Publications

27 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Following Best Business Practices Can Improve Health Care

Either Heal Health Care?A public insurance option could use its scale to hold prices down, but only if the approach avoids the financing gimmicks that are undermining Medicare. Research Papers Cohort Turnover and Operational Performance:... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Medical Devices & Supplies; Medical Devices & Supplies

July 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Background Note

Horizontal Specialization and Modularity in the Semiconductor Industry

By: Willy C. Shih, Chintay Shih and Chen-Fu Chien

Well-codified interfaces have enabled horizontal specialization in the global semiconductor industry. This Technical Note describes the modern integrated circuit value chain, and the motivation for the reuse of blocks of intellectual property in modern IC designs. It... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Intellectual Property; Industry Structures; Horizontal Integration; Semiconductor Industry

Article

Local Industrial Conditions and Entrepreneurship: How Much of the Spatial Distribution Can We Explain?

By: Edward L. Glaeser and William R. Kerr

Why are some places more entrepreneurial than others? We use Census Bureau data to study local determinants of manufacturing startups across cities and industries. Demographics have limited explanatory power. Overall levels of local customers and suppliers are only... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Geographic Location; Employment; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain; Manufacturing Industry

Read Now

March 2018
Teaching Note

Sandlands Vineyards

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Greg Saldutte

Teaching Note for HBS No.718-438. View Details

12 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

‘Let the Buyer Beware’ Doesn’t Protect Investors

need substantial additional financing before ever becoming profitable. But the prospectus certainly included pages of disclaimers, reviewed and approved by a law firm, that were intended to protect the bank from any recourse by a furious... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

Profile

Amanda Pratt

test your hypotheses; you learn strategic thinking through practice." Last summer, Amanda went to Nairobi where she took an internship working on the supply chain and operations for a company that runs... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare/Biotech

26 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 26

NPEs', and that NPEs typically target firms that are busy with other (non-IP related) lawsuits or are likely to settle. Lastly, we show that NPE litigation has a negative real impact on the future innovative activity of targeted firms. Download working paper:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Jun 2022
News

Case Study: Glass Half Full

and customer acquisition. If you are building a brand, my advice is to keep Amazon while you build out your Shopify ecosystem, and then make the move. It may not be relevant in your business but buying inventory can keep the supply View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Nonstore Retailers; Retail Trade

01 Jun 2016
News

Case Study: On the Table

(PMD 58, 1989) Gaia Design should use an already established logistics company such as UPS, FedEx, or DHL. Although the e-commerce infrastructure as a whole is not good in Mexico, these organizations are large enough to drive world-class View Details

May 2011
Teaching Note

The Dutch Flower Cluster (TN)

By: Jorge Ramirez-Vallejo and Michael E. Porter

Teaching Note for 711507. View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Auctions; Industry Clusters; Competition; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Netherlands; China; Colombia; Ecuador; Kenya

06 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 6

operations to ensure product was genuine and helped facilitate a continuous feedback loop between all players of the supply chain to deliver a high quality product to consumers. In light of strong demand,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1975 (Revised October 1976)
Case

Cross River Products

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes production task of meeting peak seasonal demands in a light manufacturing plant. Information is provided for evaluating the options of overtime, second shift, second production line, and inventory buildup. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Information; Labor; Demand and Consumers; Production; Supply Chain

June 1992 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Concordia Casting Company

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Describes five years of development in a centralized data processing activity serving a highly decentralized corporation. Data processing manager discovers that a major software system conversion is a full year behind schedule, and subsequently makes several managerial... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Applications and Software; System; Information Technology; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Human Resources; Conflict and Resolution; Supply Chain Management; Accounting; Auto Industry

November 1992
Background Note

The Mutual Fund Industry 1992

By: Jay O. Light

Keywords: Investment Funds; Supply and Industry; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

11 Jun 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching the Next Generation of Energy Executives

forever, and this is an example of the type of industry transition that future energy executives must anticipate. "At some point it will become more trouble than it's worth to extract those supplies and refine them—and at that point... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Utilities

04 Aug 2014
Op-Ed

Why Small-Business Lending Is Not Recovering

Federal Reserve's 2003 Survey of Small Business Finances indicated that the average PAYDEX score of those surveyed was 53.4. By contrast, the 2011 NFIB Annual Small Business Finance Survey indicated that the... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Banking; Financial Services

January 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Scott Taylor, CEO & founder of NLM, is a serial entrepreneur faced with an important decision. As his industry consolidates, he knows that his company must grow quickly, yet he believes he has reached the limit of what organic growth can achieve. Should he accept the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply and Industry; Supply Chain

Find at Harvard

August 1994 (Revised October 1996)
Case

MicroFridge

By: Norman A. Berg and James Weber

MicroFridge, a five-year-old, $12 million company based in Sharon, Mass., develops and sells a unique, combination compact refrigerator and microwave oven. All of the manufacturing is done for it by Sanyo in various overseas locations. The founder and president... View Details

Keywords: Production; Competitive Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Supply Chain Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Consumer Products Industry; Massachusetts