Publications

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January 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

General Scanning, Inc. (B)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Sean McClenaghan and Charles Tillen

After meeting with a mediator, Montagu and Davis decided their goals were not in accordance, and Davis left General Scanning. Montagu and Brosens wrote three-year objectives for the company and proceeded to search for a new professional manager. Chuck Winston took on... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Restructuring; Change; Business or Company Management; Ownership Stake; Strategic Planning; Hardware

Web

Advisory Board - Entrepreneurship

received an appointment by Harvard Business School as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and was named as one of Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs. Ms. Beck was Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005. Prior to... View Details

March 2006
Case

The Whitesides Lab

By: H. Kent Bowen and Francesca Gino

A significant part of the long-term economic growth in developed economies depends on the translation of scientific research into new products and processes. Focuses on the front end of this value creation stream. The laboratory of George Whitesides has a 30-year... View Details

Keywords: Research; Performance Productivity; Economic Growth; Infrastructure; Creativity; Groups and Teams; Value Creation; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Leadership; Resource Allocation

01 Jun 1998
News

Rauner Honored

Bruce V. Rauner (MBA '81) (right), who recently endowed an HBS professorship bearing his name, was honored at a March 2 dinner held at the Dean's House. Rauner, managing principal of the Chicago-based private-equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner LLC, is joined View Details

Web

Teacher Profiles - Case Method Project

PA Bowen Borgeson Hill School Pottstown, PA TX Bryan Boucher St. Mark’s School Dallas, TX Subjects: AP U.S. History, US History and Government CT Karen Boyea Greenwich High School Greenwich, CT Subjects: AP U.S. History, College... View Details

Web

Partners - Case Method Project

Modesto, CA CA 18 of 65 Isaac Farhadian John H. Pitman High School Turlock, CA Subjects: AP U.S. Government and Politics, College Prep U.S. Government, College Prep Economics CA 19 of 65 Miguel Flores St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy... View Details

December 1998
Background Note

Cash Management Practices in Small Companies

By: H. Kent Bowen, Andrew R. Jassy, Laurence E. Katz, Kevin E. Kelly and Baltej Kochar

Most small business managers claim that cash management is their leading concern. Often walking a tightrope between growth and illiquidity, small business managers face different cash management challenges than their counterparts in larger companies. Compared to larger... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Working Capital; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Design; Cash; Forecasting and Prediction; Policy; Business Strategy

February 1996 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Toshiba: Ome Works

By: H. Kent Bowen, Janice H. Hammond, Sylvie Ryckebusch and Hiroshi Uchikoga

In 1995, Toshiba was the market leader in portable computer sales worldwide. This case describes the assembly of portable notebook computers in Toshiba's Ome factory in Ome, Japan, providing insights into some of the reasons for Toshiba's success. In addition to... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Employees; Job Design and Levels; Production; Hardware; Japan

March 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Salt Lake Organizing Committee, The: 2002 Olympics

By: H. Kent Bowen, Bryce LaPierre and Courtney Purrington

After two and a half years of effort, Fraser Bullock, COO of the 2002 Winter Olympics, faced projected deficits and post-9/11 security requirements only five months before the opening ceremony. Summarizes the organizational structure and processes put in place by... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Knowledge Dissemination; Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Planning; Practice; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Sports; System

June 2006
Teaching Note

Natural Blends, Inc. (TN)

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry

August 2001
Background Note

Work Methods Design: Note on Time Standards

Looks at production design. Helps students observe and work with procedures and consider cost reduction ideas using a view of methods improvement. View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Management Practices and Processes; Standards; Production; Performance Improvement; Perspective

01 Feb 2002
News

Replicating Toyota's Success

years of on-site research at Toyota and its affiliates, in 1999 Spear and HBS professor H. Kent Bowen published a Harvard Business Review article titled "Decoding the DNA of... View Details

Keywords: Machinery Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers; Retail Trade

October 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Dynatrol Corporation: Andover Assembly Division

By: H. Kent Bowen, Janice H. Hammond and Ramchandran Jaikumar

While grappling with glitches in the design and operation of its production system, Andover Assembly must also launch a new sensor product line to meet ultimatums issued by frustrated Signatron vice presidents. The financial returns of the division are not meeting... View Details

Keywords: Production; Product Development; Product; Performance Productivity; Problems and Challenges; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Manufacturing Industry; United States

Awards

Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing Research

Winner of the 1999–2000 Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing Research for "Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System" (with Steven Spear, Harvard Business Review, September–October 1999). View Details

Research Summary

Science-Based Business and the Business of Science

Science and technology can provide strategic advantage to companies' through differentiated products and processes. The focus of our research is on unusually productive and creative labs that are the sources of breakthroughs that create platforms for sustained... View Details

February 1999
Teaching Note

SweetWater TN

Teaching Note for (9-695-026). View Details

April 1997 (Revised October 2005)
Teaching Note

Workplace Safety at Alcoa (A) (TN)

Teaching Note for (9-692-042). View Details

Keywords: Mining Industry

October 1993 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Connecticut Spring and Stamping Corp. (A)

Connecticut Spring and Stamping Corp. (CSSC) is a small, privately owned metal working company with a reputation for providing quality products to its customers. CSSC's business is primarily the production of springs and stamped parts used in a variety of mechanical... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Engineering; Private Ownership; Quality; Manufacturing Industry

August 2001 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Operations at the Donner Company

A small manufacturer of circuit boards faces product and operations-management problems. This case analyzes the production capacity at various stages and examines bottlenecks and product flow decisions. A detailed look at the problems and a discussion of the tools and... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Production; Performance Capacity; Business Processes; Logistics; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry