Publications

November 1987 (Revised January 1988)
Case

Groen: A Dover Industries Company

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes the challenges facing the president of an old-line foodservice and food processing equipment manufacturing company as it attempted to accelerate sales and profit growth through the introduction of innovative products. The introduction of a "revolutionary"... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Labor and Management Relations; Machinery and Machining; Management Style; Management Teams; Performance Efficiency; Technological Innovation; Product Development; Organizational Culture

19 Jul 2013
News

Harvard's Shih on Tesla Motors, U.S. Auto Industry

09 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

It’s Time to Reset Decision-Making in Your Organization

James Lemoine, an assistant professor in the Organization and Human Resources Department of the School of Management at the University at Buffalo, have written extensively on VUCA, and argue, “If VUCA is seen as general, unavoidable, and... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

November – December 2011
Article

Most Likely to Succeed: Leadership in the Industry

By: Robert C. Pozen and Theresa Hamacher

What is the critical factor for success in the U.S. mutual fund industry? Is it top-ranked investment performance, innovative products, or pervasive distribution? In our view, it is none of these factors, despite their obvious importance. Instead, the best predictors... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Success; Investment Funds; Rank and Position; Performance; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Product; Distribution; Forecasting and Prediction; Asset Management; Governance Controls; United States

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May 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Colliers International Property Consultants, Inc.: Managing a Virtual Organization

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In less than 20 years, the real estate firm Colliers International expanded into a federation of 180 offices with close to 4,500 professionals in over 30 countries. Because Colliers expanded by signing up existing firms strong in their local markets, its leaders had to... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Globalized Firms and Management; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Budgets and Budgeting; Real Estate Industry

03 Oct 2005
What Do You Think?

What’s the Future of Globally Organized Labor?

Summing Up Globalization could spur organized labor to rethink its premises, objectives, and strategies. But the prospect for that is not clear, according to respondents to this month's column. As Arun Joshi put it, "Now that the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

27 Aug 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Measuring and Understanding Hierarchy as an Architectural Element in Industry Sectors

Keywords: by Jianxi Luo, Daniel E. Whitney, Carliss Y. Baldwin & Christopher L. Magee; Auto

07 Apr 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Explaining the Vertical-to-Horizontal Transition in the Computer Industry

Keywords: by Carliss Baldwin; Computer

2010
Chapter

Advance Recovery and the Development of Resilient Organizations and Societies

By: Dutch Leonard and Arnold M. Howitt

Societies face a wide array of significant hazards-ranging from the possibility of natural disasters to industrial accidents to large-scale terrorist incidents. View Details

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Society; Organizations; Growth and Development; National Security; Safety

November 1987
Case

International Business Machines: Changes in Marketing Organization

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Marketing; Computer Industry; Computer Industry

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November 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Case

Apple Computer (A): Industry, Strategy, and Organization

Explores how the human resource (HR) function at Apple Computer can best support the company's strategy. Provides an overview of the company's history, industry, competitive position, strategy, and organization. Written at a time when the company faces a very... View Details

Keywords: Attitudes; Organizational Culture; Employees; Business Strategy; Computer Industry; United States

09 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Industry Self-Regulation: What’s Working (and What’s Not)?

issue, managers at buyers and suppliers are faced with hundreds of different supply chain programs—from labeling schemes like Fair Trade and organics, to industry association programs like Responsible Care and Sustainable Slopes, to a... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2017
Case

Cantel Medical

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Cantel Medical Corporation provided infection prevention and control products and services for patients, caregivers, and other healthcare providers. In 2016, Cantel generated sales of $665 million and net profits of $60 million, double the levels of five years earlier.... View Details

Keywords: Cantel; Charles Diker; Furniture Industry; Matrix Organization; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Chemicals; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Research and Development; Opportunities; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Information Technology; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; New Jersey

March 27, 2017
Article

How the Water Industry Learned to Embrace Data

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amir Peleg

Most current talk about “big data” seems to assume the disintermediation or replacement of physical assets by digital technologies. But a bigger and more impactful trend is the use of online tools to improve physical asset utilization in many traditional off-line... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Analytics and Data Science; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Utilities Industry

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28 Aug 2017
Research & Ideas

Should Industry Competitors Cooperate More to Solve World Problems?

Source: Cecilie_Arcurs George Serafeim has a startling suggestion to fix the world’s biggest environmental, social, and governance (ESG) problems such as water pollution, deforestation, and wealth inequality: encourage companies within industries to do less competing... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Manufacturing; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Mining

August 1988 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Hewlett-Packard (A): Organizing New Product Sales Channels--1986

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Joseph G. Finegold

Keywords: Sales; Product Launch; Marketing Channels; Computer Industry

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September 2013
Case

Management Levels at Staples (A): Company and Organization (Abridged)

By: David A. Garvin

Abridged version of one of six cases that describe the roles and responsibilities of managers at each of the hierarchical levels of management within the U.S. Stores business unit of Staples, the world's largest office supply company. Together, the cases form a... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Management Practices and Processes; Job Design and Levels; Business Processes; Consumer Products Industry; United States

November 2023
Case

From Imitation to Innovation: Zongshen Industrial Group (Abridged)

By: Willy Shih and Nancy Dai

Like other small shops based in Chongqing, China, Zongshen Industrial Group started by assembling motorcycles from "standard" parts. The quality of its early products was good enough for rural Chinese buyers, though wealthier consumers usually purchased premium... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Supply Chain; Product Positioning; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China