Publications

07 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The Debate over Taxing Foreign Profits

but to take ownership of assets and run them more productively. If productivity differences are central to what these firms do and outbound investment does not reduce firms' domestic investment, then a completely different prescription... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2010
Working Paper

When Open Architecture Beats Closed: The Entrepreneurial Use of Architectural Knowledge

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This paper describes how entrepreneurial firms can use superior architectural knowledge to open up a technical system to gain strategic advantage. The strategy involves, first, identifying "bottlenecks" in the existing system, and then creating a new open architecture... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investment Return; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Design; Organizational Design; Competitive Advantage; Technology Industry

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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; Consumer Products Industry

28 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 28

of 10‐year sustainability‐related goals. In an effort to meet such goals, the company invested a total of $1 billion in environmentally beneficial products such as new seeds and traits in Dow's AgroSciences business, solar shingles, and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Manufacturing Matters

any individual company, it is often better, in the short or intermediate term, to outsource production to an overseas supplier. The company can buy manufacturing services at a much lower rate if it goes to... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Manufacturing

22 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Bringing ‘Lean’ Principles to Service Industries

Wipro Technologies, an Indian outsource provider of software services, launches its own lean initiative. "In terms of operations and improvements, the service industries in general are a long way behind manufacturing," Upton... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer

31 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

A Scholarly Crowd Explores Crowdsourcing

When Clayton Christensen and Derek van Bever prepared to write The Capitalist's Dilemma for the June issue of Harvard Business Review, they took an approach rarely tried on the same scale: They outsourced it with 150 Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

16 May 2016
HBS Case

Food Safety Economics: The Cost of a Sick Customer

when more than 50 people in 11 states were sickened by an initial E. coli outbreak. “Do those smaller local organic growers have the experience, resources, and commitment to test their products for various food safety risks?” The chain... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

10 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 10

but also that NEAD chains produced more transplants for highly sensitized and blood type O recipients. Read the paper: http://kuznets.fas.harvard.edu/~aroth/papers/Nonsimultaneous%20Chains%20AJT%202011.pdf Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 30

discount the dangers of outsourcing production and cutting investments in R&D. Restoring the ability of enterprises to develop and manufacture high-tech products in America... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2013
Case

Slicing Pie with a Razor: Ockham Technologies' Founding Agreement

By: Noam Wasserman and Yael Braid

Ockham Technologies' three founders are about to craft their founding agreement and split the equity among themselves. Uncertainty lingers over each member's future contributions, though—how is the team to devise a durable and effective split? Jim Triandiflou and Ken... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Conflict Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Employees; Management Teams; Product Development; Technology Industry

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales. These results were in marked contrast... View Details

Keywords: Best Buy; Hubert Joly; Renew Blue; Showrooming; Webrooming; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Marketplaces; Turnaround; Consumer Electronics; Consumer Electronics Accessories; Appliances; Stores-within-stores; Store Experience; Store Size; Store Pickup; Store Management; Delivery; Delivery Models; Amazon; Amazon.com; Pricing Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Cost; Selection and Staffing; Reports; Technological Innovation; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Human Capital; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Media; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution Channels; Infrastructure; Product; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Programs; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Resource Allocation; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; United States; Minnesota; Minneapolis; Saint Paul; St. Paul

20 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 20

benefits from outsourcing the use of intellectual property increases. We also examine how the variability of payoffs to effort affects the optimal way the owner of the intellectual property uses it. Download the paper:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 1990 (Revised July 1992)
Case

Whistler Corp. (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano

Describes the circumstances surrounding Whistler Corp.'s decision whether or not to continue manufacturing operations in the United States. The company had been experiencing severe problems in its domestic manufacturing operations and was thus unable to compete with... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Production; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States