Factory - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: Dec. 6

billion in worldwide sales and had just been named the leading refrigerator manufacturer worldwide. Describes Haier's rise over three decades from a defunct refrigerator factory in China's Qingdao province to an international player with... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Rocket Science Retailing: A Practical Guide

identify ways to improve its production processes. Retailers, too, must recognize that to excel at execution, they must empower their people, including in their stores and distribution centers. A few years ago, we visited a Toyota factory... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Retail; Auto

05 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

The Vanguard Corporation

a worker bee, what's it like to show up to work each day in one of these companies? A: Here is what I think characterizes these workplaces. They are much more dynamic and flexible, and people exercise much more control about when and where they work. Now, there are... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Global Poverty Needs a Global Answer

sector financial help a joint venture was set up with POEMA, a modern high-tech factory built, and coca plantations developed. Some 5,000 people were employed. Literacy levels soared. Political participation increased. Change had been... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

10 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

How to Put Meaning Back into Leading

perceived them to be extremely efficient. At the same time, large work organizations destabilized extended family and community relations: first, by removing individuals from their family and community and placing them in factories for... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

14 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 14, 2017

trainees how to assemble an aircraft wing—and has cut the time it takes them to do that task by 35%. At GE, factory workers have achieved a similar gain in efficiency by using voice commands in AR experiences to perform complex wiring. AR... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

26 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Yes, You Can Raise Prices in a Downturn

a product or service varies for different customers, different buying units at the same customer, or the same customer in different contexts. What's the value of flowers delivered on—versus the day after—Valentine's Day? Or of one-stop choice? The Cheesecake View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Consumer Products

27 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 27

both in business history courses and more generally to teach political risk management by multinational corporations. Beiersdorf, a German personal products company, expanded globally before 1914, but had its foreign factories and... View Details