Publications

26 Aug 2024
Research & Ideas

Can AI Match Human Ingenuity in Creative Problem-Solving?

for end users, and can generate an infinite number of ideas quickly, Lane says. But are the ideas any good? To find out, Lane and her fellow researchers asked people to come up with business ideas for the sustainable circular economy, in which View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Information Technology; Information; Technology

19 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Alfred Chandler on the Electronic Century

operating system and application software. At the same time, the producers of minicomputers used the microprocessor to develop the workstation for its engineering and scientific customers. The new array of View Details

Keywords: by Alfred D. Chandler, Takashi Hikino & Andrew Von Nordenflycht; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

01 Jul 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Super Stretch Goals Only for the Very Young?

products. “The tech industry in general, young or old, can accommodate stretched goals, simply because digital can reach millions of people worldwide in one second, and all that they have to do is to create the product once [versus] other... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

August 1992 (Revised February 1995)
Case

Otis Pacific Asia Operations (B): Regionalization

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Describes Otis's effort to build a regional organization linking its previously autonomous opportunities across the Pacific Asia region. Describes changes being made in several key functions, including manufacturing, marketing, engineering, and finance. Presents major... View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Finance; Marketing Strategy; Production; Opportunities; Competition; Integration

December 1994
Case

Intel's Pentium: When the Chips Are Down (A)

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Norman Klein

Intel, the largest-selling manufacturer of microprocessor computer chips, finds itself in a brand-threatening situation when a flaw is revealed in its top-of-the-line Pentium chip. The story is front-page news for weeks. The company invested tens of millions of dollars... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Engineering; Crisis Management; Brands and Branding; Production; Failure; Semiconductor Industry

April 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

R&B Falcon

R&B Falcon is the world's leading offshore drilling contractor. Amid surging exploration budgets and increasing deepwater drilling activity, the company makes huge investments in several new state-of-the art $300 million ultra-deep-water drilling rigs. As day rates and... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Change Management; Industry Growth; Mining; Product Marketing; Mining Industry

Find at Harvard

05 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Porsche’s Risky Roll on an SUV

premium? "I think the central question posed by the cases—and we can generalize this more broadly beyond Porsche—is, what difference does location make in a globalized world? Can products just be manufactured anywhere?" One... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Auto; Manufacturing

2009
Article

Synthesis by Microbes or Chemists? Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing in the Antibiotic Era

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

This article presents a case study of the rise of Pfizer as a leading pharmaceutical company, with a focus on changing relationships between manufacturing technology and R&D between the mid-1940s and the mid-1960s. Pfizer first moved into pharmaceuticals through... View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Production; Technology; Transformation; Relationships; Success; Organizations; Programs; Chemicals; Alignment; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

August 1997 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Fabritek, 1992

By: Janice H. Hammond

Describes a large-volume automotive parts contract in a high-quality machine work company. Quality and delivery problems arise when one of the four men on the job is replaced with a high producer who cannot earn a substantial bonus because of machine interference. View Details

Keywords: Machinery and Machining; Compensation and Benefits; Selection and Staffing; Production; Quality; Manufacturing Industry

15 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of New-Market Disruption

CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor), was aimed at simplifying multicomponent test systems. Typically, silicon wafers moving through production are fed into the test system, which sends electrical impulses into each wafer and... View Details

Keywords: by Clark Gilbert; Technology

02 Nov 2020
What Do You Think?

Is Antitrust Just a Quaint Notion in the Digital Age?

billion in sales and a dominant share of the office supply superstore industry—but only a 6 to 8 percent share of the overall office products market. I remember it well. I was the member of Office Depot’s board acting as the liaison to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

01 May 2000
What Do You Think?

Can You Hard-Wire Performance?

success to the success of its engines in delivering valuable up-time to ultimate customers. But it did much more than that. By guaranteeing up-time at a given cost, GE's management created a built-in incentive to improve the View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

April 2004
Case

D-Wave Systems: Building a Quantum Computer

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Ajay Agrawal and Rebecca Henderson

D-Wave Systems is a start-up seeking to commercialize a quantum computer. Its business model is unique: as of 2003, it had very few technical resources within the firm. Instead, it financed a series of projects undertaken at universities and government labs. In return... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Engineering; Investment; Intellectual Property; Product Development; Research and Development; Commercialization; Computer Industry

14 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

Keeping Your Balance With Customers

value" of a customer. Customer growth strategies generally involve striving to expand the share of each customer's spending by expanding the company's range of products or services. This involves cross-selling to and partnering with... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

02 Dec 2019
What Do You Think?

How Does a Company like Boeing Respond to Intense Competitive Pressure?

operating or engineering jobs (“who don’t understand the big picture,” according to those at headquarters); between officers and enlisted personnel in the military; between doctors and hospital administrators; and between faculty and... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Air Transportation

December 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Disruptive Technology a Heartbeat Away: Ecton, Inc.

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Edward G Cape

Describes an innovating start-up company with a disruptive technology to the large, expensive echocardiography machines that leading cardiologists use to create images of heart functions for diagnostic purposes. Ecton's machine is small, cheap, portable, and can't... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Disruption; Machinery and Machining; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Product; Commercialization; Technology; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry