Publications

March 1982 (Revised September 1985)
Case

Sealed Air Corporation

By: Robert J. Dolan

Market leadership and technological innovation have marked Sealed Air's participation in the U.S. protective packaging market. Several small regional producers have introduced products which are less effective than Sealed Air's but similar in appearance and cheaper.... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product; Technological Innovation; Supply and Industry; Competitive Advantage; Consumer Products Industry; United States

December 1970 (Revised May 1983)
Case

David Alpert (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Interpersonal day-to-day dealings of a product manager with others in the division, including his comments on these dealings. View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Interpersonal Communication; Management Teams

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May 1980
Case

Kendall-Vetmat

Discusses the role of market research in a product manager's decision process. Traces the development of market research information for the introduction of a new product, and presents a manager's dilemma of receiving market data that are inconsistent with expectations... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Product Launch; Product Development

September 2008
Case

Adobe Systems: Working Towards a "Suite" Release (A)

By: David A. Thomas and Lauren Barley

The case examines the tools a manager can use to keep her project on track and manage conflict and tension as Adobe prepares to launch Creative Suite 3, the biggest software release in the company's 25-year history. The protagonist, Yvonne Murray, is a group program... View Details

Keywords: Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Product Launch; Projects; Groups and Teams; Conflict Management; Power and Influence

Career Coach

Nathan Lasche

Nathan (Stanford ‘02, HBS ‘10) is currently a Product Manager at YouTube / Google where he focuses on building YouTube’s music products. Prior to YouTube, Nathan was an early employee at the edtech company... View Details

August 2017
Case

RoboTech: Storming into the U.S. Market

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Rachel Gordon and John J. Lafkas

This case describes the challenges facing the CEO of a small, Singapore-based industrial robotics company that decides to diversify away from its core industrial robot business by leveraging its expertise into the medical-devices industry. It launches an innovative... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Diversification; Product Launch; Competitive Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Technology Industry; Singapore; United States

Career Coach

Nate Le

these industries recruit, what the job experience look like, and what skills are needed to succeed in these roles. He is happy to help with networking tips, resume/cover letter review, companies shortlist, interview prep, and share his experience recruiting for U.S.... View Details

December 1994
Case

AB SKA (Sweden)

By: David F. Hawkins, V.G. Narayanan and Robert L. Simons

A senior manager faces three accounting and control decisions related to a new R&D project: to expense or capitalize, how to implement management control over the R&D function, and how to use activity-based cost drivers for product costing. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Management Practices and Processes; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Research and Development; Sweden

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June 2013
Teaching Note

Wayne Ferrari: iAutomation at a Crossroads

By: Jim Sharpe and Michael Norris

This is the teaching note associated with HBS Case #813120. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Private Equity Exit; Pricing; Pricing Policies; Sales; Equity; Acquisitions; Roll-up; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Salesforce Management; Price; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; New England; United States

02 Nov 2015
Video

Arvind Chandrababu (MBA 2015)

William R. Kerr

William Kerr is the D’Arbeloff Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Bill is Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research, co-director of Harvard’s Managing the Future of Work initiative, and faculty chair of the... View Details

Keywords: management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting

December 2018 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Shiseido: Reinvesting in Brand

By: Jill Avery and Nobuo Sato

Shiseido was in the midst of a six year corporate turnaround, trying to reverse the effects of decades of under-investment in R&D and marketing which had led to a cycle of declining customer support and brand value. Would the CEO’s VISION 2020 plan, centered on four... View Details

February 1986 (Revised November 1989)
Case

Copeland Corp.: Evolution of a Manufacturing Strategy--1975-82 (A)

By: David A. Garvin

Describes the evolution of a company's manufacturing strategy over an eight-year period. Copeland had pursued a strategy of building freestanding focused plants devoted to single processes or product lines, and then moving products from the home plant at Sidney, Ohio... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Product; Production; Strategy; Restructuring; Geographic Location; Manufacturing Industry; Ohio

March 2001 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Wilkerson Company

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The president of Wilkerson, faced with declining profits, is struggling to understand why the company is encountering severe price competition on one product line while able to raise prices without competitive response on another product line. The controller proposes... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Competition; Profit; Product; Consumer Products Industry

Career Coach

Genesia Tang

Genesia is passionate about climate tech and sustainability, and spent her summer working for Blackhorn Ventures, an early-stage climate VC. She has also pursued career pivots multiple times, from consulting to tech operations to VC. Having successfully recruited for... View Details

1998
Case

Nucor Corporation (A)

By: Vijay Govindarajan

Under the leadership of CEO Ken Iverson, Nucor thrived. Nucor's structure was decentralized, with only four management layers. Only 22 employees worked at the corporate headquarters; plants were located in rural areas across the U.S. and the general manager of each... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy

2008
Working Paper

Modern Management: Good for the Environment or Just Hot Air?

By: Nicholas Bloom, Christos Genakos, Ralf Martin and Raffaella Sadun

We use an innovative methodology to measure management practices in over 300 manufacturing firms in the UK. We then match this management data to production and energy usage information for establishments owned by these firms. We find that establishments in better... View Details

Keywords: Energy Conservation; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Productivity; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Manufacturing Industry; United Kingdom

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31 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

From SpinPop to SpinBrush: Entrepreneurial Lessons from John Osher

fact the product of a sharp intellect and dozens of lessons learned over the course of a long career. "He's a street-smart guy, and he has this observational power. He had in mind designing the perfect company, which included the... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Consumer Products

September 1992 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc.

On May 1, 1992, Doug Friesen, manager of assembly for Toyota's Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, faces a problem with the seats installed in the plant's sole product--Camrys. A growing number of cars are sitting off-line with defective seats or are missing them entirely.... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Kentucky