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Technology & Operations Management

Technology & Operations Management

  • Faculty
  • Curriculum
  • Seminars & Conferences
  • Awards & Honors
  • Doctoral Students
Overview Faculty Curriculum Seminars & Conferences Awards & Honors Doctoral Students
    • May 9, 2023
    • Response

    Regulatory Submission Characteristics and Recalls of Medical Devices Receiving 510(k) Clearance

    By: Alexander O. Everhart, Yi Zhu and Ariel D. Stern

    • May 9, 2023
    • Response

    Regulatory Submission Characteristics and Recalls of Medical Devices Receiving 510(k) Clearance

    By: Alexander O. Everhart, Yi Zhu and Ariel D. Stern

    • 2023
    • Working Paper

    Setting Gendered Expectations? Recruiter Outreach Bias in Online Tech Training Programs

    By: Jacqueline N. Lane, Karim R. Lakhani and Roberto Fernandez

    Competence development in digital technologies, analytics, and artificial intelligence is increasingly important to all types of organizations and their workforce. Universities and corporations are investing heavily in developing training programs, at all tenure levels, to meet the new skills needs. However, there is a risk that the new set of lucrative opportunities for employees in these tech-heavy fields will be biased against diverse demographic groups like women. Although much research has examined the experiences of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and occupations, less understood is the extent to which gender stereotypes influence recruiters’ perceptions and evaluations of individuals who are deciding whether to apply to STEM training programs. These behaviors are typically unobserved because they occur prior to the application interface. We address this question by investigating recruiters’ initial outreach decisions to over 166,000 prospective students who have expressed interest in applying to a mid-career level online tech training program in business analytics. Using data on the recruiters’ communications, our results indicate that recruiters are less likely to initiate contact with female than male prospects and search for additional signals of quality from female prospects before contacting them. We also find evidence that recruiters are more likely to base initial outreach activities on prospect gender when they have higher workloads and limited attention. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this research for our understanding of how screening and selection decisions prior to the application interface may undermine organizational efforts to achieve gender equality and diversity as well as the potential for demand-side interventions to mitigate these gender disparities.

    • 2023
    • Working Paper

    Setting Gendered Expectations? Recruiter Outreach Bias in Online Tech Training Programs

    By: Jacqueline N. Lane, Karim R. Lakhani and Roberto Fernandez

    Competence development in digital technologies, analytics, and artificial intelligence is increasingly important to all types of organizations and their workforce. Universities and corporations are investing heavily in developing training programs, at all tenure levels, to meet the new skills needs. However, there is a risk that the new set of...

    • 2023
    • Book

    Research Handbook on Digital Strategy

    By: Carmelo Cennamo, Giovanni Battista Dagnino and Feng Zhu

    This state-of-the-art Research Handbook presents a comprehensive overview of the key strategic challenges that firms face when dealing with digital markets, platforms, and products and services, from old strategy questions in need of different solutions to entirely novel issues posed by the new competitive digital context.

    • 2023
    • Book

    Research Handbook on Digital Strategy

    By: Carmelo Cennamo, Giovanni Battista Dagnino and Feng Zhu

    This state-of-the-art Research Handbook presents a comprehensive overview of the key strategic challenges that firms face when dealing with digital markets, platforms, and products and services, from old strategy questions in need of different solutions to entirely novel issues posed by the new competitive digital context.

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

Sian Flowers: Fresher by Sea - Video Supplement

By: Willy C. Shih
  • May 2023 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
The setting for this case is the Sian Flowers, a company headquartered in Kitengela, Kenya that exports roses to predominantly Europe. Because cut flowers have a limited shelf life and consumers want them to retain their appearance for as long as possible, Sian or its distributors used international air cargo to transport them to Amsterdam, where they were sold at auction or trucked to markets across Europe. The Covid-19 pandemic caused huge increases in the cost of shipping, so Sian launched experiments to ship roses by ocean using refrigerated containers. Chris Kulei, the Executive Director, was interested in not only the potential costs savings, but whether he could also market the reduced carbon footprint.
Keywords: Supply Chain; Supply Chains; Sustainability; Sustainable Agriculture; Sustainability Reporting; Carbon Emissions; Supply Chain Management; Quality; Ship Transportation; Cost Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Kenya; Netherlands; Europe
Citation
Purchase
Related
Shih, Willy C. "Sian Flowers: Fresher by Sea - Video Supplement." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 623-713, May 2023.

Regulatory Submission Characteristics and Recalls of Medical Devices Receiving 510(k) Clearance

By: Alexander O. Everhart, Yi Zhu and Ariel D. Stern
  • May 9, 2023 |
  • Response |
  • JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association
Keywords: Product Design; Safety; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry
Citation
Find at Harvard
Read Now
Purchase
Related
Everhart, Alexander O., Yi Zhu, and Ariel D. Stern. "Regulatory Submission Characteristics and Recalls of Medical Devices Receiving 510(k) Clearance." JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association 329, no. 18 (May 9, 2023): 1609–1610. (Reply to original paper.)

Setting Gendered Expectations? Recruiter Outreach Bias in Online Tech Training Programs

By: Jacqueline N. Lane, Karim R. Lakhani and Roberto Fernandez
  • 2023 |
  • Working Paper |
  • Faculty Research
Competence development in digital technologies, analytics, and artificial intelligence is increasingly important to all types of organizations and their workforce. Universities and corporations are investing heavily in developing training programs, at all tenure levels, to meet the new skills needs. However, there is a risk that the new set of lucrative opportunities for employees in these tech-heavy fields will be biased against diverse demographic groups like women. Although much research has examined the experiences of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and occupations, less understood is the extent to which gender stereotypes influence recruiters’ perceptions and evaluations of individuals who are deciding whether to apply to STEM training programs. These behaviors are typically unobserved because they occur prior to the application interface. We address this question by investigating recruiters’ initial outreach decisions to over 166,000 prospective students who have expressed interest in applying to a mid-career level online tech training program in business analytics. Using data on the recruiters’ communications, our results indicate that recruiters are less likely to initiate contact with female than male prospects and search for additional signals of quality from female prospects before contacting them. We also find evidence that recruiters are more likely to base initial outreach activities on prospect gender when they have higher workloads and limited attention. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this research for our understanding of how screening and selection decisions prior to the application interface may undermine organizational efforts to achieve gender equality and diversity as well as the potential for demand-side interventions to mitigate these gender disparities.
Keywords: STEM; Selection and Staffing; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Training; Equality and Inequality; Competency and Skills
Citation
Read Now
Related
Lane, Jacqueline N., Karim R. Lakhani, and Roberto Fernandez. "Setting Gendered Expectations? Recruiter Outreach Bias in Online Tech Training Programs." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-066, April 2023. (Accepted by Organization Science.)

Research Handbook on Digital Strategy

By: Carmelo Cennamo, Giovanni Battista Dagnino and Feng Zhu
  • 2023 |
  • Book |
  • Faculty Research
This state-of-the-art Research Handbook presents a comprehensive overview of the key strategic challenges that firms face when dealing with digital markets, platforms, and products and services, from old strategy questions in need of different solutions to entirely novel issues posed by the new competitive digital context.
Keywords: Digital Strategy
Citation
Purchase
Related
Cennamo, Carmelo, Giovanni Battista Dagnino, and Feng Zhu, eds. Research Handbook on Digital Strategy. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023.

Driving Decarbonization at BMW – Instructor Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel
  • April 2023 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
Citation
Purchase
Related
Lu, Shirley, George Serafeim, and Michael W. Toffel. "Driving Decarbonization at BMW – Instructor Spreadsheet Supplement." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 123-712, April 2023.

Elliott Management: Capital Allocation in Biopharma

By: Amitabh Chandra, Paul Clancy and Lauren Gunasti
  • April 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Citation
Educators
Related
Chandra, Amitabh, Paul Clancy, and Lauren Gunasti. "Elliott Management: Capital Allocation in Biopharma." Harvard Business School Case 623-045, April 2023.

Cesaro e Associati

By: Christina R. Wing and Amram Migdal
  • April 2023 |
  • Teaching Plan |
  • Faculty Research
Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 623-021.
Citation
Purchase
Related
Wing, Christina R., and Amram Migdal. "Cesaro e Associati." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 623-081, April 2023.

How Wicked Problems Drive Business Performance: A Review of the Academic Literature

By: Caroline Adelson, Charlotte Kuller, Cate Tompkins, Ellora Sarkar, Samantha Price and Marco Iansiti
  • 2023 |
  • Working Paper |
  • Faculty Research
Recent years have seen a rise in the number of businesses engaged in the pursuit of “purposeful” activities – that is, activities that engage with the broader community in ways that expand beyond the pursuit of shareholder value. Many of these activities involve engagement with complex social challenges that are often described as “wicked problems” (e.g., economic inequality, environmental sustainability, food security). While many businesses are engaging with purposeful activity and/or wicked problems, knowledge on the business effects of wicked problem engagement remains fragmented. The goal of this paper is to collate and summarize the existing literature to provide a more complete view of what we know and what we do not know about the business impact of wicked problem engagement. We aim to lay the foundation for further research into the relationship between wicked problem engagement and firm performance.
Keywords: Wicked Problems; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Performance
Citation
Read Now
Related
Adelson, Caroline, Charlotte Kuller, Cate Tompkins, Ellora Sarkar, Samantha Price, and Marco Iansiti. "How Wicked Problems Drive Business Performance: A Review of the Academic Literature." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-064, April 2023.
More Publications

In the News

    • 26 May 2023
    • Harvard Business School

    Harvard Business School Professors Win Wyss Awards for Excellence in Mentoring Doctoral Students

    Re: Michael Norton, Alison Wood Brooks, Feng Zhu & Alexandra Feldberg
    • 18 May 2023

    Research Handbook on Digital Strategy

    By: Feng Zhu
    • 11 May 2023
    • Harvard Gazette

    Keeping the Plan Sustainable

    Re: Michael Toffel
→More Faculty News

HBS Working Knowledge

    • 26 Apr 2023

    Is AI Coming for Your Job?

    by Kristen Senz
    • 11 Apr 2023

    A Rose by Any Other Name: Supply Chains and Carbon Emissions in the Flower Industry

    Re: Willy C. Shih & Michael W. Toffel
    • 31 Mar 2023

    Can a ‘Basic Bundle’ of Health Insurance Cure Coverage Gaps and Spur Innovation?

    Re: Amitabh Chandra
→More Working Knowledge Articles

Harvard Business Publishing

    • July–August 2013
    • Article

    Leadership Lessons from the Chilean Mine Rescue

    By: Faaiza Rashid, Amy C. Edmondson and Herman B. Leonard
    • April 2023
    • Case

    Fizzy Fusion: When Data-Driven Decision Making Failed

    By: Michael Parzen, Eddie Lin, Douglas Ng and Jessie Li
    • 2012
    • Book

    Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

    By: Gary P. Pisano and Willy Shih
→More Harvard Business Publishing

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There are no upcoming events.

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Faculty Positions

Harvard Business School seeks candidates in all fields for full time positions. Candidates with outstanding records in PhD or DBA programs are encouraged to apply.
→Learn More

Contact Information

Technology & Operations Management Unit
Harvard Business School
Morgan Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
tomunit@hbs.edu

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