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• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2018 (Revised September 2018)

  Impact Investing for Cancer

  Richard G. Hamermesh and Matthew G. Preble

  It is early 2018, and Emily Park, managing director of impact for the Abreu Family Office, is meeting the next day with Tomás and Maria Abreu to discuss the various ways in which the Abreus can allocate a planned $100 million to make a meaningful difference in cancer patients’ lives. Park has spent the past few months working on this project and has uncovered a multitude of options, from supporting high-performing disease-focused organizations through venture philanthropy; to investing in a fund or directly into ventures and possibly earning a good return on investment in the process; to helping address system-wide issues such as the better organization and funding of clinical trials. As she prepares to present her findings to the Abreus, she wonders which one(s) will spark their interest as the way to have the most meaningful impact, and what implications their ultimate decision will have on the Family Office in terms of its capital outlays, structure, staffing, and many other categories.

  Keywords: impact investing; Investment; Health Disorders; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Decision Choices and Conditions;

  Citation:

  Hamermesh, Richard G., and Matthew G. Preble. "Impact Investing for Cancer." Harvard Business School Case 818-068, April 2018. (Revised September 2018.)  View Details

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• Article | Management Science | September 2018

  Discretionary Task Ordering: Queue Management in Radiological Services

  Maria Ibanez, Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman and Bradley R. Staats

  Work-scheduling research typically prescribes task sequences implemented by managers. Yet employees often have discretion to deviate from their prescribed sequence. Using data from 2.4 million radiological diagnoses, we find that doctors prioritize similar tasks (batching) and those tasks they expect to complete faster (shortest expected processing time). Moreover, they exercise more discretion as they accumulate experience. Exploiting random assignment of tasks to doctors’ queues, instrumental variable models reveal that these deviations erode productivity. This productivity decline lessens as doctors learn from experience. Prioritizing the shortest tasks is particularly detrimental to productivity. Actively grouping similar tasks also reduces productivity, in stark contrast to productivity gains from exogenous grouping, indicating deviation costs outweigh benefits from repetition. By analyzing task completion times, our work highlights the tradeoffs between the time required to exercise discretion and the potential gains from doing so, which has implications for how discretion over scheduling should be delegated.

  Keywords: discretion; scheduling; queue; healthcare; learning; experience; Decentralization; operations; service operations; service delivery; Performance; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Efficiency; Performance improvement; Performance Productivity; Decisions; time management; Cost vs Benefits; Health Industry; Operations; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Performance; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Decisions; Time Management; Cost vs Benefits; Health Industry;

  Citation:

  Ibanez, Maria, Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman, and Bradley R. Staats. "Discretionary Task Ordering: Queue Management in Radiological Services." Management Science 64, no. 9 (September 2018): 4389–4407. (Working paper available here. Winner of the 2017 Best Paper Competition of the POMS College of Healthcare Operations Management. Featured in Forbes, Quartz, and Inc.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2018

  The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation's Answer Fund

  Richard G. Hamermesh and Matthew G. Preble

  Keywords: Data Analytics; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Relationship Management; Cost vs Benefits; Investment Return; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation Leadership; Intellectual Property; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Dissemination; Leadership; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Goals and Objectives; Marketing Communications; Performance; Programs; Projects; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Networks; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Genetics; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Social and Collaborative Networks; Nonprofit Organizations; Strategy; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Hamermesh, Richard G., and Matthew G. Preble. "The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation's Answer Fund." Harvard Business School Case 818-045, May 2018.  View Details

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