Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,961)
- Faculty Publications (383)
- July 1994
- Case
Microsoft: Multimedia Publications (A)
By: Marco Iansiti and Ellen Stein
Microsoft Corp. has built a highly successful business around computer software (both applications and system software) using a particular organizational structure. Now that the company has chosen to enter the consumer market with a CD-ROM product, how should Microsoft... View Details
- January 1994 (Revised May 1995)
- Case
Xerox: Design for the Environment
In 1990, Xerox undertook an "Environmental Leadership Program" designed to make Xerox an industry leader in non-polluting operations, recycling, and products actually designed for the environment. This effort flowed naturally out of the system of total quality... View Details
- October 1993 (Revised July 1997)
- Case
Measure of Delight: The Pursuit of Quality at AT&T Universal Card Services (A)
By: Roy D. Shapiro and Michael D. Watkins
AT&T's Universal Card Services (UCS) has been extremely successful during its short lifetime. Dedicated to improving service quality and customer satisfaction, chief quality officer Rob Davis and his quality team have designed and put into place an unusual measurement... View Details
- September 1993 (Revised July 1995)
- Background Note
Public Policy and the Manager: Conceptual Framework
Government intervention in markets may have significant effects--both positive and negative--on a firm's strategic options and its performance outcomes. Thus the ability to analyze the origins, implications, and dynamics of public policy is a critical managerial skill... View Details
- April 1993 (Revised May 1994)
- Case
General Dynamics and Computer Sciences Corporation: Outsourcing the IS Function (A)
By: F. Warren McFarlan and Katherine Seger
Designed to generate discussion on the issues of outsourcing from the perspective of a firm thinking about turning over its IS activities to a third-party vendor. View Details
Keywords: Management Systems; Management Style; Information Technology; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Business Strategy; Economic Systems; Business or Company Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Processes; Employment; Emerging Markets; Activity Based Costing and Management; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry
- December 1992 (Revised September 1994)
- Background Note
Note on Organizational Effectiveness
By: Michael Beer
Discusses what is meant by organizational effectiveness. First, the concept of organizations as social systems is introduced. Second, a model of organization effectiveness is introduced and discussed. View Details
- May 1992 (Revised January 2000)
- Case
Asea Brown Boveri: The ABACUS System
By: Robert L. Simons
Describes the computer-based information system (ABACUS) used to monitor and control business operations in a complex, global company. Describes the technical attributes of the database system, financial reporting requirements, target setting and profit calculations on... View Details
- April 1992 (Revised September 1993)
- Case
Poland--1989
By: Debora L. Spar
Describes the political and economic situation in Poland in 1989, following the country's first democratic elections and the subsequent establishment of a Solidarity-led government. After examining the legacies left by 40 years of Communist rule, the case lays out the... View Details
- March 1992 (Revised June 1992)
- Case
AT&T Productos de Consumo de Mexico
Describes in detail the decisions AT&T made in designing and staffing their Mexican telephone answering machine plant. Allows students to evaluate a company's detailed implementation decisions on a plant in a developed country--involving wages, benefits, waste... View Details
- October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
- Case
Maxwell Appliance Controls
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details
- September 1991 (Revised September 2010)
- Case
Dore-Dore
By: Janice H. Hammond and Audris Wong
Dore-Dore, a French manufacturer of socks and children's knitwear, has just converted a portion of its knitwear operations to a flexible modular system to allow faster response and greater flexibility. The case provides an opportunity to assess the changes in knitwear... 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
- March 1990 (Revised April 1990)
- Supplement
IBM Corp.: ""Make It Your Business"" (B)
By: Robert L. Simons
Reveals the system changes that IBM adopted. Designed as an in-class handout after discussion of the (A) case. View Details
- March 1990 (Revised June 1991)
- Case
IBM Corp.: ""Make It Your Business"" (A)
By: Robert L. Simons
In 1987, IBM changed its strategy in an attempt to become a market-driven company rather than a product-driven company. The case begins with a description of the new strategy and the reasons for the change and then describes the top-down sales planning and quota system... View Details
- February 1990 (Revised July 1990)
- Case
Internal Revenue Service: Automated Collection System
By: Nitin Nohria
Describes how the IRS's collection operations changed from a largely manual system (COF) to an automated system (ACS). A central aspect of ACS was the electronic scheduling and maintaining of work. While with ACS the IRS accomplished significant improvements in the... View Details
- January 1990 (Revised February 1990)
- Teaching Note
Sedalia Revisited, Teaching Note
By: Roy D. Shapiro
Teaching Note for (9-687-004). View Details
Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Design; Quality; System; Employees; Framework; Competition; Production; Strategy
- January 1990 (Revised February 1990)
- Case
MSA: The Software Company--Planning the AMAPs Product Line
By: Robert J. Dolan
MSA has commissioned a major market research study to assess demand potential for a computer software system designed for aerospace and defense contractors. Students must evaluate the results of the study (including a conjoint analysis) to assess whether MSA should... View Details
- July 1989 (Revised August 1993)
- Supplement
Kanthal (B)
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Describes actions taken by senior management of Kanthal after seeing the results of the newly installed account management system. Designed as a class handout. A rewritten version of an earlier case by the same author. View Details
- March 1989 (Revised March 1999)
- Case
Metabo GmbH & Co. KG
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A privately owned German power tool company was dissatisfied with its existing cost system. The system could not produce timely accurate reports on cost center operations, and newly purchased automated machines were attracting large overhead costs. A new, highly... View Details