Publications

January 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (A): True to Brand?

By: Jeffrey Fear and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Examines one of the most important entrepreneurial decisions made in the history of Porsche, made in early 1998: to build a sport utility vehicle (SUV)--the Cayenne. After decades of relying on one or two sports car models and nearly going bankrupt and losing its... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Supply Chain Management; Luxury; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Globalization; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

April 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Volkswagen de Mexico's North American Strategy (A)

In 1988, Volkswagen (VW) consolidated its North American operations in Puebla, Mexico, after shutting down its plant in Pennsylvania. Volkswagen de Mexico had been in operation since the 1960s, but produced almost exclusively for the Mexican market. In the late 1980s,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Trade; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Canada; Germany; United States; Mexico

July 1997
Teaching Note

Coordination: An Overview TN

By: Ananth Raman

Teaching Note for (9-696-001). View Details

Keywords: Auto Industry; Auto Industry; United States

October 1995
Background Note

Coordination: An Overview

By: Ananth Raman

Designed to accompany Module II of the first-year required course on Technology and Operations Management. Particularly useful in conjunction with Corning Glass Works: Erwin Automotive Plant, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc., Johnson Controls, Automotive... View Details

Keywords: Management; Operations; Technology; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; United States

August 1993
Case

General Motors: Smith's Dilemma

By: Nitin Nohria and Sandy Green

Discusses Roger Smith's tenure as CEO of General Motors. Describes his vision for changing General Motors, and how he went about implementing that vision. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Teams; Leadership Style; Auto Industry; Auto Industry

December 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Supplement

Vehbi Koç and the Making of Turkey's Largest Business Group (B)

By: Asli M. Colpan and Geoffrey Jones

The case builds on the earlier (A) case, which described the origins of the Turkish business group established by Vehbi Koç before 1988. This case takes the story forward to 2012 as the Koç group was led by Vehbi's son Rahmi followed by his grandson Mustafa. It... View Details

Keywords: Business Groups; Turkey; Entrepreneurship; Management; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Central Asia; Middle East

August 1994
Case

Saturn Corp.'s Module II Decision

In the Spring of 1994, Saturn Corp. was setting sales records by attracting more than 25,000 buyers per month. Saturn officials believed there was a long-term opportunity to sell 400,000 to 500,000 cars per year in the United States and selected international markets.... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Production; Expansion; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Tennessee; United States

16 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 16, 2019

and digital group, Sogefi, an auto component manufacturer and KOS, a home-care and hospital manager. Rodolfo had spent his entire career in CIR Group, which he had managed as CEO for 20 years. Edoardo, a... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

12 Apr 2018
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: The Trouble with Tariffs

Stacks of shipping containers waiting to be filled with export goods. ralfgosch In March, when the Trump administration released its proposed tariffs list against China, I was eager to get a look. After all, these are the products from China that we see as unfairly... View Details

Keywords: by Willy C. Shih; Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

What Your Competition is Telling You

discover that our skills weren't necessarily honed to respond precisely to customer demand, our technologies weren't all they should be, and our manufacturing wasn't as efficient as we'd thought." In his soon-to-be-published book of... View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

12 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 12

Performance of Indian Manufacturing By: Ghani, Ejaz, Arti Grover Goswami, and William R. Kerr Abstract—We investigate the impact of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) highway project on the Indian organized View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 20

with internal design work, and then manufacture using the company's leading edge manufacturing facilities. Initial implementation challenges led to delays and additional engineering work, but as the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Free Trade Needs Nurturing—and Other Lessons from History

Question: What patterns emerge from history that can help us better understand where we are today? Sophus Reinert: To many people, globalization is teleological, something that necessarily becomes stronger over time and leads to an ever-more economically interconnected... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto; Auto; Auto; Auto; Auto; Auto; Auto; Auto; Auto; Auto

24 Jun 2014
First Look

First Look: June 24

malaria-"at no profit"-for public health systems. What had begun as an exemplary act of corporate responsibility had succeeded beyond any expectations. In 2012, for the second year in a row, Novartis had manufactured and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2022
Article

Reversible Power-to-Gas Systems for Energy Conversion and Storage

By: Gunther Glenk and Stefan Reichelstein

In the transition to decarbonized energy systems, Power-to-Gas (PtG) processes have the potential to connect the existing markets for electricity and hydrogen. Specifically, reversible PtG systems can convert electricity to hydrogen at times of ample power supply, yet... View Details