Publications

September 1976 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Texas Instruments: Time Products Division

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Outlines the components of Texas Instruments' low-cost digital watch. Focus is on getting the assembly line running smoothly and efficiently in order to meet production cost and delivery requirements. View Details

Keywords: Cost; Production; Service Delivery; Performance Efficiency; Electronics Industry; Technology Industry

Many companies approach product development as if it were manufacturing, trying to control costs and improve quality by applying zero-defect, efficiency-focused techniques. While this tactic can boost the performance of factories, it generally backfires with... View Details

winter 1999
Article

The Design and Production of New Retirement Savings Products

By: Dwight B. Crane and Z. Bodie

Keywords: Design; Retirement; Saving; Product

February 1981 (Revised November 1981)
Case

Mason Household Products

By: W. Earl Sasser

Keywords: Consumer Products Industry

2023
Working Paper

Estimating Productivity in the Presence of Spillovers: Firm-Level Evidence from the U.S. Production Network

By: Ebehi Iyoha

This paper examines the extent to which productivity gains are transmitted across U.S. firms through buyer-supplier relationships. Many empirical studies measure firm-to-firm spillovers using firm-level productivity estimates derived from control function approaches.... View Details

Keywords: Supply and Industry; Partners and Partnerships; Production

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24 Jul 2017
Blog Post

Transitioning to Product Management at HBS

project 15% yoy growth in excel’ kind of way). In researching a role that might be best fit for me, I more or less stumbled upon product management, and once I had a rudimentary understanding of how multi-faceted the role can be, I was... View Details

November 1990 (Revised June 1993)
Background Note

The Economics of Product Variety

Examines the economic tradeoffs affecting a firm's decision to offer one or more versions of a product to a segmented market. Also presents some arguments for and against product variety. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Segmentation

30 May 1996
Conference Presentation

Science Based Product Development

By: M. Iansiti and J. West

Keywords: Product Development; Science

02 Apr 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Managerial Quality and Productivity Dynamics

Keywords: by Achyuta Adhvaryu, Anant Nyshadham, and Jorge Tamayo; Fashion

Products to Platforms: Making the Leap

Following the path of companies such as Apple and Amazon, more and more firms are trying to become not just product purveyors but also platform providers, facilitating direct connections between customers and other groups. Although launching a platform can... View Details

Article

Yesterday's Accounting Undermines Production

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Keywords: Accounting; Production

Article

Managing Marginal New Products

By: V. K. Rangan, R. Lal and E. Maier

Keywords: Management; Product

February 1983 (Revised May 1984)
Case

Managing Product Safety: The Ford Pinto

Presents an accounting of Ford Motor Company's handling of a product safety controversy (1970-77) surrounding its Pinto subcompact car. May be used as part of a series, Managing Product Safety, that provides an opportunity to compare and contrast the social response... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Crisis Management; Product; Auto Industry; United States

December 1980 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Loctite Corp.: Industrial Products Group

By: John A. Quelch

A new product introduction strategy covering all elements of the marketing mix must be planned for equipment designed to dispense industrial adhesives. The equipment and adhesives are manufactured by the same company. View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

July 2016
Case

Product Portfolio Management at Genentech

By: Kevin Schulman and Jamie Gresh

Genentech, long the darling of the biotechnology industry, was acquired by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche in 2009. The combined company retains the name Genentech in the US, but must now move to achieve the promises made at the time of this merger—to build from... View Details

Keywords: Portfolio Management; Drug Development; Postmerger Integration; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

March 2019
Article

Open Source Software and Firm Productivity

By: Frank Nagle

As open source software (OSS) is increasingly used as a key input by firms, understanding its impact on productivity becomes critical. This study measures the firm-level productivity impact of nonpecuniary (free) OSS and finds a positive and significant value-added... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Open Source Distribution; Performance Productivity; Information Technology; Strategy

May 2000 (Revised December 2018)
Case

SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (A)

By: Michael Beer and Michael Tushman

The Micro-Electronic Products Division of SMA has financial and organizational problems. Conflict and lack of coordination exist between functional groups. Employees do not have a sense of direction and morale is low. The cause of these problems is found in a change in... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Conflict and Resolution; Business Strategy

July 2024
Article

AI, ROI, and Sales Productivity

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now a loose term for many different things and at the peak of its hype curve. So managers hitch-their-pitch to the term in arguing for resources. But like any technology, its business value depends upon actionable use cases embraced by... View Details

Keywords: ROI; AI and Machine Learning; Sales; Investment Return