Publications

April 2008 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Ti-Tech (A)

By: Benson P. Shapiro, John T. Gourville and Craig E. Cline

This case concerns the selection and scheduling of orders by a small industrial titanium fabricator that recently has been plagued by poor deliveries and a lack of capacity. At the time of the case, Ti-Tech must decide which of four orders to accept, with capacity... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Metals and Minerals; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Supply Chain Management; Performance Capacity; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry

26 Apr 2011
Working Paper Summaries

The Contingent Effect of Absorptive Capacity: An Open Innovation Analysis

Keywords: by Andrew A. King & Karim R. Lakhani

04 Oct – 15 Nov 2017
HBS Online

HBX Disruptive Strategy

Disruptive Strategy, created by architect of disruption theory Clayton Christensen, enables you to strengthen your capacity to make innovation a reality and unlock your potential to create winning strategies. Target audience: HBS alumni and experienced colleagues;... View Details

March 1994 (Revised April 1994)
Case

Eli Lilly and Co.: The Flexible Facility Decision--1993

By: Gary P. Pisano

In 1993, Eli Lilly is preparing to build manufacturing capacity for three new pharmaceutical products that it expects to launch in 1996. Management wrestles with a decision of whether to add specialized manufacturing capacity or flexible capacity. This question touches... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Investment; Goals and Objectives; Product Launch; Production; Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

December 2023
Article

Advances in Power-to-Gas Technologies: Cost and Conversion Efficiency

By: Gunther Glenk, Philip Holler and Stefan Reichelstein

Widespread adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier is widely believed to require continued advances in Power-to-Gas (PtG) technologies. Here we provide a comprehensive assessment of the dynamics of system prices and conversion efficiency for three currently prevalent... View Details

Read Now

09 Oct 2020
News

‘Strategic Clarity’ Won’t Solve the United States’ Taiwan Dilemma

10 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

High Commitment, High Performance Management

measures, and capabilities that are aligned with a focused, winning strategy. Psychological alignment: Managing with their heart, leaders create a firm that provides employees at all levels with a sense of higher purpose, meaning, challenging work, and the View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Apr 2022
Blog Post

The Africa Business Conference at HBS: Reimagining the Road Ahead

Business School. This past weekend, the Africa Business Club had the immense privilege of hosting 1,000 participants at our annual Conference. Co-organizing the Conference in the capacity of CFO and Conference Lead was a huge labor of... View Details

Awards

World Economic History Congress Dissertation Prize

By: Marlous van Waijenburg

2018: Winner of the International Economic History Association's triennial Dissertation Prize in the Twentieth Century category for "Financing the African Colonial State: Fiscal Capacity Building and Forced Labor." View Details

19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Unlocking Your Investment Capital

Many companies can double or even triple their capacity to invest in strategic assets and competencies by properly managing their "risk balance sheet," argues Harvard Business School professor Robert C. Merton. In a provocative... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

June 2007 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Thomas J. Watson, IBM and Nazi Germany

By: Geoffrey Jones, Grace Ballor and Adrian Brown

Considers the strategy of U.S.-owned IBM, then a manufacturer of punch cards, in Nazi Germany before 1937. Opens with IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson meeting Adolf Hitler in his capacity as President of the International Chamber of Commerce. IBM had acquired a German company... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Values and Beliefs; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Business and Government Relations; Germany; United States

June 2013 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Valero Energy Corporation and Tight Oil

By: Richard H.K. Vietor, Eric Adamson, Aaron Byrd, Ned Chiverton, Mariko Meier and Rob Rain

Valero Energy, an incredibly successful US refiner, needs to make some decisions about tight oil. As production of light tight oil increases—from Eagle Ford, Bakken and elsewhere—Valero considers whether to add topping capacity to handle it, on top of its recent... View Details

Keywords: Petroleum; Oil ＆ Gas; Energy; Environment; Refining; Globalization; Tight Oil; Strategy; Natural Environment; Demand and Consumers; Supply and Industry; Policy; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; United States

September 1995 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Chace Shipping (Abridged)

The owner of a shipping company has to make a decision on how best to use the available capacity of one of his vessels. View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Decision Making; Shipping Industry

02 Jul 2019
News

The high price of breaking up global supply chains

Marlous van Waijenburg

Marlous van Waijenburg is an Assistant Professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor van Waijenburg’s main... View Details

December 1993 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Medical Products Co.

By: Robert H. Hayes

In early 1990, the company is contemplating changes in its European plant network for producing hypodermic products, including the total production capacity to be provided, the number and location of plants over which to spread this capacity, and which products should... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Decision Making; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost; Production; Performance Capacity; Performance Effectiveness; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Europe

August 2001 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Operations at the Donner Company

By: H. Kent Bowen

A small manufacturer of circuit boards faces product and operations-management problems. This case analyzes the production capacity at various stages and examines bottlenecks and product flow decisions. A detailed look at the problems and a discussion of the tools and... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Production; Performance Capacity; Business Processes; Logistics; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry

June 2018
Case

Burton Sensors, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan and Wei Wang

Burton Sensors presents a realistic situation where a small, rapidly growing, and profitable temperature sensor original equipment manufacturer (OEM) reaches its debt capacity and seeks equity financing to sustain high growth. The president of the company must decide... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Acquisition; Investment; Financial Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions

September 1985
Case

H.J. Heinz Co.: Plastic Bottle Ketchup (B)

By: John A. Quelch

The Heinz Ketchup product manager discovers she does not have sufficient finished inventory and production capacity to meet trade demand for a new plastic bottle ketchup. Alternatives include cancelling promotion events and putting the trade on allocation. View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Crisis Management; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Food and Beverage Industry