Publications

May 1992 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Asea Brown Boveri: The ABACUS System

By: Robert L. Simons

Describes the computer-based information system (ABACUS) used to monitor and control business operations in a complex, global company. Describes the technical attributes of the database system, financial reporting requirements, target setting and profit calculations on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Profit; Business Growth and Maturation; Analytics and Data Science; Design; Accounting Audits; Growth and Development; Globalized Firms and Management; Complexity; Technology Industry

03 Jun 2015
What Do You Think?

Is the Time Right for Self-Management?

Summing Up When and Where Will Holacracy Work Best? Holacracy, or self-management, is an interesting concept and not entirely new. It can work, but only under the right conditions. View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

April 1988 (Revised March 1991)
Case

Tektronix: Portable Instruments Division (B)

Describes the new material-burdening system they have implemented and the cycle-time-burdening system they are proposing. Asks students to analyze the new cost system. View Details

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

23 Feb 2016
First Look

February 23, 2016

link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50571 February 2016 Games and Economic Behavior Contract Design and Stability in Many-to-Many Matching By: Hatfield, John... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Jun 2018
News

Digging Deep

solidly built, collapsible shovel tools that won’t break when things get down and dirty. In the past year, Pieper moved manufacturing from China to Portland, Oregon, a difficult logistical shift that... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

02 Feb 2016
First Look

February 2, 2016

Deutsche Post DHL Group is designing a three-country test of investment in a new health and wellbeing strategy. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/516049-PDF-ENG Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Jul 2019
Blog Post

Solving the Complexities of the Biotechnology Industry

well-programmed and well-constructed. Despite vast knowledge we have accumulated in medicine and biotechnology, there is very little we know about this complex system. The exquisite View Details

29 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Managing Innovation is Like Theater

destination in advance. Whether you're designing a new product, running a business in volatile conditions, operating a process that might encounter unforeseen inputs, or just trying to figure out what to do with your life, the journey... View Details

Keywords: by Rob Austin & Lee Devin

October 1989 (Revised June 1991)
Teaching Note

General Electric: Valley Forge (A)--(H), Teaching Note

By: Robert L. Simons

Teaching Note for (1-189-009--013), (1-189-015), and (1-189-016). View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Pennsylvania

July 1967 (Revised September 1982)
Case

Head Ski Co., Inc.

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Describes the development of the company to its present preeminence in high-priced skis and the avenues that it can follow to obtain new growth. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

February 2023
Supplement

Astyanax Kanakakis at norbloc: A Founder's Experience with the DIFC Fintech Hive

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

norbloc was founded in 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, by Astyanax Kanakakis and his co-founders, Vitalii Demianets and Sam Saatchi. Kanakakis and Demianets got to work to address a key gap in the industry: Know Your Customer (KYC) data sharing. As the first distributed KYC... View Details

14 Jul 2010
Working Paper Summaries

From Russia with Love: The Impact of Relocated Firms on Incumbent Survival

Keywords: by Oliver Falck, Christina Guenther, Stephan Heblich & William R. Kerr; Manufacturing

18 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

Marketing After the Recession

out under-performing distributors, shed unprofitable or unreliable customers, deleted poor-selling products from your portfolio, and concentrated your marketing dollars on media and channels that you could... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Retail

October 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Philipp Justus at eBay Germany (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

A week after becoming country manager of eBay's recently acquired German auction site, Philipp Justus must steer the company through a massive technical integration with eBay's Web site. Throughout the seven-month project, Justus and his team must master the challenge... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Leadership; Internet and the Web; Globalized Firms and Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Managerial Roles; Management Teams; Management Practices and Processes; Auctions; Retail Industry; Information Technology Industry; Germany