Publications

03 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Who Guarantees Your Workplace Is Safe for Return?

Performance and Productivity. Their writings have appeared recently in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Harvard Business Review. [Image: gpointstudio ] Related Reading Why COVID-19 Raises the... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber and Joseph Allen; Real Estate

December 1993 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Medical Products Co.

By: Robert H. Hayes

In early 1990, the company is contemplating changes in its European plant network for producing hypodermic products, including the total production capacity to be provided, the number and location of plants over which to spread this capacity, and which products should... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Decision Making; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost; Production; Performance Capacity; Performance Effectiveness; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Europe

Keywords: comedy writing; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

01 Sep 2004
News

Joe Toplyn (MBA 1979)

and I started to learn what it takes to manage an unwieldy production process and to please the fickle consumer. Business school made sense to me because I liked to hatch ideas and make them happen. After HBS I went to work in consumer... View Details

May 2017
Case

Cambridge Franchise Partners

By: Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Two partners commence a rollup in the quick-service restaurant segment. They focus on operating improvements and spinning-off real estate. View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Mergers and Acquisitions; Operations; Performance Improvement; Property; Management

March 2007 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Parmalat Uruguay (A)

By: Paul Marshall and Gustavo Herrero

Three young MBAs create a partnership to acquire the assets of Parmalat in Uruguay. Focuses on their analysis prior to submitting a bid and their plan for improving the operations once their bid is accepted. In addition to improving operations, they must negotiate with... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Entrepreneurship; Borrowing and Debt; Negotiation; Performance Improvement; Uruguay

20 Feb 2014
News

Buying Gold in the Olympics

Keywords: recruitment; immigration; Oympics; Olympics; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

17 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?

The new book Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick-and-Mortar Store Survive? argues that traditional store-front retailing is at an inflection point, under tremendous pressure from ecommerce and the changing wants and needs of a new generation of shoppers—the millennials.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

September 2005 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker (A)

By: Daniel C. Snow, Steven C. Wheelwright and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Scharffen Berger, a premium brand chocolate, is growing rapidly and must decide where and when to add capacity in the production line and with what technology. The company must consider the demands of marketing, the impact on quality and reputation, and the economics... View Details

Keywords: Production; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Capacity; Quality; Expansion

March 2018
Case

Summit Public Schools (A)

By: John J-H Kim and Aldo Sesia

Summit Public Schools was a very successful charter management organization with schools in California and Washington State. The students came from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, many from economically disadvantaged households. While nearly all of its students... View Details

Keywords: K-12; Online Learning; Virtual Learning; Blended Learning; Secondary Education; Middle School Education; Early Childhood Education; Learning; Business Model; Performance Improvement; Technology

October 10, 2023
Article

10 Reasons Why Inclusion Is a Competitive Advantage

By: Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss

In their new book, Move Fast and Fix Things, Frances Frei and Anne Morriss outline five strategies to help leaders tackle their hardest problems and quickly make change. Their third strategy is creating an inclusive environment that allows all employees to... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement

1989
Chapter

Obstacles to Improving the Defense Acquisition Process

By: J. Ronald Fox

Keywords: National Security; Contracts; Acquisition; Performance Improvement

February 1993
Supplement

Otis South Africa (C)

By: Michael Beer

Relates Otis South Africa's management actions in their efforts to transform the company. Students will be asked to judge the effectiveness of the corporate change programs instituted by management. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Judgments; Business or Company Management; Performance Effectiveness; Industrial Products Industry; South Africa

Find at Harvard

March 1997 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Alden Products, Inc.--European Manufacturing

By: Robert H. Hayes

The European organization of Alden Products, Inc. is contemplating a doubling of unit sales over the next ten years. Their largest plant, located in Holland, was set up 25 years earlier to supply all demands of the EEC countries on the continent. It has since expanded... View Details

Keywords: Production; Growth Management; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Strategic Planning; Performance Capacity; Business Strategy; Netherlands; Europe

01 Mar 2008
News

Classroom Legend

Christensen is the first of four HBS “legends” to be profiled during the School’s Centennial year. Christensen and several colleagues conducted seminal research in corporate strategy and business planning that made the View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Roland Christensen; George Albert Smith; Fritz J. Roethlisberger; Richard Meriam; Edmund P. Learned; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

27 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Employee-Suggestion Programs That Work

Bumping up against accepted theories in process improvement, a new research paper from Harvard Business School questions the value of prioritizing problems identified by frontline employees. Citing a hospital safety improvement program... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Guttry

April 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Otis South Africa (A)

By: Michael Beer

Otis Worldwide CEO, George David, was frustrated with the slow pace of nonwhite advancement within Otis South Africa. After a few years of trying to elicit action from South African management, he decided to send a 28-year old U.S. employee to take over as the human... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Race; Operations; Business Headquarters; Performance Improvement; Human Resources; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Industrial Products Industry; South Africa; United States