Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(619)
- Faculty Publications (152)
- September 2014 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
Belk: Towards Exceptional Scheduling
By: Ethan Bernstein, Saravanan Kesavan, Bradley Staats and Luke Hassall
With 24,000 staff and over 300 stores, Belk Inc. sought to replace its entirely manual labor scheduling system with an automated software solution from Reflexis. Belk hoped the upgrade would simplify scheduling, reduce time employees spent in non-customer-facing roles,... View Details
Keywords: Retail; Scheduling; Local Autonomy; Automation; Metrics; Organizational Change; Human Resource Management; Process Improvement; Performance Measurement; Transparency; Southern United States; Retailing; Department Stores; System Outsourced Services; Employee Relationship Management; Selection and Staffing; Change Management; Governance Controls; Resource Allocation; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Applications and Software; Family Business; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; United States
- January 2012 (Revised March 2012)
- Case
Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA)'s Entry into the Retirement Market
By: Lauren Cohen and Christopher Malloy
This case examines Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA)'s decision to enter the retirement market with their new "Dimensional Managed DC" product, a complete retirement solution that aimed to provide investors with what they really wanted: the same standard of living in... View Details
- November 2011 (Revised February 2012)
- Supplement
Foxconn Technology Group (B)
By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim and Beiting Cheng
The (B) case presents Foxconn’s plan to replace manual labor with robots and move some of its employees to more interesting and sophisticated jobs. View Details
- July 2011 (Revised June 2013)
- Case
Foxconn Technology Group (A)
By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim and Beiting Cheng
In 2010, Foxconn Technology Group, the largest and fastest growing multinational company in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) industry, came under public scrutiny after a string of employee suicides reached the international press. Although the company was... View Details
Keywords: Multinational; Labor Market; Electronic Manufacturing Services; Health ＆ Wellness; Robots; Automation; Social Responsibility; Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Stocks; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Capital Markets; Supply Chain Management; Safety; Environmental Accounting; Human Capital; Human Resources; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China
- November 2010 (Revised December 2012)
- Case
ABB: 'In China, for China'
By: J. Gunnar Trumbull, Elena Corsi and Elisa Farri
ABB, a power and automation Swiss engineering company had to decide if they wanted to be even more integrated into the Chinese economy, ABB's biggest market, or if they should instead increase their presence in other emerging markets such as India and Brazil. View Details
- March 2006 (Revised November 2006)
- Case
China: To Float or Not To Float? (E)- ABB Investment in China
By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel
In July 2005, China revalued its currency by 2.1% and adjusted its exchange rate regime toward a more market-based system. ABB, a global power and automation technologies company based out of Switzerland with operations in China, was among those companies confronted... View Details
- July 2004 (Revised March 2006)
- Case
RosettaNet and ebXML: Betting on the Right eBusiness Standard
By: F. Warren McFarlan and Veronika Belokhvostova
A major enterprise software company must select which technologies to support, based on their long-term and short-term viability and benefits. The protagonist is involved in the release of the B2B integration component of major enterprise software whose purpose is to... View Details
- January 2004
- Background Note
Beyond the IT Monolith
By: Marco Iansiti and Gregg Rotenberg
Leading companies are employing a radical new approach to IT--an approach that points the way to a new model of software architecture and deployment. These companies' successes seem to indicate that the problems IT critics have correctly identified are not, in fact,... View Details
- July 2001 (Revised October 2004)
- Case
PSA: The World's Port of Call
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Nancy Bartlett, Dolly Chang-Leow and Neo Boon Siong
Details the evolution of an e-business strategy and capabilities over a 16-year period. What began in 1984 as an effort to automate the port of Singapore to achieve productivity savings, by 2000 had evolved into a global e-business called Portnet.com. Closes as senior... View Details
- February 1999 (Revised September 2001)
- Teaching Note
BAE Automated Systems (A) and (B) TN
Teaching Note for (9-396-311) and (9-396-312). View Details
- August 1998
- Case
Electronic Commerce at Air Products
By: F. Warren McFarlan and Melissa Dailey
In 1998,chief information officers (CIOs) in the highly competitive international gases and chemicals business faced the reality that electronic commerce capability was a strategic necessity. The results of annual surveys of technology officers in the chemical industry... View Details
- March 1998 (Revised December 2000)
- Case
Siebel Systems (A)
By: Michael J. Roberts, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Nicole Tempest
The case describes the early evolution of Siebel Systems, a sales force automation software company, focusing on issues surrounding Siebel's use of systems integrators as implementation partners and the relationship between implementation and the selling function. View Details
- September 1997 (Revised May 1999)
- Case
Automated Intelligence Corporation
By: James K. Sebenius and David T. Kotchen
Precision Controls is a Minnesota-based manufacturer of electronic control devices. To enhance its product line, Precision would like to establish an artificial intelligence research group, either through internal development or, preferably, by merging with or... View Details
- September 1997 (Revised May 1999)
- Case
Precision Controls, Inc.
By: James K. Sebenius and David T. Kotchen
Precision Controls is a Minnesota-based manufacturer of electronic control devices. To enhance its product line, Precision would like to establish an artificial intelligence research group, either through internal development or, preferably, by merging with or... View Details
- June 1997
- Case
VeriFone: The Transaction Automation Company (A) Abridged
Describes VeriFone's new organizational model and its role in catapulting VeriFone to a market leadership position. Examines the impact of information technology and information access on the ability to leverage global resources, market responsiveness, and... View Details
- May 1996 (Revised March 1998)
- Case
SaleSoft, Inc. (A)
By: Das Narayandas
SaleSoft, a start-up firm, markets Comprehensive Sales Automation Solutions (CSAS) that automate a firm's sales, marketing, and service functions. Even though the product has received very favorable responses from prospects, product complexity and a long buying cycle... View Details
- May 1996 (Revised October 2001)
- Case
BAE Automated Systems (B): Implementing the Denver International Airport Baggage-Handling System
By: Lynda M. Applegate, H. James Nelson, Ramiro Montealegre and Carin-Isabel Knoop
Describes the negotiations between the City of Denver officials, airlines, consulting companies, and BAE for the construction of a backup baggage system to enable the Denver International Airport (DIA) to open. When DIA finally opens in February 1995, 16 months behind... View Details
- April 1996 (Revised November 1996)
- Case
BAE Automated Systems (A): Denver International Airport Baggage-Handling System
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ramiro Montealegre, Carin-Isabel Knoop and H. James Nelson
Describes the events surrounding the construction of the BAE baggage-handling system at the Denver International Airport. It looks specifically at project management, including decisions regarding budget, scheduling, and the overall management structure. Also examines... View Details
- September 1995
- Teaching Note
VeriFone: The Transaction Automation Company (A) TN
By: Donna B. Stoddard and F. Warren McFarlan
Teaching Note for (9-195-088). View Details
Keywords: Information Technology Industry
- August 1994 (Revised May 2001)
- Case
ITT Automotive: Global Manufacturing Strategy (1994)
By: Gary P. Pisano and Sharon L. Rossi
ITT Automotive is in the process of developing a new-generation antilock brake system (ABS), designated the MK-20. The case focuses on the level of automation to be used in the production of this new system, and whether all plants should use the same process... View Details