Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(6,716)
- Faculty Publications (926)
- November 1991 (Revised January 1997)
- Case
Motorola, Inc.: Bandit Pager Project (Abridged)
Describes the development of a fully automated production line for manufacturing radio pagers. The company regarded the project as highly successful; it becomes clear in the case, however, that there were some shortcomings as well. Some marketing issues were not... View Details
- October 1991 (Revised November 1993)
- Case
Play Time Toy Co.
By: Thomas R. Piper
The president of a toy company is considering the adoption of level production in a business characterized by highly seasonal sales. The issues include balancing the cost savings and the inventory risk, estimating the seasonal financing need, and determining the... View Details
- September 1991 (Revised January 1997)
- Case
Manzana Insurance: Fruitvale Branch (Abridged)
Deals with performance assessment and improvement of a service operation in the insurance industry, a market that is highly sensitive to response time. Two branch offices in direct competition are described, and the impact of response time on performance is suggested.... View Details
- June 1991 (Revised April 1993)
- Case
Acer, Inc.
By: Robert H. Hayes
Acer is undergoing two major transitions at the time of this case: from a small, entrepreneurially-run company to a large professionally-run one; and from a largely domestic company to a multinational one. After a decade of phenomenal growth, it is now facing a major... View Details
- February 1991 (Revised July 1993)
- Case
Cultural Change at Nissan Motors
By: John P. Kotter
Depicts the reformation of Nissan Motor Co.'s corporate culture and the company's subsequent turnaround in market share and profits. In 1985, Yutaka Kume became president of Nissan and thereafter, he continually emphasized the need for internal change throughout the... View Details
- November 1990 (Revised November 1991)
- Case
Time Inc. and New Magazine Development
By: David J. Collis and Nancy Donohue
Looks at the magazine development at Time Inc. in light of the growing dominance of the video group and the modern management of the 1980s. Highlights the firm's magazine development during 1989. View Details
- November 1990 (Revised May 1994)
- Case
Microsoft Corp.: Office Business Unit
By: Marco Iansiti
Describes the development of a new word processing software package, Word for Windows. The major focus is how the development process should be improved to reduce schedule slips and cost overruns. Some of the issues raised are: the use of schedules in managing... View Details
- October 1990
- Case
Parenting Magazine
Describes a set of decisions confronting Robin Wolaner, who is negotiating with representatives of Time Inc. about investing in a project to launch a new magazine called Parenting. The negotiations have reached an impasse. Among the issues to be considered are the... View Details
- July 1990
- Case
Ceramics Process Systems Corp. (B)
By: Kim B. Clark and Brent D. Barnett
Ceramics Process Systems (CPS) is an advanced ceramics company facing problems with lead time in product/process development, and late delivery of prototype parts to its customers. Engineering is confronted with difficult technical problems and multiple objectives... View Details
- May 1990 (Revised April 1995)
- Teaching Note
Karen Green, Teaching Note
By: Linda A. Hill
The video depicts Karen Green, a manager in her early thirties, on a company retreat. She is being considered for a project manager position, a promotion she does not receive. During the retreat, the circumstances that influenced the decision become evident. The... View Details
- May 1990 (Revised September 1994)
- Background Note
Note on Financial Reporting Strategy and Analysis When Managers Have Proprietary Information
Provides a framework that helps explain these real-world observations about accounting and financial statement analysis. When managers have superior information on firms' strategies, and when investors suspect that managers have incentives not to fully disclose this... View Details
- February 1990 (Revised August 2001)
- Case
Merloni Elettrodomestici SpA: The Transit Point Experiment
By: Janice H. Hammond and Maura G Kelly
Merloni Elettrodomestici is a leading Italian manufacturer of domestic appliances. In 1986, an exposition for Merloni customers is scheduled at its Milano regional warehouse. During the two-month period preceding the event, when the warehouse must be free of inventory,... View Details
- December 1989 (Revised June 1991)
- Case
Motorola, Inc.: Bandit Pager Project
Describes the development of a fully automated production line for manufacturing radio pagers. The company regarded the project as highly successful; it becomes clear in the case, however, that there were some shortcomings as well. Some marketing issues were not... View Details
- October 1989 (Revised June 1993)
- Case
Texas Eastman Co.
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The company as part of a commitment to Total Quality Management has installed a computer system that accumulates 30,000 observations on its processes every 2-4 hours. Operating people have found the monthly summaries of financial performance not too useful in this... View Details
- September 1989 (Revised April 1990)
- Case
Banc One Corp.--1989
Banc One Corp., an innovative and financially successful super-regional bank holding company, has a track record of upgrading performance of acquisitions while retaining previous management--doing better with the same people. In June 1989 Banc One made its first... View Details
- April 1989
- Case
Norton Auto Supply
Describes a multiechelon distribution system for the distribution of automobile spare parts. An analyst has been hired by the Norton Auto Supply Co. to improve the company's inventory planning and control techniques. Includes demand, cost, weight, and supplier lead... View Details
- March 1989 (Revised March 1999)
- Case
Metabo GmbH & Co. KG
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A privately owned German power tool company was dissatisfied with its existing cost system. The system could not produce timely accurate reports on cost center operations, and newly purchased automated machines were attracting large overhead costs. A new, highly... View Details
- January 1989 (Revised December 1991)
- Case
British Airways: ""Go for It, America!"" Promotion (A)
Senior marketing executives of a major international airline are deciding on a strategy to address a crisis situation precipitated by a series of terrorist acts. The company is experiencing the worst downturn ever in its U.S.-U.K. travel business due to media reports... View Details
- November 1988 (Revised July 1997)
- Case
Technology Transfer at a Defense Contractor
By: Linda A. Hill
At a time of great changes in the corporate environment, Larry Yoshino, a design lab manager at Parsons Controls Corp., faces a delay in a costly defense project due to the inability of one of his subordinates to gain the cooperation of engineers at Parsons'... View Details
- September 1987
- Background Note
What Do Venture Capitalists Do?
Presents the results derived from 49 responses to a questionnaire mailed to 100 venture capitalists in late 1984. The purpose of the survey was to shed light on the relationship between venture capitalists and their portfolio companies. The survey revealed that the... View Details