Publications

August 2015
Teaching Note

Rana Plaza (C): Primark and Victim Compensation

By: John A. Quelch

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Business Ethics; Human Resource Management; Workplace Safety; Safety; Working Conditions; Supply Chain Management; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Human Resources

March 2002 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Metalcraft Supplier Scorecard

By: Susan L. Kulp, V.G. Narayanan and Ronald L. Verkleeren

An automotive components company uses a supplier scorecard to make sourcing decisions and review its supplier performance. View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Quality; Performance Evaluation; Decision Making; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Supply and Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry

26 Sep 2024
Blog Post

Syngenta Tomato Vision

Product Development & Marketing, where Product Development Specialists and Breeders explained the process for developing new tomato varieties. Many different factors (e.g., consumer preferences such as taste and shape, disease resistance, View Details

May 2011
Case

Baria Planning Solutions, Inc.: Fixing the Sales Process

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and William Schmidt

Baria Planning Solutions (BPS) is a consulting firm that specializes in using spend analysis to help companies identify savings through reduced procurement costs and improved supplier performance. Management is concerned about the disappointing performance of the sales... View Details

Keywords: Quantitative Analysis; Technology; Operations Management; Product Lines; Manufacturing; Capacity Planning; Production Planning; Production; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Supply Chain Management; Salesforce Management; Planning; Consulting Industry; North and Central America

01 Sep 2010
News

Faculty Books

The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics Are Transforming the Supply Chain and Improving Performance by Marshall Fisher and Ananth Raman (Harvard Business Press) Professor Raman and his coauthor explain... View Details

Keywords: Retail Trade; Water Transportation; Transportation

05 Dec 2023
Blog Post

Taking Learning Beyond the Classroom

Grasso of Urban Mining Industries, protagonists of the case, "Harvard University and Urban Mining Industries: Decarbonizing the Supply Chain", facilitated by Professors Shirley Lu and Robert Kaplan. The case describes Harvard University's... View Details

01 Feb 2008
What Do You Think?

How Sustainable Is Sustainability in a For-Profit Organization?

size fits all' legislation." All of this will take time. Adrian Gonzalez commented that "There's a limit to what can be accomplished ... because today's products, manufacturing processes, and supply View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

08 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Fashion Your New E-Business Model

Information Age business innovations include: Digital production and distribution technologies (broadband and wireless networks, sophisticated content creation, flexible knowledge management) An operating model (integrated supply View Details

Keywords: by Lynda M. Applegate

18 Dec 2023
Blog Post

Climate Symposium 2023: Adopting Climate Solutions at Scale

join a wide range of panel discussions featuring industry experts in the following areas: Decarbonizing Farming; Food Supply Chain and Waste; Scaling Green Energy Generation; Hard to Decarbonize Sectors;... View Details

24 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 24

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2575912 Cases & Course Materials Harvard Business School Case 515-011 Muñoz Group: Sustaining Global Vertical Integration Through Innovation Muñoz Group, which supplied supermarket... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Dec 2021
News

Tipping Point

Illustration by Erin Robinson At one end of the global coffee supply chain are the diners who gather for brunch at the sidewalk tables outside Chloe’s Cafe in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood.... View Details

Keywords: April White; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing

November 1993 (Revised November 1994)
Supplement

OfficePro (B)

By: John A. Quelch

Supplements OfficePro (A). View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Subsidiaries; Supply Chain Management; Retail Industry; France

November 2012 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Konys, Inc.

By: Deishin Lee and Tunay I. Tunca

This case describes the sourcing policy for a consumer electronics company. The company must decide how to structure contracts with their supplier—using a purchase contract, an option contract, or combination of the two. The company can also buy from the spot market.... View Details

Keywords: Option Contract; Uncertainty; Sourcing; Supplier Relationship; Risk and Uncertainty; Contracts; Supply Chain; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

September 1971 (Revised September 1983)
Case

Gentle Electric Co.

By: W. Earl Sasser

Designed to illustrate various levels of complexity in determining optimum order sizes for a single item inventory policy. Students are asked to evaluate the impact of recent operational changes on the firm's ordering policy. Intended to follow the students' initial... View Details

Keywords: Change; Policy; Supply Chain; Complexity; Electronics Industry

2022
Case

A Sweet Dilemma: Sourcing Palm Oil with Ferrero SpA and Nestlé

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

This case focuses on Ferrero SpA's sustainable palm oil sourcing strategy in light of its acquisition of Nestlé's U.S. confectionery brands, which in many ways does not comply with Ferrero's sustainable sourcing commitments. The case reviews Ferrero's rich family... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Supply Chain; Food and Beverage Industry

September 2019 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Port Competition in the Pearl River Delta

By: Willy Shih

This case examines the competition between ports and port operators in the Pearl River Delta over the last four decades. The cities surrounding the Pearl River estuary are the "workshop of the world," and the development of manufacturing in the region was heavily... View Details

Keywords: Trade Links; Global Business; Globalization; Trade; Supply Chain; Logistics; Transportation Industry; Asia; Hong Kong; China

August 2016 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Baskits Inc.

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Soon after Robin Kovitz (MBA 2007) acquired Baskits Inc., the largest gift basket company in Canada, she became convinced that the business needed to make significant operational improvements. In her first year as CEO, she introduced an ERP system to help with sales... View Details

Keywords: Production; Supply Chain; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry; Canada

November 1993
Supplement

OfficePro (C)

By: John A. Quelch

Supplements OfficePro (A). View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Subsidiaries; Supply Chain Management; Retail Industry; France

December 2006
Case

Vipp A/S

By: Robert D. Austin and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Rapidly growing Vipp sells highly differentiated (and expensive) "designer" versions of a product that most buyers think about in purely functional terms: Trash bins. Examines how the company successfully produces and positions a trash bin so that it is regarded as an... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Creativity; Product Design; Luxury; Brands and Branding