Publications

November 1999 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Debate Over Unbundling General Motors: The Delphi Divestiture and Other Possible Transactions, The

By: Malcolm S. Salter

Ever since General Motors (GM) announced in February 1997 its intention to divest Delphi Automotive Systems--its upstream parts manufacturing operations--Wall Street had called for further unbundling, and various stakeholders competed for their claim of value... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Supply Chain; Vertical Integration; Corporate Strategy; Corporate Governance; Auto Industry; United States

06 Jun 2013
Op-Ed

How to Do Away with the Dangers of Outsourcing

challenge of managing relationships with "partners" or "associates." Yet as the Rana Plaza disaster and too many other examples show, every outsourced stop along the supply and production View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati; Manufacturing; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion

December 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Ocado

By: José Alvarez, David E. Bell and Damien McLoughlin

In 2015, U.K.-based Ocado was the world's largest pure player in the online home-delivery grocery business and was gaining a growing share of the highly competitive U.K. grocery market. Ocado had made heavy investments in technology, including a highly automated... View Details

February 2003
Supplement

Silvio Napoli at Schindler India

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Presents an interview with Silvio Napoli on topics relating to his fit in the new job, his strategic plan for the new subsidiary, and the decision on sourcing and standardization. View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Strategic Planning; Business Subsidiaries; Supply Chain; Decisions; Personal Development and Career; India

July 1990
Case

Ceramics Process Systems Corp. (B)

By: Kim B. Clark and Brent D. Barnett

Ceramics Process Systems (CPS) is an advanced ceramics company facing problems with lead time in product/process development, and late delivery of prototype parts to its customers. Engineering is confronted with difficult technical problems and multiple objectives... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Business Processes; Management Practices and Processes; Supply Chain Management; Machinery and Machining; Goals and Objectives; Resource Allocation; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Manufacturing Industry

01 Mar 2008
News

Negotiating with Wal-Mart

negotiations to supply Wal-Mart with her family farm’s pumpkins and watermelons. Like Muccio, Talley confronted some of the same hardball price challenges, and like Muccio, she acquired a deep understanding of the Wal-Mart culture while... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; General Merchandise Stores; Retail Trade

10 Jun 2022
Blog Post

New Venture Competition 2022: Business and Environment Ventures

more sustainability into their core products. We help their procurement departments and suppliers integrate our certified materials with cost-efficiency and minimal supply chain interruptions. This allows... View Details

Fast Answer

FIELD Global Immersion Resources: Taiwan

including indicators relating to consumer consumption, income, demographics, etc. Taiwan EIU Country Report (One-click report) Capital IQ Pro Useful for: looking at country-specific transactions (such as recent M&A activity) and View Details

29 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 29, 2006

Using Judgmental Forecasts Authors:Vishal Gaur, Saravanan Kesavan, Ananth Raman, and Marshall L. Fisher Periodical:Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (forthcoming) Abstract Measuring demand uncertainty is a key activity in View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

31 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 31, 2018

of Manufacturing Clusters By: Buciuni, Giulio, and Gary P. Pisano Abstract—Over the past two decades, the greater prevalence of global supply chains has had contrasting effects on Western manufacturing... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

December 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Nestle S.A.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Hal Hogan

Peter Brabeck wants to focus Nestle as a wellness company in the global food system and do so in a way that provides both growth in sales and margins in both developed and developing countries. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product Development; Supply Chain Management; Food; Multinational Firms and Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Sales; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Switzerland

April 2025
Teaching Note

Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) and (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Ken Pucker and Stacy Straaberg

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 622-024, 625-004, 625-005, and 625-702. The Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) case introduces Allbirds as a footwear startup not only focused on simple design, comfort, and sustainable natural materials but on decarbonizing the wider... View Details

21 May 2024
Blog Post

IFC India: From Trash to Treasure: Inside a Waste Management Site in Mumbai

across the city. They operate within urban centers and landfills to collect waste, sort out the plastic, and help\ aggregate them for larger materials processing facilities like HUL and Dalmia’s plant. This fragile ecosystem is supported by effective View Details

23 Jul 2021
Blog Post

Trends in Consumer Products

Gold Medal Flour and Betty Crocker desserts, working with facilities as far away as Dubai. Those external supply chain decisions were sometimes very costly, so we had to carefully manage our profit impacts... View Details

21 Aug 2017
Blog Post

From Germany to HBS

classroom truly becomes a magical place. While discussing a wide range of topics, from the strategy of Airbus to supply chain ethics in the Bangladeshi garment industry, you draw from each other’s... View Details

11 Feb 2016
Blog Post

First Came Love, then Came Business School

Native Canadians Jocelyne and Corey first met and fell in love when they were studying Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University in Ontario. While Jocelyne went on to work for PepsiCo in operations and supply View Details

26 Jun 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Inventory Management for Mobile Money Agents in the Developing World

Keywords: by Karthik Balasubramanian, David F. Drake, and Douglas Fearing; Financial Services; Banking

May 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Victory Supermarkets: Expansion Strategy?

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Jay DiGeronimo, president of a 16-store supermarket chain, is trying to decide the timing and method for expanding his chain. The family-owned company could continue in a maintenance mode, with each family member running one store. It could expand slowly using a new... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Cost vs Benefits; Trade; Investment; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain Management; Private Ownership; Competition; Expansion; Retail Industry