Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(159)
- Faculty Publications (85)
- October 2002 (Revised May 2003)
- Case
Dynatrol Corporation: Andover Assembly Division
By: H. Kent Bowen, Janice H. Hammond and Ramchandran Jaikumar
While grappling with glitches in the design and operation of its production system, Andover Assembly must also launch a new sensor product line to meet ultimatums issued by frustrated Signatron vice presidents. The financial returns of the division are not meeting... View Details
- December 2000 (Revised January 2002)
- Background Note
Incentives and Controllability: A Note and Exercise
By: Brian J. Hall
Describes three performance measures for "plants" or businesses: cost centers, revenue centers, and profit centers. Discusses what should be done if a function outside of the "controllability" of the manager affects the performance measure and therefore compensation. View Details
- December 1999
- Case
Avon Products China (B)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Jennifer Gui
Supplements the (A) case. View Details
- June 1998 (Revised June 1999)
- Case
Dixon Corporation: The Collinsville Plant
By: W. Carl Kester
Dixon Corp.faces the task of valuing a plant and an associated project that it is considering buying. The revisions are designed to enable the application of adjusted present value technique for valuation. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details
- March 1997 (Revised December 1999)
- Case
Alden Products, Inc.--European Manufacturing
By: Robert H. Hayes
The European organization of Alden Products, Inc. is contemplating a doubling of unit sales over the next ten years. Their largest plant, located in Holland, was set up 25 years earlier to supply all demands of the EEC countries on the continent. It has since expanded... View Details
- February 1997
- Case
Enron Development Corporation: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (A) (Abridged)
A large, lucrative power plant is negotiated for construction/operation by an American power company in India's evolving privatized power sector. The process of incorporating the project is captured in this case. The American company will own and operate the plant in... View Details
- September 1996
- Exercise
Project Management Exercise #2: Planning the Shad Factory Project
By: H. Kent Bowen and Marilyn Matis
- February 1996 (Revised February 2008)
- Case
Toshiba: Ome Works
By: H. Kent Bowen, Janice H. Hammond, Sylvie Ryckebusch and Hiroshi Uchikoga
In 1995, Toshiba was the market leader in portable computer sales worldwide. This case describes the assembly of portable notebook computers in Toshiba's Ome factory in Ome, Japan, providing insights into some of the reasons for Toshiba's success. In addition to... View Details
Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Employees; Job Design and Levels; Production; Hardware; Japan
- January 1995 (Revised November 2021)
- Case
Portfolio Planning at Ciba-Geigy and the Newport Investment Proposal
By: David J. Collis and Elizabeth Wynne Johnson
Covers the history of portfolio planning at CIBA-GEIGY, a leading Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical company, beginning with the introduction of the process in the mid-1980s. The discussion extends to the application of portfolio planning techniques to a specific... View Details
- May 1994 (Revised August 1994)
- Case
Motorola-Elma
By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan
Motorola's old automative electronics plant in Arcade, outside Buffalo, New York, faced the prospect of closure in the mid-1980s, but leading customers persuaded Motorola to give the plant a second chance. The new plant manager, Dennis Fiehn, recognized that existing... View Details
- May 1994 (Revised August 1994)
- Case
Motorola-Penang
By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan
S.K. Ko managed Motorola's Penang, Malaysia factory, producing telecommunications components and equipment. As a female manager of a multi-ethnic and labor-intensive plant in Asia, Ko faced a number of challenges. She had already promoted quality circles and quality... View Details
- December 1993 (Revised March 1995)
- Case
Medical Products Co.
By: Robert H. Hayes
In early 1990, the company is contemplating changes in its European plant network for producing hypodermic products, including the total production capacity to be provided, the number and location of plants over which to spread this capacity, and which products should... View Details
- August 1993
- Case
Applichem (A) (Abridged)
By: Janice H. Hammond and Gary P. Pisano
Applichem manufactures the same chemical product in four plants, each of which is located in a different country. The company has completed a major study comparing the productivity and performance of these plants. Using the data from the study, students must decide... View Details
- July 1993
- Case
ABB Deutschland (Abridged)
Focuses in detail on implementing a corporate restructuring program in ABB's German subsidiary. Special attention is given to Germany's unique form of industrial governance. Two major problem areas--power plants and power transformers--are described in detail. ABB's... View Details
- April 1993 (Revised December 1993)
- Case
NEC
By: Marco Iansiti
Investigates product development practices at NEC. The company provides an intriguing example of how to build capability through a stream of product development projects. Focuses in detail on an engineering group that develops the core component of its line of... View Details
- December 1992 (Revised March 1997)
- Case
Peoria Engine Plant (A)
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton
Describes the cost control system used at an automobile engine plant for labor and overhead costs. The finance staff prepares daily, weekly, and monthly variance reports against budgets. Department supervisors, finance staff, and the plant manager discuss the use and... View Details
- November 1992 (Revised January 2002)
- Case
Process Control at Polaroid (A)
By: H. Kent Bowen and Steven C. Wheelwright
Describes the initial efforts at a film production plant to shift from a traditional QC inspection mentality to a worker-based process control mentality. Students can prepare SPC charts, propose actions needed, and combine steps into an overall action plan. View Details
- October 1992 (Revised August 1994)
- Case
Allied-Signal: Managing the Hazardous Waste Liability Risk
By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Edward Prewitt
Allied-Signal, Inc., one of the world's oldest chemical companies and today a diversified conglomerate, is liable for clean-up costs of old hazardous waste sites. These costs are substantial: reserves grew to nearly $500 million in 1991. Attempting to avoid further... View Details
- September 1992
- Case
Kodak Business Imaging Systems Division
By: Marie-Therese M. Flaherty and Steven C. Wheelwright
Describes Kodak's decision regarding a manufacturing site for some of its products. Compares several types of products (with different cost structures) and several worldwide locations (with different characteristics). Provides a framework (model) for comparing and... View Details
- November 1991 (Revised April 1994)
- Case
Nucleon, Inc.
By: Gary P. Pisano
Nucleon is a small biotechnology company whose first potential product is about to enter clinical testing. Before Nucleon can begin clinical trials, however, its management must decide how and where to manufacture the product. Three options are being contemplated: 1)... View Details