Publications

November 1978 (Revised June 1985)
Case

Hanson Industries (B)

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Julie H. Hertenstein

Provides a complete description of the processes used in preparing a budget (annual operating plan). Starting with basic product line decisions, management prepares a budget that integrates production and marketing within constraints of financial feasibility. The... View Details

Keywords: Production; Negotiation; Marketing; Financing and Loans; Budgets and Budgeting; Planning

June 1990 (Revised January 1993)
Case

Dynatronics, Inc. (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Piper

Provides an opportunity to evaluate an investment in a new product line in strategic, competitive, organizational, and economic terms. The economic analysis involves an estimation of the relevant cash flows and discounting them at an appropriate hurdle rate. View Details

Keywords: Product; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment; Capital Budgeting

2001
Case

Crown Point Cabinetry

By: Vijay Govindarajan, David VanderSchee and Julie Lang

In 1993, Brian Stowell, CEO of a family-owned cabinet manufacturing business, created a vision for his 85 employees that focused on high quality products with less rework and wasted material. Eliminating production line managers and adopting a team-based management... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Production; Groups and Teams; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

22 Nov 2023
Video

Adaptive Clothing Empowers Fashion for All

February 2022
Case

Toraya

By: Lauren Cohen and Akiko Kanno

Mitsuharu Kurokawa was the 18th generation leader of a family firm that produced and sold premium Japanese sweets, Toraya Confectionery Co., Ltd. He had succeeded the business from his father, Mitsuhiro Kurokawa who had led the firm for thirty years. Mitsuharu was... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Luxury Brand; Succession; Family Business; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Marketing; Expansion; Globalization; Innovation and Invention; Customer Satisfaction; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; Japan

November 2006
Article

Find Your Sweet Spot

By: Rob Markey, Gerard Du Toit and James Allen

Charged with extending their unit’s product lines and boosting top-line growth over the next three years, product managers at one global consumer goods company wanted to identify the most attractive customer segments to target and how best to reach them. So they turned... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Customers; Segmentation

March 1982 (Revised September 1985)
Case

Sealed Air Corporation

By: Robert J. Dolan

Market leadership and technological innovation have marked Sealed Air's participation in the U.S. protective packaging market. Several small regional producers have introduced products which are less effective than Sealed Air's but similar in appearance and cheaper.... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product; Technological Innovation; Supply and Industry; Competitive Advantage; Consumer Products Industry; United States

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

December 1999 (Revised October 2003)
Case

BRL Hardy: Globalizing an Australian Wine Company

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Two new product launch decisions face Christopher Carson, managing director of BRL Hardy, Europe. Responsible for the European operations of a major Australian wine company, Carson has begun to globalize his strategy beyond selling the parent company's wines. After a... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Joint Ventures; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Negotiation Style; Food and Beverage Industry

2015
Working Paper

Multi-Product Duopoly With Cross-Product Cost Interdependencies

By: Gary Biglaiser and Andrei Hagiu

Many multi-product firms incur a complexity fixed cost when offering different product lines in different quality tiers relative to the case when offering all products lines in the same quality tier (high or low). Such fixed costs create an interdependency between... View Details

Keywords: Multi-product Duopoly; Vertical Differentiation; Fixed Costs; Cost; Profit; Business Strategy; Duopoly and Oligopoly

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January 2013
Case

Brannigan Foods: Strategic Marketing Planning

By: John A. Quelch and James T. Kindley

The soup division at Brannigan Foods contributes over 40% of the firm's revenue. The general manager is concerned that the soup industry is declining and that the soup division shows declining profits and market share, especially among the important baby boomer... View Details

Keywords: United States; Consumer Marketing; Acquisitions; Forecasting; Quantitative Analysis; Risk Management; Decision Making; Budgeting; Supermarkets; Strategic Planning; Demand and Consumers; Marketing Strategy; Food; Resource Allocation; Acquisition; Product Development; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

24 Aug 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Multi-Product Duopoly with Cross-Product Cost Interdependencies

05 Jan 2016
News

Time to Talk Robots

April 2012 (Revised May 2012)
Case

EILEEN FISHER: Repositioning the Brand

By: Anat Keinan, Jill Avery, Fiona Wilson and Michael Norton

Well-established fashion brand Eileen Fisher has traditionally appealed to older women. However, to drive growth, Eileen Fisher's management team wants to target a younger demographic and has revamped its Fall product line to offer more fashionable styles to appeal to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Market Segmentation And Target Market Selection; Retailing; Fashion; Corporate Social Responsibility; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Segmentation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Media; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry

24 Apr 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courage: The Defining Characteristic of Great Leaders

Let’s look at some recent examples of courageous leaders whose actions transformed their companies: Alan Mulally When Mulally arrived at Ford, he found a depleted organization losing $18 billion that year and unwilling to address its fundamental issues. To retool... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto; Food & Beverage

April 2009 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Urbi and the City Licensee Managers

By: John D. Macomber and Regina Garcia-Cuellar

A leading low income housing builder in Mexico decides which prospective new local partner best extends its advantages in managing twin production lines of homes and clients. URBI has built substantial competitive advantage in the technology and culture that matches... View Details

Keywords: Mortgages; Government and Politics; Housing; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Market Entry and Exit; Production; Supply Chain; Organizational Culture; Franchise Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Advantage; Real Estate Industry; China; India; Mexico; United States

November 2016 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Elon Musk's Big Bets

By: David B. Yoffie, Eric Baldwin and Brandon Kaufmann

Between late 2014 and late 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk undertook several major, and risky, initiatives that would dramatically expand the scale and scope of Tesla’s business. In late 2014, Tesla began construction on a $5 billion “gigafactory” that would manufacture... View Details

25 Apr 2012
News

Appliances For Everyone

November 1991 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Motorola, Inc.: Bandit Pager Project (Abridged)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes the development of a fully automated production line for manufacturing radio pagers. The company regarded the project as highly successful; it becomes clear in the case, however, that there were some shortcomings as well. Some marketing issues were not... View Details

Keywords: Time Management; Marketing; Product Development; Production; Success; Projects; Technology; Telecommunications Industry