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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(6,267)
- People (3)
- News (1,186)
- Research (4,412)
- Events (32)
- Multimedia (61)
- Faculty Publications (2,833)
- December 1989 (Revised April 1997)
- Case
Destin Brass Products Co.
By: William J. Bruns Jr.
A specialized manufacturer of brass valves, pumps, and flow controllers is troubled by competitive pricing in pumps and higher than expected margins for flow controllers. Managers suspect that cost accounting and cost allocations to products may be to blame. Two... View Details
Keywords: Cost Accounting; Activity Based Costing and Management; Five Forces Framework; Customer Value and Value Chain; Competition; Business Strategy; Design; Inflation and Deflation; Asset Pricing; Governance Controls; Manufacturing Industry
Bruns, William J., Jr. "Destin Brass Products Co." Harvard Business School Case 190-089, December 1989. (Revised April 1997.)
- April 1988 (Revised March 1991)
- Case
Tektronix: Portable Instruments Division (A)
Tektronix's Portable Instruments Division has recently converted to a JIT production process. The existing cost system was designed for conventional manufacturing and is obsolete. The case describes the new material-burdening system the firm implemented. This system... View Details
Cooper, Robin. "Tektronix: Portable Instruments Division (A)." Harvard Business School Case 188-142, April 1988. (Revised March 1991.)
- April 1999 (Revised March 2002)
- Case
Aluminum Smelting in South Africa: Alusaf's Hillside Project
With prices at all-time lows at the beginning of 1994, South Africa's sole primary aluminum producer--Alusaf--is considering building the world's largest greenfield smelter. Using cost estimates in this case, students can evaluate the relative cost position of this... View Details
Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Analysis; Markets; Profit; Capital; Industrial Products Industry; South Africa
Corts, Kenneth S. "Aluminum Smelting in South Africa: Alusaf's Hillside Project." Harvard Business School Case 799-130, April 1999. (Revised March 2002.)
- October 1994
- Case
Yokohama Corporation, Ltd. (A): The Yokohama Production System
Yokohama is in the middle of a supplier chain: it supplies Tokyo Motors and several other automobile manufacturers, and it is in turn supplied by Kamakura Ironworks. This case describes this supplier chain and the interorganizational cost systems that have evolved in... View Details
Cooper, Robin, and Takeo Yoshikawa. "Yokohama Corporation, Ltd. (A): The Yokohama Production System." Harvard Business School Case 195-070, October 1994.
- 28 Jan 2016
- Blog Post
Why Get an MBA?
These days you don’t have to look far to find someone questioning the value of an MBA. It seems like every week brings another article on rising costs and evolving employers. Even if you don’t believe the naysayers, does anyone actually... View Details
- August 2001 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Dakota Office Products
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The senior management team of Dakota, an office products distributor, is concerned about the company's first loss in history. Explores the role for activity based costing and customer profitability measurement in a distribution company. Dakota's customers are... View Details
Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Profit; Distribution; Customers; Distribution Industry
Kaplan, Robert S. "Dakota Office Products." Harvard Business School Case 102-021, August 2001. (Revised February 2005.)
- April 1956 (Revised September 1982)
- Case
Hanson Manufacturing Co.
Centers on pricing, contribution to overhead, cost system. View Details
Anthony, Robert N. "Hanson Manufacturing Co." Harvard Business School Case 156-004, April 1956. (Revised September 1982.)
- April 2020 (Revised October 2021)
- Case
SpaceX, Economies of Scale, and a Revolution in Space Access
By: Matthew C. Weinzierl, Kylie Lucas and Mehak Sarang
From the time he transformed the world of online banking, Elon Musk established himself as a bold innovator. After selling X.com to PayPal in 2002, he founded a series of revolutionary start-ups, starting with Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). Hoping to "make... View Details
Keywords: Space Tech; Space Access; Vision; Economies Of Scale; Technological Innovation; Emerging Markets; Commercialization; Finance; Aerospace Industry
Weinzierl, Matthew C., Kylie Lucas, and Mehak Sarang. "SpaceX, Economies of Scale, and a Revolution in Space Access." Harvard Business School Case 720-027, April 2020. (Revised October 2021.)
- 16 Jul 2008
- Op-Ed
What Should Employers Do about Health Care?
In the United States, employers have often treated health benefits as a necessary evil. They have focused on the rising cost of providing health insurance benefits and taken aggressive steps to bring costs... View Details
- August 2012 (Revised November 2012)
- Case
Colorscope, Inc. (Abridged)
By: V.G. Narayanan
A small company in the graphic design business faces severe price competition. The company must respond by cutting costs and making process improvements. View Details
Keywords: Cost Management; Price; Business Processes; Performance Improvement; Competition; Fine Arts Industry
Narayanan, V.G. "Colorscope, Inc. (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 113-025, August 2012. (Revised November 2012.)
- March 1976 (Revised June 1993)
- Case
Communications Satellite Corp.
Describes the FCC hearings which were designed to determine Comsat's cost of equity. Comsat's risks are examined, and expert testimony is given. Objective of the case is to estimate Comsat's cost of equity. View Details
Mullins, David W., Jr. "Communications Satellite Corp." Harvard Business School Case 276-195, March 1976. (Revised June 1993.)
- Article
Achieving Value in Highly Complex Acute Care: Lessons from the Delivery of Extra Corporeal Life Support
By: Michael Nurok, Jonathan Warsh, Erik Dong, Jeffrey Lopez, Mayumi Kharabi and Robert S. Kaplan
We applied a value (outcomes and cost) analysis to extracorporeal life support (ECLS), a relatively rare but very expensive ICU therapy with highly variable outcomes. To address the outcome component of the value approach, we created guidelines for ECLS delivery; to... View Details
Nurok, Michael, Jonathan Warsh, Erik Dong, Jeffrey Lopez, Mayumi Kharabi, and Robert S. Kaplan. "Achieving Value in Highly Complex Acute Care: Lessons from the Delivery of Extra Corporeal Life Support." NEJM Catalyst (October 31, 2019).
- September 2009 (Revised October 2010)
- Case
Elkay Plumbing Products Division
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The vice president of sales learns that the most profitable 1% of the division's customers generate 100% of profits, and that two of the division's largest customers lose 50% of profits. The division has just finished a project to install a time-driven activity-based... View Details
Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Management Systems; Consumer Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry
Kaplan, Robert S. "Elkay Plumbing Products Division." Harvard Business School Case 110-007, September 2009. (Revised October 2010.)
- March 2001 (Revised April 2001)
- Case
MiCRUS: Activity-Based Management for Business Turnaround
By: Robert S. Kaplan, Jonathan B. Schiff and Stanley Abraham
MiCRUS is a new company, spun off from IBM as a joint venture between IBM and Cirrus Logic to produce semiconductor wafers at world-class costs for its two parent companies. The senior management team needs to overcome the bureaucratic, internally focused culture that... View Details
Kaplan, Robert S., Jonathan B. Schiff, and Stanley Abraham. "MiCRUS: Activity-Based Management for Business Turnaround." Harvard Business School Case 101-070, March 2001. (Revised April 2001.)
- April 1997
- Case
Peoria Engine Plant (A): (Abridged)
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton
Describes the cost control system used at an automobile engine plant for labor and overhead costs. The finance staff prepares daily, weekly, and monthly variance reports against budgets. Department supervisors, finance staff, and the plant manager discuss the use and... View Details
Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Cost Management; Financial Reporting; Performance Improvement; Budgets and Budgeting; Auto Industry
Kaplan, Robert S., and Amy P. Hutton. "Peoria Engine Plant (A): (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 197-099, April 1997.
- Article
A Public Option Can Be a Triple Win for U.S. Healthcare
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Richard Boxer
The United States needs to control healthcare costs and quality while reaching universal coverage. The strongest choice is a public option that allows people to choose between Medicare and private payers. But a public option needs sustainable financing mechanisms that... View Details
Keywords: Healthcare; Public Option; Universal Health Coverage; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Quality; United States
Herzlinger, Regina E., and Richard Boxer. "A Public Option Can Be a Triple Win for U.S. Healthcare." Health Management, Policy and Innovation 4, no. 3 (December 2019).
Robert S. Kaplan
Robert S. Kaplan is Senior Fellow and Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. He joined the HBS faculty in 1984 after spending 16 years on the faculty of the business school at Carnegie-Mellon University, where he... View Details
- 03 Oct 2007
- Research & Ideas
Dealing with the ‘Irrational’ Negotiator
greater potential cost to themselves. When you use the "irrational" label, you limit your options, because there is not much you can say to someone who you truly believe is unable to reason, uninterested in fulfilling her own... View Details
Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra & Max H. Bazerman
- Article
Workplace Stressors & Health Outcomes: Health Policy for the Workplace
By: Joel Goh, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Stefanos A. Zenios
Extensive research focuses on the causes of workplace-induced stress. However, policy efforts to tackle the ever-increasing health costs and poor health outcomes in the United States have largely ignored the health effects of psychosocial workplace stressors such as... View Details
Goh, Joel, Jeffrey Pfeffer, and Stefanos A. Zenios. "Workplace Stressors & Health Outcomes: Health Policy for the Workplace." Behavioral Science & Policy 1, no. 1 (Spring 2015): 43–52.