Publications

November 2012
Case

New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. (Abridged)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Robert S. Huckman, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Matthew Preble

Considers whether New Balance, one of the world's five largest manufacturers of athletic footwear, should respond to Adidas' planned acquisition of Reebok—a transaction that would join the second- and third-largest companies in the industry. Highlights the unique... View Details

Keywords: Production; Competitive Strategy; Supply Chain; Brands and Branding; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry; Retail Industry; Asia; United States

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

Keywords: Strategy; Business Model; Networks; Product Design; Production; Decisions; Customer Relationship Management; Supply Chain Management

27 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Employee-Suggestion Programs That Work

policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. Trained as an industrial engineer, Tucker is interested in the perspective of frontline workers in productivity and process improvement, including how internal supply View Details

Keywords: by Paul Guttry

November 2019
Case

Hapag-Lloyd AG:Complying with IMO 2020

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej and Emer Moloney

A new environmental regulation known as IMO 2020 was creating what one industry analyst called “the biggest shakeup for the oil and shipping industries in decades.” According to the new regulation, all ocean-going ships would have to limit their sulfur emissions by... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Ship Transportation; Strategic Planning; Game Theory; Pollutants; Supply Chain; Corporate Accountability; Capital Budgeting; Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governance Compliance; Shipping Industry; Transportation Industry; Germany

29 Oct 2015
Blog Post

Why We Recruit: Bloom Energy

Project Finance, Marketing, HR, and Supply Chain departments will continue to be offered annually during the summer, with recruitment starting in December. Depending on our business needs, full time... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

06 Dec 2021
News

What's the Word?

because the fourth aftershock of an earthquake rarely does,” he explains, “and yet it can still be devastating.” Back to top Re·shor·ing (verb) There were visible cracks in the global supply chain for US... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; illustrations by Martha Rich; Manufacturing; Finance; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

September 2010 (Revised February 2013)
Background Note

The Cage-Free Egg Movement

By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Describes the social movement confronting conventional egg production techniques (battery cages) based on animal welfare concerns, and some merits and drawbacks of cage-free alternatives. Highlights animal rights activist campaigns, political and regulatory responses,... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Rights; Supply Chain Management; Natural Environment; Social Issues; Competitive Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

22 Feb 2022
News

Q&A: The Post-Pandemic Path

one economic lesson from the crisis is that government support really works. Look at where we are today with inflation and supply chain problems—I’m not saying those are good things, but we certainly are not... View Details

Keywords: April White

17 Sep 2024
HBS Case

The Climate Targets Leaders Need to Know as Regulations Loom

As investor pressure mounts on companies to show their environmental impacts, leaders are encountering an unwieldy tangle of terms and approaches. Climate accounting basics and a dictionary of sorts can help demystify the calculations and voluntary targets that... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Career Coach

Erika Osterling

Erika (HBS '09, ITESM '00) brings 20 years of experience as an operating leader and advisor. She has spent most of her career within Energy & Industrial, with additional roles in Consumer and Retail. Erika's 12+ year career at GE progressed from View Details

Keywords: Energy; Oil & Gas; Energy; Private Equity; Financial Services (All); Manufacturing

December 2002 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Tesco Plc.

By: David E. Bell

Tesco, a supermarket chain, has been transformed from a third-rate retailer to a global leader in the past ten years. This case describes how that was accomplished. Interviews with Tesco employees explain the company's approach to understanding customers, motivating... View Details

Keywords: History; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership; Internet and the Web; Supply Chain Management; Global Strategy; Globalization; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

01 Jun 2023
News

Action Plan: Net Proceeds

supply chain and certification company, to address the plastic pollution he saw in Haiti and other communities around the world. Goodwin had originally traveled to Haiti under the auspices of Executives... View Details

Keywords: April White; recycling; corporate social responsibility; waste management; water; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Corporate Services

May 1992
Article

Coordination in Split-Award Auctions

By: James J. Anton and Dennis Yao

We analyze split award procurement auctions in which a buyer divides full production between two suppliers or awards all production to a single supplier, and suppliers have private cost information. An intriguing feature of split awards is that the equilibrium bids are... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Balance and Stability; Cost; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Production; Five Forces Framework; Supply and Industry; Situation or Environment; Information; Manufacturing Industry

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14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

the public water supply had previously been damaged by the effects of El Niño. "There wasn't much dispute because things were terrible," he said, adding that many poor residents—who used to have to buy water from the back of a... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

July 3, 2020
Article

Delivery Apps Need to Start Treating Suppliers As Partners

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Ian Macomber

Home delivery has shifted from a luxury service aimed at young urban professionals to a core part of many businesses, which is used by almost everyone. That upheaval has strained capacity of many delivery services and changed how they relate to the suppliers that they... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Performance Capacity; Performance Efficiency; Entrepreneurship

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Register to Read

01 Apr 1998
News

Deals For Sale

FairMarket is an online auction house that allows companies with surplus computers and computer components to sell to the highest bidder. "We make the distribution chain more efficient by acting as a centralized market for such... View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

January 2010 (Revised February 2010)
Case

IFP, Indonesia

By: Roy D. Shapiro

IFP, Ltd. is a Europe-based multinational mining and minerals company contemplating an investment to produce forest products in Indonesia. The primary case decisions are 1) how to assess political and operating risk, 2) how to integrate economic and political risk... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment; Geographic Location; Risk Management; Supply Chain Management; Business and Government Relations; Forest Products Industry; Indonesia