Publications

January 2000
Case

Steinway & Sons: Buying a Legend (C)

By: John T. Gourville

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing Industry; Japan; New York (state, US)

July 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Building a Mishap-Free U.S. Navy

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Herman B. Leonard, Michael W. Toffel and Michael Norris

In 2021, Kevin “Bud” Couch, a retired Navy captain who was now working as a civilian employee of the Navy Safety Center, was trying to determine how best to reduce the risk of Navy mishaps. The Navy had experienced a series of major mishaps in 2017 that had led to a... View Details

Keywords: National Security; Safety; War; Ship Transportation; Risk Management; Operations; Singapore; Tokyo; San Diego

January 2025 (Revised February 2025)
Background Note

A High-Tech Revolution with Chinese Characteristics: China's Drive Towards EV Supremacy

By: William C. Kirby, Daniel Fu and Matthew Ngai

This background note explains and documents the rise of China's EV industry. Moreover, it identifies the challenges facing it and posits several questions about the decisions needed to be made to sustain the industry's global dominance. Would Chinese producers be able... View Details

Keywords: State Capitalism; Electric Vehicles; Tesla; Renewable Energy; Global Strategy; Taxation; Technological Innovation; Industry Growth; Competition; Auto Industry; China; United States; Japan; European Union

01 Jan 2004
News

A. G. Lafley, MBA 1977

at Harvard Business School. MBA in hand, he arrived at P&G at the age of 30 as an assistant brand manager for Joy dishwashing detergent. A variety of other assignments followed, such as helping turn around P&G's beauty products business in View Details

24 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 24, 2017

personalized "happiness" recommendations to employees, and he was considering other ways to automate the model to bring it to scale. He was confident that the new technology had the power to transform employee happiness and the productivity of workforces, in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 12

Case 713-447 In 2012, GREE was one of the world's most profitable mobile social gaming companies. Its success in Japan was due both to its in-house games and to the development platform that it offered to third-party game developers. Its... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 8

relocate to Japan and compete with other world-class international business schools. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/811061-PDF-ENG The Wright Brothers and Their Flying Machines Tom Nicholas and David ChenHarvard... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2007
News

Ali Allawi

began to meet the officials and advisers who were attached to my first ministry, and I discovered the varying qualities of those people. Before I went back to Iraq, I spent a lot of time reading about the occupations of Germany and Japan... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; National Security and International Affairs; Government

17 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 17

and the Automotive Microcontroller Supply Chain (A) Willy Shih and Margaret PiersonHarvard Business School Case 612-071 The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan in March 2011 caused extensive damage to Renesas Electronics wafer... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2017
Case

AKB48: Going Global? (A)

By: Juan Alcácer, Kotaro Sasamoto, Tee Chayakul and Mayuka Yamazaki

After a remarkable success in Japan, the producer of the Japanese female singing group AKB48 evaluates market opportunities overseas for his artistic creation. This case introduces the business model behind the AKB48 concept and allows students to identify what... View Details

May 2025
Supplement

On (B): The Cyclon Spins On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader and Karen Elterman

A follow-up to the On case (723-430), this short case explores how the performance athletic shoe company On expanded its Cyclon subscription and recycling program through 2024, adding two new shoe models to the subscription and a one-time-purchase recyclable T-shirt. View Details

22 Apr 2014
News

Mark Fields Follows a Legend Leaving Ford in Prime Condition

Keywords: automotive industry; Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers; Retail Trade

August 2018 (Revised July 2019)
Background Note

Conducting a Kaizen

By: Willy Shih

Kaizen, meaning change for the better in Japanese, is a set of activities directed at improving standardized work, equipment, and procedures for carrying out daily production or other business operations. It was popularized by Toyota as an integral part of its Toyota... View Details

Keywords: Best Practices; Continuous Improvement; Kaizen; Process Improvement; 5S; Muda; Toyota Production System; Production; Service Operations; Performance Improvement; North and Central America; Asia; Japan

January 2018
Supplement

In the Eye of a Geopolitical Storm: South Korea's Lotte Group, China and the U.S. THAAD Missile Defense System (B)

By: Andy Zelleke and Brian Tilley

This case explores Lotte Group’s challenge of how to respond to Chinese government pressure in 2017, following the Group’s February decision to transfer land to the South Korean government, on which Seoul intended to deploy the U.S.-built THAAD missile defense system.... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Corporation; Corporate Governance; Leadership; International Relations; Decision Making; South Korea; China; Japan; United States