Publications

March 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Boston Scientific Corporation (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Charlie Attlan

Boston Scientific Corporation just bought Guidant at a record breaking price to expand their cardiovascular franchise. They need to rationalize their product portfolio to make the acquisition work. What should they sell and why? View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development; Product Marketing; Product Development; Franchise Ownership; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

February 2008
Supplement

Terumo (C)

By: David Godes, Masako Egawa and Mayuka Yamazaki

This case provides a further update on the firm's decision regarding its U.S. sales strategy for its catheter products and the progress of Solution Pack. It also discusses the expansion of the firm's “Medical Pranex,” a unique facility offering training and meeting... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Global Strategy; Sales; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

December 2003 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Circon (A) (Abridged)

By: Brian J. Hall, Christopher Rose and Guhan Subramanian

In 1996, U.S. Surgical launched a hostile takeover bid against Circon Corp. CEO Richard Auhll recruited an old HBS friend, George Cloutier, to the Circon board to help him defend the company. Circon's primary defenses include a "poison pill" and a staggered board and... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Trust; Relationships; Acquisition; Business and Shareholder Relations; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

March 1996 (Revised January 2002)
Case

CIBA Vision: The Daily Disposable Lens Project (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano

Examines CIBA Vision's decision on whether to launch a major new R&D initiative to develop a low-cost, daily disposable contact lens, and how to organize such a project should it proceed. One group of executives favors setting up a small, autonomous project team... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Operations; Research and Development; Decision Making; Production; Strategy; Management; Organizational Design; Globalization; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

March 1993 (Revised May 1993)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Advanced Diagnostics Division

By: Marco Iansiti

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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September 1987
Case

Resotech, Inc.

By: Kim B. Clark

Keywords: Product Development; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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December 1980 (Revised March 1991)
Case

Sof-Optics, Inc. (A)

The marketing director of a fast-growing firm must make some decisions about the customer service department. The volume in the department has been rising steadily, eye doctors are waiting longer for orders to be filled, and morale in the department is slipping. With... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

May 1967 (Revised June 1984)
Case

Instrumentation Laboratory, Inc.

By: Wickham C. Skinner

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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May 1989 (Revised October 1989)
Teaching Note

Becton Dickinson & Co.: VACUTAINER Systems Division, Teaching Note

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Teaching Note for (9-587-085). View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

01 Jun 2016
News

Taking Care of Business

expertise in quality control and volume manufacturing in the automotive industry (where he does double duty as managing director of Sundaram Brake Linings), Mahesh launched Sundaram Medical Devices in 2010,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

11 Nov 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Public R&D Investments and Private-sector Patenting: Evidence from NIH Funding Rules

Keywords: by Danielle Li; Medical Devices & Supplies; Medical Devices & Supplies; Medical Devices & Supplies; Medical Devices & Supplies

March 2015 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Philips Healthcare Latin America

By: Sunil Gupta

On a beautiful sunny afternoon in October 2013, Daniel Mazon (GMP 15), decided to take some time out of his busy schedule of the General Management Program (GMP) at the Harvard Business School to reflect on his company's situation. Mazon was the Vice President and... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Latin America; Organizational Structure; Salesforce Management; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Latin America

January 1990 (Revised March 1991)
Case

American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region

By: Robert L. Simons

Recounts the financial difficulties and management changes experienced by American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region (NER) during the 1980s. After summarizing industry-wide changes in the collection, testing, and distribution of blood and blood products, the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Management; Restructuring; Health; SWOT Analysis; Social Enterprise; Marketplace Matching; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; North and Central America

September 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

PolyMedica Corporation (B)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

November 1993 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Molding the Impossible: the NYPRO/Vistakon Disposable Contact Lens Project

By: Clayton M. Christensen

NYPRO, Inc., one of the world's leading manufacturers of plastic injection-molded products, is asked by the Vistakon Division of Johnson & Johnson to manufacture molds that Vistakon will use to produce disposable contact lenses. The required dimensional tolerances for... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Engineering; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Production; Groups and Teams; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Article

Drivers of the Variation in Prosthetic Implant Purchase Prices for Total Knee and Total Hip Arthroplasties

By: Derek A. Haas, Kevin J Bozic, Anthony M. DiGioia, Zirui Song and Robert S. Kaplan

Previous studies have documented wide variation in health-care spending and prices; however, the causes for the variation in supply purchase prices across providers are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the drivers of variation in... View Details

Keywords: Costing; Cost Variation; Total Knee Arthroplasty; Total Hip Arthroplasty; Prosthetic Implant Cost; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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April 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Supplement

Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (B)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

The epilogue to Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (A), the B case details the outcome of the issues discussed in Case A; namely that Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor did implement the TSCC contract. Virginia Mason also kept the suture contract... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Measurement and Metrics; Contracts; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry