Publications

01 Mar 2011
News

The Path to Economic Revival

innovation powerhouse? Shih: I think so. But the problem comes about as more manufacturing moves offshore and commercialization capabilities diminish. Flat-panel displays are a good example. Because there is... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Manufacturing

06 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Renewable Energy: Winds at Our Back?

off Massachusetts' coastline is the subject of HBS professor Richard Vietor's case study "Cape Wind: Offshore Wind Energy in the USA." The case highlights the challenges and opportunities that face green... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

27 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

New Cluster Mapping Project Helps Companies Locate Facilities

conduct research and gain access to company managements. Clusters allow companies to operate more productively than where they must do things themselves (vertical integration) or where they must outsource... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

07 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Innovation in Asia

Although Asian countries have been able to use cost advantages and software coding prowess to attract outsource business from around the world, the region is quickly moving up the value chain to challenge... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

February 2014
Background Note

Furloughs: An Alternative to Layoffs for Economic Downturns

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg

This note describes the practice of employee furloughs (also known as work sharing or short-time work) including their regulatory frameworks in different countries and the business and ethical implications of their use. View Details

Keywords: Work Sharing; Furloughs; Temporary Layoff; Short Time Work; Employee Relationship Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing

Career Coach

Carole Carlson

consulting skills and social entrepreneurship in their MBA program, and she also moderates online executive education programs for HBS Publishing.Carole is a 1998 graduate of Harvard Business School, where... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Education; Entrepreneurship; Government; Health Care; Hospitality; Real Estate; Social Enterprise

April 1995
Case

Montague Corporation (A)

By: Norman A. Berg and James Weber

The Montague Corp. is a small company started in 1987 and owned by David Montague, age 31, and his father. The company designs, manufactures in Taiwan, and sells through distributors worldwide a high-quality "bicycle that folds." The company offices are located in... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Financial Strategy; Financial Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Globalized Firms and Management; Family Business; Bicycle Industry; Taiwan; Cambridge

Find at Harvard

December 2015
Teaching Note

Nokia's Bridge Program (A) & (B)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg

This teaching note is designed to be used in conjunction with the cases "Nokia's Bridge Program: Redesigning Layoffs (A)," HBS No. 615-013, and "Nokia's Bridge Program: Outcome and Results (B)," HBS No. 615-014. Instructors could also assign "Layoffs: Effects on Key... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Plant Closure; Outplacement; Shared Value; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Business Exit or Shutdown

11 Jan 2000
Research & Ideas

Calling All Managers: How to Build a Better Call Center

client. And decisions based solely on finances tend to have a negative effect on customer service, the researchers learned. If a company outsources some or all of its call center activities, for example,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Service; Financial Services

January 1976 (Revised December 1988)
Case

Webster Industries (A)

The manufacturing manager of Webster's largest division is told to cut his managerial payroll by 15%. Provides company background data and a description of the manufacturing manager's reactions to the proposed reduction. Provides the students with an opportunity to... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Cost Management

26 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Best Practices of Global Innovators

organizational practices. Production and innovation are different activities. While the former seeks to replicate an existing product at low cost, the latter seeks to discover something entirely new and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Dec 2009
News

Losing Our Competitive Edge

critical components of solar panels, among others. How did this happen? A big part of the reason is the outsourcing of development and manufacturing work to companies abroad. The result: a damaging... View Details

Keywords: Gary P. Pisano; Manufacturing

31 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

A Scholarly Crowd Explores Crowdsourcing

When Clayton Christensen and Derek van Bever prepared to write The Capitalist's Dilemma for the June issue of Harvard Business Review, they took an approach rarely tried on the same scale: They outsourced it... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 2000 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Nick Fiore: Healer or Hitman? (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan

Many general managers face this predicament at one time or another: if I don't deliver the numbers, senior management won't invest in our growth. But what it takes to deliver the desired numbers may include layoffs and other undesirable solutions. Is it better to back... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Strategic Planning; Decision Choices and Conditions

13 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 13

Abstract Governments and other organizations often outsource activities to achieve cost savings from market competition. Yet such benefits are often accompanied by poor quality resulting from moral hazard,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2005 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Exel PLC--Supply Chain Management at Haus Mart

By: Zeynep Ton and Steven C. Wheelwright

Exel plc is a global third-party logistics provider, serving clients such as Home Depot, Dell, Unilever, and Marks & Spencer. Describes the range of activities Exel performs for its clients and the capabilities the company has developed. Exel traditionally focused on... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Supply Chain Management; Logistics