Publications

December 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

i2 Technologies, Inc.

By: Ananth Raman and Jasjit Singh

Describes the emergence and growth of i2 Technologies and the supply chain planning software industry. In December 1998, i2's market capitalization was in excess of $2 billion; the supply chain planning software industry had annual sales of approximately $1 billion and... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Applications and Software; Supply Chain Management; Production; Forecasting and Prediction; Information Technology Industry

December 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Sustainable Tea at Unilever

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Frederik Nellemann

Unilever's Lipton Tea had been successful with the first phase of its certification partnership with Rainforest Alliance. Now the company faced challenges in how to push forward with the transformation of more difficult parts of the supply chain and how to market... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Marketing; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Michael Joyce is a doctoral student in the Technology and Operations Management program at Harvard Business School (HBS).

Michael received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA and a... View Details

January 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Quantum Corporation: eSupplyChain Group

The eSupplyChain group has been recently formed with Quantum Corp.'s Hard Disk Drive Group to evaluate Internet/IT-based approaches to improving supply chain performance. The Hard Disk Drive Group has endured several quarters of poor financial performance and has... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Supply Chain Management; Business Strategy

Nov 2014
Report

Managing the Talent Pipeline: A New Approach to Closing the Skills Gap

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation recommends a new demand-driven approach—talent pipeline management—to close the skills gap. Extending lessons learned from innovations in supply chain management, this... View Details

Career Coach

Boom Supatpitak

Boom seeks to provide students with clear and actionable guidance to aid in exploring opportunities available to HBS students in the Consumer Product Goods (CPG) and retail industry. With experience in these industries, he can provide insights into preliminary and... View Details

12 Apr 2022
News

What Does the Pandemic Have to Do With Inflation?

March 2019 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Global Sourcing at Nike

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Michael W. Toffel and Olivia Hull

This case explores the evolution of Nike’s global product sourcing strategy, in particular ongoing efforts to improve working conditions at its suppliers’ factories. When the case opens in July 2018, Vice President of Sourcing Amanda Tucker and her colleagues in Nike’s... View Details

11 May 2020
News

Apple to produce millions of AirPods in Vietnam amid pandemic

09 Jun 2021
News

If You Thought the Ever Given Blocking The Suez Canal Was Bad, What’s Coming Could Be Worse

Research Summary

Overview

Professor Becker’s research revolves around the way financing supply and financial conditions affect firm behavior, investment, and financing choices. His work on financial contracting has revealed that, in recent years, greater competition has tended to lower rather... View Details

February 2023 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Kvadrat: Focus, Execute, and Grow

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

Kvadrat was a family-owned global textiles company. The company had enjoyed impressive top-line growth and was shifting gears to emphasize profitability via a shorter strategic agenda. Agenda items included: U.S. expansion, generating improved margins in its consumer... View Details

Keywords: Growth; Culture; International Expansion; Organization; Family Business; Leadership; Growth and Development; Strategy; Organizations; Supply Chain; Family Ownership; Profit; Organizational Culture; Denmark

October 2001 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Herman Miller (A): Innovation by Design

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

Gary Van Spronsen, president of Miller SQA, has been asked to leave the thriving subsidiary he helped to reinvent to join Herman Miller's corporate initiative on innovation. Miller SQA has pioneered processes new to the Herman Miller organization, such as... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Design; Product Development; Supply Chain Management; Business Model; Organizations; Values and Beliefs; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry

Kris Ferreira is the Edgerley Family Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Unit. She teaches the Supply Chain Management course in the MBA elective curriculum and analytics in numerous Executive Education... View Details

Keywords: retailing

June 1981 (Revised August 1985)
Case

Shopfair Supermarkets (A)

By: John A. Quelch

The marketing vice president of the leading supermarket chain in a major metropolitan area has to plan his 1981 strategy in light of increasing warehouse store competition. Considers relationships with major manufacturers who are supplying warehouse stores with deal... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

November 2013 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Janet Yellen and the Bernanke Fed

By: Matthew Weinzierl and Katrina Flanagan

The unelected Federal Reserve Chairman exerts exceptional influence over the U.S., in fact global, economy. As Janet Yellen prepared to take over the position, she would look back on Chairman Bernanke's tenure during the Great Recession. During that time, Bernanke was... View Details

Keywords: Monetary Policy; Nominal Rigidity And Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply; Phillips Curve; Taylor Rule; Central Bank Independence; Central Banking; Money; Policy; Financial Crisis; Power and Influence; Banking Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States

September 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

PDS: Ring-Fencing the Ranch

By: Dennis Campbell, Tarun Khanna and Kerry Herman

Pallak Seth, Group CEO of PDS Multinational Fashions, is contemplating options to bring better collaboration across his global apparel supply chain platform. PDS, a group of 50-plus subsidiary companies, each led by its own CEO and with different apparel industry... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Supply Chain Management; Performance; Partners and Partnerships; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Apparel and Accessories Industry