Publications

2002
Chapter

Cooperative Customer Management: Is There Strategic Potential for a New Relationship between Retail and Industry?

By: Christian H.M. Ketels, Dirk Seifert and Alexander Kracklauer

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Cooperation; Supply Chain Management; Retail Industry; Manufacturing Industry

19 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Wrapping Your Alliances In a World Wide Web

chain management and advanced planning and scheduling software embed more advanced algorithms than their predecessors and offer the possibility of optimizing decisions across an entire supply chain, as... View Details

Keywords: by Andrew McAfee

February 2002 (Revised May 2002)
Background Note

That's a Wrap: The Dynamics of the Video Rental Industry

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

The history, current dynamics, and future trends of the $10 billion home video rental industry provides a platform to discuss revenue-sharing contracts between suppliers of home videocassettes and retailers. View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Motivation and Incentives; Supply Chain Management; Revenue; Financial Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

March 2016 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Gotong Royong: Toward Sustainable Palm Oil

By: Rebecca Henderson, Hann-Shuin Yew and Monica Baraldi

In late 2015, Jeff Seabright, chief sustainability officer at Unilever, had to report to Unilever CEO Paul Polman on the effort to transform palm oil cultivation. Historically, palm oil was produced using unsustainable methods that included burning large tracts of... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Environment; Industry Self-regulation; Corporate Image; Corporate Strategy; Indonesia; Malaysia

March 1993 (Revised April 1995)
Case

IBM After-Sales Service

By: Janice H. Hammond

IBM has established a service delivery system to provide service and maintenance parts for its installed base of computers. The case outlines the competitive pressures IBM faces from alternative providers of maintenance services (e.g. other OEMs, third-party... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Logistics; Operations; Distribution; Customer Focus and Relationships; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry

June 2012
Teaching Note

Harvest: Organic Waste Recycling with Energy Recovery (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Deishin Lee

This case describes the waste management industry and a clean technology solution for landfill diversion and renewable energy production. The (A) case focuses on the operational characteristics of organic waste recycling with energy recovery, and the characteristics of... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Waste Management; Sourcing; Operations Management; Environment; Wastes and Waste Processing; Renewable Energy; Operations; Supply Chain Management; Utilities Industry; Manufacturing Industry

Fast Answer

Sustainability in Construction Industry

aspects of sustainability in construction industry such as future HR management, construction software & technologies, building materials, city design, next generation of supply chain operations, etc.... View Details

May 2016 (Revised August 2016)
Teaching Plan

Sustainability at Siemens

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Emer Moloney

Fall 2014
Article

How to Win in an Omnichannel World

By: David R. Bell, Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno

The omnichannel environment presents new challenges and opportunities for both information and product fulfillment. While all retailers need to effectively and efficiently manage fulfillment and information provision, there are important nuances to how this happens,... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; United States

Find at Harvard

October 1996 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Northco (A)

By: Ananth Raman and Bowon Kim

A small school-uniform manufacturer wrestles with seasonal demand. The company is saddled with excess inventory when it is bought by a leveraged buyout firm. Students are required to identify ways to analyze and solve the problem. View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Leveraged Buyouts; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Finance; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

Web

Navigating Tariffs | Working Knowledge

policymakers. Faculty research explores business sentiment and strategies, supply chain shifts, and other ripple effects. 54% Share of leaders of small- to medium-sized businesses who said they opposed... View Details

September 2019
Case

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem

By: Willy C. Shih

Vaccines for children has been a long-standing focus for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and its critical role in public health made its production an important economic and political issue. This case describes the Foundation's investment in a breakthrough vaccine... View Details

Keywords: Vaccine; Production; Supply Chain; Product; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Belgium

02 Nov 2020
News

The First Five Years: Julianne White (MBA 2017)

state food banks. The combination of a sharp rise in food insecurity and the pandemic’s disruption of the food supply chain meant that there was a period of time where we struggled to bring in enough food to... View Details

January 2014
Case

Anglo American: Implementing a 'Social Way' for Global Mining

By: Christopher Marquis, David Plumb, Tom Blathwayt and Zoe Yang

The mining giant Anglo American attempts to differentiate itself through its social performance, yet public expectations are still growing. Maintaining a "social license" to operate was increasingly challenging and critical to business success.

The case... View Details

Keywords: Global Mining; Localization; Socioeconomic Issues; Procurement; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Supply Chain Management; Globalization; Reputation; Emerging Markets; Mining Industry; South Africa

December 2008
Case

Taylor Fresh Foods

By: David E. Bell, Natalie Kindred and Mary Louise Shelman

In 13 years, Bruce Taylor had built Taylor Fresh Foods into a $1 billion company and the top supplier of salads to the U.S. food service industry and to supermarket deli departments. In 2008, he was convinced that the time was right to make a big push in the fresh food... View Details

Keywords: Food; Brands and Branding; Demand and Consumers; Supply Chain Management; Competition; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States