Publications

November 2000 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Activity-Based Management at W.S. Industries (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Sanjay Pothen

W.S. Industries undertakes the design and implementation of an activity based costing (ABC) system, and the ABC information empowers workers to make process improvement decisions. Workers' incentive pay is tied to cost savings from process improvements. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Evaluation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Knowledge Management; Energy Industry; India

January 2025
Technical Note

Get Cool: Air Conditioning Industry Background

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

The “air conditioning paradox” is tied to climate change: the more the planet warms, the greater the need for cooling (due to the dangers of extreme heat as well as comfort within buildings), but the use of electricity-powered AC contributes to further warming. There... View Details

Keywords: Appliances; Global Warming; Energy Efficiency; Climate Change; Venture Capital; Demand and Consumers; Distribution Channels; Green Technology; United States; Asia

June 1983
Background Note

Note on the Paper Machinery Industry

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the major structural changes taking place in the paper industry in the 1970s: major oil and pulp price increases, pollution legislation, a shift in industry development from OECD countries to LDCs and NICs and the technological revolution in paper making.... View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Price; Global Strategy; Growth and Development; Industry Structures; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pollutants; Competition; Pulp and Paper Industry

March 1990 (Revised October 1990)
Case

Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd.

Describes Liz Claiborne, Inc.'s manufacturing and marketing strategy and details the significance of its supplier selection strategy. It begins to describe the company's relationship with Ruentex Industries Ltd., its largest supplier of piece goods. When used with... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Relationships; Cooperation; Apparel and Accessories Industry

September 1999
Background Note

Revolution in the Communications Switching Industry

By: Jay O. Light, Lynda M. Applegate and Daniel J. Green

As data packet switches threatened the voice circuit switch industry in 1999, major switch and router vendors began paying high premiums to acquire venture-backed switch companies. This note explains what a switch is and suggests why large vendors might be so anxious... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Restructuring; Capital; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Communications Industry; Communications Industry

January 2012 (Revised June 2015)
Background Note

Inventory-Based Lending Industry Note

By: C. Fritz Foley, Ananth Raman and Nathan C. Craig

Inventory-based lending is a form of asset-based lending used by retailers and wholesalers. This note describes the development and the current state of the inventory-based lending industry. View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Banking Industry

May 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Case

The Offshore Drilling Industry in 2011

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Kenneth Corts and Joseph McElroy

After booming in 2007 and early 2008, the offshore drilling industry slumps in 2009. Lower oil prices lead oil companies to reduce drilling budgets, and rig utilization falls from essentially 100% to 70% in some markets. Day rates--the prices paid for a rig's... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Metals and Minerals; Demand and Consumers; Price; Industry Structures; Supply and Industry; Mining; Mining Industry; Mining Industry

July 1991 (Revised December 1993)
Case

Grupo Industrial Alfa, S.A.--1982

The rapid depreciation of the peso in 1982 precipitated a crisis at Grupo Alfa, Mexico's largest private company. The company's peso cash flow was insufficient to service its large dollar-denominated debt. Students are asked to formulate a plan for restructuring Alfa's... View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Restructuring; Negotiation Participants; Business Strategy; Financial Crisis; Mexico

March 1989
Background Note

Industry Note: In-Car Entertainment

By: F. Warren McFarlan and H. Jeff Smith

Keywords: Media

August 1985 (Revised July 1986)
Supplement

Detroit Tool Industries (B)

January 1988 (Revised April 1989)
Background Note

Europe's New Industrial Revolution

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Roy V. Eales

06 Apr 2021
Cold Call Podcast

Disrupting the Waste Industry with Technology

Keywords: Re: Shai Benjamin Bernstein

August 2022
Case

Air Wars: Deregulating the U.S. Airline Industry

By: Tom Nicholas and James Weber

In the early decades of the twentieth century, the U.S. government assisted in the development of an airline industry by subsidizing the delivery of mail and allowing mail carriers to also fly passengers. Because the government awarded mail routes to the lowest... View Details

November 2004 (Revised September 2019)
Background Note

The U.S. Health Club Industry in 2004

By: John R. Wells, Gabriel Ellsworth and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2004, the $16.8 billion U.S. health club industry continued its strong record of growth. There were almost 27,000 health clubs in the United States, up from 6,700 two decades earlier, and these clubs claimed 41 million members, over 14% of the U.S. population.... View Details

Keywords: Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Weight Loss; Obesity; Exercise; Personal Training; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; YMCA; Gold's Gym; Curves; Franchise; Franchising; Subscription; Promotional Sales; Promotions; Fixed Costs; Body; Accrual Accounting; Revenue Recognition; Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Trends; Customers; Demographics; Age; Income; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Employees; Retention; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Supply and Industry; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Operations; Service Operations; Franchise Ownership; Private Ownership; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Nonprofit Organizations; Welfare; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Expansion; Segmentation; Hardware; Health Industry; United States

January 1995
Article

Analysis of Distribution Strategies in the Industrial Paper and Plastics Industry

By: A. Raman, M. Cohen, N. Agrawal and V. Agrawal

Keywords: Strategy; Pulp and Paper Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry

October 2011
Case

CNBM: Rolling Up China's Cement Industry

By: Joseph L. Bower and G.A. Donovan

The Chinese government has charged Song Zhiping with the job of rationalizing China's cement industry. He has acquired 200 plus companies, but the industry is still fractured. Can he succeed? View Details

Keywords: Industry Growth; Mergers and Acquisitions; Policy; Government and Politics; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; China

June 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Disrupting Defense at Anduril Industries

By: Rory McDonald, Timothy Buehn, Aditi Ghai and James Heffelfinger

Fall 2021
Article

Emboldening and Contesting Gender and Skin Color Stereotypes in the Film Industry in India, 1947–1991

By: Sudev Sheth, Geoffrey Jones and Morgan Spencer

This article examines how the film industry influenced prevailing gender and skin color stereotypes in India during the first four decades after Independence in 1947. It shows that Bollywood, the mainstream cinema in India, shared Hollywood's privileging of paler skin... View Details

Keywords: Bollywood; Film Industry; Hollywood; Tamil Cinema; Male Gaze; Stereotypes; Social Impact; Gender; Race; Ethnicity; Film Entertainment; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India; United States