Publications

08 Sep 2020
News

Creating More Resilient Supply Chains

03 Dec 2019
News

What Is The Future Of Work In The Tradable Sector?

28 Nov 2017
News

GOP tax plans ignore reality in creating good American jobs

16 Mar 2013
News

The role of government: Let 50 flowers bloom

September 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Supplement

Hitachi Rail Limited (B)

By: David J. Collis, Akiko Kanno and Nobuo Sato

This supplement describes the strategy and organisation changes made by British executive, Alistair Dormer, after he is made head of Hitachi Rail's global business. The company acquires an Italian company, continues to win contracts in the UK, but struggles to bring... View Details

Keywords: Organization Structure; Leader Selection; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Strategy; Global Strategy; Organizational Structure; Leadership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Values and Beliefs; Rail Industry; Japan

April 1995
Case

Montague Corporation (A)

By: Norman A. Berg and James Weber

The Montague Corp. is a small company started in 1987 and owned by David Montague, age 31, and his father. The company designs, manufactures in Taiwan, and sells through distributors worldwide a high-quality "bicycle that folds." The company offices are located in... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Financial Strategy; Financial Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Globalized Firms and Management; Family Business; Bicycle Industry; Taiwan; Cambridge

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March 1994
Case

Intel Corp.: Leveraging Capabilities for Strategic Renewal

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Traces the history of Intel from its earliest days as a technology-driven memory company to its emergence as an increasingly market-focused microprocessor company with emerging systems capabilities. The focus is on the strategic, organizational, and management... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Adaptation; Management Skills; Management Practices and Processes; Strategy; Organizations; Information Technology Industry

October 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Supplement

Airbus vs. Boeing (M): MAX 8 Disasters (July 2019)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the October 2018 and March 2019 crashes of Boeing MAX 8 jets, which together killed over 300 passengers. The planes involved in both crashes shared a problem with a software system called MCAS, which Boeing had revamped at the last minute prior to... View Details

Keywords: Airbus; Boeing; Product Development; Product Design; Air Transportation; Projects; Competition; Safety; Failure; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Europe

February 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Asociacion Colombiana de Industrias Plasticas (Acoplasticos)

By: Michael E. Porter and Willis M. Emmons III

Acoplasticos was established in 1961 as a lobbying group for Colombia's major plastics manufacturing companies. In the early 1980s, the organization shifted its focus toward improving the productivity of the Colombian plastics and rubber cluster, which also included... View Details

Keywords: Cooperation; Information Technology; Alliances; Research and Development; Business and Government Relations; Performance Productivity; Developing Countries and Economies; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Colombia

11 Sep 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Competing Complements

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Barry Nalebuff & David B. Yoffie

Article

Highways and Spatial Location within Cities: Evidence from India

By: Ejaz Ghani, Arti Grover Goswami and William R. Kerr

We investigate the impact of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) highway project on the spatial organization and efficiency of manufacturing activity. The GQ project upgraded the quality and width of 3,633 miles of road in India. We use a difference-in-difference estimation... View Details

Keywords: Infrastructure; Transportation; India

Read Now

May 1991 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (A)

By: David B. Yoffie

Describes the competitive situation that has arisen in the commercial aircraft manufacturing industry since Airbus entered in 1970. Having overtaken McDonnell Douglas for second place, Airbus announces plans to challenge market leader Boeing's last pocket of dominance.... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Trade; Ethics; Investment; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Sales; Competitive Strategy; Technology Adoption; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

June 2020
Case

TransDigm: The Acquisition of Aerosonic Corp.

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. Fisher

In April 2013, TransDigm, a company that manufactured a wide range of highly engineered aerospace parts for both military and commercial aircraft, announced an agreement to acquire Aerosonic Corporation for $39 million in cash (1.2 times Aerosonic’s sales of $31... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Growth Management; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation; Valuation; Negotiation; Cash Flow; Contracts; Aerospace Industry; Air Transportation Industry; United States

27 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

Mattel: Getting a Toy Recall Right

million toys manufactured in China with lead paint and/or loose, potentially dangerous magnets. Clearly Mattel did not have sufficiently tight quality control procedures in its supply chain to compensate for the extra risks of outsourcing... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products

March 1986 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Peter Browning and Continental White Cap (A)

Presents a new divisional vice president's entry into a well-established and still successful manufacturing organization which is nevertheless facing an impending competitive crisis. Demonstrates his challenge and his efforts, under pressure from corporate... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Manufacturing Industry

December 2021 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Katerra (A)

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

In April 2020, Katerra executives struggled with a series of decisions that would determine the fate of one of the best-funded construction startups in history. Katerra was founded in 2015 by technology-industry executive Michael Marks and commercial real estate... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Construction; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; United States

May 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Teaching Note

Lind Equipment

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld

Teaching Note for HBS No. 212-012. Lind Equipment, a Canadian manufacturer and distributor of industrial electrical safety equipment, was purchased in December 2007 by Brian Astl (HBS 2006) and Sean Van Doorselaer. Lind’s performance was negatively impacted by the... View Details

Keywords: Recession; Seller Debt; Equity; Financial Condition; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Revenue; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Financial Management; Acquisition; Financial Crisis; Currency Exchange Rate; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

July 1987
Case

Altoona Corp.: Computer Products Division

By: Roger E. Bohn and Robert H. Hayes

A relatively small manufacturer of computer memory disks has achieved a major market position through the use of its statistical quality control (SQC) program. It is now expanding the production of a new line of disks and is encountering problems getting the process... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Volatility; Performance Consistency; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Quality; Mathematical Methods; Hardware; Manufacturing Industry

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September 2018
Case

Hunley, Inc.: Casting for Growth

By: John A. Quelch and James T. Kindley

Hunley, Inc. manufactures rods for the niche sport of fly fishing. It specializes in freshwater rods that are perceived as "middle-market" products, targeted at "avid" fly fishers. In the face of declining revenue and a decreasing price per unit sold, the company's... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Sports; Marketing Channels; Distribution Channels