Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(933)
- Faculty Publications (167)
- Article
Strategic Management of Product Recovery
Manufacturers of an expanding range of durable products are facing regulatory and market pressures to manage the products they manufactured upon their end of life (EOL). In part, this attention is motivated by a growing number of countries—especially across Europe and... View Details
- June 2004 (Revised June 2006)
- Case
Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.
Scientific-Atlantia (S-A), a leading manufacturer of cable TV equipment, is confronting strategic challenges in mid-2004. For decades, cable operators have faced high switching costs that have locked them into exclusive supply relationships with either S-A or its... View Details
- February 2004 (Revised March 2006)
- Case
Pratt & Whitney: Engineering Standard Work
By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington
As the engineering of state-of-the-art jet engines becomes more and more complex, Pratt & Whitney leaders face major competitive problems. Product development projects are not meeting the cost, quality, and lead-time targets. The leadership develops a design,... View Details
- October 2003
- Case
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company: Building a Platform for Distributed Innovation
By: Marco Iansiti and Marcin Strojwas
Surging costs of building a state-of-the-art fabrication facility were pushing firms to outsource manufacturing while advanced technologies were requiring a tighter coupling between design and manufacturing. Explores the development of strategy in this environment.... View Details
- September 2003 (Revised September 2004)
- Case
Hearthside Homes
By: Jason R. Barro, Brian J. Hall and Aaron Zimmerman
Investigates the "controllability problem" inherent in bonus systems. Ideally, an incentive system accurately measures performance in areas that the individual can control. But most measures are either too broad, including factors outside the influence of the employee,... View Details
- September 2003 (Revised January 2004)
- Case
Alessi: Evolution of an Italian Design Factory (A)
By: Youngme E. Moon, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman
Alessio Alessi, head of distribution at family-run Alessi S.p.A., is facing price and brand confusion among customers and is considering reorganizing Alessi's worldwide network of distributors. By describing the challenges facing Alessi, an internationally acclaimed... View Details
- May 2003
- Case
Renault-Nissan Alliance, The
By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Perry Fagan
On Wednesday, May 29, 2002, the board of directors of Renault-Nissan BV (RNBV) met for the first time to discuss the state of the alliance between Renault SA and Nissan Motors-two of the world's largest automakers. RNBV was a 50/50 joint venture company established in... View Details
- May 2003
- Case
Sun Hydraulics: Leading in Tough Times (A) (Abridged)
By: Linda A. Hill and Jennifer Suesse
Sun Hydraulics, 32-year-old global hydraulics engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Sarasota, Florida; confronts tough choices due to the economic downturn in 2001. The company leadership debates how to maintain profitability and reduce labor costs... View Details
- Article
The Growing Strategic Importance of End-of-Life Product Management
Requiring manufacturers to manage the their products when they become waste is an innovative form of regulation, one that has been adopted by countries in Asia, Europe, and North America on a variety of products that range from vehicles to appliances to batteries.... View Details
- January 2003 (Revised January 2008)
- Case
The British Motorcycle Industry at a Crossroads
By: Jan W. Rivkin
By 1975, the collapse of the British motorcycle industry is nearly complete. Only one British manufacturer, NVT, remains in operation. In this setting, the British government commissions the Boston Consulting Group to identify and evaluate strategic alternatives for... View Details
- January 2003 (Revised April 2003)
- Case
Sun Hydraulics: Leading in Tough Times (A)
By: Linda A. Hill and Jennifer Suesse
Sun Hydraulics, 32-year-old global hydraulics engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, confronts tough choices due to the economic downturn in 2001. The company leadership debates how to maintain profitability and reduce labor costs... View Details
- September 2002
- Case
Align Technology, Inc.: Matching Manufacturing Capacity to Sales Demand
By: H. Kent Bowen and Jonathan P Groberg
Align Technology is a four-year-old medical products company that has invented a new product requiring new manufacturing processes. Demand for the new product has grown more slowly than initial forecasts predicted, and the cost structure is preventing the company from... View Details
- December 2001 (Revised February 2008)
- Case
Borealis
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Bjorn N. Jorgensen
When Borealis, a European producer of plastics, used a traditional, time-consuming budgeting process, the budget was quickly out of date in a competitive environment characterized by continually changing input and output prices and dynamic market conditions. This case... View Details
- November 2000 (Revised July 2019)
- Teaching Note
Cafes Monte Bianco: Building a Profit Plan
By: Robert Simons and Indra Reinbergs
Teaching Note for (9-198-088). View Details
- July 2000
- Case
Aerospace Technologies, Inc.
By: Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen
Ben Galil's privately held engineering consulting firm represents aerospace products manufacturers in Israeli government biddings. The company incurs expenses for years before getting paid. This case deals with the alternative methods for booking revenues and expenses... View Details
- June 2000
- Case
Rebirth of the Swiss Watch Industry, 1980-1992 (A)
By: Michael L. Tushman and Daniel Radov
The Swiss watch industry has been devastated by new entrants from Asia in the low- and mid-priced watch segments. Japanese and Hong Kong firms have used quartz technology to lower costs dramatically. Nicolas Hayek, president of a Swiss consulting firm, is asked to help... View Details
- August 1999 (Revised February 2000)
- Case
Cisco Systems, Inc.: Acquisition Integration for Manufacturing (A)
By: Steven C. Wheelwright, Charles A. Holloway, Nicole Tempest and Christian G. Kasper
Describes the procedures and processes used by Cisco Systems in its acquisition of high-technology firms. Its goal is to retain key engineering talent and to leverage existing product development efforts, but to quickly merge acquired companies its own systems and... View Details
Keywords: Information Technology; Leveraged Buyouts; Acquisition; Integration; Mergers and Acquisitions; Production; Activity Based Costing and Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; England
- February 1999
- Case
Volant Skis
By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Matt Verlinden
Volant brought innovation to the ski equipment industry in 1989 by developing a stainless steel ski. He claimed the skis could turn more easily, could hold an edge in icy conditions, and were more stable than aluminum or fiberglass skis. The company's "soft-flex"... View Details
- April 1998
- Case
Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (C)
By: H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg
Jim Sharpe, president of Extrusion Technology, describes the first five years at the aluminum extrusion company he purchased. He begins with day one as he introduced himself to the employees in 1987 and assured them of the company's continuity. Over the next two years,... View Details
- April 1998 (Revised September 1998)
- Case
Classic Pen Company, The: Developing an ABC Model
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Classic Pen has diversified from its core blue and black pen business by introducing new specialized colors. But costs have risen and margins on blue and black pens are decreasing. The controller turns to activity-based costing (ABC) for an explanation. View Details