Publications

Find at Harvard

Read Now

16 Oct 2012
News

Manufacturing Fundamental to Innovation

April 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

IBM: Design Thinking

By: Srikant M. Datar, Amram Migdal and Paul Hamilton

This case describes the 2012-2020 effort at IBM to implement design thinking throughout the company and hire thousands of designers to serve on every product team alongside technical engineers and developers and product managers. IBM’s design transformation is told... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Divisions; Business Units; Business Organization; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Competency and Skills; Talent and Talent Management; Design; Human Resources; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Jobs and Positions; Job Design and Levels; Leading Change; Management; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Operations; Product; Product Design; Product Development; Organizations; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Strategy; Adaptation; Adoption; Technological Innovation; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 19 May 2016
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Design Thinking and Innovative Problem Solving

In their book, Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads, Professors Srikant Datar and David Garvin and researcher Patrick Cullen identified creative and innovative thinking as an essential skill for managers operating in a world of rapidly evolving... View Details

19 Sep 2017
Working Paper Summaries

An Invitation to Market Design

.ExternalClass535E8B0AB65740BCB51D3AB82FC0F8CE p.MsoNormal, .ExternalClass535E8B0AB65740BCB51D3AB82FC0F8CE li.MsoNormal, .ExternalClass535E8B0AB65740BCB51D3AB82FC0F8CE div.MsoNormal... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Duke Kominers, Alexander Teytelboym, and Vincent P. Crawford

July 2023
Article

Design and Analysis of Switchback Experiments

By: Iavor I Bojinov, David Simchi-Levi and Jinglong Zhao

In switchback experiments, a firm sequentially exposes an experimental unit to a random treatment, measures its response, and repeats the procedure for several periods to determine which treatment leads to the best outcome. Although practitioners have widely adopted... View Details

Keywords: Switchback Experiments; Design; Analysis; Mathematical Methods

2020
Working Paper

Design and Analysis of Switchback Experiments

By: Iavor I Bojinov, David Simchi-Levi and Jinglong Zhao

In switchback experiments, a firm sequentially exposes an experimental unit to a random treatment, measures its response, and repeats the procedure for several periods to determine which treatment leads to the best outcome. Although practitioners have widely adopted... View Details

Keywords: Switchback Experiments; Design; Analysis; Mathematical Methods

Read Now

May 2006
Case

Esterline Technologies: Lean Manufacturing

By: Richard L. Nolan, Karen A. Brown and Subodha Kumar

Raises the issue of the appropriate role of IT in lean manufacturing. Most large manufacturing companies have implemented ERP IT systems to support lean manufacturing practices. The Kerry plant of Esterline Technologies attempted an ERP implementation and then... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Technological Innovation; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Systems; Production; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Manufacturing Industry

Switchback experiments, where a firm sequentially exposes an experimental unit to random treatments, are among the most prevalent designs used in the technology sector, with applications ranging from ride-hailing platforms to online marketplaces. Although... View Details

October 1991 (Revised October 2004)
Case

Hilton Manufacturing Company

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A professional manager is hired by a small manufacturing company after the president discovers he made poor decisions. One product appears to be unprofitable, whereas the product sold in highest volume is under competitive price pressure. A crude cost accounting system... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Asset Pricing; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Decisions; Governance Controls; Performance Effectiveness; Business Strategy; Two-Sided Platforms; Fair Value Accounting; Manufacturing Industry

20 Jan 2014
News

America’s Real Manufacturing Advantage

May 2003
Module Note

Product Development Process Design and Improvement

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Describes the conceptual foundations and pedagogy for a module on the design and improvement of processes for the development of products and services. Can also be used as part of a more general course on Managing Technology and Innovation. Central to Managing Product... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Design; Performance Improvement; Innovation and Management; Information Technology; Customers; Information Management; Business Processes; Learning; Transformation; Service Operations

February 2021
Case

Digital Manufacturing at Amgen

By: Shane Greenstein, Kyle R. Myers and Sarah Mehta

This case discusses efforts made by biotechnology (biotech) company Amgen to introduce digital technologies into its manufacturing processes. Doing so is complicated by the fact that the process for manufacturing biologics—or therapeutics made from living cells—is... View Details

2013
Working Paper

Collaborative Structuring: Designer and Worker Agency in Organizational Design

By: Luciana Silvestri, Marlo Goetting and Ranjay Gulati

March 2022
Teaching Note

Digital Manufacturing at Amgen

By: Shane Greenstein, Kyle R. Myers and Sarah Mehta

This teaching note provides guidance for instructors teaching “Digital Manufacturing at Amgen,” case no. 621-008. View Details

October 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Technical Note

Design and Evaluation of Targeted Interventions

By: Eva Ascarza and Ta-Wei (David) Huang

Targeted interventions serve as a pivotal tool in business strategy, streamlining decisions for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. This note delves into two central facets of such interventions: first, the design of potent decision guidelines, or targeting... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Analysis; Design; Business Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

August 1986 (Revised November 1992)
Case

Bethoney Manufacturing (A) and (B) (Condensed)

By: Michael Beer and Richard E. Walton

Keywords: Manufacturing Industry