Publications

17 Jan 2013
News

The Boeing Debacle: Seven Lessons Every CEO Must Learn

Working Paper

Electrification to Grow Manufacturing? Evidence from Mini-Grids in Nepal

By: Robyn C. Meeks, Hope F. Thompson and Zhenxuan Wang

Firms in developing countries often identify electricity as a major constraint to operations. Decentralized renewable energy sources could help alleviate these constraints. We investigate whether electrification in Nepal -- via microhydro plants and their mini-grids --... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Renewable Energy; Infrastructure; Economic Growth; Employment; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

SSRN

30 Jun 2010
News

China could become business threat to Taiwan

September–October 2020
Article

Global Supply Chains in a Post-Pandemic World: Companies Need to Make Their Networks More Resilient. Here's How.

By: Willy C. Shih

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities in the production strategies and supply chains of firms everywhere. Coupled with a rise in economic nationalism, manufacturers everywhere are going to be under pressure to rethink their sourcing and logistics... View Details

Keywords: Resilience; Pandemic; Operations Management; Health Pandemics; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Asia; Europe

Register to Read

Jul 2009
Article

Restoring American Competitiveness

For decades, U.S. companies have been outsourcing manufacturing in the belief that it held no competitive advantage. That has been a disaster. View Details

March 2006
Supplement

Geeli (CW)

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Li Jin

A well-performing Chinese manufacturer faces major impediments raising funding to grow. Highlights various imperfections that shape the financing decision. View Details

Keywords: Capital Costs; Diversification; Cost of Capital; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; China

April 1995 (Revised July 1997)
Case

General Instrument (A)

A manufacturer of cable TV transmission equipment is faced with redesigning its network of international plants that make set-top converters and decoders. One possibility is to have each plant dedicated to manufacturing and engineering support for different product... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

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

29 Oct 2015
Blog Post

Why We Recruit: Bloom Energy

opportunities, be sure to visit our job board. What recruiting tactics have you found most successful in engaging with students and/or alumni at HBS? Our most successful recruitment tools have been on-site visits to Bloom Energy’s corporate headquarters and View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

January 2007 (Revised July 2013)
Case

To JV or Not To JV? That Is the Question (for XTech in China)

By: Daniel J. Isenberg and Paul W. Marshall

XTech, a leading manufacturer of metal parts for the telecommunications industry, is being pushed by its large equipment vendor customers to establish a manufacturing operation in China. CEO Reinhold Hesse is debating several options: establishing a joint venture,... View Details

July 2016 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Tolaram: Innovating in Africa

By: Derek van Bever and Efosa Ojomo

Tolaram is a Singaporean company that began operations selling textiles in Nigeria in the 1970s. Executives and brothers, Haresh and Sajesh Aswani, however, saw an opportunity to create an instant noodle market in the country. In 1988, they began importing Indomie... View Details

Keywords: Fast Moving Consumer Goods; Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Vertical Integration; Emerging Markets; Consumer Products Industry; Nigeria; Africa

19 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Wrapping Your Alliances In a World Wide Web

In his chapter "Manufacturing: Lowering Boundaries, Improving Productivity" from the book The Economic Payoff from the Internet Revolution: Brookings Task Force on the Internet, HBS professor Andrew McAfee, discusses how the Internet has increased View Details

Keywords: by Andrew McAfee

July 1986 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Nippon-WTI Ltd.

By: W. Carl Kester and Glynn Ferguson

A Japanese joint venture between a U.S. parent and a Japanese parent has proposed that 100% of the U.S. parent's product be produced in Japan rather than the 40% currently being manufactured there. This would require the U.S. parent to give up a dollar profit earned on... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Product; Production; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Asia; Japan; United States

26 Jan 2024
Blog Post

HBS Alumna Fighting Cancer with a Novel Cell Therapy

originally planned to pursue a Ph.D., but instead spent four years at Catalent Pharma Solutions, a leading pharma/biotech contract manufacturing development organization. Surrounded by potential career paths in the industry, Zutshi... View Details

Article

Strategic Management of Product Recovery

By: Michael W. Toffel

Manufacturers of an expanding range of durable products are facing regulatory and market pressures to manage the products they manufactured upon their end of life (EOL). In part, this attention is motivated by a growing number of countries—especially across Europe and... View Details

Keywords: Product; Environmental Sustainability; Cost Management; Government Legislation; Logistics; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy; Europe; Asia; United States

Read Now

March 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Doubling Down: Elon Musk's Big Bets in 2022

By: David Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

2021 was a banner year for Elon Musk. CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, the aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, and a few smaller startups, Musk became the richest person on Earth after Tesla reached a market capitalization of $1 trillion and SpaceX a private... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Transportation; Strategic Planning; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Goals and Objectives; Aerospace Industry; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; United States; Europe; China

December 1976 (Revised August 1984)
Case

Chaircraft Corp.

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Production control in a furniture manufacturing company. Based on a case by R.S. Rosenbloom. View Details

Keywords: Production; Consumer Products Industry

June 2013
Case

Comprosa

By: Jim Sharpe and Jose Luis Barbero

A Spanish manufacturer of packaging films has successfully returned to break even and is considering options to attain sustainable profitability. View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Turnarounds; Distressed Debt; Private Equity; Cash Flow Analysis; Supplier Relationship; Supply Chain Management; Unions; Global Competitiveness; Leadership And Managing People; Sales Force Management; Sales Compensation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Global Strategy; Salesforce Management; Cash Flow; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Spain

March 2012
Article

Does America Really Need Manufacturing?

By: Gary P. Pisano and Willy C. Shih

Too many U.S. companies base decisions about where to locate production largely on narrow financial criteria. They don't consider whether keeping manufacturing at home makes more sense strategically or take into account the impact it might have on their ability to... View Details

Keywords: Production; Geographic Location; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Advantage; Product Design; Risk Management; Manufacturing Industry; United States