Publications

25 Mar 2019
News

Rent The Runway Joins the Unicorn Club

Photo via Forbes, courtesy of Rent the Runway Photo via Forbes, courtesy of Rent the Runway Rent the Runway’s latest fundraising round—a $125 million investment led by Bain Capital Ventures and Franklin Templeton Investments—has pushed the company’s valuation to $1... View Details

Keywords: Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade

01 Jun 2013
News

Engine Charlie

WILSON: Decades in the auto business. Charles Wilson (MBA 1936) came into this world back when Henry Ford was cranking out Model Ts. Unlike those now retired roadsters, Wilson, at 100 years old, is still active in the car business, although, he admits, "I've got a few... View Details

Keywords: Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers; Retail Trade

2022
Case

A Sweet Dilemma: Sourcing Palm Oil with Ferrero SpA and Nestlé

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

This case focuses on Ferrero SpA's sustainable palm oil sourcing strategy in light of its acquisition of Nestlé's U.S. confectionery brands, which in many ways does not comply with Ferrero's sustainable sourcing commitments. The case reviews Ferrero's rich family... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Supply Chain; Food and Beverage Industry

September 2010 (Revised November 2013)
Supplement

Aspen Skiing Company (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Supply Chain; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Sports Industry; Aspen

October 1988 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Siemens Electric Motor Works (A): Process-Oriented Costing

Explores how a cost system can help support a firm's decision to change strategies. In the process, the students are introduced to a simple activity-based cost system. Siemens Electric Motor Works found itself facing an increasingly competitive environment and so made... View Details

Keywords: Production; Activity Based Costing and Management; Manufacturing Industry

December 1997 (Revised April 1998)
Case

www.springs.com

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Melissa Dailey

Business Week's June 1997 "Rising Star" profile of Springs Industries' president and COO, Crandall Bowles, reported that she was poised to become one of the top two or three women executives in the country. In November 1997, the company announced Bowles' appointment to... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Operations; Product Marketing; Management; Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; South Carolina

Web

Donaldson Room | About

Program for entrepreneurs that ended upon his retirement in 1993. In addition to his teaching, a decade-long study of 12 mature industrial corporations led to two important books in the 1980s, Decision Making at the Top: The Shaping of Strategic Direction and View Details

October 1990 (Revised May 1994)
Case

Confederated Pulp & Paper

By: David E. Bell

A rewritten version of an old case that updates the dates and prices and simplifies the economics. The issue is still one of determining a suitable inventory of wood for the mill to last through the winter. View Details

Keywords: History; Supply Chain Management; Spending; Forecasting and Prediction; Economic Growth; Information Management; Pulp and Paper 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; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

11 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Cheap, Fast, and In Control: How Tech Aids Innovation

Innovation and experimentation are vital to the longevity of any organization, says Stefan H. Thomke in his new book Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation. In this interview, Thomke, an associate professor of technology and... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild

15 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Find Your Pragmatic Path through Radical Uncertainty

the future. Process planning and scenario planning make more sense than fixed projections because they focus on answerable questions. What is required to remain solvent per month? What startup costs will be required to return to “normal?” How can we estimate what... View Details

Keywords: by Howard Stevenson, Eugene B. Kogan, and Shirley Spence

May 2023
Teaching Note

Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 520-051. Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Segmentation; Venture Capital; Consumer Products Industry

March 2017
Exercise

Designing Transformational Customer Experiences

By: Stefan Thomke

Anyone who has recently travelled, gone shopping, or tried to have a problem solved may have little recollection of the experience. Worse yet, some are frustrated by the lack of responsiveness or empathy that they encountered. The reality is that most customer... View Details

Keywords: Customer Experience; Exercise; Learning By Doing; LEGO; Storytelling; Customer Satisfaction; Design; Innovation and Management; Transformation; Service Delivery

August 1992 (Revised July 2013)
Case

ChemBright, Inc.

By: Janice H. Hammond

ChemBright is a small start-up company that manufactures private-label household chemicals. The company sells its products to grocery chains in the New England area. Its strategy is based on a significant logistics-based cost advantage. The primary case decisions are... View Details

Keywords: Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Chemical Industry; New England