Supply chain management

It's the busiest time of year for North Pole Workshops. Production is in high gear, and the elves are on overtime in the sprint toward Christmas. But...

Beyond the devastating and saddening human costs, the earthquake in Japan is another reminder of the complexity of the world’s supply chains and the great interdependencies in global production systems. The world’s supply chains are complex and highly optimized to deliver products efficiently at the lowest cost. They are characterized by a sequential mode of […]

As commissioner of the New York City Police Department, Lee P. Brown faces two enormous challenges. The first is crime. In 1989 in New York City, 712,419 crimes were reported, including 1,905 murders, 93,377 robberies, and 3,254 rapes. As Brown is quick to point out, the situation has grown so severe that people in cities […]

It does a better job of using data and forecasts to make decisions.

The U.S. may be the world’s leading innovator, but it won’t be for long if investors, regulators, and the legal establishment continue to penalize companies for risk taking, says Deborah Wince-Smith, president of the Council on Competitiveness. Recently, the council’s National Innovation Initiative, a leadership network of CEOs and university presidents, released a report in […]

Three capabilities the consumer health company invested in after demand surged during the pandemic.

Ever since businesses started offering solutions instead of products, they have acknowledged that selling spare parts and after-sales services could be...

Few people outside the supply chain function used to care where products came from. Nowadays, everyone from company leaders to interest groups to consumers...

Conventional wisdom says it takes three to five years and tens of millions of dollars to digitize a corporation's supply chain. However, a few companies...

A global shortage is impacting companies across every industry.

The battle plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom called for a rapid, responsive force capable of identifying and removing threats immediately. Commercial supply...

Delivered-cost analytics can tell you how much those supply chain services you're offering are really costing you.

Business people often allude to “my product” or to “the market,” suggesting a far more monolithic view of business than is warranted. Companies vary products and marketing channels in order to accommodate real or perceived differences either in markets or in the laws under which businesses must operate. Most businesses sell a variety of products […]

“Pay-for-what-you-use” services can help the bottom line and the environment.

It's the key to minimizing and mitigating supply-chain risks.

A Q&A explores where your food comes from.

The CEO of Tots & Teens, an apparel company headquartered in New Jersey, learns at a company party that one of the factories in Bangladesh where T&T's...

The Economist opened 2021 with a cover story headlined "Why Retailers Everywhere Should Look to China." It's not hard to see why. China is both a large...

Electronic invoice and payment systems have been slow to catch on, even though they offer enormous promise for cost savings, speed, and transparency in business-to-business transactions. The technology has a lot going for it: It’s getting more robust all the time, and big financial services firms, including American Express and JPMorgan Chase, are partnering with […]

The case describes Harvard University's consideration to decarbonize its supply chain by replacing cement with a low-carbon substitute called Pozzotive®....

This case looks at the issues facing a Hong Kong-based trading company, which links hundreds of factories in India and Asia with major customers like...

The key objective of this case is to review an innovative product's supply chain, so as to identify its supply risks and to improve its supply chain resilience....

Marie-Jeanne Becaus-Pieters was founder and president of the Pan European network of Fish Auctions (PEFA). Created to link fish auctions across Europe,...

By mid-2016, five years of aggressive growth had transformed Fetchr from a small logistics startup to a 1,000-employee, full-fledged last-mile delivery...

On March 11, 2020, The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic. The pandemic brought production,...

Presents the issues facing a high volume, high margin (but lightweight) medical products business. The company is trying to improve its inventory control...

The case discusses the opportunity for Thulasi Pharmacy to develop an online sales model, thereby transitioning from a sole store format to omnichannel...

In January 2003, West Marine (the nation's largest boating supply retailer) was on the verge of acquiring its biggest competitor, BoatU.S. Several years...

Sky Germany is the leading pay TV provider in Germany and Austria. In 2010, the company was losing money and facing a lot of operational challenges such...

In 2009 several companies were competing in the UK for a share of the fast-growing online grocery market, using two different business approaches. Ocado,...

From its humble beginnings as a local Chinese dairy company, the Inner Mongolia Yili Group has become one of the largest dairy companies in the world....

This (B) case accompanies the (A) case of the same title.

Velky Potraviny is a discount grocery store chain in the Czech Republic. The firm strives to be the market leader in providing a wide assortment of grocery...

Seeking to go beyond global best practices in reducing environmental impacts, FIJI Water, a premium artesian bottled water company in the United States,...

Explores the interface of an information system that keeps track of guests and their preferences, and the people systems that deliver multiple services...

Imperfect Foods is a grocery delivery company providing lower-cost items that may have aesthetic shortcomings and would typically be discarded. Despite...

A large medical electronics firm develops correct policies for outsourcing. The company develops noncore technology clusters, cluster teams to manage...

Category 5 Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 ravaging the Island. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority reported that all customers...

In October 2011, Zhang Yuping, founder and chairman of Hengdeli, the largest Swiss watch retailer in the world, wondered how to work more closely with...

The case describes Harvard University's consideration to decarbonize its supply chain by replacing cement with a low-carbon substitute called Pozzotive®....

When you recognize that talent management is a business problem, it makes sense to apply what you know about structuring challenges in ways that are most...

Supply chain bottlenecks, labor and transportation costs, tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and industrial policies are driving a resurgence in U.S.-based...

It's the busiest time of year for North Pole Workshops. Production is in high gear, and the elves are on overtime in the sprint toward Christmas. But...

Teaching note for product 9B15D015.

This case looks at the issues facing a Hong Kong-based trading company, which links hundreds of factories in India and Asia with major customers like...

The key objective of this case is to review an innovative product's supply chain, so as to identify its supply risks and to improve its supply chain resilience....

Marie-Jeanne Becaus-Pieters was founder and president of the Pan European network of Fish Auctions (PEFA). Created to link fish auctions across Europe,...

By mid-2016, five years of aggressive growth had transformed Fetchr from a small logistics startup to a 1,000-employee, full-fledged last-mile delivery...

Beyond the devastating and saddening human costs, the earthquake in Japan is another reminder of the complexity of the world’s supply chains and the great interdependencies in global production systems. The world’s supply chains are complex and highly optimized to deliver products efficiently at the lowest cost. They are characterized by a sequential mode of […]