Steel - Publications - Faculty & Research

03 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Transforming Manufacturing Waste into Profit

It's been said that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." HBS Assistant Professor Deishin Lee, however, has taken that old adage a step further in her recent working paper Turning Waste into By-Product by showing how it's possible for companies to turn... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

07 Jul 2011
What Do You Think?

So We Adapt. What’s the Downside?

Steel put it, "if something's worth doing, it's worth doing wrong Get on with it and see if it works." We are often admonished to "try a lot of things and keep what works." But Harford points out that this is easier... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Birth of the American Salesman

Electric, and Carnegie Steel were all founded in the 1880s; in the following decade came Wrigley's Chewing Gum, General Electric, Burroughs, and Pepsico. These companies developed modern sales techniques, created procedures for management... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

30 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

How Technology Adoption Affects Global Economies

adoption, testing the model on 15 technologies in 166 countries from 1820 to 2003. They covered major technologies related to transportation (from steamships to airplanes), telecommunication (from the telegraph to the cell phone), IT (the PC and the Internet), health... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

11 Oct 2006
What Do You Think?

How Do We Respond to the “Dependency Ratio” Dilemma?

And consumers are becoming less willing to pay for it in the price of GM's products. When dependency ratios become too burdensome, as in the case of Bethlehem Steel in 2001, where each worker was supporting 7.5 retirees, management is... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Family Matters: Governance at the Zamil Group

By: Christina R. Wing, Suraj Srinivasan and Esel Çekin

This case focuses on a large Saudi Arabian industrial conglomerate and family business Zamil Group’s corporate and family governance journey. The 12 sons of the founder led and grew the group successfully after taking over from their father in 1961. The secret to their... View Details

Keywords: Middle East; Family Ownership; Family-owned Business; Saudi Arabia; Family Business; Governance; Organizational Structure; Values and Beliefs; Steel Industry; Steel Industry; Middle East; Saudi Arabia; Bahrain

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11 May 2009
Research & Ideas

The IT Leader’s Hero Quest

as if to steel himself, before continuing. It was very unlike Bernie, that pause, and it communicated the gravity of the circumstances more than the words that followed it. A bolt of panic stirred the eggs Benedict digesting in Barton's... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

27 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire & Rubber and the Radial Revolution

company's flagship Firestone 500 Steel Belt was the most recognized brand in the industry.17 While the decision to leverage existing manufacturing processes allowed rapid market penetration, it also contributed to quality problems with... View Details

Keywords: by Donald N. Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation

04 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Smart Cities are Complicated and Costly: Here's How to Build Them

Chombosan Much promotion of smart cities assumes that municipalities will take a proactive, top-down, technology-first approach to urban progress. Thus far, these initiatives look for some forward-thinking city official (or immensely deep-pocketed private investor) to... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Green Technology

07 Feb 2019
Book

How Big Companies Can Outrun Disruption

provide many examples of companies who have had really smart strategic responses to big shifts in their industry. For example, when carbon fiber came along it endangered Pinarello, a high-end manufacturer of steel bike frames. Pinarello... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

14 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

The company launched surveys to help identify issues and prepare targeted measures. The CEO created a solidarity fund to which many leaders, as well as investors, have contributed. Similarly, the owners and managers of PrecisionCo, an Italian company focused on... View Details

Keywords: by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

September 2013 (Revised August 2015)
Background Note

Leadership and Teaming

By: Ethan Bernstein

Small differences in the leadership of teams can have large consequences for the success of their efforts. Many initiatives fail not because of a fatal error in judgment or insufficient ideas, knowledge, motivation, or capabilities to deliver a solution. They fail... View Details

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Article

Losing to Win: U.S. Steel's Pricing, Investment Decisions, and Market Share, 1901-1938

By: F. L. Reinhardt and T. K. McCraw

Keywords: Price; Investment; Revenue; Steel Industry

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January 2002
Teaching Note

iSteelAsia (A) TN

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Teaching Note for (9-301-025). View Details

Keywords: Steel Industry; Hong Kong

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February 1996 (Revised June 1996)
Teaching Note

General Mills Board and Strategic Planning and Lukens Inc., The: The Melters' Committee (A) & (B) TN

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Cynthia A. Montgomery and Lisa J. Chadderdon

Teaching Note for (9-491-117), (9-493-070), and (9-493-071). View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Governing and Advisory Boards; Joint Ventures; Sales; Strategy; Managerial Roles; Steel Industry

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September 1974 (Revised October 1981)
Background Note

Brief Description of Steelmaking

By: Paul W. Marshall

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Steel Industry

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November 1985 (Revised July 1989)
Supplement

Signode Industries, Inc. (D)

Signode's packaging division president makes a final decision on the price-flex policy. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Price; Policy; Steel Industry

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01 Aug 2012
What Do You Think?

Should CEOs Worry About ‘Too Big to Succeed?’

economies of scale are outweighed by frictions and inefficiencies that accompany bigness. This principle has served Nucor Steel well as it has risen to the premier place in US steel making. Similarly, Arkadi... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Financial Services