Publications

16 May 2023
HBS Case

How KKR Got More by Giving Ownership to the Factory Floor: ‘My Kids Are Going to College!’

and antipathy, having bounced from one private equity owner to another four times, ran deep. The strategy demanded that Stavros deeply engage with the operations to discover pain points, like inefficient delivery routes and wasted scrap... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

October 1994
Case

Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation (Abridged)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes a decision facing Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp. in June 1985: whether to continue to compete in the silicon steel business in the face of stiff competition from imports. Includes a complete description of the company's productivity improvement systems and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Strategy; Performance Improvement; Management Systems; Technology; Steel Industry

Find at Harvard

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Wintel: Cooperation or Conflict

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell & David B. Yoffie; Computer

August 2021
Supplement

Coats: Supply Chain Challenges: Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Willy C. Shih

Coats, the largest thread maker in the world, transformed its business to digital colour measurement so that it could respond better to customer demand in the garment industry for rapid product cycles and more fragmented colour choices. Its embrace of digital colour... View Details

Keywords: Inventory Management; Supply Chain; Inventory; Supply Chain Management; Operations; Growth and Development Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Demand and Consumers; Consolidation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia

A native of North Dakota, Dr. Goldberg received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1948, his MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1950 and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1952.

... View Details

Keywords: forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products; forest products

2012
Book

Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

By: Gary P. Pisano and Willy Shih

For years—even decades—in response to intensifying global competition, American companies decided to outsource their manufacturing operations in order to reduce costs. But we are now seeing the alarming long-term effect of those choices: in many cases, once... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Production; Competitive Advantage; Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Manufacturing Industry; United States

May 1988 (Revised November 1990)
Case

Airbus vs. Boeing (B): The Storm Intensifies

By: Malcolm S. Salter

Discusses the growing competition faced by U.S. producers of civil aircraft due to the success and expanding product line of Airbus Industries. Designed to foster discussion of international trade policy as it affects producers in the industry and to encourage firm... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Policy; Negotiation; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Aerospace Industry; United States

Web

The Founding of U.S. Steel and the Power of Public Opinion | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

made, and the finished steel products. In the early twentieth century, steel provided the foundation for the construction of infrastructure and new cities in the West, the increased use of the automobile, and the production of materials... View Details

November 1994 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Dennis Hightower: Walt Disney's Transnational Manager

By: Ashish Nanda

Describes the actions taken by Dennis Hightower as president of Disney Consumer Products in Europe and the Middle East from 1988 to 1994. Focuses on how he has established a regional office and knit local operations closer together, the benefits that the process has... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

28 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

How Workplace Wellness Programs Can Give Employees the Energy Boost They Need

employees, and watching productivity plummet. “At a time when workers continue to quietly quit and many companies are struggling to fill openings, it’s especially important for employers to revamp their wellness offerings.” What employees... View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson

March 1994 (Revised August 1997)
Case

Raychem Corp.: Interconnection Systems Division

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Describes the highly successful efforts of a management team to turn around the performance of a $30 million Raychem division that manufactures electronic connectors. The original manufacturing system was a batch operation, with a broad product line, high inventories,... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Time Management; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Success; Performance; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Electronics Industry

09 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 9, 2015

Aligning Strategy and Sales By: Cespedes, Frank V. Abstract— Much current opinion asserts that strategy is less important (and may, in fact, be an impediment) in an era of constant change. This publication... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

The First 90 Hours: What New CEOs Should—and Shouldn't—Do to Set the Right Tone

lab, on the production line, and in the field. And that’s where you will invariably find raw talent that’s been hidden by nervous bosses who haven’t wanted to credit the people who are really doing the work. Work with the human resources... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

January 2011 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Paydiant

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Elizabeth C. Williamson and James Weber

Kevin Laracey, founder of Paydiant, needed to figure out how to launch a payment processing company with a new technology based on smart phones. Consumers had increasingly turned to electronic payment methods such as credit cards and debit cards to make purchases.... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Credit Cards; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Structures; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Cooperation; Technology Adoption; Retail Industry

17 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Teaming in the Twenty-First Century

is the engine of organizational learning," says Edmondson. From Theory To Practice In the book, Edmondson makes the case for managers to shift from holding a static view of teamwork to this dynamic one. Real-world examples drawn from her research illustrate the... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

March 2023
Teaching Note

Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline Company

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 123-069. On the morning of May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline Company became aware that the company had been the victim of a malicious ransomware attack that had stolen and locked up company data. The extortionists demanded 75 bitcoins (worth... View Details

December 1990 (Revised June 1993)
Background Note

Price Discrimination

This note, which is introductory in nature, provides a classification scheme for some of the more common examples of price discrimination. For each case that is discussed, the note characterizes the appropriate market segments, the alternative product "versions," and... View Details

Keywords: Price; Segmentation

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System

By: Ranjay Gulati

In response to the 2001 market downturn, Cisco Systems implemented a major restructuring that transformed the company from a decentralized to centralized organization. While recognizing that a centralized, functional structure was necessary to avoid product and... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Customer Focus and Relationships; Governing and Advisory Boards; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Technology Industry

March 2011
Module Note

Quantitative Analysis of Competitive Position: Customer Demand and Willingness to Pay

By: David J. Collis

This note is designed to provide strategists with tools to perform two critical customer-related analyses: determining willingness to pay — the estimation of how much a given customer would be willing to pay for a particular product or service; and demand estimation —... View Details

Keywords: Price; Demand and Consumers; Competitive Advantage; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Market Participation; Segmentation