Publications

01 Dec 2012
News

FIELD Updates Greet Class of 2014

TATA IN TIP-TOP SHAPE: Members of the HBS community gathered on September 24 for a "topping off" ceremony to celebrate placement of the final steel beam in Tata Hall's ongoing construction. In his remarks, Dean Nitin Nohria recognized the efforts of the many View Details

Keywords: FIELD program; Construction of Buildings; Construction of Buildings

November 1988
Case

Honeywell Residential Division: New Product Development

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes three different product development efforts at the Residential Controls division of Honeywell, Inc. Each of the three projects was for a different market and competitive environment. Each was tackled in a somewhat different way within the Honeywell... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Construction; Outcome or Result; Situation or Environment; Business Divisions; Product Design; Change Management; Construction Industry

May 1968 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Graybar Syndications

By: William J. Poorvu

A potential investor evaluates a proposed offering—a major office building in downtown Manhattan. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Investment; Construction; City; Valuation; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; New York (city, NY)

construction materials. Baker shepherded the company through the down years of the thirties and helped to position it for the construction boom that followed in the forties and fifties. Throughout his long... View Details

Keywords: Construction & Real Estate

01 Jun 2004
News

Baker’s Man of Steel

A day at the office is a little different for Bobby Delaney. As crane operator for the Baker Library construction project, he uses a combination of levers and foot pedals to swing tons of steel through the air, placing the load in just... View Details

Keywords: Baker Library; Bobby Delaney; crane; operator; Construction of Buildings; Construction of Buildings

Profile

Jan Petzel

After scaling Mount Everest in 2013, Jan Petzel (MBA 2003) transformed his personal triumph into an opportunity to raise funds for the construction of a permanent shelter and medical facility in the Gokyu Lakes region of Nepal for the... View Details

Keywords: Other Financial Services

Archie A. Alexander

Alexander was one of the first and most successful black engineers to enter the large-scale industrial construction business. Through his leadership, his firm built over 300 major construction projects in... View Details

Keywords: Construction & Real Estate

Henry J. Kaiser

Kaiser successfully built a highly diversified construction business consisting of 82 companies. His company handled millions of dollars of highway and bridge construction as well as several dams (e.g.... View Details

Keywords: Construction & Real Estate

01 Dec 2009
News

Up on the Green Roof

for LEED status — the Class of 1959 Chapel and McCulloch. The School’s goal is to achieve LEED Gold Certification for all new construction and major renovations, says O’Brien. UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Workers spread 64 cubic yards of growing... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Construction of Buildings; Construction of Buildings

Research Summary

The Institutional Foundations of Lending: Indirect Regulation and State-Building

The Institutional Foundations of Lending: Indirect Regulation and State-Building makes two main theoretical contributions to the scholarship on credit markets and institutional development. First, the book demonstrates that opportunistic lenders can take... View Details

January 2017
Teaching Note

SOHO China: Transformation in Progress

By: Charles F. Wu and Alexander W. Schultz

In 2016 against the backdrop of a challenging Chinese macroeconomic environment, SOHO China, the largest owner and developer of Class-A real estate in Beijing and Shanghai, was struggling to convince analysts of the merits of their new “build-to-hold” strategy. Founded... View Details

Keywords: Merchant Builder; Real Estate Development; Public Markets; China; Shared Office Space; Growth and Development Strategy; Property; Construction; Stocks; Financial Markets; Marketing Strategy; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; China

Bechtel was a giant in the large construction industry. His firm is credited with the successful completion of massive projects including the Hoover Dam and the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. Bechtel also built the oil pipeline across the... View Details

Keywords: Construction & Real Estate

Clarence H. Shaver

Shaver led United States Gypsum through periods of prosperity and downturns in the construction business. Despite the downturns in the economy, USG consistently paid handsome dividends, and under Shaver’s leadership, USG’s revenues and... View Details

Keywords: Construction & Real Estate

01 Dec 2006
News

Green as Gold

At first glance, Hamilton Hall looks the same as it has since the student residence was constructed eighty years ago. The building, home to 72 MBA students, blends seamlessly into the classic Georgian architecture of the HBS campus and... View Details

Keywords: Paul Massari; Construction; Construction

November 2018
Case

Komatsu Komtrax: Asset Tracking Meets Demand Forecasting

By: Willy Shih, Paul Hong and YoungWon Park

Komatsu's Komtrax system started as a way of remotely monitoring and tracking equipment for the purpose of improving operational efficiency. This case follows its evolution towards other uses including demand forecasting for its sales, marketing, and production... View Details

Keywords: Big Data; Manufacturing; Manufacturing Industry; Data Strategy; Internet Of Things; Construction; Production; Analytics and Data Science; Strategy; Performance Efficiency; Forecasting and Prediction; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; Japan

April 2000 (Revised August 2002)
Case

The Holland House

By: William J. Poorvu and Michael A. Everett-Lane

In November 1993, Edward Geffner, executive director of Project Renewal, Inc. (PRI), is proposing that his not-for-profit firm develop Holland House at 351 West 42nd Street in New York City into a single- room occupancy hotel for homeless people. He has put together a... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Entrepreneurship; Welfare; Construction; Poverty; Property; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; New York (city, NY)