Global Operations - Publications - Faculty & Research

May 16, 2016
Article

Food Safety Economics: The Cost of a Sick Customer

By: Dina Gerdeman and John A. Quelch

Chipotle Mexican Grill’s ongoing struggle to win customers back months after a contaminated food crisis highlights the challenges companies face with keeping food safe.

Chipotle has seen its shares tumble and recently reported its first-ever quarterly loss... View Details

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16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

It’s never been easy to make money in the restaurant industry. A highly fragmented sector dominated by 70 percent independent owners and operators, the average restaurant’s annual revenue hovers around $1 million and generates an View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

May 2007
Case

Demand and Supply Forecasting at Air Products - Electronics Specialty Materials

Explores the process and inputs behind financial and operational forecasting in the Electronic Specialty Materials unit at Air Products and Chemicals, a global chemical company. The protagonist, John Goldberg, grapples with how to better integrate the two forecasting... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Operations; Forecasting and Prediction; Supply and Industry; Finance; Chemical Industry

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February 2002 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Volvo Trucks (A): Penetrating the U.S. Market

By: Michael E. Porter and Orjan Solvell

Volvo Trucks has worked on a global strategy for several decades. Beginning in the mid-1970s, the company decided to enter the largest market for trucks: the United States. Over time, the company has struggled to get a significant share of the U.S. market and at the... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Five Forces Framework; Truck Transportation; Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Europe

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October 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Teaching Note

Alvogen

By: Daniel Isenberg, William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

Alvogen is an Icelandic pharmaceutical company that makes and sells generic drugs. Founder and CEO Robert Wessman is deciding whether to take on private equity investors willing to buy out all shareholders, merge with a large and publicly-traded US pharmaceutical... View Details

Keywords: Biotechnology; Globalization; Entrepreneurship; Biotechnology Industry

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Teaching

Overview

In the MBA program, Professor Fearing teaches Technology and Operations Management (TOM), a required first-year MBA course.

In January 2013 he traveled with a cohort of... View Details

October 1994 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Sport Obermeyer Ltd.

By: Janice H. Hammond and Ananth Raman

The case describes operations at a skiwear design and merchandising company and its supply partner. Introduces production planning for short-life-cycle products with uncertain demand and allows students to analyze a reduced version of the company's production planning... View Details

Keywords: Product; Supply Chain; Demand and Consumers; Production; Planning; Globalized Markets and Industries; Forecasting and Prediction; Industry Growth; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry; United States; Hong Kong

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December 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Worldwide Orphans Foundation

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Susan Saltrick

How does a small non-profit build its organization, funding, & visibility to become sustainable? Traces the history of Worldwide Orphans Foundation from its early days as little more than the dream of its impassioned founder, Dr. Jane Aronson, to a thriving global... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Business History; Business Growth and Maturation; Welfare

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08 Jun 2015
News

USA TODAY publisher Kramer to retire before Gannett print spinoff

June 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Strategic Innovation at the United Nations: A Network of Ecosystems

By: Frank Nagle, Elizabeth J. Altman and Amy Klopfenstein

In 2021, Gina Lucarelli, leader of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Accelerator Labs, prepared for a meeting with UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. The two planned to discuss the future of the Accelerator Labs, a network of social innovation labs located... View Details

Keywords: Change; Disruption; Transformation; Change Management; Education; Learning; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Local Range; Geopolitical Units; Country; Human Resources; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Information Technology; Information Management; Innovation and Invention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Dissemination; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Social Enterprise; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Psychology; Social and Collaborative Networks; Society; Social Issues; Welfare; Strategy; Cooperation; Adaptation; Public Administration Industry; North and Central America

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Educators

Research Summary

The Architecture of the Integrated Organization

By: Ranjay Gulati

In this research I explore how organizations balance pressures for efficiency with the need to be responsive at the same time. Operating in turbulent global markets it is increasingly important for firms to embrace both global efficiency and also local responsiveness.... View Details

07 May 2008
News

Harvard Business School Hosts Business and Human Rights Conference

10 Apr 2014
Blog Post

HBS FIELD 2 - A good sneak-peek into consulting

One of Harvard’s most interesting experiences during the first year of the MBA is FIELD 2. FIELD 2 is a program where students work in small teams to complete projects for companies operating in emerging economies around the globe. In my... View Details

Keywords: Consulting

Teaching Interest

Overview

In the MBA program, Professor Fearing teaches Technology and Operations Management (TOM), a required first-year MBA course.

In January 2013 he will travel with a cohort of students to... View Details

Teaching Interest

Overview

In the MBA program, Professor Fearing teaches Technology and Operations Management (TOM), a required first-year MBA course. In January 2013 he will travel with a cohort of students to Sao Paolo, Brazil as part of the FIELD 2 Global Immersion program, also a... View Details

August 18, 2017
Other Article

How the U.S. Navy Is Responding to Climate Change

By: Forest Reinhardt and Michael W. Toffel

We talk about how a giant, global enterprise that operates and owns assets at sea level is fighting climate change—and adapting to it. We discuss what the private sector can learn from the U.S. Navy’s scientific and sober view of the world. We are also the authors of... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Leadership; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Operations; Logistics

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December 2024
Supplement

Northvolt: Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change (B)

By: George Serafeim, Debora L. Spar, Peter Tufano, Hugo Etchegoyhen and Emilie Billaud

The (B) case explores Northvolt’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on November 21, 2024, highlighting the company’s struggles to scale operations amid a global EV market slowdown and internal production challenges. While the (A) case detailed Northvolt’s ambitious... View Details

Keywords: Batteries; Electric Vehicles; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Energy; Green Technology; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment; Technological Innovation; Risk Management; Failure; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Production; Growth and Development Strategy; Green Technology Industry; Battery Industry; Europe; Sweden

Citation

October 2019
Case

Regtech at HSBC

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and James Weber

Mark Cooke, Global Head of Operational Risk, needed to decide between a traditional regulatory control system and a new regtech system to manage non-financial risks. Non-financial risks failures such as money laundering and tax evasion had cost HSBC billions of... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Banks and Banking; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Banking Industry; Information Technology Industry; United Kingdom; United States

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August 2023
Case

WayCool: Reimagining the Food Supply Chain

By: Paul Gompers and Kairavi Dey

Founded in 2015, WayCool, is an Indian agri-tech start-up that built a B2B operation acquiring fruits and vegetables from product-specific agriculture companies and small-holding farmers. It sold them to business customers, such as local retail stores, restaurants, and... View Details