Publications

August 2006 (Revised September 2007)
Supplement

Istituto Clinico Humanitas (C): Pronto Soccorso

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer

Follows on from the cases Istituto Clinico Humanitas (A) and (B). Describes the design and running of the new Humanitas Emergency Department. Istituto Clinico Humanitas has developed a very efficient operating system for dealing with elective (largely surgical)... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Customer Focus and Relationships; Health Industry; Italy

Marco Iansiti, David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration,is a codirector of the Laboratory for Information Science at Harvard and of the Digital Initiative at HBS.

Prof. Iansiti's research examines the digital transformation of companies and... View Details

Keywords: automotive; computer; e-commerce industry; electronics; fiber optics; high technology; information; information technology industry; internet; semiconductor; software; telecommunications; venture capital industry

November 2012
Case

New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. (Abridged)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Robert S. Huckman, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Matthew Preble

Considers whether New Balance, one of the world's five largest manufacturers of athletic footwear, should respond to Adidas' planned acquisition of Reebok—a transaction that would join the second- and third-largest companies in the industry. Highlights the unique... View Details

Keywords: Production; Competitive Strategy; Supply Chain; Brands and Branding; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry; Retail Industry; Asia; United States

May 1997
Teaching Note

Module Overview: Coordinating and Managing Supply Chains: Matching Supply and Demand TN

By: Ananth Raman

Prepares students to configure operating and distribution systems to provide product (or service) supply to match customer demand. Begins by introducing students to the supply-demand mismatch problem, documenting its significance in many companies, and suggesting ways... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Working Capital; Distribution; Cost of Capital; Management Practices and Processes; Supply Chain Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Supply and Industry

January 2014
Teaching Plan

MedImmune Ventures

By: Richard Hamermesh and Andrew Otazo

"MedImmune Ventures" highlights the problems faced by corporate venture capital firms, the challenges of investing in early-stage healthcare, and the difficulty of operating in distant markets. View Details

Keywords: MedImmune Ventures; NeuProtect; Corporate Venture Capital; Ron Laufer; Australia; Starfish Ventures; AstraZeneca; MEVE; Healthcare; Startup; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Health Industry; Australia; United States

25 Apr 2014
Video

Carter Roberts - Making A Difference

27 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Employee-Suggestion Programs That Work

June 2012 working paper, Key Drivers of Successful Implementation of an Employee Suggestion-Driven Improvement Program. Tucker is an associate professor in the Technology and Operations Management unit, and the Marvin Bower Fellow at HBS.... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Guttry

October 2006 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Linux vs. Windows

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Jordan Mitchell

As of 2006, Microsoft is finding that its dominant position in client and server operating systems is under attack from Linux. While Linux has only 3% of the worldwide installed base of PC operating systems, it had captured 20% of the server market by the end of 2005... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Open Source Distribution; Competitive Strategy; Applications and Software; Value; Technology Industry

October 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Dynatrol Corporation: Andover Assembly Division

By: H. Kent Bowen, Janice H. Hammond and Ramchandran Jaikumar

While grappling with glitches in the design and operation of its production system, Andover Assembly must also launch a new sensor product line to meet ultimatums issued by frustrated Signatron vice presidents. The financial returns of the division are not meeting... View Details

Keywords: Production; Product Development; Product; Performance Productivity; Problems and Challenges; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Manufacturing Industry; United States

December 2011 (Revised October 2014)
Background Note

Business Model Analysis for Entrepreneurs

By: Thomas Eisenmann

This note defines a business model and its major elements: a customer value proposition, a technology and operations management plan, a go-to-market plan, and a profit formula. For each element, the note lists questions that an entrepreneur must address when evaluating... View Details

Keywords: Business Model

February 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

UCB (A): Managing Information for Globalization and Innovation

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Brian DeLacey

This case presents a complex total MIS strategy case for a $3 billion European pharmaceutical/chemicals company based in Brussels. It covers corporate strategy alignment of IT portfolio, IT operations issues, and global coordination of IT. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Operations; System; Corporate Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Globalization; Pharmaceutical Industry; Information Technology Industry; Brussels

Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani show how reinventing the firm around data, analytics, and AI removes traditional constraints on scale, scope, and learning that have restricted business growth for hundreds of years. From... View Details

December 1998 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Tele-Communications, Inc.: Accelerating Digital Deployment

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

The top management team at Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), the largest U.S. cable company, conceived and implemented a dramatic operational turnaround and a radical new technology strategy over an 18-month period beginning in late 1996. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Value Creation; Operations; Information Management; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

January 1991 (Revised March 1991)
Case

Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A)

In response to escalating cost pressures throughout the hospital industry, the management of Beth Israel Hospital (BI) decided to implement a productivity plan to cut their operating costs. They chose the Scanlon Plan, an employee participation and incentive program... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Cost Management; Employees; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

Teaching

Overview

In the MBA program, Professor Fearing teaches Technology and Operations Management (TOM), a required first-year MBA course.

In January 2013 he traveled with a cohort of... View Details

March 2017 (Revised April 2017)
Case

OXXO's Turf War Against Extra (A)

By: Tatiana Sandino, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Annelena Lobb

In 2006, Mexican convenience store chain OXXO faced a threat from a formidable competitor, the rival convenience chain Extra. OXXO had embarked on an initiative to fortify its corporate culture and operating system, but the threat of Extra raised the question of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Mexico

March 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Siebel Systems: The Role of the CFO

By: Malcolm P. Baker and Lauren Barley

Mike Lawrie, the newly appointed CEO of Siebel Systems, considers a combination of growth and spending cuts to turn around the struggling software company. Focuses on the role of the chief financial officer, Ken Goldman, in corporate governance and compliance under... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Leading Change; Entrepreneurship; Job Design and Levels; Corporate Governance; Financial Strategy; Management Teams; Corporate Finance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Information Technology Industry

November 2000
Case

Hewlett-Packard's Home Products Division in Europe (1996-2000)

By: David J. Arnold and Carin-Isabel Knoop

By November 2000, Hewlett-Packard's Home Products Division (HPD) had been selling its Pavilion line of personal computers in Europe for almost five years. During that time, HPD had entered and exited Germany, struggled in France and the United Kingdom, and... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Information Infrastructure; Transformation; Performance Evaluation; Computer Industry; France; Germany; United Kingdom