Publications

June 1994 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Chandler Home Products: European Rationalization

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Chandler, a large U.S. consumer products firm, is rationalizing its European operations. Tony Pesci, protagonist, is deciding which plants to close for maximum efficiency. The manufacturing/marketing relationship is strained as efficiency is being weighed against... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Labor; Contracts; Operations; Performance Efficiency; Relationships; Consumer Products Industry; United States

11 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 11

account is one that frames the purpose of the for-profit corporation in terms of its function in allowing members of society to meet their wants and needs by coordinating labor and capital in the production... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Manufacturing Matters

After decades of destructive outsourcing, America's ability to innovate and create high-tech products essential for future prosperity is on the decline, argue professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih. They won the prestigious McKinsey Award... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Manufacturing

17 Jul 2017
News

Silence breaks through the noise of success

01 Feb 2019
HBS Seminar

Xavier Jaravel, London School of Economics

27 Jun 2014
News

Why Passionate Workers are Key to Business Success

Web

Browse All Articles, Research, & Case Studies - HBS Working Knowledge

study by Elisabeth Paulson shows how AI can efficiently match refugees with host countries based on employment potential, which could streamline the resettlement process and help host countries expand their labor markets. 09 Oct 2024... View Details

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

on middle management During the 1980s and 1990s, middle managers became prime targets of large-scale downsizing at the behest of shareholder activists—yet the ranks of middle managers never really declined. Zhang’s data helps explain why. Managers made up 13 percent of... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

Web

Placement - Doctoral

Management, 2024 Placement: University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, Information, Risk and Operations Management Department Dissertation: Essays on Labor Productivity in Retail Stores... View Details

Winter 2024
Article

Is Pay Transparency Good?

By: Zoë B. Cullen

Countries around the world are enacting pay transparency policies to combat pay discrimination. Since 2000, 71 percent of OECD countries have done so. Most are enacting transparency horizontally, revealing pay between coworkers doing similar work within a firm. While... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Wages; Knowledge Sharing; Job Design and Levels; Negotiation; Performance Productivity; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives

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17 Jan 2024
HBS Case

Psychological Pricing Tactics to Fight the Inflation Blues

considered especially effective today—as well as those that are losing luster. Tiered pricing guides consumers to make the ‘right’ choice An increasing number of firms are starting to use tiered pricing, a strategy that provides customers with several View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

April 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

XUMA

By: Andrew P. McAfee and Kerry Herman

XUMA is a Silicon Valley start-up that builds customized eBusiness software suites for its corporate clients. This market is crowded with large players, including the major consulting and systems integration companies. To date, building these suites has been a very... View Details

Keywords: Production; Software; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry; California

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09 Dec 2015
News

It’s Better to Avoid a Toxic Employee than Hire a Superstar

February 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Jieliang Phone Home! (A)

By: Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria

At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators—bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao—are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and have... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Job Design and Levels; Business Processes; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Manufacturing Industry; China

August 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Luckin Coffee (A): Caffeine-fueled Growth?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the founding of Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee in 2017 and its path to surpassing Starbucks as the largest coffee chain in China (by number of stores) in 2019. Unlike Starbucks stores, which were designed to be welcoming “third places” for... View Details