Publications
Publications
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(748)
- Faculty Publications (175)
- November 1992 (Revised August 2001)
- Case
Eskimo Pie Corporation
In early 1991, Reynolds Metals, the makers of aluminum products, decided to sell its holding of Eskimo Pie, a marketer of branded frozen novelties. Reynolds had an offer from Nestle to acquire Eskimo Pie. However, Reynolds decided instead to make an initial public... View Details
- October 1992 (Revised October 1993)
- Case
Lehigh Valley Industries (LVI)
By: Kim B. Clark
Describes a situation confronting a manufacturer of forged parts that has recently undergone a leveraged buyout. The company is under pressure to improve operating performance dramatically. Describes several options designed to improve performance, including adding... View Details
- October 1992 (Revised December 1992)
- Case
American Connector Company (A)
By: Gary P. Pisano
American Connector Co. is forced to reexamine operations at its Sunnyvale plant when a Japanese competitor announces plans to build an "ultimate" plant in the United States. Case examines issues related to benchmarking a competitor's manufacturing capabilities and... View Details
- October 1992
- Supplement
American Connector Co. (B)
By: Gary P. Pisano
Presents a plant manager's proposal to improve operations at American Connector Co. The plan attempts to imitate operations at DJC Corp., a successful Japanese competitor. Requires students to consider how changes in manufacturing impact productivity, flexibility, and... View Details
- December 1991 (Revised February 1992)
- Case
Dayton Electric Corp.
Concerns a product redesign decision for one of the company's most successful motor products, its rectified power, medium D-C motor, the RPM. A one-year redesign program has proposed a design that comes close to meeting its stated cost and performance goals, but at the... View Details
- November 1991 (Revised June 1997)
- Case
Micom Caribe (A)
By: David M. Upton and Joshua D. Margolis
Describes the Puerto Rican manufacturing plant of a transnational company. The award-winning plant has dramatically improved the quality of flexibility of its operations, by taking a radical approach to manufacturing. The methods center on the use of specific... View Details
- October 1991 (Revised January 2000)
- Case
Workplace Safety at Alcoa (A)
By: Kim B. Clark and Joshua D. Margolis
Examines the challenge facing the managers of a large aluminum manufacturing plant in its drive to improve workplace safety. The CEO of the company has made safety a top priority. The plant has made good progress in reducing the injury rate, but now confronts the need... View Details
- October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
- Case
Maxwell Appliance Controls
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details
- September 1991 (Revised September 2010)
- Case
Dore-Dore
By: Janice H. Hammond and Audris Wong
Dore-Dore, a French manufacturer of socks and children's knitwear, has just converted a portion of its knitwear operations to a flexible modular system to allow faster response and greater flexibility. The case provides an opportunity to assess the changes in knitwear... View Details
- April 1991 (Revised July 1992)
- Case
Koito Manufacturing Ltd.
By: W. Carl Kester and Robert W. Lightfoot
Having acquired a 26% stake in Koito Manufacturing, a Japanese automotive parts supplier in the Toyota Group, T. Boone Pickens seeks a seat on Koito's board of directors. Koito's management resists, claiming Pickens is an unhelpful greenmailer, not a true long-term... View Details
- October 1990
- Case
Manufacturers Hanover Corp.: Customer Profitability Report
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Banking company noting declining profitability from its traditional lending activities has started to measure the total profitability of its lending relationships. A loan pricing model estimates the profit and return-on-equity from commercial loans. Additional work was... View Details
- February 1990 (Revised April 1991)
- Background Note
Quick Response in the Apparel Industry
It has been estimated that the U.S. apparel industry wastes over $25 billion annually due to inefficient practices, long lead times, and insufficient coordination between channel partners. In response to intense competition from off-shore producers, the industry has... View Details
- December 1989 (Revised February 1993)
- Case
Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (C)
In 1989, Frito-Lay designed an information technology infrastructure to support time-based competition and organizational restructuring. The company planned to provide timely flexible information to all major decision makers at all levels. This case describes the... View Details
- September 1988 (Revised December 1998)
- Case
Donner Co.
By: Roy D. Shapiro
The management of a small manufacturer of circuit boards faces a number of production and operations management problems. The first day on this case is used to analyze the production capacity of various stages in the process and to examine bottlenecks and key... View Details
- July 1987
- Case
Altoona Corp.: Computer Products Division
By: Roger E. Bohn and Robert H. Hayes
A relatively small manufacturer of computer memory disks has achieved a major market position through the use of its statistical quality control (SQC) program. It is now expanding the production of a new line of disks and is encountering problems getting the process... View Details
- December 1986 (Revised January 1998)
- Case
Chaparral Steel (Abridged)
By: Kim B. Clark
Examines a major capacity expansion proposal of Chaparral Steel, a steel minimill. Gives students the opportunity to evaluate the proposed expansion in the context of the competitive environment, market demand, technological choice, and the demands of a global... View Details
- June 1986
- Case
Premier Furniture Co.
By: Thomas R. Piper
A credit analyst for a furniture manufacturer is confronted with two customers who have exceeded their credit limits. The financial performance of each has been weak, and one of the customers has a highly leveraged balance sheet. Industry conditions are weak; the... View Details
- June 1986 (Revised May 1989)
- Case
Biltwell Shears, Inc.
By: Thomas R. Piper
A senior loan officer is reviewing the recent performance of a company that has failed to repay its loan as scheduled. The failure results from a cyclical downturn in sales, coupled with a lag in cutting back production. Inventory risk is minimal. This case is an... View Details
- March 1985 (Revised November 1985)
- Case
Wilmington Tap and Die
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The general manager of a division manufacturing taps and dies must decide whether to continue a major capital investment program. The program was designed to replace aging mechanical machines with modern, electronically controlled equipment. A post-audit, after an... View Details
- February 1985 (Revised September 1988)
- Case
Caterpillar Tractor Co.
Describes the structure and evolution of the earth moving equipment industry worldwide in the post war era, particularly focusing on developments in the 1960s and 1970s. Describes Caterpillar's strategy in becoming the dominant worldwide competitor (industry market... View Details