Publications

October 2018
Article

The Operational Value of Social Media Information

By: Ruomeng Cui, Santiago Gallino, Antonio Moreno and Dennis J. Zhang

While the value of using social media information has been established in multiple business contexts, the field of operations and supply chain management have not yet explored the possibilities it offers in improving firms' operational decisions. This study attempts to... View Details

Keywords: Machine Learning; Information; Sales; Forecasting and Prediction; Social Media

October 1988 (Revised April 1993)
Case

Seligram, Inc.: Electronic Testing Operations

Explores the obsolescence of a cost system when technology changes. In particular, it asks students to increase the number of cost center and allocation bases. The firm moves from a one-center, direct labor-hour system to a three-center, direct labor-hour and... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Cost Accounting; Change Management

August 1992
Case

Otis Pacific Asia Operations (A): National Challenges

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Describes the elevator market and Otis's competitive position in four markets: Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, and Japan. The student is asked to evaluate the strategic and competitive challenges in each market, especially in light of strong Japanese competition across the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Network Effects; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Service Delivery; Competitive Advantage; Competition; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; India; Japan; Malaysia; Hong Kong

2018
Chapter

Behavioral Empirics and Field Experiments

By: Maria Ibanez and Bradley R. Staats

As the study of behavioral operations has continued to grow, an increasing number of researchers are turning to the field (e.g., conducting observational studies or natural or field experiments) to push deeper in order to find the answers to relevant behavioral... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Operations; Empirical Operations; Empirical Operations Management; Field Experiments; Behavior; Operations; Management; Research

Read Now

March 2004 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Samsung Electronics Company: Global Marketing Operations

By: John A. Quelch

Samsung's global marketing director is assessing how to build the global brand reputation of the company further and upgrade the company's worldwide brand image. To show how to build a global brand. View Details

Keywords: Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Brands and Branding; Reputation

February 2020 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Sustainable Product Management at Solvay

By: George Serafeim, Vincent Dessain and Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej

In November 2019, Ilham Kadri, CEO of Solvay, a Belgian specialty chemicals and advanced materials group, with annual revenues of more than €10 billion in 2018, announced the group’s mid-term strategy, eight months after she took the helm as Solvay’s 11th CEO. The case... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainable Business And Innovation; Sustainability Management; Sustainable Development; Management Accounting; Innovation; Carbon Emissions; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Targets; Target-setting; Product; Management; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry; Europe; Belgium

2008
Book

Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton

In a world of stiffening competition, business strategy is more crucial than ever. Yet most organizations struggle in this area--not with formulating strategy but with executing it, or putting their strategy into action. Owing to execution failures, companies realize... View Details

Keywords: Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Operations; Performance; Strategic Planning; Business Strategy

1975
Text Book

Operations Management: Text and Cases

By: Paul Marshall, William Abernathy, Jeffrey G. Miller, Richard P. Olsen, Richard S. Rosenbloom and D. Daryl Wyckoff

Keywords: Management; Information; Cases

February 2023
Supplement

Coats Dyehouse Management

By: Willy C. Shih

Coats, the largest thread maker in the world, transformed its business to digital colour measurement so that it could respond better to customer demand in the garment industry for rapid product cycles and more fragmented colour choices. Its embrace of digital colour... View Details

Keywords: Inventory Management; Supply Chain; Inventory; Supply Chain Management; Operations; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia

August 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Supplement

Migros Turkey: Scaling Online Operations (B)

By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in February 2020 as Ozgur Tort and Mustafa Bartin, CEO and chief large-format and online retail officer of Migros Ticaret A.S. (Migros), Turkey’s oldest and one of its largest supermarket chains, are looking over the results of the fulfillment pilot the... View Details

Keywords: Grocery; Business Model; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Logistics; Profit; Resource Allocation; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry; Turkey

June 2010 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Scientific Glass Incorporated: Inventory Management

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and William Schmidt

Scientific Glassware is a fast-growing, privately held company that provides specialized glassware for laboratory and research facilities. Excess inventory is tying up extra capital needed to fund the company's expansion plans. The newly hired Manager of Inventory... View Details

Keywords: Inventory Control; Inventory Management; Materials Management; Order Processing; Warehousing; Salesforce Management; Logistics; Operations; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Finance; Consumer Products Industry; Technology Industry

01 Oct 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Organizational Factors that Contribute to Operational Failures in Hospitals

Keywords: by Anita L. Tucker, W. Scott Heisler & Laura D. Janisse; Health

12 Jan 2004
Research & Ideas

Does Your HQ Operation Fit With Corporate Strategy?

in lean and mean headquarters will be difficult for managers to let go of? A: Lean and mean will be hard to let go of, and to some extent that is appropriate. We found that there are three roles for headquarters to play: public company... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Research Summary

"On design of operations & production management technology-base and performance database for empowerment of global/local industries in the international business environment"

His current research interests are in the reinforcement of continuous improvement schemes such as TPM, its global transfer and road-mapping for empowerment of industries. One of his aims while at Harvard TOM Unit is to establish infrastructure which enables... View Details

October 2016 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Essent: From a State-Owned Utility to a Commercial Company

By: Ananth Raman and Elena Corsi

Patrick Lammers, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for the Dutch energy company Essent NV, once a state-owned company, was pleased with the progress Essent’s consumer (“B2C”) business had made: Earnings Before Income Tax (EBIT) for B2C had gone from a loss of €18 million... View Details

Keywords: Lean Management; Operation Management; Service Management; Commercialization; Operations; Management; Energy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Performance; Energy Industry; Europe

23 Sep 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Operational Failures and Problem Solving: An Empirical Study of Incident Reporting

Keywords: by Julia Adler-Milstein, Sara J. Singer & Michael W. Toffel; Health

Research Summary

Managing sustainability in supply chains

By: Michael W. Toffel

I am examining codes of conduct, management process standards, and government voluntary programs that address environmental and labor issues, seeking to understand what enables some of these programs to actually deliver on their promise of distinguishing organizations... View Details

Keywords: Environment; Environmental Performance; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Strategy; Regulation; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Service Industry; Construction Industry; United States; California

1982
Casebook

Cases in Operations Management: Analysis and Action

By: W. Earl Sasser, Kim B. Clark, David A. Garvin, Margaret B.W. Graham, Ramchandran Jaikumar and David H. Maister

Keywords: Cases; Operations; Management; Theory