Publications

October 1996 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Tweeter etc.

By: John T. Gourville and George Wu

In the early 1990s, Tweeter etc., a small regional retailer of higher-end audio and video equipment, faced increasing competitive pricing pressures from several large regional and national consumer electronics chains. In response, in 1993, they introduced "Automatic... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Customer Focus and Relationships; Price; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain Management; Competition; Electronics Industry; Retail Industry

26 Mar 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Managed Ecosystems and Translucent Institutional Logics: Engaging Communities

Keywords: by Elizabeth J. Altman, Frank Nagle, and Michael Tushman

November 1993 (Revised November 1994)
Supplement

OfficePro (B)

By: John A. Quelch

Supplements OfficePro (A). View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Subsidiaries; Supply Chain Management; Retail Industry; France

01 Jun 2011
News

Walking the TalkTalk

challenges.” She embraced a formidable task in 2010 when, with years of experience at supermarket chains Sainsbury’s and Tesco but none in telecom, she became CEO of TalkTalk, which supplies telephone and... View Details

Keywords: Telecommunications; Information; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

06 Dec 2021
News

Elevator Pitch: Power Sourced

Illustration by Drue Wagner Illustration by Drue Wagner Chaku Foods Nikki Okrah (MBA 2021), CEO and Founder Concept: A snack-food company in Okrah’s native Ghana that is building farming supply chain... View Details

Keywords: agriculture; Africa; food manufacturing; entrepreneurship; startup; Agriculture; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing

November 2012 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Konys, Inc.

By: Deishin Lee and Tunay I. Tunca

This case describes the sourcing policy for a consumer electronics company. The company must decide how to structure contracts with their supplier—using a purchase contract, an option contract, or combination of the two. The company can also buy from the spot market.... View Details

Keywords: Option Contract; Uncertainty; Sourcing; Supplier Relationship; Risk and Uncertainty; Contracts; Supply Chain; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

September 1971 (Revised September 1983)
Case

Gentle Electric Co.

By: W. Earl Sasser

Designed to illustrate various levels of complexity in determining optimum order sizes for a single item inventory policy. Students are asked to evaluate the impact of recent operational changes on the firm's ordering policy. Intended to follow the students' initial... View Details

Keywords: Change; Policy; Supply Chain; Complexity; Electronics Industry

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

June 2024
Supplement

Legacy Partners (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Abstract: Stephen Holbrook and Austin Pulsipher (both HBS '19) had been leading Nutrishare since acquiring the company six... View Details

01 Jun 2017
News

Case Study: Something New

expertise in various parts of a complex supply chain and high efficiency (to keep lead times down and costs manageable). But that is valuable precisely because it is difficult and thus very hard to... View Details

Keywords: April White

January 2010 (Revised February 2010)
Case

IFP, Indonesia

By: Roy D. Shapiro

IFP, Ltd. is a Europe-based multinational mining and minerals company contemplating an investment to produce forest products in Indonesia. The primary case decisions are 1) how to assess political and operating risk, 2) how to integrate economic and political risk... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment; Geographic Location; Risk Management; Supply Chain Management; Business and Government Relations; Forest Products Industry; Indonesia

27 Sep 2021
News

Sewn with Love

supply chain. The gowns were produced by a tight circle of manufacturers that had begun to shut down as a result of COVID-19. “The system works very well when the demand is stable,” notes Hanazawa. It was clear, however, that the View Details

16 May 2016
HBS Case

Food Safety Economics: The Cost of a Sick Customer

prided itself on avoiding artificial ingredients, opting instead to use a relatively short supply chain of local growers for many of its ingredients. That strategy just might have been part of its problem,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

September 2023
Supplement

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy Shih

Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and the deep-sea segment, which... View Details

Keywords: Container Shipping; Decarbonization; Energy Efficiency; Logistics; Supply Chain; Trade; Environmental Regulation; Governance Compliance; Ship Transportation; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Europe; Asia; North America

January 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (A): True to Brand?

By: Jeffrey Fear and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Examines one of the most important entrepreneurial decisions made in the history of Porsche, made in early 1998: to build a sport utility vehicle (SUV)--the Cayenne. After decades of relying on one or two sports car models and nearly going bankrupt and losing its... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Supply Chain Management; Luxury; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Globalization; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry

September 2023
Supplement

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy C. Shih

Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and the deep-sea segment, which... View Details

Keywords: Container Shipping; Trade Links; Decarbonization; Environmental Strategies; Environmental Impact; Globalization; Trade; Environmental Regulation; Supply Chain; Logistics; Shipping Industry; European Union; Asia; North America

August 2013 (Revised January 2016)
Case

Sustainability at Siemens

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Amy C. Edmondson, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Emer Moloney

Describes sustainability efforts at Siemens since arrival of Chief Sustainability Officer, Barbara Kux, in 2008. Asks students to evaluate success of those efforts and outline what the company should do going forward. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Sustainability; Energy Efficiency; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Energy Conservation; Environmental Sustainability; Gender; Electronics Industry