Auto Manufacturing - Publications - Faculty & Research

September 2013 (Revised August 2015)
Background Note

Leadership and Teaming

Small differences in the leadership of teams can have large consequences for the success of their efforts. Many initiatives fail not because of a fatal error in judgment or insufficient ideas, knowledge, motivation, or capabilities to deliver a solution. They fail... View Details

Citation

Educators

Purchase

30 Apr 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Brand Management

unusual answers in a globalizing auto industry have framed two case studies. Key concepts include: Why would any company in the world want to locate in a high-cost, high-wage economy like Germany? Why would a sports car brand experiment... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto; Auto; Auto

01 Jun 2011
News

Rust Belt Turns ‘Sun Belt’ with Solar

true for the “green economy” movement: aged or unused factories in the Midwest being refurbished and turned into solar energy manufacturing plants. But Tom Tiller (MBA ’91) is really making it happen, the Indianapolis Star reported... View Details

Keywords: Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing; Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing; Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing; Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing

26 Aug 2009
Op-Ed

Where Cash for Clunkers Ran Off the Road

first time? Hardly likely, because auto loans still aren't readily available and many poorer people would buy a better quality used car rather than a new car. Used car prices poor people have to pay are now higher thanks to the compulsory... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Auto

01 Mar 2024
News

Research Brief: The Real Cost of Countering China

Illustration by Patric Sandri Over the last five years, global supply chains have come under unprecedented stress from the pandemic, natural disasters, geopolitical events, and general anti-globalization sentiments. Nowhere is this more evident than in the trade... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing

Charles W. Nash

Not wanting to compete with the "Big Three" auto makers in the 1920s, Nash carved out a unique niche for well-designed luxury automobiles at medium prices. This strategy was very successful for Nash Motors as it became one of... View Details

Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace

Profile

Jack Perkowski

experience who were open to new ideas. A self-confessed “blank slate” upon his arrival—he had never been to China and didn’t speak Chinese—Perkowski used $150 million in US investor capital to launch ASIMCO, an auto parts View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Manufacturing

Charles S. Davis

In 1928, fifteen auto parts manufacturers merged to form Borg-Warner Corporation with Davis as president. Davis expanded Borg-Warner’s reach until the firm included 27 subsidiaries and operated 30 View Details

Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace

01 Jun 2012
News

They Call Him Mr. China

built a $500 million auto parts manufacturing business, ASIMCO Technologies, and managed it with such dexterity that it was twice named one of the Best Employers in China. But it wasn’t easy, especially for... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing

01 Sep 2010
News

Start-Ups Make Their Pitch

their start-up pitches to a panel of judges in late April. To his surprise, Mahesh, representing the HBS Club of India, took top honors and was awarded a $25,000 cash prize for his plan to manufacture low-cost medical beds for Indian... View Details

Keywords: awards; Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing; Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing

Ray W. Herrick

Herrick left Ford Motor Company in 1930 to start a small automobile parts manufacturing operation. Four years later, fearing a dependency on the volatile auto industry, he turned his attention to the new... View Details

Keywords: Fabricated Goods

05 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Porsche’s Risky Roll on an SUV

with the VW Touareg and was partially manufactured in VW's Bratislava, Slovakia plant. Then, as if that were not enough, Wiedeking shocked the investment world once again by purchasing roughly a 20 percent stake in VW, which led to major... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Auto; Auto

Harvey S. Firestone, Jr.

Firestone inaugurated the company’s Liberian manufacturing operations and developed and expanded the company’s auto supply and service stores. Firestone manufactured over 50%... View Details

Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Industrial Giant

sharing information electronically with the suppliers . . . auto makers know when to expect the parts needed to assemble a particular car, and they can schedule assembly accordingly. And suppliers can tap into the View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, Davis Dyer & Frederick Dalzell; Manufacturing

Edward G. Budd

During the 1910s and 1920s, Budd constructed a successful business supplying car bodies, including an all-steel sedan body, to auto manufacturers such as General Motors, Studebaker, Ford and Chrysler. In the... View Details

Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace

Henry Ford

cars per day. Ford was the first auto manufacturer to focus on a single model with a standardized chassis made of interchangeable parts. Ford became a national celebrity when, in 1914, he announced a basic... View Details

Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace

01 Mar 2006
News

Drive-In Nation

For decades, the U.S. auto industry ruled America’s economy, shaped the country’s development, and influenced American culture and social mores. Now, buffeted by globalization and other powerful forces, it faces a moment of truth. The... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers; Retail Trade

Profile

Yubo Cui

and its Chinese stakeholders. In a joint venture with BYD Auto, Daimler was determined to develop and manufacture an affordable electric car. “Our goal was to make it a family car, not a luxury toy,” says Yubo. “We worked ridiculously... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing/Energy

01 Jun 2017
News

Supercharged

This year is shaping up to be a critical one for electric vehicles—or EVs—say HBS alumni in the auto industry, with the newly released Chevy Bolt and Tesla’s own soon-to-be-released Model 3 promising to make EVs as affordable as... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; illustrations by Tavis Coburn

24 Apr 2014
News

From a ‘blank slate’ to ‘Mr. China’

experience who were open to new ideas. A self-confessed “blank slate” upon his arrival—he had never been to China and didn’t speak Chinese—Perkowski used $150 million in US investor capital to launch ASIMCO, an auto parts View Details

Publications

Publications

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Leadership and Teaming

Sharpening Your Skills: Brand Management

Rust Belt Turns ‘Sun Belt’ with Solar

Where Cash for Clunkers Ran Off the Road

Research Brief: The Real Cost of Countering China

Charles W. Nash

Jack Perkowski

Charles S. Davis

They Call Him Mr. China

Start-Ups Make Their Pitch

Ray W. Herrick

HBS Cases: Porsche’s Risky Roll on an SUV

Harvey S. Firestone, Jr.

Reinventing the Industrial Giant

Edward G. Budd

Henry Ford

Drive-In Nation

Yubo Cui

Supercharged

From a ‘blank slate’ to ‘Mr. China’