Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,108)
- Faculty Publications (337)
- November 1992
- Case
Process Control at Polaroid (B)
By: H. Kent Bowen and Steven C. Wheelwright
The plant manager of a film production operation wants to create and implement a new approach to quality within the next 12 months. Issues of personnel (and their roles), production processes (and their control), and quality standards must be addressed. View Details
- October 1992 (Revised October 1993)
- Case
Lehigh Valley Industries (LVI)
By: Kim B. Clark
Describes a situation confronting a manufacturer of forged parts that has recently undergone a leveraged buyout. The company is under pressure to improve operating performance dramatically. Describes several options designed to improve performance, including adding... View Details
- February 1992 (Revised January 2002)
- Case
BMW: The 7-Series Project (A)
By: Gary P. Pisano
Explores BMW's decision about how to manufacture prototype vehicles. Historically, BMW's prototypes were handcrafted by highly skilled artisans in the company's shop. A proposal has been made to alter the process so that prototypes are made in a way that can better... View Details
- February 1991 (Revised February 1992)
- Case
Appex Corp.
By: Nitin Nohria
1990 Business Week named Appex Corp. the fastest growing high-technology company in the United States. Appex provided management information systems and intercarrier network services to cellular telephone companies. During its rapid growth, the company went through... View Details
Keywords: Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Organizational Culture; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Performance Productivity; Problems and Challenges; Management Practices and Processes; Business Divisions; Information Management; Information Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States
- January 1991
- Article
Engines of Progress: Designing and Running Entrepreneurial Vehicles in Established Companies: The New Venture Process at Eastman Kodak, 1983-89
By: R. M. Kanter, L. Richardson, J. North and E. Morgan
- November 1990 (Revised April 1999)
- Case
General Motors: Packard Electric Division
Packard Electric is the division of General Motors (GM) that does all of the electrical wiring and cabling for GM automobiles. They developed a new approach for passing the cables through the firewall between the engine and passenger compartments. The new technology... View Details
- November 1990 (Revised January 2008)
- Case
Regency Plaza
By: William J. Poorvu and Richard E Crum
Designed to examine the process of project management during the development cycle of a luxury condominium building, exploring the issue of how the design, development strategy, project organization, and project personnel are interrelated. More specifically, looks at... View Details
- December 1989
- Background Note
Note on How Organizations Can be Structured
By: D. Q. Mills
Describes four basic organizational forms--hierarchy, division, matrix, and cluster. Diagrams of each are included. Their strengths and weaknesses under different business environment conditions are detailed. There is a table comparing the forms on several key... View Details
- October 1989 (Revised May 1996)
- Case
Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (A)
By: Todd D. Jick and Leonard A. Schlesinger
Describes the "Leadership Through Quality" effort undertaken by Xerox in the 1980s. Includes the history of Xerox in the 1970s and its need to make major changes in quality by the 1980s. Most of the remainder of the case details the step-by-step process by which Xerox... View Details
- January 1989
- Background Note
Managing Information Technology: System Development
By: James I. Cash Jr. and Thomas H. Davenport
Provides an overview of the system development process in large organizations. Describes traditional life cycle approaches as well as more recent methods, e.g., prototyping. The objective is to familiarize students with the terminology and issues involving system... View Details
- January 1987
- Article
Posterior Implementability in a Two-person Decision Problem
By: Jerry R. Green and Jean-Jacques Laffont
When a decision rule is implemented using a Bayesian incentive compatible mechanism in which the messages are publicly observable, the players' information is augmented by their observation of each others' strategies. In this paper we study the set of Bayesian... View Details
- September 1986 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
Solagen: Process Improvement in the Manufacture of Gelatin at Kodak
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey
Kodak must decide whether to make a major investment in a production facility designed around a new technique for producing the gelatin critical to so many film and paper products. Currently, gelatin making is an arcane art, unchanged in 150 years and heavily dependent... View Details
- January 1986 (Revised March 1993)
- Case
Centex Telemanagement, Inc.
Contains a description of the events surrounding the financing of Centex Telemanagement, Inc. by Sierra Ventures, a venture capital fund. The case is written from the perspective of the venture capitalists and is designed to teach students about the process of venture... View Details
Keywords: Venture Capital
- March 1985 (Revised November 1988)
- Case
Precision Parts, Inc. (A)
Contains a description of a decision confronting two entrepreneurs in mid-1981. They are considering purchasing a small manufacturer of precision electromechanical parts. Among the issues in the case are the following: 1) Should Taylor and Grayson buy Precision Parts,... View Details
- September 1984 (Revised March 1993)
- Background Note
Marketing Planning and Organization
By: Robert J. Dolan
Presents guidelines for effective marketing planning. Provides a general outline of the contents of a typical marketing plan, the process by which the plan is developed, and considers the benefits successful firms reap from their planning efforts and the problems that... View Details
- Article
Do Supervisors Thrive in Participative Work Systems?
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Richard E. Walton
This article presents the findings regarding the nature of the difficulties surrounding the supervisory role in participative work systems, a conceptualization of the supervisor/work group interface, and some action implications for the management of organizations.... View Details
- Article
Information Processing as an Integrating Concept in Organization Design
By: Michael Tushman and D. Nadler
- October 1976
- Background Note
Industry Structural Change
Presents a framework for understanding and predicting industry structural change. Examines 1) the important underlying forces causing structural change, 2) the key relationships among industry elements in the process of change, and 3) some implications of change for... View Details
- March 1974 (Revised June 1995)
- Case
First National City Bank Operating Group (B)
By: Jay W. Lorsch
Growth in demands on the bank's "back office" required a totally new approach to management. New stress on systems orientation, objectives, measurement, process design and control has resulted in lower costs, fewer people, and higher quality. Also resulted in fear,... View Details