Publications

19 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Alfred Chandler on the Electronic Century

public use—major new products of either consumer electronics or computer hardware with their essential software technologies. In the United States, no enterprise had the capability to commercialize new consumer electronics technologies.... View Details

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

26 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

A Clear Eye for Innovation

The Roman god Janus had two sets of eyes—one pair focusing on what lay behind, the other on what lay ahead. General managers and corporate executives should be able to relate. They, too, must constantly look backward, attending to the... View Details

Keywords: by Charles A. O'Reilly III & Michael L. Tushman

May 1998 (Revised August 2017)
Case

DuPont Kevlar: Commercializing a Miracle Fiber

By: Clayton Christensen and Rory McDonald

Describes Dupont's efforts to build commercial markets for its miracle fiber, Kevlar. Initially, it sought to create a market for Kevlar tire cord, primarily because its existing tire cord business was languishing. This market never developed, even after Dupont spent... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Crisis Management; Product Launch; Emerging Markets; Research and Development; Technology

01 Apr 2001
News

The Natural Advantage

After a long career in marketing and management with top U.K. and international companies, Alan Heeks (MBA 1976) turned over a new leaf in 1990. He set up the Wessex Foundation, an educational charity whose centerpiece is Magdalen Farm,... View Details

Keywords: Crop Production; Crop Production; Crop Production; Crop Production

01 Dec 2010
News

Do Good: Eat Chocolate

also differentiated by percentage of cacao solids, from 50 percent to 70 percent. In her HBS application essays, Endline wrote of wanting to start a business but instead went to Yahoo! as a product manager... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; candy; chocolate; Crop Production; Crop Production; Crop Production; Crop Production

October 2022
Case

Single.Earth

By: Rembrand Koning and Emer Moloney

Estonian greentech company Single.Earth is launching a nature-backed token that is linked to and funds the protection of a specific plot fo land. The first landowners had been onboarded to the company's Digital Twin, a virtual representation of the planet's natural... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Natural Resources; Pollution; Analytics and Data Science; Marketing; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Markets; Market Timing; Strategy; Green Technology Industry; Estonia

01 Sep 2011
News

‘Green’ Trailblazers

and Santiago, Chile For-profit conservationists David Blood (MBA 1985) Generation Investment Management London, New York, and Sydney Investment management that integrates sustainability factors and... View Details

Keywords: Management; Management; Management; Management

01 Apr 2001
News

Rewriting the Script: Social Enterprise Start-ups Expand Business Plan Contest's Parameters

Production internship program that provides women and minorities with hands-on training in film production, while also offering a support network of industry contacts. This year, opportunities for students with nonprofit business plans... View Details

Keywords: Arts, Entertainment; Information

03 Jun 2020
Blog Post

Jeff Surette and Mike Peters: A Winning Team at TB12

the company started in management consulting. After graduating from Harvard College in 2005, Surette joined Parthenon for three years before matriculating at HBS in the fall of 2008. Amid a global recession, his business school experience... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

01 Jun 2012
News

Made in the USA

of the Blackstone River in Northbridge, Massachusetts, the factory manufactures zinc-galvanized, plastic-coated welded wire mesh used to make lobster traps, security fencing, and other wire products, using a process Knott invented. The company’s first success was... View Details

Keywords: Blagg, Deborah; cheese; lobster fishing; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises

18 Jun 2001
Research & Ideas

Caught in the Cogs: When Manufacturing and IT Meet

their IT problems, Upton explained, managers are faced with a "spectrum of solutions." At one end is packaged software available off-the-shelf to all comers, including your competitors. Trouble is, when the same View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

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

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises

01 Mar 2010
News

Lords of Strategy

John Weber In his new book, The Lords of Strategy: The Secret Intellectual History of the New Corporate World (Harvard Business Press), Walter Kiechel III (MBA ’76) traces the rise of modern management consulting from the 1960s to the... View Details

September 2023
Teaching Note

Apple’s iPhone Revolution: Pioneering the Circular Economy

By: George Serafeim

Teaching Note for HBS Case 123-089. The case describes the Trade-In system for iPhones that allow iPhones to be refurbished and reused or to be recycled. The case provides information for the students to analyze the financial attractiveness of the Trade-In system and... View Details

Keywords: Iphone; Smartphone; Technology; Business Model Innovation; Carbon Emissions; Recycling; Business Model; Product Design; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Technology Industry

22 Jan 2018
Blog Post

"Luxury, Technology, Integration"

managed to integrate the two in an industry characterized by heritage and craftsmanship, luxury goods. Since their inception, YOOX and Net-A-Porter revolutionized this space selling luxury and fashion View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

09 Feb 2017
Blog Post

Alumni: Where Are They Now? Featuring: Anddria Varnado (Clack-Rogers)

and cross-brand initiatives across Williams-Sonoma’s iconic eight-brand portfolio. I joined WSI after a few years in management consulting, where I managed projects across my firm’s retail and technology... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

April 1988 (Revised September 1989)
Case

Tektronix: Portable Instruments Division (C)

Provides the rationale behind the design of the new cost system. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Production; Management Systems; Manufacturing Industry