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How Would Copernicus See Capitalism?
Economics Digital ArticleWe’ve been sharing thoughts in this blog about how the rapid growth of the emerging economies, along with other modern realities, will reshape the practice — and thus rewrite the rules — of capitalism. Many readers are aware that these are ideas in development for our forthcoming book on the topic. This week we decided […] -
AI Is Going to Change the 80/20 Rule
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleThree reasons why. -
Go Downstream: The New Profit Imperative in Manufacturing
Business models Magazine ArticleNow that providing services is more lucrative than making products, the old foundations for success in manufacturing are crumbling. Smart manufacturers are creating new business models to capture profits at the customer’s end of the value chain. -
Find the Weak Link in Your Supply Chain
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleA tool used at Ford can help. -
Netflix’s “American Factory” and the New Geography of Manufacturing
Operations and supply chain management Digital ArticleHow the industry is changing in the U.S., China, and Africa. -
Retail Rage
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleI teach a course on retail supply-chain management that includes several classes on store execution. I began by asking the students: "Who's had a bad... -
A CEO’s Common Sense of CIM: An Interview with J. Tracy O’Rourke
Hiring and recruitment Magazine ArticleAccording to Wickham Skinner (“What Matters to Manufacturing,” HBR January–February 1988), too many managers now approach production difficulties with “a menu of textbook techniques”—CIM, for example—when they should be thinking through the same old questions: What is my business? Where is the market? What machines and flexibilities do I really need? With Skinner’s strictures in […] -
Keep Your Eye on Process Improvement
Operations and supply chain management Digital ArticleIn my consulting and research I’ve seen many companies launch process improvement programs such as Total Quality Management, Business Reengineering, Lean, and Six Sigma. Many got significant benefits, including lower costs, faster time-to-market, and better customer experiences. But after one round of improvement, they gave up and let their organization get flabby again. Organizations, like […] -
The Case of the Machinists’ Mutiny
Change management Magazine Article“You can’t be serious!” Mike Trail, the president and fourth-generation owner of Trail Manufacturing, stared at five older men standing uncomfortably in his small office. “I’m afraid we are, Mike.” Sandy Mulder, the most senior of the five, was polite but firm. “We won’t switch over to the new equipment. We want to continue to […] -
Dell’s Cost Cutting Is Not a Growth Strategy
Operations and supply chain management Digital ArticleCan you make a growth strategy out of massively slashing costs? No? Are you sure? Better tell Michael Dell then, because reaching Dell’s stated goal of slashing $3 billion in annual expenses over three years seems to be the once-ambitious computer maker’s primary obsession. In its latest big moves announced this week Dell is shuttering […] -
Augmented Reality Is Already Improving Worker Performance
Operations and supply chain management Digital ArticleOne example shows a productivity boost of over 30% — on a worker’s first use, and without prior training. -
Building a Supplier Diversity Program? Learn from the U.S. Government.
Technology & Operations ResearchTime-tested practices of the federal government can help companies develop more inclusive supply chains. -
Taming Complexity
Technology & Operations Magazine ArticleIt can be cognitively demanding to understand how a system or organization made up of many very different interconnected elements actually works. But... -
Talent Management for the Twenty-First Century
Decision making and problem solving Magazine ArticleEvery talent management process in use today was developed half a century ago. It’s time for a new model. -
5 Ways U.S. Hospitals Can Handle Financial Losses from Medicare Patients
Operations strategy Digital ArticleHealth care leaders can prevent a bad situation from getting worse. -
IBM Focuses HR on Change
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleIt's rare to find a corporate human resources function that accelerates change by actively finding ways to help drive new strategies. Most HR groups sit... -
How Blockchain Can Simplify Partnerships
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleDistributed ledgers and smart contracts can increase transparency, trust, and efficiency. -
Don’t Trust Your Gut With Assortment Planning
Operations and supply chain management Digital ArticleThis blog post is part of the HBR Online Forum The Future of Retail. Retailers periodically update their product assortments, deleting slow sellers and adding new products in response to shifts in consumer demand or to accommodate new offerings from suppliers. Assortment-planning processes vary greatly across retailers and product segments but have one thing in […] -
High Fidelity: Ivor Tiefenbrun on Tapping Talent
Technology & Operations Magazine Article... -
A Simple Way to Identify Patients Who Need Tech Support for Telemedicine
Organizational Development Digital ArticleLessons from Johns Hopkins Medicine.
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Mines (A): Searching for the Right Nail
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details This case examines the founding story of machine learning-enabled lending platform Mines and CEO Ekechi Nwokah. The case focuses on Nwokah's exploration... -
Kaufmann Manufacturing Co. (A)
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details A management team at Kaufmann is studying the latest year's operations and sales, which seem to have led to very confusing financial results. Sales exceeded... -
The Grommet: Managing Operations at a Fast-Paced Start-Up
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The case focuses on a start-up, The Grommet, which views itself as an intermediary between small and independent makers of high-quality products, and... -
L'Oreal's ACD Supply Chain Puzzle: Diagnosing the Root Causes of Underperformance
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details This case depicts an actual, real sequence of events in L'Oreal's Active Cosmetics Supply Chain. The case provides an illustration of the challenges... -
Ti-Tech (A)
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details This case concerns the selection and scheduling of orders by a small industrial titanium fabricator that recently has been plagued by poor deliveries... -
Asterand: Learning from Failure
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details This case chronicles the challenges of establishing an innovative tissue bank service to accelerate the research and development processes of biotechnology... -
Xiaomi, Inc.: The Rise of a Chinese Indigenous Competitor
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details Indigenous competitor Xiaomi is changing the smartphone landscape in China and potentially the world through a cost-leadership focused strategy that relies... -
Process Reengineering in Emerging Markets: An Automaker's Experience (A)
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Set in early 2009, Part (A) of the case describes the operational challenges faced by a growing subsidiary firm of a global auto major, in an emerging... -
Challenges in Developing Products for an Advanced Mobile Market: Sasken's Experience
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Sasken, a communication software company based in India, provides research and development support to leading wireless device vendors from its offshore... -
Barilla SpA (B)
Technology & Operations Case Study5.00View Details Supplements the (A) case. -
Integrated Distribution Services Group (IDS): Redefining the Asia Distribution Landscape
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details IDS Group was a provider of supply chain solutions. Based in Asia and founded by William Fung of global trading company Li & Fung Group, IDS developed... -
Roush Performance: How to Design a Sales Force Compensation Plan
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Roush Performance manufactured and marketed factory-modified performance vehicles and high-end aftermarket automotive performance parts. Since its inception,... -
OLGC Finds Its Match (A)
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details The case illustrates a sports betting product offered by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission. The particular game involved has odds that favour... -
Southwire and 12 For Life: Scaling Up? (A)
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Southwire, a leading maker of cable based in rural Georgia, has partnered with the local school system to staff a factory with at-risk high school students.... -
Bose Corp.: The JIT II Program (A)
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Bose Corp. is evaluating an unusual plan to manage relationships with vendors that supply components for Bose speakers. The company must decide: 1) which... -
Precena Strategic Partners: Staff Relocation Cost Minimization
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details A Japanese management consultant company seeks to relocate some of its instructors for a period of between one and three months to Singapore in order... -
Kmart Union in Greensboro Fights for a Contract (B): Reaching Out, Re-framing the Issue
Leadership & Managing People Case Study5.00View Details When the employees of a Kmart distribution center in Greensboro, North Carolina vote to unionize, they encounter difficulty in negotiating a contract... -
Operations Management Challenges at Heathrow Airport (Part B)
Management Case Study5.00View Details Airports are complex environments, with decision-making processes divided among numerous authorities, and many stakeholders pursuing their own interests.... -
Bank of America (B)
Technology & Operations Case Study5.00View Details Supplements the (A) case. -
Almost a Worst-Case Scenario: The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001 (A)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details In the late afternoon of a hot day in July, 2001, an accident beneath the streets of Baltimore threatened to turn into a disaster. A freight train carrying...
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How Would Copernicus See Capitalism?
Economics Digital ArticleWe’ve been sharing thoughts in this blog about how the rapid growth of the emerging economies, along with other modern realities, will reshape the practice — and thus rewrite the rules — of capitalism. Many readers are aware that these are ideas in development for our forthcoming book on the topic. This week we decided […] -
AI Is Going to Change the 80/20 Rule
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleThree reasons why. -
Go Downstream: The New Profit Imperative in Manufacturing
Business models Magazine ArticleNow that providing services is more lucrative than making products, the old foundations for success in manufacturing are crumbling. Smart manufacturers are creating new business models to capture profits at the customer’s end of the value chain. -
Find the Weak Link in Your Supply Chain
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleA tool used at Ford can help. -
Netflix’s “American Factory” and the New Geography of Manufacturing
Operations and supply chain management Digital ArticleHow the industry is changing in the U.S., China, and Africa. -
Retail Rage
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleI teach a course on retail supply-chain management that includes several classes on store execution. I began by asking the students: "Who's had a bad... -
Mines (A): Searching for the Right Nail
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details This case examines the founding story of machine learning-enabled lending platform Mines and CEO Ekechi Nwokah. The case focuses on Nwokah's exploration... -
Kaufmann Manufacturing Co. (A)
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details A management team at Kaufmann is studying the latest year's operations and sales, which seem to have led to very confusing financial results. Sales exceeded... -
A CEO’s Common Sense of CIM: An Interview with J. Tracy O’Rourke
Hiring and recruitment Magazine ArticleAccording to Wickham Skinner (“What Matters to Manufacturing,” HBR January–February 1988), too many managers now approach production difficulties with “a menu of textbook techniques”—CIM, for example—when they should be thinking through the same old questions: What is my business? Where is the market? What machines and flexibilities do I really need? With Skinner’s strictures in […] -
The Grommet: Managing Operations at a Fast-Paced Start-Up
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The case focuses on a start-up, The Grommet, which views itself as an intermediary between small and independent makers of high-quality products, and...