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01 Aug 1979
Conference Presentation

Can Industrial Workers Reform Their Own Work? A Sociologically-Oriented Quality-of-Worklife Project in an Electronics Factory

By: R. M. Kanter, B. A. Stein, D. Brinkerhoff and Daniel J. Isenberg

Keywords: Employees; Working Conditions; Change; Electronics Industry

July 1991 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Samuel Slater, Francis Cabot Lowell, and the Beginnings of the Factory System in the United States

Deals with the coming of the mechanized textile industry to the United States, and with it, the nation's first factories. Considers the introduction of small spinning mills in Rhode Island, and the appearance of large integrated spinning and weaving mills in... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business History; Production; Industry Growth; Manufacturing Industry; Rhode Island; Massachusetts

May 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Building the Digital Manufacturing Enterprise of the Future at Siemens

By: Willy Shih

This case describes the motivation for and the development of Siemens' digital manufacturing enterprise vision, which became the foundation for its implementation of Industrie 4.0. While the effort started with a purely defensive move by Anton Huber, head of the... View Details

August 2012 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred

Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), a U.S. network of four privately owned oncology focused factory hospitals, was weighing options for growth. CTCA was entirely cancer focused and specialized in treating patients with complex and advanced-stage cancers, who... View Details

September 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Keroche (A): Fighting for Share in the Kenyan Alcoholic Drinks Market

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding

This case discusses the challenges faced by Kenyan alcoholic drinks producer Keroche Industries Limited in 2003, when the Kenyan government accused the company of manufacturing and selling substandard alcoholic drinks, revoked its liquor licenses, and shut down its... View Details

Keywords: Keroche; Alcohol; Wine; Manufacturing; Informal Market; Regulation; Illicit; Illegal; Shutdown; Factory; Low-income Consumers; Multinational; Local; Government; Allegations; Accusations; Negative Press; EABL; Tusker; Beer; SAB; Chang'aa; Naivasha; Rift Valley; East Africa; Lawsuit; Legal Battle; Business Ventures; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Production; Safety; Quality; Distribution; Small Business; Family Business; Crime and Corruption; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Income; Demographics; Geographic Scope; Geographic Location; Goods and Commodities; Government Legislation; Growth and Development; Business History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Laws and Statutes; Lawfulness; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Behavior; Market Entry and Exit; Problems and Challenges; Social Issues; Poverty; Strategy; Competition; Entrepreneurship; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Kenya; Nairobi; Africa

The platforms Shein and Temu match consumer demand and factory output, bringing Chinese production to the rest of the world. The companies have remade fast fashion, but their pioneering approach has the potential to go far beyond retail by linking diverse small... View Details

March 2022
Case

Unilever: Remote Work in Manufacturing

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Susie L. Ma

In December 2021, Unilever—one of the world’s largest producers of consumer goods—was in the midst of a pilot project to digitize its manufacturing facilities and enable remote work for factory employees. This was possible because of an earlier project to retrofit a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Globalization; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Human Resources; Jobs and Positions; Operations; Education; Training; Manufacturing Industry

July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Rosalind Fox at John Deere

By: Anthony Mayo and Olivia Hull

Rosalind Fox, the factory manager at John Deere’s Des Moines, Iowa plant, has improved the financial standing of the factory in the three years she’s been at its helm. But employee engagement scores—which measured employees’ satisfaction with working conditions and... View Details

13 Sep 2021
News

Can a Green-Economy Boom Town Be Built to Last?

18 Jul 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Beyond Symbolic Responses to Private Politics: Examining Labor Standards Improvement in Global Supply Chains

Keywords: by Andrea R. Hugill, Jodi L. Short, and Michael W. Toffel; Manufacturing

30 Aug 2010
News

Turning Employees Into Problem Solvers

March 2017 (Revised December 2017)
Case

The Ready-Made Garment Industry: A Bangladeshi Perspective (A)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Saloni Chaturvedi

Responsibility for working conditions in contract factories within the supply chain presents an ongoing challenge for managers and an area of debate. Much of the debate approaches the challenge from the perspective of large global apparel brands. This case helps... View Details

Keywords: Apparel; Bangladesh; Corporate Responsibility; Human Rights; Supply Chains; Labor; Working Conditions; Supply Chain; Safety; Rights; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Bangladesh

Feb 2014
Case

Southwire and 12 For Life: Scaling Up?

Southwire, a leading maker of cable based in rural Georgia, has partnered with the local school system to staff a factory with at-risk high school students. The positive impact on student outcomes has been remarkable, and the View Details

September 2006
Exercise

"Shad" Process Flow Design (A)

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Provides detailed instructions to prepare for factory demonstration day. A rewritten version of an earlier exercise. View Details

February 1999 (Revised June 2003)
Exercise

"Shad" Process Flow Design (C)

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Provides detailed instructions to prepare for factory demonstration day. A rewritten version of an earlier exercise. View Details

Keywords: Production

February 1999 (Revised September 2006)
Exercise

"Shad" Process Flow Design (B)

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Provides detailed instructions to prepare for factory demonstration day. A rewritten version of an earlier exercise. View Details

Keywords: Production