Publications

February 1986 (Revised November 1989)
Case

Copeland Corp.: Evolution of a Manufacturing Strategy--1975-82 (A)

By: David A. Garvin

Describes the evolution of a company's manufacturing strategy over an eight-year period. Copeland had pursued a strategy of building freestanding focused plants devoted to single processes or product lines, and then moving products from the home plant at Sidney, Ohio... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Product; Production; Strategy; Restructuring; Geographic Location; Manufacturing Industry; Ohio

Educators

07 Nov 2013
News

Manufacturing may be on its way back

August 1982 (Revised May 1983)
Case

Struthers and Williamson Manufacturing Co.

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Keywords: Manufacturing Industry

October 1982 (Revised May 1983)
Case

Seneca Wire and Manufacturing Co.

By: Arthur Schleifer Jr.

Keywords: Manufacturing Industry

April 1990 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Hitchiner Manufacturing Co., Inc. (Abridged)

By: James E. Austin

Keywords: Manufacturing Industry

January 1989 (Revised February 1989)
Case

Manufacturers Hanover: The Gencorp Restructuring

By: Dwight B. Crane

December 1994
Case

Hewlett-Packard: Boeblingen Manufacturing Operation (BMO)

By: Patricia Bost, Robin Cooper and Robert S. Kaplan

Keywords: Cost Accounting

28 Jul 2023
Blog Post

How I Landed My Manufacturing Internship at HBS

thereof), I wasn’t sure what industry/sector I wanted to pursue for a summer internship. After some research and reflection, I focused on manufacturing. I was an aerospace systems and standards engineer prior to HBS, and I thought the View Details

November 1981 (Revised April 1990)
Case

Sanyo Manufacturing Corp.--Forrest City, Arkansas

By: Robert H. Hayes and Kim B. Clark

Keywords: Electronics Industry

March 1979 (Revised January 1983)
Case

Microwave Ovens: The Japanese Manufacturers

27 Oct 2020
Cold Call Podcast

Growing a Manufacturing Company with a Social Mission

Keywords: Manufacturing

June 1990
Background Note

Note on Manufacturing Strategic Planning

By: David A. Garvin

September 2004 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Harley-Davidson, Inc.: Motorcycle Manufacturer or Financing Company?

Harley-Davidson manufactures and sells motorcycles. It also provides financing for retail purchases and dealer stock. Although Harley's performance has been very strong, analysts and the press have questioned its use of a special-purpose entity to sell securities... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business or Company Management; Corporate Disclosure; Financial Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

Educators

Companies compete on the decisions they make. For years—even decades—in response to intensifying global competition, companies decided to outsource their manufacturing operations in order to reduce costs. But we are now seeing the alarming long-term effect of those... View Details

August 1993 (Revised January 1994)
Case

Prochnik: Privatization of a Polish Clothing Manufacturer

Prochnik was a large state-owned clothing manufacturer located in the textile-production-intensive region of Lodz, Poland. In the early months of economic reform, Prochnik was one of the first five state enterprises to be privatized through initial public offerings and... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Privatization; State Ownership; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Poland

Educators

September 1994
Teaching Note

Towle Manufacturing Company, 1983 (TN)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Keywords: Manufacturing Industry

2012
Working Paper

Is India's Manufacturing Sector Moving Away from Cities?

By: Ejaz Ghani, Arti Grover Goswami and William R. Kerr

This paper investigates the urbanization of the Indian manufacturing sector by combining enterprise data from formal and informal sectors. We find that plants in the formal sector are moving away from urban and into rural locations, while the informal sector is moving... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Policy; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Geographic Location; Education; Infrastructure; Manufacturing Industry; India

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February 1986 (Revised March 1990)
Supplement

Copeland Corp.: Evolution of a Manufacturing Strategy--1975-82 (B)

By: David A. Garvin

In the (A) case, Copeland had to choose between focusing its Sidney plant by product line or by manufacturing process. Now that it has made that decision, a plant layout must be selected from two alternatives. View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Decisions; Product; Production; Design; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Ohio