Improving Productivity - Publications - Faculty & Research

Profile

Paul Scharfman

created jobs and improved his community’s water system. Focusing on efficiencies to fuel growth and create jobs, Scharfman’s Specialty Cheese has doubled its workforce to 100 people over the past five years. By partnering with government... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Retail

24 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

IPR: Protecting Your Technology Transfers

partners in countries with imperfect IPR. There are also implications for the global production decisions that multinational firms make. Improved IPR allows firms to shift technologically advanced activities... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

01 Sep 2018
News

Research Brief: Where Top-Down Tops Out

facility’s performance. “There is a lot of pressure to deliver and deliver quickly,” Sadun says. “The rational response of an appointed NHS CEO is not necessarily to improve the long-term performance of the hospital, but instead to... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers

25 Aug 2022
News

Case Study: Sound Check

improved long-term retention rates. In the early days, it’s best to optimize for product feedback. If it’s easier to sell to smaller customers (with more volume), stick with this segment and treat the... View Details

Keywords: Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

Web

Wartime Innovation - Georges F. Doriot : Educating Leaders, Building Companies, Baker Library, Harvard Business School

one of Doriot's former students, chose Doriot to serve as lieutenant colonel in the Quartermaster Corps. The Corps was responsible for research and development of new materials and products for combat troops. Doriot became a naturalized... View Details

20 Dec 2004
Research & Ideas

How an Order Views Your Company

into the business to the day the product departs the shipping dock. The researchers encouraged businesses to think of that order as the actual customer, and watched as they routed that person here and there among departments, perhaps... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston

17 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Why E-commerce Didn’t Die With the Fall of Webvan

induced about 12 percent of the pharmaceutical market to buy that way. Once that was done, it was comparatively straightforward to use the same inducements to persuade people who had Web access to do that over the Internet, saving the cost of telemarketing centers. Q:... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

Mar 2012
Article

Does America Really Need Manufacturing?

Too many U.S. companies base decisions about where to locate production largely on narrow financial criteria. They don't consider whether keeping manufacturing at home makes more sense strategically or take into account the impact it... View Details

Profile

Vivek Garg

thread among the various groups and issues: a need for coordinated leadership. "Too many of us get locked into minute battles over turf," he says. "That makes it harder to propose global changes or innovations that could View Details

01 Feb 1997
News

Merton Discusses Risk Management at Dean's Seminar

areas of capital markets, financial services, and corporate finance. "New financial product and market designs, improved computer and telecommunications technology, and advances in finance theory during the... View Details

Keywords: Elizabeth McNair

05 Sep 2000
What Do You Think?

Whither the Information Economy?

replace food, shelter, clothing, etc.," Gary Myers raises an issue that might warrant further discussion. While he points out that information leads to improvements in the efficiency with which goods are produced, he then goes on to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Mar 2019
News

@Soldiers Field

WHAT’S THE BUZZ? EARLY TASTE In early December, the School’s Doctoral Programs hosted an interactive poster session in the Baker Library|Bloomberg Center that showcased several students’ early-stage research. One finding? In a sample of View Details

Keywords: Arts, Entertainment

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Supplement

Toyota and Its Labor Union in Argentina (B)

By: Jorge Tamayo, Erik Snowberg and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Toyota Argentina (TASA) and the union representing automotive industry workers in the country had been working together since 2011 to address the challenges faced by Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Zárate (Argentina). The strategy for moving forward was built on an... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing Performance; Production; Performance Improvement; Strategy; Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Agreements and Arrangements; Strategic Planning; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Auto Industry; Argentina

Citation

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Profile

Cherian Kurien

communication through the case methodology, has helped to improve my clarity of thought and verbal communication skills. With an excellent curriculum, exceptional faculty and ambitious goals, Harvard Business School remains committed to... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Consumer Products

14 Feb 2005
Research & Ideas

Desktop Search and Revenue Streams

to want more than one indexer on their hard drive." Rahul Lahiri, vice president of search and product management at Ask Jeeves, said improving the specificity of search results is the key to View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette

15 May 2020
News

New Menu

second, larger fund to support companies developing ecologically efficient food production technologies—innovations that can reduce carbon emissions, plastics, and packaging in the supply chain and improve... View Details

15 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

The Business of Free Software

How much of your product do you share? Does your business model extract value from a core product or a portfolio of complementary products?" Most academic research has focused on individual... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer

Elizabeth E. Boit

specialized in the production of women’s undergarments that were eventually sold by Lord & Taylor department stores. Boit was considered a maverick in improving the working conditions for her mostly... View Details

Keywords: Fabric & Apparel

01 Apr 1998
News

Short Takes

development cycles and can't respond in mid-project to changing customer needs. But there's a solution to this dilemma, according to HBS assistant professor Stefan H. Thomke and Donald G. Reinertsen (MBA '79) of Reinertsen & Associates in California. In a working paper... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons and Caroline Chauncey

06 Dec 2010
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Doing Business in Emerging Markets

Sharpening Your Skills dives into the HBS Working Knowledge archives to bring together articles on ways to improve your business skills. Questions To Be Answered: How do I identify opportunities in emerging markets? How important are... View Details

Publications