Manufacturing Performance - Publications - Faculty & Research

Vincent R. Shiely

Shiely continued Briggs & Stratton’s (world’ largest manufacturer of small gasoline engines) three decade long top financial performance – even during the energy crisis of the 1970’s. For 30 years,... View Details

Keywords: Fabricated Goods

Theodore W. Waitt

Waitt built one of the most successful computer manufacturers and sellers in the US. Along with Dell, Gateway became a pioneering force in using direct mail and the Internet to sell personal computers. Though Gateway has often lagged the... View Details

Keywords: Computers & Electronics

01 Dec 2008
News

A U.S. Turnaround?

During the 1960s and 1970s, U.S. textile, apparel, and shoe manufacturing migrated to Latin America and Asia. By 1990 many products formerly manufactured in the United States were being produced abroad. In... View Details

Keywords: Byron Wien; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Partnering and the Balanced Scorecard

its own performance was critically dependent on the ability of its key suppliers to manufacture goods quickly, responsively, and at low cost. Kenyon developed a sourcing leadership theme on its strategy map... View Details

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

June 1998 (Revised January 2002)
Teaching Note

Baker Precision Instruments, Inc., TN

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Donald Rosenfield

Teaching Note for (9-687-052). View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Production; Decisions; Technology; Planning; Performance Capacity; Management; Manufacturing Industry

Citation

26 May 2015
Research & Ideas

Corporate Field Researchers Share Tricks of the Trade

professor. In the summers of 2008 and 2009, while he was still a doctoral candidate at HBS, Bernstein hired a team of Chinese-born Harvard undergraduates to embed themselves among factory workers on the manufacturing floor of a huge... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

10 Jan 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Operations Management

resource allocation lead to strategy failures? Can operations become a competitive advantage? Can "lean" Productions Methods Improve Service Industries? Bringing 'Lean' Principles to Service Industries Toyota and other top manufacturing... View Details

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

What Really Drives Your Strategy?

as big an impact on strategy as corporate-level managers. One of the examples we use in the book is Intel. While the corporate office continued to conceive of Intel as a memory chip company, an operating rule in their manufacturing... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Jun 1998
News

Short Takes

compensation does not result in improved performance in American companies, they conclude, corporations abroad should resist pressures to tie incentives to individual and unit performance. Two Best Ways? When HBS assistant professor... View Details

Keywords: Orna Feldman and Caroline Chauncey

November 1993 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Romeo Engine Plant

By: Amy P. Hutton and Robert S. Kaplan

A newly reopened automobile engine plant has been organized along total quality and teamwork principles. Employees now is to solve problems and ensure quality, rather than watch parts being produced. New operating and financial systems have been installed to promote... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Groups and Teams; Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

September 1995 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Managing Innovation at Nypro, Inc. (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Rebecca Voorheis

Nypro is the world's leading injection molder of precision plastic parts, operating a global network of 21 plants. Nypro's strategy is for each plant to offer identical capabilities, because its customers are global companies with worldwide sourcing needs. The case... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Innovation and Management; Operations; Performance Consistency; Manufacturing Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

Career Coach

Craig Husa

As the founder or CEO, Craig (HBS ’90, USNA ’83) has grown and sold four technology-enabled companies to leading public companies. He attributes most of his success (the rest is luck) to building and leading high performing teams who can... View Details

Keywords: Clean Technology; Energy; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Technology; Venture Capital; Financial Services (All); Energy; Oil & Gas; Energy; Impact Investing; Financial Services (All)

15 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of New-Market Disruption

very inexpensive commodity components that perform basic computations in household appliances, like irons and toasters. At the time, microcontroller manufacturers were just beginning to use automated test... View Details

Keywords: by Clark Gilbert; Technology

July 2023
Article

Managerial Quality and Productivity Dynamics

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo

Do productivity and managerial quality vary within the firm? If so which managerial traits and practices matter most for team productivity? Combining granular garment production data with survey data on managers across 120 production lines in India, we document... View Details

Keywords: Productivity; Non-cognitive Skills; Learning By Doing; Ready-made Garments; Management; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Performance Productivity; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; India

Citation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

06 Aug 2015
News

A Wall Street Pioneer Comes Home

president and associate director of research, and consultant on special projects. “When we called on corporate clients, people were sometimes astounded to discover I was a woman,” she recalls. “But as long as I could perform and show I... View Details

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Building Competitive Advantage Through Operations

At the HBS Executive Education program Building Competitive Advantage Through Operations (BCAO), executives charged with leading and building operations and manufacturing strategies enhance their understanding of operations View Details

Keywords: by Staff

15 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 15

http://www.nber.org/papers/w11503 Synthesis by Microbes or Chemists? Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing in the Antibiotic Era Author:Arthur A. Daemmrich Publication:History and Technology 23, no. 3 (2009): 237-256 Abstract This... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Mar 2023
News

Case Study: Power Nappy

to landfill waste. What’s worse, each of the 27 million diapers that are tossed every year will take four or five centuries to decompose, due to their petroleum-based materials. Between the lack of performance in the sustainable brands... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Miscellaneous Manufacturing

07 Sep 2017
Blog Post

How One Organization Increased Their Internship Yield

performance is reviewed, what the incentive structures are – will be helpful. Yes, it takes time, but the extra effort is worthwhile.” At Corning, recruiters have turned inward to communicate outward. Kim Mosher, Corning’s Talent... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

November 1992 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Eskimo Pie Corporation

By: Richard S. Ruback

In early 1991, Reynolds Metals, the makers of aluminum products, decided to sell its holding of Eskimo Pie, a marketer of branded frozen novelties. Reynolds had an offer from Nestle to acquire Eskimo Pie. However, Reynolds decided instead to make an initial public... View Details