely to produce competitive advantage. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Jun 2003
- Research & Ideas
Building a Better Buyer-Seller Relationship
How do you turn short-term transactions into long-term relationships? Harvard Business School professor Narakesari Narayandas finds answers in mature industrial markets. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 09 Jun 2003
- Research & Ideas
Incentives and Operational Excellence
Operational problems are a drag on business and often can be traced to poor controls in interorganizational settings, says HBS professor V.G. Narayanan. Here are his suggestions for tightening up those controls. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 Apr 2003
- Research & Ideas
Supply Chain Risk: Deal With It
Suddenly your supply chain is full of weak links, everything from terrorism to political instability to dock strikes. Could you and your customers withstand a disruption? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
HBS Cases: Porsche’s Risky Roll on an SUV
Why would a company want to locate in a high-cost, high-wage economy like Germany? Porsche's unusual answer has framed two case studies by HBS professor Jeffrey Fear and colleague Carin-Isabel Knoop. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.