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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(247)
- News (41)
- Research (92)
- Events (16)
- Multimedia (3)
- Faculty Publications (78)
Morton L. Mandel
Starting with $900 and an order for hard to find car parts, Mandel and his brothers built one of the largest and most highly regarded specialty parts (electronic and industrial components) suppliers in the United States. By sourcing unique parts and providing quick... View Details
Keywords: Fabricated Goods
James F. Lincoln
Lincoln, as president of the world’s largest producer of welding equipment, pioneered the incentive wage system. Lincoln’s “Incentive System” rewarded workers according to their productive capacity and made the company the lowest cost producer in its field. Its... View Details
Keywords: Fabricated Goods
Mary W. Lawrence
Lawrence built one of the fastest growing advertising agencies in the 20th century, earning billings of over $100 million in less than five years. She broke the conventional mold of television advertising by using dramatic/theatrical scenes to convey a product’s... View Details
Keywords: Services
Bernard H. Kroger
Kroger is responsible for many innovations in grocery store operations. He was the first to place grocery ads in daily newspapers and was the first grocer to bring meat departments into the store. Starting with one store, he created a chain of 5,200 stores in 1,000... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Rose M. Knox
Knox built the largest gelatin distribution company in the U.S. After her husband’s death, Knox directed advertising to women, published recipes and financed constant research on gelatin usage. Through diversification efforts, Knox lessened the company’s dependence on... View Details
Keywords: Food & Tobacco
Frank C. Ball
In 1885, Ball Brothers Company, founded by Ball, his brother and uncle, began making glass fruit jars and caps. In 1887, they built a factory in Muncie, Indiana and converted the company into a corporation with Frank Ball as president. By the mid-1920s, Ball Brothers... View Details
Keywords: Fabricated Goods
Charles Erwin Wilson
Despite his reluctance to produce military goods, Wilson was nonetheless an excellent manager during World War II and helped his company garner over $14 billion worth of military contracts. In the post war era, Wilson’s success continued as he returned the company to... View Details
Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace
Roger B. Smith
Smith made sweeping changes at the auto giant, which had become complacent in its success and was losing share to foreign imports. Smith instituted a barrage of controversial changes at GM that included forming strategic joint ventures with Japanese and Korean auto... View Details
Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace
Stephen W. Sanger
Sanger began his tenure with General Mills in 1974. One of his early successes was the introduction of blue diamond marshmallows in Lucky Charms which resulted in a 15% increase in sales. During his CEO tenure, sales have increased at a rate of 6% compared to an... View Details
Keywords: Food & Tobacco
Gordon S. Rentschler
Rentschler helped grow National City into one of the world’s largest commercial banks. Under his leadership, National City Bank had assets of over $5 billion with branches throughout New York, Latin America and Asia. View Details
Keywords: Finance
John H. Patterson
After somewhat hastily purchasing a small cash register company, Patterson devoted the rest of his life to promoting and improving upon the cash register technology, revolutionizing commercial business transactions and making NCR into the United States’ largest... View Details
Keywords: Computers & Electronics
George H. Mead
Mead, who started his career as a chemist and pulp mill foreman, built a paper mill empire. His knowledge of the manufacturing process and the paper market resulted in a steady expansion of the business. Mead was also active in the development of the Canadian paper... View Details
Keywords: Wood, Paper & Forestry
Fred R. Lazarus, Jr.
Through acquisitions and organic growth, Lazarus, Jr. created the largest department store operation in the United States (including Filene’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bullocks). Lazarus targeted the middle class through attractive store displays, ample inventory and... View Details
Keywords: Retail
Frank G. Hickey
Hickey embarked on a major restructuring program for General Instruments by investing in new communications technologies and pursuing selective strategic acquisitions. Through his efforts, he was able to increase revenues from $500 million to over $1.3 billion. In... View Details
Keywords: Communications
Harvey S. Firestone
By securing a large tire order from Henry Ford in 1906, and aggressively promoting his tires in automobile races, Firestone was able to grow his company’s sales from $100,000 in 1901 to $15 million in 1913, joining the ranks of the “Big Five” of the tire industry.... View Details
Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace
Benjamin F. Fairless
Fairless oversaw the world’s largest iron and steel producer with total assets over $2 billion. In 1947 alone, Fairless spent $20 million per month for additions and improvements as part of a $500 million expansion initiative designed for full vertical integration.... View Details
Keywords: Metals
Victor Emanuel
During World War II, Emanuel produced all types of military aircraft, including giant bombers, aircraft carriers, and cruisers. After the war, Emanuel led the conversion of AVCO from a producer of aircraft and heavy goods to a manufacturer of consumer goods. Emanuel... View Details
Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace
- Portrait Project
Joe Stenger
ebbs and flows with the demand for steel and coal, and in 1992, many of the factories that once provided the community’s lifeblood sat dormant along the banks of the Ohio River. Subsumed by poverty, the "soft bigotry of low expectations"... View Details
- 01 Dec 2006
- News
Man with a Mission
Force Academy, a running back on the team that defeated Ohio State in the 199o Liberty Bowl, and an Academic All-American. A Rhodes scholar, he earned a doctorate in politics at Oxford. Then he and his wife, Barbara, founded an... View Details
- 01 Aug 2002
- News
Dan Geffken (MBA '87)
Five years ago, Dan Geffken had every intention of attending his 10th Reunion — he was the organizer of his section's party. Days before the festivities were to begin, however, he and his wife, Brenda, received a phone call informing them that a baby girl had been born... View Details