Professional Documents
Culture Documents
This map was prepared by an editor at HBS Publishing, not by a teaching professor. Faculty at Harvard
Business School were not involved in analyzing the textbook or selecting the cases and articles.
Every case map provides only a partial list of relevant items from HBS Publishing. To search for
alternatives, or to get more information on the cases listed below, visit our web site at
www.hbsp.harvard.edu.
American Connector Co. (A) American Connector Co. is forced to reexamine operations at its
Sunnyvale plant when a Japanese
Gary P. Pisano; Sharon Rossi competitor announces plans to build an "ultimate" plant in the United
States. Case examines issues related to benchmarking a competitor's
Type: HBS manufacturing capabilities and productivity. Allows students to
Pub. Date: 12/7/1992 compare two companies' manufacturing strategies and their
Product #: 693035 implications for productivity and flexibility.
Length: 18p
Subjects: Competition; Electronics; Manufacturing strategy ; Plant
Teaching Note: 695014 management; Productivity
Analog Devices, Inc.: The Half- The company has committed to major improvements in quality, cost,
Life System and on-time delivery performance. Despite strong senior management
support, however, the actual rate of improvement was disappointing
Robert S. Kaplan until a new measurement philosophy was introduced. The new
approach specified expected rates of improvement and compared
Type: HBS actual improvements to the expected rate. Operational people
Pub. Date: 3/16/1990 preferred the new measures to the monthly financial reports they
Product #: 190061 continued to receive. The case explores the conflicts between financial
Length: 26p measurements and operating improvements.
Teaching Note: 191103
Subjects: Cost control, Learning curves, Management accounting,
Productivity, Quality control.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.: Describes the leadership dilemmas facing the top management team
Chasing a Daring Vision of a leading Indian pharmaceutical company--the first in its industry to
be listed on the NYSE. Much admired for its impressive growth, Dr.
Bala Chakravarthy, Anand Jha Reddy's stands at a crossroad. How much emphasis should it place on
the legacy business of active pharmaceutical ingredients and generics
Type: IMD that have brought the company its current stature, and how much
Pub. Date: 7/25/05 should it focus on future business like specialty pharmaceuticals and
Product #: IMD216 discovering new chemical entities? The two represent different
Length: 15p business models and straddling the strategy, organization, and human
Teaching Note: available resources demands of each one is the challenge for Dr. Reddy's top
team.
Eli Lilly and Co.: Manufacturing Outlines the evolution of Lilly's corporate manufacturing strategy over
Process Technology Strategy the past decade. The corporate vice president of manufacturing must
1991 decide on the next phase of Lilly's strategy for the early 1990s, as well
as to what extent and what role process development will play.
Steven C. Wheelwright, Gary P. Provides data outlining three different points in the product
Pisano, Jonathan West development process at which manufacturing process development
might be initiated. Using learning curve concepts and data, students
Type: HBS can estimate the economic costs and benefits (as well as
Pub. Date: 12/9/91 organizational issues and challenges) associated with each. Illustrates
Product #: 692056 process improvement's substantial impact in a capital-intensive
industry, describes possible roles of manufacturing process technology
Length: 18p
in an industry that has viewed product R&D as its primary competitive
Teaching Note: 692109 advantage, illustrates phases through which manufacturing can evolve
in pursuit of comparative advantage, and introduces students to a
challenging and changing industry.
Fresh Connections Mary Alice McKenzie is facing numerous issues in growing her
Vermont-based fresh-prepared foods business. She must address
Jonathan West, Susan S. immediate operational problems--such as bottlenecks and capital
Harmeling, Christian G. Kasper equipment decisions--as well as decide on a long-term strategic
position. This case investigates how she can structure her operations
Type: HBS today to take advantage of the continued growth in the home meal
Pub. Date: 11/18/1999 replacement market.
Product #: 600022
Length: 23p Subjects: Operations, Operations management, Food, Natural foods.
Teaching Note: 600108
McDonald's Corp. McDonald's has over many years built an operating strategy based on
consistency and quality through a limited product range. Competitive
David Upton; Joshua D. forces have drawn the company into a much wider variety of foods
Margolis and services in order to maintain growth. Now, new competitors
threaten to beat McDonald's at its own, original game. In addition,
Type: HBS McDonald's faces unprecedented challenges in its environmental
Pub. Date: 10/9/1992 policy. The case teaches approaches and dangers arising from
Product #: 693028 flexibility, and the identification of capabilities that support different
Length: 22p types of flexibility. The integration of environmental concerns with
Teaching Note: available operations strategy is also addressed.
Rapid Rewards at Southwest Southwest Airlines is well known as the low-fare airline that has
Airlines achieved ongoing financial success in one of the most financially
troubled industries in the United States. Told from the perspectives of
Frances X. Frei, Corey Hajim two Southwest customers--a frequent flier and a more typical
customer--the case revolves around two customer service requests
Type: HBS from the frequent flier, both of which provide a compelling temptation to
Pub. Date: 8/11/2001 cater to the satisfaction of the airline's highest revenue customers. The
Product #: 602065 requests are intriguing because they would neither add cost nor
Length: 24p increase the turnaround time of Southwest's service.
Teaching Note: available
Subjects: Service management, Airlines, Call centers, Customer self-
service, Customer service.
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Timeshare Exchange Fair (A) This award-winning case series examines how optimization-based
decision-making leads to a new business design for a timeshare
Anton Ovchinnikov, Dmitry exchange: an exchange fair. Students model a complex managerial
Krass, Scott Sampson problem as a linear program, identify the types of data needed, and
use models to provide decision support. The series covers linear and
Type: University of Virginia integer programming, multiple-criteria decision-making, network flow
Darden School Foundation problems, local search heuristics, and Pareto-optimality. The series
Pub. Date: 9/25/2007 demonstrates the advantages and difficulties involved in applying
Product #: UV0901 management science techniques to a real-life business environment. It
Length: 11p teaches standard techniques of extracting relevant data from a mass of
Teaching Note: available more- and less-relevant information and forces students to confront
issues consultants face: How do you motivate management to even
consider a management science approach? How do you build a
"business case" demonstrating the shortcomings of the methodology
already in place? The case provides background on the timeshare
industry, exchanges, and the exchange fair, in which owners submit
their existing intervals to a centralized pool, together with requests for
the intervals they want to exchange; the exchange determines who
gets which interval. Various aspects of a functioning exchange fair are
presented, and, starting from a heuristic, the series effectively guides
students toward the "better" optimization-based way of executing the
exchange. This case series is a winner of the 2005 INFORMS case
competition and received an honorable mention at the 2005 DSI case
competition. Suitable for both general MBA and executive education
programs and as a basis for an exam or assignment, this series is also
appropriate for specialized undergraduate and graduate programs in
services management (e.g., tourism and hotel administration),
logistics, and industrial and systems engineering.
Chapter 3: Design of
Products and Services Abstract
Case Map for
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Flextronics: A Focus on Design Flextronics, the world's largest contract manufacturing firm, made a
Leads to India strategic decision to expand its business to include original design and
manufacturing (ODM) services. As an ODM supplier, Flextronics
Chuck Holloway, Charles designed and built products that original equipment manufacturers
Holloway, David W. Hoyt (OEMs) purchased and sold under their brand names. Purchasing from
an ODM allowed OEMs to bring new products to market quickly and
Type: Stanford Graduate efficiently. ODMs could sell the same basic product to many OEMs,
School of Business providing substantial design and manufacturing efficiencies.
Pub. Date: 1/10/2005 Flextronics' first ODM products were cellular phone handsets. The
company had substantial hardware capabilities, which grew out of its
Product #: OIT45
contract manufacturing experience. In 2004, Flextronics considered
Length: 25p adding software design expertise and considered a number of
Teaching Note: none approaches to accomplish this. Having learned of the outstanding
reputation of Indian software companies, the company's CEO and the
president of its Design and OEM Services operation visited India.
Describes the contract manufacturing and design landscape in 2004,
with a focus on software.
Hewlett-Packard: The Flight of Hewlett-Packard decided that, to grow more rapidly, it needed to
the Kittyhawk (A) design a revolutionary disk drive product that would create an entirely
new market or application for magnetic recording technology. The
Clayton M. Christensen company followed most of the "rules" good managers follow in such
situations: heavyweight project team, lots of senior management
Type: HBS support, etc. But it still failed.
Pub. Date: 1/26/2006
Product #: 606088 Learning objective: To understand why good management isn't
Length: 18p enough and how to manage similar situations. Can use in courses on
Teaching Note: available managing innovation or new product development, especially where
the general manager's perspective is paramount.
IDEO Product Development Describes IDEO, the world's leading product design firm, and its
innovation culture and process. Emphasis is placed on the important
Stefan Thomke role of prototyping and experimentation in general, and in the design of
the very successful Palm V handheld computer in particular. A studio
Type: HBS leader is asked by a business start-up (Handspring) to develop a novel
Pub. Date: 6/22/2000 hand-held computer (Visor) in less than half the time it took to develop
Product #: 600143 the Palm V, requiring several shortcuts to IDEO's legendary innovation
Length: 21p process. Focuses on: 1) prototyping and experimentation practices at a
Teaching Note: available leading product developer; 2) the role of playfulness, discipline, and
structure in innovation processes; and 3) the managerial challenges of
creating and managing an unusually creative and innovative company
culture. Includes color exhibits.
Phase Zero: Introducing New Focuses on whether world-renowned product design firm IDEO's new
Services at IDEO (A) customer service fits with the firm's strategic position and organization
capabilities. Over the course of IDEO's 13-year history, an increasing
Amy C. Edmondson, Laura R. share of revenues are a result of "Phase 0" projects--preliminary
Feldman strategic explorations of future product possibilities for various client
firms. Describes a specific Phase 0 project in order to explore the
Type: HBS challenge of managing these strategic, intangible services in the
Pub. Date: 2/28/2005 context of IDEO's successful history of generating award-winning
Product #: 605069 tangible product designs. A team at IDEO's Boston office worked with
Length: 11p mattress manufacturer Simmons to discover unmet customer needs
Teaching Note: available and identify new product line opportunities. Describes the challenges
and questions facing the Simmons project team as well as critical and
operational questions facing IDEO. Examines these issues through the
eyes of the head of the Boston office, who wonders how to evaluate
Phase 0 projects.
Pratt & Whitney: Engineering As the engineering of state-of-the-art jet engines becomes more and
Standard Work more complex, Pratt & Whitney leaders face major competitive
problems. Product development projects are not meeting the cost,
H. Kent Bowen, Courtney quality, and lead-time targets. The leadership develops a design,
Purrington development, test, and launch system that treats the engineering
resources as a factory and carefully designs and manages the work
Type: HBS flows, engineering activities, and hand-offs between tasks. There is
Pub. Date: 2/18/2004 promising initial success but some question whether the "engineering
Product #: 604084 standard work" system stifles creativity and whether it is appropriate for
Length: 24p the work of other professional functions.
Teaching Note: none
Subjects: Engineering, Knowledge workers, Product development.
Product Development at Dell Describes how Dell redesigned its new product development process
Computer Corp. after experiencing a major product setback and a significant decline in
firm profits in 1993. Dell's new process is challenged during the
Stefan Thomke, Vish V. development of a new line of portable computers when the incoming
Krishnan, Ashok Nimgade head of portables has to manage the risk of using a new technology.
This case focuses on: (1) product development process design, (2) the
Type: HBS costs and benefits of flexibility and structure in uncertain environments,
Pub. Date: 8/10/1998 and, (3) managing development risk during and after a financial and
Product #: 699010 market setback.
Length: 21p
Teaching Note: available Learning objective: To explore managerial issues in product
development that can be found in uncertain and risky environments. To
discuss and quantify the cost and benefits of process flexibility.
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Tata Motors: The Tata Ace Considers the strategy and experience of Tata Motors, India's leading
commercial truck maker, as it developed a new small commercial
Krishna G. Palepu, Vishnu vehicle, the Tata Ace. Positioned as a replacement for the three-
Srinivasan wheelers that predominated as small commercial vehicles in India, the
Ace create a new product category and enabled Tata Motors to access
Type: HBS a new market segment. The company adopted tailored approaches to
Pub. Date: 10/18/07 product design, distribution, marketing, service, and sourcing for the
Product #: 108011 vehicle. After successfully targeting the niche, considers how Tata
Length: 21p Motors might grow its presence in the segment with new models, enter
Teaching Note: none new regional markets, export to developing or developed countries,
and face new competition.
Chapter 4: Project
Abstract
Management
A&D High Tech (A): Managing Based on a real $25 million project at a major U.S.-based computer
Projects for Success manufacturer. For confidentiality reasons the company has been
disguised as A&D High Tech. The Web-based online ordering system
Mark Jeffery, Derek Yung, Alex project is required by sales and marketing for the fall holiday season. If
Gershbeyn the project misses this window, the firm will lose substantial market
share to competitors. Examines how to create and analyze a project
Type: Kellogg School of plan in Microsoft Project. Specifically, data is given to build the project
Management plan step-by-step and then analyze the plan using the Microsoft Project
Pub. Date: 1/1/06 management tool. In order to make manageable for students, we
Product #: KEL156 reduced the size of the project, and the corresponding number of
Length: 20p resources, to approximately $1 million, but retained all of the features
Teaching Note: available of the original project. The project plan that students construct from the
data given in the case is fraught with risks, and students must apply
risk management techniques to diagnose the plan. Ultimately, students
must answer the management question: Will the project be completed
for the holiday shopping season?
BAE Automated Systems (A): Describes the events surrounding the construction of the BAE
Denver International Airport baggage-handling system at the Denver International Airport. It looks
Baggage-Handling System specifically at project management, including decisions regarding
budget, scheduling, and the overall management structure. Also
Lynda M. Applegate, Ramiro examines the airport's attempt to work with a great number of outside
Montealegre, H. James Nelson, contractors, including BAE, and coordinate them into a productive
Carin-Isabel Knoop whole, while under considerable political pressures. Approaches the
project from the point of view of BAE's management, which struggles
Type: HBS to fulfill its contract, work well with project management and other
Pub. Date: 5/21/1996 contractors, and deal with supply, scheduling, and engineering
Product #: 396311 difficulties.
Length: 3p
Teaching Note: 399099 Subjects: Engineering, Management communication, Politics, Project
management.
Biogen, Inc.: rBeta Interferon Biogen, Inc., a Cambridge, MA-based biotechnology company, is
Manufacturing Process wrapping up a project to develop a new manufacturing process for a
Development new drug product that will reposition the company from a purely
research-oriented company to a fully integrated pharmaceutical
Steven C. Wheelwright manufacturing organization. Morris Rosenburg, a senior scientist at
Biogen, has been asked to perform a major evaluation of the project in
Type: HBS order to report on lessons learned as well as to make
Pub. Date: 1/29/1996 recommendations on how to improve project management moving
Product #: 696083 forward.
Length: 18p
Teaching Note: none Subjects: Biotechnology, Product development, Production
processes, Project management.
Boeing 767: From Concept to Biogen, Inc., a Cambridge, MA-based biotechnology company, is
Production (A) wrapping up a project to develop a new manufacturing process for a
new drug product that will reposition the company from a purely
David A. Garvin, Lee C. Field, research-oriented company to a fully integrated pharmaceutical
Janet Simpson manufacturing organization. Morris Rosenburg, a senior scientist at
Biogen, has been asked to perform a major evaluation of the project in
Type: HBS order to report on lessons learned as well as to make
Pub. Date: 4/1/1988 recommendations on how to improve project management moving
Product #: 688040 forward.
Length: 19p
Teaching Note: 689027 Subjects: Biotechnology, Product development, Production
processes, Project management.
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Lifefont: The Case for Examines how Lifefont (pseudonym), a multidivisional consumer
RetailDriver packages goods company, develops a system to manage and
measure the impact of promotional events in retail outlets.
F. Asis Martinez-Jerez, Karim
Fakhry Subjects: Change management, Consumer markets, Customer
relationship management, Information technology, Project
Type: HBS management, Retailing, Sales promotions.
Pub. Date: 9/19/2005
Product #: 106005
Length: 25p
Teaching Note: available
Project Management Manual A descriptive manual for how to manage the process of project
management. Major sections are: 1) define and organize the project, 2)
H. Kent Bowen plan the project, and 3) track and manage the project. 12 processes
are described in detail.
Type: HBS
Pub. Date: 9/13/1996 Subjects: Project management, Project planning, Project strategy,
Product #: 697034 Evidence based risk management, Risk management, Organizational
Length: 39p management, Product development, Product evolution, Product
Teaching Note: none innovation, Process analysis.
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Project Management In this single-player simulation, students make both quantitative and
Simulation: Scope, Resources, qualitative decisions as they manage a critical new product
Schedule development project for a printer manufacturer. The students' primary
objective is to bring a competitive product to market on time and on
Robert D. Austin budget, ahead of the competition. Faculty can choose from among five
distinct and realistic scenarios, each designed to highlight specific
Type: HBS learning objectives. The simulation contains powerful administrative
Pub. Date: 9/1/2009 tools which allow for real-time reporting of student decisions. Ideal for
Product #: 3356 courses in Operations Management and Project Management.
Length: 90 min
Teaching Note: available Subjects Covered: Project Management, Operations Management,
Managing Resources, Scheduling, Project Planning, Managing Budget,
Project Implementation, Team-Building, General Management,
Managing Teams
SchmidtCo (A) John Schmidt's project to convert the information system of his auto
parts distribution business is in real trouble, putting his company at
John S. Hammond III risk. He must decide what his decision problem is and set appropriate
objectives as well as create a good set of alternatives from which to
Type: HBS choose. This case can be used in courses on decision making as well
Pub. Date: 5/24/2004 as those that address management of information technology projects.
Product #: 904080
Length: 4p Subjects: Decision analysis, Decision making, Information systems,
Teaching Note: available Information technology, Negotiations, Operations management, Project
management, Uncertainty.
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Teradyne Corp.: The Jaguar Teradyne, a leading manufacturer of semiconductor test equipment,
Project embarked on a multiyear effort to improve its product development
capabilities and to implement more formalized project management
Type: HBS approaches. Examines the development of a new-generation tester
Pub. Date: 9/16/2005 that involved significant hardware and software design. For this, the
Product #: 606042 company decided to implement new approaches to project
Length: 23p management and project teams. Invites discussion of the effectiveness
Teaching Note: available of these approaches and the general lessons for the management of
product development.
Vitreon Corp.: The Hyalite Considers decisions facing the leader of a manufacturing staff project
Project team assigned to a plant where yields have deteriorated sharply. The
process is complex: the plant organization is not cooperative, and
Roy D. Shapiro there are deep disagreements about what is wrong and how to fix it.
Provides an opportunity to analyze yields and productivity, as well as
Type: HBS the organizational and personal challenges inherent in line-staff
Pub. Date: 10/2/2006 interaction.
Product #: 607031
Length: 17p Subjects: Operations, Operations management, Line & staff
Teaching Note: none management, Middle management, Efficiency, Productivity, Project
management, Project planning, Project strategy, Process analysis,
Manufacturing strategy.
Applichem (A) (Abridged) The head of the key account team at Ai Li Industrial Company Ltd. (Ai
Li) was discussing the possibility of bidding for a new account with a
Janice H. Hammond, Gary P. major North American department store. The account would involve
Pisano the manufacture of compact cosmetics kits for the upcoming holiday
season. Although the potential benefits from the considerably large
Type: HBS order would be significant, it would require one third of Ai Li's nearly full
Pub. Date: 8/18/1993 manufacturing capacity.
Product #: 694030 Subjects: Capacity analysis, Competitive bidding, Outsourcing.
Length: 13p
Teaching Note: 696017
Genentech--Capacity Planning While facilitating a complex clinical approval process over the next two
to three years for a family of new cancer drugs, Genentech must
Daniel C. Snow, Steven C. develop a long-term capacity plan for a major class of new cancer
Wheelwright, Alison Berkley products. Adding to the complexity and uncertainty is the fact that the
Wagonfeld lead time for planning, building, and certifying a new $600 million plus
production-scale facility is five years. In addition, ensuring that the best
Type: HBS process technology is incorporated into such a new plant makes the
Pub. Date: 11/22/2005 task facing David Ebersman, the senior vice-president of products
Product #: 606052 operations, and his management team a daunting one. Frames the
Length: 27p issues Ebersman and his team face and outlines the approach to date.
Teaching Note: available Subjects: Capacity planning, Capital budgeting, Facilities, Operations
management, Product development, Technology & operations.
JetBlue Airways: Managing Considers the situation facing David Barger, President and CEO of
Growth JetBlue Airways, in May 2007 as he addresses the airline's need to
slow its growth rate in the response to increasing fuel costs and the
Robert S. Huckman, Gary P. effects of major operational crisis for the airline in February 2007. In
Pisano 2005, JetBlue-typically viewed as a low-cost carrier (LCC)-made a
move that is often considered antithetical to the LCC model.
Type: HBS Specifically, JetBlue moved from a single aircraft type (i.e., the Airbus
Pub. Date: 10/10/2008 320, or A320) to a fleet with two types of aircraft by adding the smaller
Product #: 609046 Embraer 190, or E190. Students are initially asked to consider the
Length: 24p impact of this decision on JetBlue's operations strategy and business
Teaching Note: available model. They are then asked to consider how the reductions in aircraft
capacity growth should be spread across the two plane types. This
discussion hinges not only on issues of aircraft efficiency but also on
those of operational focus and the ultimate competitive priorities of the
airline as a whole.
New Balance Athletic Shoes Faced with growth exceeding 100% per year, James Davis, president
of New Balance, must decide how to meet the need for additional
Kim B. Clark capacity. Several factors contribute to a climate of extreme uncertainty.
Several options are considered, ranging from a second shift to
Type: HBS acquiring a plant in Ireland. Sufficient information is provided to allow
Pub. Date: 1/1/1980 an analysis of forecasted demand as well as the strategic financial and
Product #: 680110 organizational implications of alternative courses of action.
Length: 15p Subjects: Forecasting, Sales forecasting, Business growth, Growth,
Teaching Note: 683040 Growth management, Organic growth, Facilities planning, Location
decisions, Location of industry, Assembly lines, Manufacturing,
Capacity planning, Demand analysis.
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Protege Partners: The Capacity In February 2005, Jeffrey Tarrant (HBS '85) and Ted Seides (HBS '99)
Challenge considered their strategy for Protege Partners, founded in July 2002 as
a fund of hedge funds (FOHF) specializing in small hedge funds.
Randolph B. Cohen, Brian J. Protege's assets under management had grown to $1.1 billion, and
Delacey Protege's development almost exactly mirrored the founders'
expectations from 2001. Although the founders saw benefits to growth,
Type: HBS they remained committed to the integrity of managing a small fund and
Pub. Date: 4/12/2005 wanted to continue generating superior performance for their clients.
Product #: 205100 Should they close the Protege FOHF to new investors and focus on
Length: 23p managing the existing assets as they originally intended? Could they
Teaching Note: none continue to increase assets under management without taking on more
top-level professionals? Should they hire additional analytical staff to
help them grow Protege? Should they leverage Protege's special
relationships with seeded managers to create a multistrategy hedge
fund? Perhaps most important, how would their valued clients react to
change?
Subjects: Entrepreneurial management, Organizational design,
Business model innovations, Business models, Capacity planning,
Capacity analysis, Financial institutions, Financial services.
Scharffen Berger Chocolate Scharffen Berger, a premium brand chocolate, is growing rapidly and
Maker must decide where and when to add capacity in the production line and
with what technology. The company must consider the demands of
Daniel C. Snow, Steven C. marketing, the impact on quality and reputation, and the economics of
Wheelwright, Alison Berkley alternative approaches to increasing output in both the short term and
Wagonfeld long term. Provides an opportunity for students to examine the existing
process technology and flow, to understand the determinants of
product quality, and to make recommendations about changes that will
Type: HBS expand the capabilities of the firm in supplying its premium products to
Pub. Date: 10/2/2009 a rapidly growing market segment.
Product #: 606043
Length: 2p Subjects: Process analysis, Process improvement, Factories, Quality
Teaching Note: none control, Capacity planning.
Shouldice Hospital Ltd. Various proposals are set forth for expanding the capacity of the
hospital. In assessing them, serious consideration has to be given to
James L. Heskett the culture of the organization and the importance of preserving it in a
service delivery system. In addition to issues of capacity and
organizational analysis, describes a well-focused, well-managed
Type: HBS medical service facility that may well point the way to future economies
Pub. Date: 4/25/1983 in the field.
Product #: 683068 Subjects: Capacity planning, Expansion, Market segmentation,
Length: 18p Organizational behavior, Services, Social enterprise, Word-of-mouth.
Teaching Note: 686120
Case Map for
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The Broad Institute: Applying In June 2003, Harvard University and MIT announced an
the Power of Genomics to unprecedented partnership to create a biomedical institute, The Broad
Medicine Institute. The culture of the Broad centered on science, and those
involved considered it to be at the edge of the scientific frontier. In just
Vicki L. Sato, Rachel Gordon four years the Broad had made many important scientific contributions
to the bio-medical field. These included understanding genetic
Type: HBS alterations in cancer; building an RNAi Consortium to better
Pub. Date: 3/5/2008 understand the role of every gene in the human body; creating an
Product #: 608114 integrated database that mapped the connections among drugs,
Length: 32p genes, and diseases; and cataloging inherited genetic variations of
Teaching Note: none Type 2 Diabetes. Opportunities for additional important scientific
advances beckoned but would require both funding and physical
space. The Broad Institute's leaders, including Altshuler, Director of the
Program in Medical and Population Genetics, and Golub, Director of
the Cancer Program, needed to decide how big was too big. How
many projects could the Broad productively support? What happened
when the Broad outgrew its physical space? Altshuler and Golub knew
that the Broad had made tremendous strides in the past year. It had
minimized barriers and attracted many young scientists who viewed
the Broad as an exciting place to do research. That success made the
question of how to balance the priorities of growth and the preservation
of the culture that had made everything possible all the more
important.
BMW: The 7-Series Project (A) Explores BMW's decision about how to manufacture prototype
vehicles. Historically, BMW's prototypes were handcrafted by highly
Gary P. Pisano skilled artisans in the company's shop. A proposal has been made to
alter the process so that prototypes are made in a way that can better
Type: HBS uncover potential problems that may arise during final production.
Pub. Date: 2/18/1992 While the new approach is expected to make production start-up of
Product #: 692083 new models smoother and reduce quality problems, there is some
Length: 20p concern within the company that it will lead to less flexibility to change
Teaching Note: 692094 (and improve) designs during the development cycle. Explores
different ways of competing on quality in a luxury product segment and
how the product development process affects each of these. A second
objective is to examine the notion of a prototyping strategy and the role
prototyping plays in linking development strategy and manufacturing
strategy.
BYD Company, Ltd. Considers whether BYD Co., Ltd., the largest Chinese maker of
rechargeable batteries, should enter the Chinese automobile industry
Robert S. Huckman, Alan by acquiring Qinchuan Auto, a state-owned car manufacturer. Set just
MacCormack after BYD's initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in
2002, it describes the development of BYD's labor-intensive approach
Type: HBS to battery manufacturing--an approach decidedly different from its
Pub. Date: /12/2006 more capital-intensive Japanese competitors and one that took
Product #: 606139 advantage of the abundant supply of low-cost labor in China.
Length: 24p Highlights the unique benefits and challenges created by BYD's
Teaching Note: available operations strategy and asks students to determine whether the
capabilities developed by the company in battery manufacturing can
productively be applied to the automobile sector. Asks students to
consider which, if any, aspects of BYD's operations constitute sources
of sustainable competitive advantage for the company.
Executive Shirt Co., Inc. The Executive Shirt Co. is contemplating a move into custom-made
shirts. The company's general manager has charged two of his
Janice H. Hammond, Sylvie managers to come up with plans for incorporating production of custom
Ryckebusch shirts into the existing manufacturing process.
Managing Innovation at Nypro, Nypro is the world's leading injection molder of precision plastic parts,
Inc. (A) and (B) operating a global network of 21 plants. Nypro's strategy is for each
plant to offer identical capabilities, because its customers are global
Clayton M. Christensen, companies with worldwide sourcing needs. The case describes the
Rebecca Voorheis way Nypro manages product and process innovation across the global
plant network.
Type: HBS
Pub. Date: 9/22/1995 Subjects covered: Innovation; International operations;
Product #: 696061 Manufacturing policy; Manufacturing strategy; Process innovation;
Length:14p Technological change
Teaching Note: available
Metreke Cards Used to introduce the assembly line process to first-year MBA
students. Three different variations of an assembly line process for
Steven C. Wheelwright packing greeting cards are presented for analysis. To choose among
the three, the students must address issues of time standards,
Type: HBS capacity, supervision and training. A rewritten version of an earlier
Pub. Date: 1/8/1992 case.
Product #: 692073
Length: 8p Subjects: Capacity analysis, Employee training, Supervision.
Teaching Note: none
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Quantum Corp.: Business and Describes the adoption and evolution of product development teams
Product Teams and business teams at Quantum. Emphasizes integration of team
capabilities with product development and competitive advantage in a
Steven C. Wheelwright, Clayton rapidly changing environment.
M. Christensen
Subjects: Competition, Product development, Teams, Technology.
Type: HBS
Pub. Date: 1/22/1992
Product #: 692023
Length: 20p
Teaching Note: 693004
Samsung International, Inc. A major Korean firm has begun production of televisions in the United
States. Output and quality are below Korean standards. Students must
Alice H. Amsden determine why and suggest ways to improve.
Wilkins, A Zurn Company: The general manager of the Wilkins plant in Paso Robles, California
Aggregate Production Planning has received instructions from the head office to reduce inventory by
30% in the next quarter. Although inventory had been accumulating
Eric Olsen, Carol Prahinski, over the past years, this had been seen as a benefit to the company
Jenni Denniston for a couple of reasons. One is that the cost of raw materials has risen
in the past year. The second is that the company has a policy of no
Type: Richard Ivey School of layoffs, so having inventory in stock allows the company to minimize
Business Foundation the use of overtime and temporary workers. The general manager
Pub. Date: 9/13/2006 wondered whether revising the production planning process would be
Product #: 906D17 enough to solve Wilkins' inventory problems.
Length: 11p
Teaching Note: available Subjects: Inventory control, Logistics, Manufacturing strategy,
Operations management.
Pharmacy Service CVS's retail pharmacy operations are functioning poorly and
Improvement at CVS (A) dissatisfying customers. Many customers are defecting as a result. A
pharmacy service improvement team has documented the current
Andrew McAfee prescription fulfillment process, its exception rates, and the problems
generated by exceptions. The company must now decide how to
Type: HBS change this process, and what information system changes to make in
Pub. Date: 12/14/2005 support of the redesigned process.
Product #: 606015
Length: 11p Subjects: Business process automation, Business processes,
Teaching Note: available Customer retention, Customer service, Information technology,
Process failures, Process improvement, Reengineering.
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Toshiba: Ome Works In 1995, Toshiba was the market leader in portable computer sales
worldwide. This case describes the assembly of portable notebook
H. Kent Bowen, Janice H. computers in Toshiba's Ome factory in Ome, Japan, providing insights
Hammond, Sylvie Ryckebusch, into some of the reasons for Toshiba's success. In addition to
Hiroshi Uchikoga describing production techniques such as dynamic line balancing, this
case probes the nature of the Japanese workforce and the unique
Type: HBS problems faced by Japanese businesses.
Pub. Date: 2/2/1996
Product #: 696059 Subjects: Electronics, Manufacturing, Production planning.
Length: 18p
Teaching Note: none
Burger King Corp. Describes the operating system of a Burger King unit. The case does
not have a decision focus; it is designed for use with McDonald's Corp.
W. Earl Sasser Jr., David C. Students are asked to compare the operating systems of these two
Rikert fast food hamburger chains. Careful analysis will detect the subtle and
not so subtle differences between the two operating systems selected
Type: HBS by these two firms.
Pub. Date: 12/1/1980
Product #: 681045 Subjects: Operations research, Systems design, Work force
Length: 15p management.
Teaching Note: 681070
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Call Center Design for Lion Andy Carr, the founder of a small consulting firm that specializes in
Financial Services telephone call-centers, is completing an analysis of call center
operations for Lion Financial Services (LFS). LFS operates three call
J. Michael Harrison, Yuval Nov centers that collectively employ 170 agents and handle 30,000 calls
per week. Agents are organized into different "pools," according to their
Type: Stanford Graduate training and experience; complicated rules are used for routing calls
School of Business among the three centers and their constituent pools. Carr's analysis
Pub. Date: 10/16/2003 and recommendations touch upon a variety of issues: capacity
Product #: OIT29 requirements, including the mix of agents by skill category; training
Length: 21p programs, promotion ladders, and the definition of agent pools; call
Teaching Note: none routing protocols; potential benefits of physical consolidation; and most
prominently, the degree of call "scripting" that is appropriate in
designing the LFS work system. Carr believes that by developing a
small number of "call blueprints," training agents in their use, and
measuring adherence to the blueprints in call-monitoring programs,
LFS can improve the quality of service it delivers and reduce the
experience and educational levels required of its call-center agents.
Concerns are raised about the creation of a factory like atmosphere.
McDonald's Corp. (Condensed) Describes the operating system of McDonald's, the world's most
successful fast food chain. The case does not have a decision focus; it
W. Earl Sasser Jr., David C. is designed for use with Burger King Corp. Students are asked to
Rikert compare the operating systems of these two fast food hamburger
chains. Careful analysis will detect the subtle and not so subtle
Type: HBS differences between the two operating systems selected by these two
Pub. Date: 12/1/1980 firms.
Product #: 681044
Length: 15p Subjects: Operating systems, Operations research, Systems design,
Teaching Note: 681070 Work force management.
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Service Blueprinting: A With the global focus on service-led growth has come increased need
Practical Technique for Service for practical techniques for service innovation. Services are fluid,
Innovation dynamic, experiential, and frequently co-produced in real time by
customers, employees, and technology, often with few static physical
Mary Jo Bitner, Amy L. Ostrom, properties. However, most product innovation approaches focus on the
Felicia N Morgan design of relatively static products with physical properties. Thus, many
of the invention and prototype design techniques used for physical
Type: California Management goods and technologies do not work well for human and interactive
Review services. This article describes one technique-service blueprinting-that
Pub. Date: 5/1/2008 has proven useful for service innovation. Service blueprinting is
Product #: CMR397 securely grounded in the customer's experience and it allows the clear
Length: 30p visualization of dynamic service processes. The technique is described
Teaching Note: none in detail including real case examples that illustrate the value and
breadth of its applications.
Subjects: Brainstorming, Innovation, Innovations, Technological
innovation, Call centers, Customer self-service, Customer service,
Customer relations, Customer relationship management, Customer
relationships.
Sof-Optics, Inc. (A) The marketing director of a fast-growing firm must make some
decisions about the customer service department. The volume in the
W. Earl Sasser Jr., department has been rising steadily, eye doctors are waiting longer for
Ramchandran Jaikumar, David orders to be filled, and morale in the department is slipping. With
C. Rikert pressure on the firm to make a profit, the marketing director must
carefully justify any request for additional people or equipment.
Type: HBS
Pub. Date: 12/1/1980 Subjects: Capacity analysis, Customer relations, Customer service,
Product #: 681052 Employee morale, Scheduling, Systems analysis, Work force
Length: 20p management.
Teaching Note: available
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Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Tamago-ya is a family-owned business located in Tokyo, Japan. The
Lunch Boxes to Your Work company has captured a unique position in the market of selling pre-
packaged lunch boxes to business professionals by maintaining high
Jin Whang, Shinya Fushimi, quality and reliable delivery. In order for Tamago-ya to guarantee such
Jason Kaminsky, Veronica a high level of customer service, it has created an operational culture
Rocha, John Tsou wherein those who deliver orders also engage in judging customer
demand and feedback, those who supply food materials must be able
Type: Stanford Graduate to respond to variation in demand on a daily basis, and those who plan
School of Business the production and distribution schedule must forecast and adjust on a
Pub. Date:9/9/2007 real-time basis. Tamago-ya competes with convenience stores, which
Product #: GS60 offer less variety in their menu options throughout the month, can
Length: 11p stock-out on popular choices, and tend to have long lines during the
Teaching Note: none lunchtime rush. However, Tamago-ya is faced with many challenges--
including demand forecasting, supply planning, and long-term strategic
planning.
Totalline Transport The vice-president and general manager of Totalline Transport wants
to eliminate late appointment fees in delivering to one of Canada's
Larry Menor, Ken Mark, Jordan premier electronic shops--Electronics International. Suppliers of
Mitchell electronics goods hire Totalline Transport to deliver to retailers. The
vice-president sees an opportunity to solve the problem of congestion
Type: Richard Ivey School of in the parking lot of Electronics International's warehouse and eliminate
Business unnecessary soft costs such as missed appointment fees and
Pub. Date: 6/3/2005 detention charges. The bottleneck in the process is the waiting time for
Product #: 905D01 all of the trucks to unload. If the carrier arrives late, the retailer charges
Length: 22p the carrier $1,000. If the carrier is waiting in line due to a backlog at the
Teaching Note: none warehouse, the carrier levies a charge of $50 to $60 per hour. Beyond
these costs, the vice-president realizes that suppliers and retailers are
spending one day per week investigating problems with shipments. He
is eager to make his customers (suppliers) successful. He sees three
central options in cutting down traffic: to request two dedicated doors
at the warehouse; cut down on time for Electronics International by
applying stickers at Totalline's consolidation point on all deliveries,
allowing Electronics International to accept shipments immediately into
inventory without handling; or deliver direct to Electronics International
stores.
ExtendSim Simulation First set of exercises meant to be used with ExtendSim, a simulation
Exercises in Process Analysis system created by Imagine That, Inc. of San Jose, California. These
(A) exercises allow students to investigate the impact of variable
processing times on the performance of simple in-line processes.
Roy D. Shapiro Unadvertised per Case Records.
Simulation in Excel and VBA This note is an introduction to simulation in Excel and VBA. The note
demonstrates different ways of doing simulation in Excel and Excel
Mehmet Begen, Wei Xia VBA with examples. The concepts used and explained in the note are
random number, probability distributions, data tables, loops and arrays,
histograms and descriptive statistics.
Type: Richard Ivey School of
Business Learning objective: The note is an introduction to simulation in Excel
Pub. Date: 10/17/2011 and VBA and can be used as an introductory reading or lecture notes
Product #: W11358 in any course that teaches and or requires simuation and Excel VBA.
Length: 24p Subjects covered: Probability; Scientific management; Simulation;
Teaching Note: none Statistics
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Totalline Transport The vice-president and general manager of Totalline Transport wants
to eliminate late appointment fees in delivering to one of Canada's
Larry Menor, Ken Mark, Jordan premier electronic shops--Electronics International. Suppliers of
Mitchell electronics goods hire Totalline Transport to deliver to retailers. The
vice-president sees an opportunity to solve the problem of congestion
Type: Richard Ivey School of in the parking lot of Electronics International's warehouse and eliminate
Business unnecessary soft costs such as missed appointment fees and
Pub. Date: 6/3/2005 detention charges. The bottleneck in the process is the waiting time for
Product #: 905D01 all of the trucks to unload. If the carrier arrives late, the retailer charges
Length: 22p the carrier $1,000. If the carrier is waiting in line due to a backlog at the
Teaching Note: none warehouse, the carrier levies a charge of $50 to $60 per hour. Beyond
these costs, the vice-president realizes that suppliers and retailers are
spending one day per week investigating problems with shipments. He
is eager to make his customers (suppliers) successful. He sees three
central options in cutting down traffic: to request two dedicated doors
at the warehouse; cut down on time for Electronics International by
applying stickers at Totalline's consolidation point on all deliveries,
allowing Electronics International to accept shipments immediately into
inventory without handling; or deliver direct to Electronics International
stores.
Kristen's Cookie Co. (A) The student is starting his or her own business, baking make-to-order
cookies. Basic times of each operation are laid out and the student is
Roger E. Bohn asked to determine the consequences for the operating system.
Serves as an exercise and review of concepts such as capacity,
Type: HBS bottlenecks, and throughput times. Students should be able to make
Pub. Date: 1/21/1986 several useful suggestions for improving the system. The case ends
Product #: 686093 with a series of open-ended questions.
Length: 3p
Teaching Note: 688024 Subjects: Pricing strategy, Assembly lines, Manufacturing, Production
scheduling, Capacity analysis.
Managing Variability: Process This technical note provides an introduction to quality management
Control and Process Capability tools, with a focus on the concepts of process control and process
capability.
Kamalini Ramdas
Subjects: Operations, Operations management, Process analysis,
Type: University of Virginia Defects, Quality management.
Darden
Pub. Date: 2/2/2004
Product #: UV0426
Length: 21p
Teaching Note: none
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National Cranberry Cooperative Describes the continuous flow process used to process cranberries
1996 into juice and/or sauce. Requires student to analyze process flows to
determine where the bottlenecks are and to decide how, and whether,
Roy D. Shapiro to expand capacity. Original version written by J.G. Miller and R.P.
Olson.
Type: HBS
Pub. Date: 5/31/1988 Subjects: Capacity analysis, Cooperatives, Process analysis, Process
Product #: 688122 flow.
Length:10p
Teaching Note: available
Operations Management This single-player simulation explores concepts in process analysis via
Simulation: Process Analytics a series of problems sets that are paired with simulation models,
allowing students to increase their intuition and understanding of core
Roy D. Shapiro, Frances X. Frei operations concepts, including: cycle time yield use of inventory in
processes capacity management bottlenecks and constraints
Type: HBS throughput time and rates machine and labor utilization rates line
Pub. Date: 11/11/2009 and batch processes parallel sub-assembly processes cross trained
Product #: 3291 worker processes (multiple variations) Operations Management:
Length: 90 min Process Analytics offers a high degree of flexibility for faculty. The
Teaching Note: available assignment questions can be completely edited, re-sequenced, or
removed altogether. The models themselves can be manipulated (for
example, faculty can add workstations to the simulation.) Faculty can
also choose to allow students to manipulate the models on their own,
changing model permutations so that they can experiment with
processes and enhance their understanding. Student responses to
questions are captured for faculty review. Ideal for operations
management courses in undergraduate, MBA, and executive
education programs.
Productivity and Performance Explores the issue of measuring and improving service quality and
Systems: A Comparative productivity by examining the radically different approaches of
Analysis of Northern Telecom Northern Telecom and United Parcel Service.
and United Parcel Service
Subjects: Operating systems, Productivity, Quality control, Services.
Christopher W.L. Hart, W.
Bruce Chew
Type: HBS
Pub. Date: 8/25/1988
Product #: 689022
Length: 21p
Teaching Note: 689003
Quality Wireless (A): Call Quality Wireless has received customer complaints about long hold
Center Performance times at its call center. To address these complaints, it put into place
certain process changes at its call center. After one month, the
Sunil Chopra company will now decide whether improvement has taken place.
RFID at the METRO Group Introduces radio frequency identification (RFID) as the next generation
of automatic identification technologies that is expected to improve the
Zeynep Ton, Vincent Dessain, performance of retail supply chains through reduced shrink, increased
Monika Stachowiak-Joulain product availability, and improved labor productivity. Showcases the
implementation of the technology by the METRO Group, the world's
Type: HBS third-largest retailer. Places students in the position of Dr. Gerd
Pub. Date: 11/9/2005 Wolfram, managing director of METRO's internal IT service group, and
Product #: 606053 Zygmunt Mierdorf, the company's chief information officer, who, in mid-
Length: 22p 2005, evaluate the results of the RFID rollout and decide on the next
Teaching Note: available stage in the implementation.
Weight Solutions Clinic: Addresses how flow times and capacity calculations can be made for a
Bariatric Surgery Center service process such as the Bariatric Surgery Center at a clinic.
Highlights how these calculations can be made for a service process
Sunil Chopra, Canan Savaskan just as in any manufacturing setting. Discusses the notions of critical
paths and bottlenecks and what factors affect both time and capacity.
Type: Kellogg School of Also, discusses the relative profitability of two types of bariatric
Management, Northwestern surgery, the goal being to link product profitability to the process.
University
Pub. Date: 1/1/2004 Subjects: Profitability, Profits, Operations, Operations management,
Product #: KEL030 Process analysis, Capacity analysis, Service management, Cardiac
Length: 11p surgery, Health care providers, Health care systems, Healthcare
Teaching Note: available systems.
Excel Logistics Services Looks at the introduction of statistical process control (SPC) into a
distribution center servicing a department store chain. Focuses on the
Sunil Chopra receiving process in the distribution center and describes the
introduction of SPC methodology. Discusses run charts, pareto
Type: Kellogg School of diagrams, and control limits.
Management
Pub. Date: 1/1/2004 Subjects: Control systems, Defects, Quality management.
Product #: KEL019
Length: 8p
Teaching Note: available
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Hank Kolb, Director, Quality Designed to introduce the systemic nature of product quality and the
Assurance complexity of quality problems. Uses a new director, quality assurance,
and the discovery of a quality problem. The new director has to decide
Frank S. Leonard if it is a real problem, what to do about it, and how to go about orienting
an organization toward a better quality attitude.
Type: HBS
Pub. Date: 3/1/1981 Subjects: Product planning & policy, Product liability, Assembly lines,
Product #: 681083 Manufacturing, Quality control, Industrial goods.
Length: 3p
Teaching Note: 683030
Kristen's Cookie Co. (A2) Intended for distribution during class, this case contains one set of
answers to the (A1) case. It introduces the concept of a Gantt chart
Roger E. Bohn and discusses issues raised by the case such as the value of labor
flexibility. The open-ended questions in the (A1) case are only partially
Type: HBS answered to encourage further student creativity.
Pub. Date: 1/23/1986
Product #: 686094 Subjects: Learning curves, Pricing strategy, Process analysis,
Length: 7p Production scheduling, Capacity analysis.
Teaching Note: available
Managing Variability: Process This technical note provides an introduction to quality management
Control and Process Capability tools, with a focus on the concepts of process control and process
capability.
Kamalini Ramdas
Subjects: Operations, Operations management, Process analysis,
Type: University of Virginia Defects, Quality management.
Darden School Foundation
Pub. Date: 2/2/2004
Product #: UV0426
Length: 21p
Teaching Note: none
Paul Chesler, Director, Quality Introduces the systemic nature of product quality and the complexity of
Assurance quality problems. A new director of quality assurance discovers an
apparent quality problem. The actions of different departments and
Frank S. Leonard functions contribute to the problem. The new director must decide how
serious the problem is, what to do about it, and how to go about
Type: HBS orienting an organization toward a better quality attitude.
Pub. Date:7/13/2006
Product #: 607002 Subjects: Product planning & policy, Assembly lines, Manufacturing,
Length: 3p Quality control, Assembly lines, Manufacturing.
Teaching Note: none
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Six Sigma Quality at Flyrock Assumes an understanding of statistical process control and focuses
Tires on highlighting the usefulness of Six Sigma quality. Focuses on the
issue of a worn bearing at a tire manufacturer leading to a mean shift
Sunil Chopra (while producing defectives). Shows how a Six Sigma process would
quickly detect the mean shift while producing fewer defectives.
Type: Kellogg School of
Management, Northwestern Learning objective: To introduce the methodology of statistical
University process control and to illustrate the value of Six Sigma.
Pub. Date: 1/1/2004
Product #: KEL028 Subjects covered: Operations management; Six sigma
Length: 3p
Teaching Note: available
How to Manage Through Many Western managers were introduced to lean production in 1990,
Worse-Before-Better with publication of "The Machine That Changed the World," based on a
five-year study of Toyota by MIT's International Motor Vehicle
Robin Cooper, Brian Maskell Program. Since then, thousands of managers have used the principles
of lean management to achieve faster cycle times, reduced defect
Type: MIT Sloan Management rates and sharp gains in on-time deliveries. Lean management permits
Review a marked reduction in inventory levels across the supply chain, which
Pub. Date: 7/01/2008 should result in better financial performance -- especially because
Product #: SMR288 companies achieve simultaneous declines in manufacturing and
Length: 10p service costs. But, as the authors point out, the transition takes time
Teaching Note: available and is full of obstacles. One predictable hurdle is the crisis in
confidence that occurs when management isn't able to improve
financial performance quickly. Lean transformations generally have
short-term adverse impacts on the company's bottom line (that is,
things get worse before better). Management needs to anticipate these
challenges and explain them clearly. To help managers overcome the
financial hurdles on the path to lean, the authors offer new tools for
anticipating the deterioration in financial performance that occurs as a
mass producer goes lean and for understanding the real performance
improvements that take place during this period. Their approach, called
"value-stream accounting," helps managers plan for the short-term
financial impact, monitor progress, understand the operational
improvements and develop strategies to maximize the longer-term
benefit. Managers need to understand that the "bad" news isn't really
bad -- it's part of the necessary process of establishing a stronger,
more productive organization. The authors' approach replaces the
traditional cost-accounting system with a transparent accounting
system that tracks the company's value streams, which incorporate all
of the value-adding and non-value-adding activities required to bring a
product or service from start to finish.
Johnson Controls, Inc.: Prior to the 1980s, automakers purchased individual seat components
Automotive Systems Group, and built the seats alongside their auto assembly lines. This case
The Georgetown, Kentucky describes how Johnson Controls, Automotive Systems Group,
Plant blossomed when automakers turned to outsourcing the complete seat
set. The case closely examines one plant, in Georgetown, Kentucky,
Kazuhiro Mishina that switched from just-in-time (JIT) delivery of seat sets to JIT
assembly to serve a nearby Toyota Camry assembly operation.
Type: HBS Exposes the challenge of dealing with growing seat variation and an
Pub. Date: 3/26/1993 opportunity of doubling the plant floor space at a separate site. The
Product #: 693086 specific case question is how the plant should use this new space.
Length: 23p
Teaching Note: 693102 Subjects: Facilities planning, Manufacturing strategy, Materials
management, Production controls, Suppliers, Vertical integration.
Lean at Wipro Technologies Wipro Technologies, a rapidly growing software services firm based in
India, decided to use principles from the Toyota Production System
Bradley R. Staats, David M. (also known as lean) to fundamentally change their operating model.
Upton Looks at why Wipro chose to use lean and how they went about
implementing it in a novel context such as this. Provides detail of
Type: HBS Wipro's internal and external environment, which was necessitating the
Pub. Date: 10/16/2006 change (shift from delivering a low-cost product to providing a business
Product #: 607032 solution). Also, explores whether this new approach can lead to a
Length: 18p substantial competitive advantage.
Teaching Note: none
Subjects: Continuous improvement, Operations, Operations
management, After action reviews, Organizational learning,
Manufacturing strategy, Outsourcing.
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New Balance Athletic Shoe, Considers whether New Balance, one of the world's five largest
Inc. manufacturers of athletic footwear, should respond to Adidas' planned
acquisition of Reebok--a transaction that would join the second- and
H. Kent Bowen, Robert S. third-largest companies in the industry. Highlights the unique aspects
Huckman, Carin-Isabel Knoop of New Balance's strategy--focusing on fit and performance by offering
long-lived shoes in a wide variety of widths and eschewing celebrity
Type: HBS endorsement of its products--and discusses New Balance's operations
Pub. Date: 4/20/2006 decisions to support that strategy. These include significant use of
Product #: 606094 domestic manufacturing at a time when nearly all other competitors
Length: 18p sourced finished shoes from Asian suppliers and an emphasis on
Teaching Note: available improving inventory management for its network of small and large
retailers. Set just after the announcement of the Adidas-Reebok
transaction in 2005, with New Balance having recently initiated a
companywide effort to improve operational performance through the
application of concepts from lean manufacturing and the Toyota
Production System. Asks students to consider whether New Balance
should change aspects of its operations strategy in light of the
consolidation among its competitors or whether the Adidas-Reebok
transaction represents an opportunity for New Balance to emphasize
the importance of moving forward with its current approach.
The F/A-18 F404 Engine: The U.S. Navy Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Depot (AIMD)
Getting Lean (A) Lemoore Power Plants Division (F404 engine maintenance) was a real
mess. Not-Ready-For-Issue parts were everywhere. Division through-
Thomas Cross, E. Richard put was poor (35 engines and 190 modules awaiting maintenance),
Brownlee II, Robert Osterhoudt, there were 30 F/A-18 aircraft with bare firewalls (no engines), the
Jeff Pottinger, C. J. Jaynes maintenance crews were working 12-hour days, manning was at 61%
of authorized levels, reenlistment rates were an abysmal 50%, and
Type: University of Virginia crew morale was lousy. And more parts and engines arrived in daily.
Darden School Foundation The Officer-in-Charge of the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance
Pub. Date: 9/19/2007 Detachment decided to use Lean manufacturing to tackle the
Product #: UV0885 challenge. It would be the first application of the Lean concept to Naval
Length: 12p Aviation.
Teaching Note: available
Subjects: Accounting, Accounting & control, Cost analysis,
Operations, Operations management, Aircraft, Airplane manufacturing.
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Toyota Motor Manufacturing, On May 1, 1992, Doug Friesen, manager of assembly for Toyota's
U.S.A., Inc. Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, faces a problem with the seats installed
in the plant's sole product--Camrys. A growing number of cars are
Kazuhiro Mishina sitting off-line with defective seats or are missing them entirely. This
situation is one of several causes of recent overtime, yet neither the
Type: HBS reason for the problem nor a solution is readily apparent. As the plant
Pub. Date: 9/8/1992 is an exemplar of Toyota's famed production system (TPS), Friesen is
Product #: 693019 determined that, if possible, the situation will be resolved using TPS
Length: 22p principles and tools. Students are asked to suggest what action(s)
Teaching Note: 693046 Friesen should take and to analyze whether Georgetown's current
handling of the seat problem fits within the TPS philosophy.
Virginia Mason Medical Center In 2000, Dr. Gary Kaplan became CEO of the Virginia Mason Medical
Center in Seattle, Washington. The hospital was facing significant
Richard Bohmer, Erika M. challenges: It was losing money for the first time in its history, staff
Ferlins morale had plummeted, and area hospitals presented ardent
competition. Considerable change was imminent. Within his first few
Type: HBS months, Kaplan had rallied the organization around a new strategic
Pub. Date: 10/3/2005 direction: to become the quality leader in health care. What Kaplan and
Product #: 606044 his administrators lacked was an effective tool to execute their
Length: 28p strategy. Soon thereafter, a series of serendipitous events led to the
Teaching Note: available discovery of the Toyota production system, and the Virginia Mason
Medical Center became entrenched in an overwhelming challenge:
how to institute a production model in health care.
Wipro Technologies: The Based in Bangalore, Wipro Technologies is a rapidly growing software
Factory Model services company. Wipro is experimenting with a new software service
delivery model that draws on the principles of the Toyota production
Virginia A. Fuller, David Upton system and "lean" manufacturing. Addresses the advantages and
disadvantages of software outsourcing and how to mitigate the effects
Type: HBS of, for example, lock-in and hijacking. Explores how Wipro has helped
Pub. Date: 10/25/2005 its customers deal with these issues and looks at the changing
Product #: 606021 competitive role of Indian outsourcers (from low-cost, to high-
Length: 12p quality/rapid turnaround). Specifically explores Wipro's experimental
Teaching Note: none use of lean principles as a source of new competitive advantage in
software services. Also addresses the issue of standardization in
information technology, examining why companies progressively
develop so many standards and how companies like Wipro can help
them standardize, thus limiting one of the primary drivers of
companies' IT costs.
CEMEX: Transforming a Basic In early 2005, the market for cement in Mexico was changing. The
Industry Company market, particularly in northern Mexico, had traditionally consisted
primarily of sales of bagged cement, which was common in developing
Hau L. Lee, David Hoyt economies. There appeared to be a shift to bulk cement, more typical
of developed economies. CEMEX, the third largest cement company in
Type: Stanford Graduate the world, and the dominant company in Mexico, had developed a
School of Business strong brand identity for its bagged cement. Bulk cement, however,
Pub. Date: 12/7/2005 was harder to differentiate. Describes the Mexican cement industry
Product #: GS33 and dramatic changes that CEMEX had made in 2000-2005 to focus
Length: 22p on customer needs, particularly the needs of its distributors. These
Teaching Note: none changes involved a wide range of activities, including dramatic
improvements in logistics, creating a retail network among its
distributors, and developing a suite of software applications to ensure
that the right product was delivered to the right place at the right time.
What lessons could the company adopt from its branded business and
its success with building its distributor network, if the market turned
more toward commodity bulk cement?
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (A): Examines one of the most important entrepreneurial decisions made in
True to Brand? the history of Porsche, made in early 1998: to build a sport utility
vehicle (SUV)--the Cayenne. After decades of relying on one or two
Jeffrey Fear, Carin-Isabel sports car models and nearly going bankrupt and losing its
Knoop independence in 1993, Porsche had to diversify its product lines. Also
examines the branding implications of the internationalization of
Type: HBS production.
Pub. Date: 1/12/2006
Product #: 706018 Subjects: Brand management, Corporate governance, Diversification,
Length: 29p Entrepreneurship, Globalization, Internationalization, Leadership,
Teaching Note: available Logistics, Manufacturing, Production, Supply chains.
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Global Supply Chain This interactive online simulation allows students to try their hands at
Management Simulation managing the complexities of a global supply chain by putting them in
the shoes of the supply chain manager of a mobile phone
Type: HBS manufacturer. Students become responsible for the rollout of two
Pub. Date: 1/1/2004 models of mobile phones. Illustrates key concepts of supply chain
Product #: 6107 management, such as: creating a balanced supply chain across
Length: n/a suppliers with different lead times, building flexibility into the supply
Teaching Note: available chain to avoid stock-outs and excess inventory, and evaluating and
using demand forecasts. Student success is measured by company
profits as well as through a dynamic evaluation process in which
students answer probing questions from the company's board
members. Students can use the simulation individually or in teams.
Users must have an Internet connection (dial-up or other) and a
personal computer that meets minimum technical requirements
Haier's U.S. Refrigerator Haier, the first Chinese consumer durable brand in the United States,
Strategy 2005 succeeded in the compact refrigerator, freezer, and air conditioner
markets and then built a U.S. factory to enter the full-size market.
Pankaj Ghemawat, Thomas M. Issues include the value of a local entrepreneur to the Asian
Hout manufacturer entering the United States; brand building and price
positioning; the sourcing location decision trade-off between production
Type: HBS costs and logistics costs; the role of change in the U.S. appliance
Pub. Date: 2/15/2005 distribution channels; global and regional competitive analysis; the
Product #: 705475 response of U.S. competitors to the global sourcing evolution; and the
Length: 23p time horizons of Chinese company management.
Teaching Note: available
Subjects: Cost analysis, Globalization, Market entry, Brands,
Corporate brand, Logistics, Plant location, Appliances.
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Renault's Logan Car: Managing Operations network design is about where to locate your supply
Customs Duties for a Global sources and manufacturing and distribution operations, as well as the
Product deployment of such operations, i.e., who should be supplying whom.
With the emergence of global supply and manufacturing sources and
Hau Lee, Amanda Silverman the global market, such a design will increasingly have to span multiple
regions. In the design, we have to capture the quantitative impacts of
Type: Stanford Graduate such factors like fixed and variable costs of production or distribution
School of Business facilities, inventory, freight, and other logistics costs. The global
Pub. Date: 4/29/2008 network requires explicit treatment of taxes, customs and duties. This
Product #: GS62 case is about Renault's recent car Logan, which was designed to serve
Length: 26p markets in emerging markets like Eastern Europe, North Africa and the
Teaching Note: available Middle East. The company has designed its supply chain to take
advantage of the special customs and duties treaties in these regions.
The case illustrates the complexities of such design decisions, and the
approaches one needs to take. The case also ends with a key decision
that Renault has to make - how to set up the supply chain for the new
market in South Africa. Again, the customs and duties implications play
a big role in such a decision.
Renesas Electronics and the The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan in March, 2011
Automotive Microcontroller caused extensive damage to Renesas Electronics wafer fabrication
Supply Chain (A) facility, a critical link in the global automotive supply chain. Many
OEMs sole-sourced customized microprocessors from the fab so its
Willy Shih, Margaret Pierson shutdown forced the "Big Three" of Detroit and Japan to shutdown
production as well. Data from two automotive customers in particular,
Type: HBS allowing the instructor to look at issues of delayed differentiation, sole-
Pub. Date: 4/5/2012 sourcing decisions, and/or Renesas' market position as a producer of
Product #: 612071 low-volume customized components, in the context of supply chain
Length: 16p disaster recovery. The two OEM's had different strategies with respect
Teaching Note: available to cross-utilization of components between product lines. Therefore, a
simple numerical assignment will show students the power of delayed
differentiation in components. The OEM with higher cross-utilization
(lower customization of components between product lines) had more
flexibility in which vehicles they stopped producing during the shortage.
Similarly, students can look at the impact of delayed differentiation at
the product level by looking at the production process within the fab
itself. Here Renesas's customization causes early differentiation. Again
numbers are provided to work examples. Finally, broader questions
around the viability of Renesas's market position can be discussed.
How should they respond to the disaster in the short term? How can
they assure customers they can handle future disruptions differently?
And from the OEMs' perspective, do they need to change their product
design to allow for the incorporation of alternative parts? Such parts
have downsides of their own. The findings in the two numerical
examples can be used to drive this discussion, or a general strategy
framework may be applied.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore: Challenges In 2006, Rio Tinto Iron Ore (RTIO) faced a number of challenges. The
of Globalization in the Mining iron ore business had traditionally been dominated by a few large
Industry suppliers, who sold to a relatively few large steel producers. The
business environment was changing, however, with the rapid
Hau Lee, David W. Hoyt, Samir development of China. Demand was growing faster than supply,
Singh causing increased prices, particularly on the spot market. Most of
RTIO's production was committed to fulfilling long-term contracts, so it
Type: Stanford Graduate could not fully benefit from the high spot market prices. New entrants,
School of Business however, were not committed to long-term contracts and were
Pub. Date: 7/3/2007 attracted by these high prices. In addition, many new Chinese iron and
Product #: GS56 steel mills were small operations, geographically disbursed, and did
Length: 26p not secure their iron ore supplies before building their plants. An
Teaching Note: available important part of the iron ore supply chain was transportation.
Traditionally, customers were responsible for shipping, but this did not
meet the needs of small, remotely located Chinese mills. In addition to
these changes in the marketplace, RTIO had developed new
steelmaking technology that enabled the use of lower quality iron ore
and also generated substantially fewer greenhouse gas emissions than
conventional technology. There were a number of possible approaches
to commercializing this technology, ranging from vertical integration to
licensing.
Supply Chain Management In this fast-paced, multi-player simulation, students experience the
Simulation: Root Beer Game effects of a supply chain dynamic called the "bullwhip" effect. Small
V2 changes in customer demand cause increasing oscillations in ordering
patterns and inventory levels moving down the supply chain away from
Type: HBS the customer. Students play one of four roles in a root beer supply
Pub. Date: 7/5/2012 chain: factory, distributor, wholesaler, or retailer. In each simulated
Product #: 6619 week, they must examine inventory, anticipate demand, and send
Length: 60 min orders to the adjacent connection in the supply chain. Each student
Teaching Note: available attempts to minimize inventory carrying costs while avoiding costly
inventory shortages. Students must make rapid ordering decisions
while dealing with limited information, a lack of demand visibility, and
shipping delays. Faculty can configure different supply chain scenarios
for students to help them explore the root causes of the bullwhip effect
while enabling discussion of techniques for controlling it. A single-
player version is also available.
Learning objective: Understanding the "bullwhip" effect.
Understanding demand forecasting, required lead times, and the
effects of batch ordering. Exploring techniques for controlling the
bullwhip effect. Reducing uncertainty and demand variability.
Understanding the role of centralized information.
Subjects covered: Demand analysis; Design; Forecasting;
Operations management; Product management; Suppliers; Supply
chain management
Synnex International: The case describes how Synnex Technology International Corporation
Transforming Distribution of (Synnex) in Taiwan transformed itself from a local distributor of
High-Tech Products, Shih-Fen electronic components into a global logistic conglomerate of
Chen, Lien-Ti Bei communication and information products between 1985 and 2007. The
case analyzes the channel structure of electronic product distribution
Type: Ivey School of Business and explains how Synnex introduced innovative practices to transform
Pub. Date: 12/1/2008 its operation. The case is designed for MBA students to grasp some
Product #: 908A19 fundamental issues related to distribution channel design and supply
Length: 22p chain management in a marketing or logistic management course.
Teaching Note: available
Subjects: Marketing, Distribution, Logistics, Supply chain
management, Supply chains, Sensors.
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The Crown Worldwide Group: In June 2003, the governments of Hong Kong and the People's
Relocating in China Under the Republic of China signed the Closer Economic Partnership
Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA). CEPA outlined terms for the liberalization of
Arrangement trade in goods and services and enabled firms incorporated in Hong
Kong to establish wholly owned businesses on the mainland. One firm
Michael J. Frantantuono that benefited from the liberalization was the Crown Worldwide Group.
Founded by Jim Thompson in 1965, and based in Hong Kong since
Type: University of Hong Kong 1970, Crown had evolved into the world's largest privately held
Pub. Date: 7/3/2007 company providing relocations and records management services, and
Product #: HKU653 had become a significant player in the field of logistics. By 2003, the
Length: 31p company had a global network of offices and warehouses in more than
Teaching Note: available 100 cities on six continents. Following the signing of CEPA, Crown
formulated a plan for building state-of-the-art warehouse/office
complexes on the mainland. The first was to be in Shanghai, to be
followed by a second in Beijing, and then others in several more cities.
Crown was successful in the first phase of implementing its strategy:
by August 2006, Shanghai employees had been working out of the
new facility for more than a year. Meanwhile, Crown had located a plot
of land in Beijing and had completed site preparations--but progress on
construction had stalled due to unexpected delays in project
registration approval from Beijing authorities. The delay raised the
question: How best to proceed? As he considered his options,
Thompson weighed tactical considerations and strategic concerns.
Economic logic suggested the need to get the construction project
back on track as quickly as possible. Nonetheless, he knew that any
action had to be consistent with the core values he had cultivated at
Crown, the reputation his company had earned as a world-class
provider of logistics services, and Crown's plans for further expansion
in China.
When Supply is of Public The case focuses on the challenges of Roche maintaining a supply
Interest: Roche & Tamiflu network for a global influenza pandemic response initiative based on
its antiviral drug Tamiflu. The Roche group is a 40 billion CHF
Noel Watson, Laura Rock company consisting of a pharmaceutical division and a diagnostic
Kopczak, Prashant Yadav division. The company's antiviral drug Tamiflu dominates the market
for prevention and treatment of seasonal influenza (flu). Tamiflu,
Type: HBS however, could also play an important role in responding to the first
Pub. Date: 1/15/2009 wave of a pandemic caused by a particularly harmful strain of the
Product #: 609061 influenza virus A. Tamiflu was designed to be effective against any
Length: 21p strain of Type A or B influenza. Thus, there was the potential to
Teaching Note: available establish a preparedness plan based on creating a stockpile of the
drug in conjunction with an appropriate plan for distribution to the
affected population. The use of Tamiflu in such a crisis would allow the
world to respond immediately, rather than having to wait for
development of a vaccine which had limitations in its effectiveness and
the drug had been endorsed by the WHO as a first line of defense. The
case focuses on the challenges of Roche maintaining a supply network
for a global pandemic response initiative. Managing supply is
particularly challenging for three reasons. First, demand for stockpile
quantities is spiky and uncertain, and governments placing orders
expect lead times to be short. Second, lead times for increasing
capacity are long, as are lead times for drug production and
encapsulation. Last, media coverage and press releases made by
governments and other stakeholders increase the stakes, as negative
media coverage may damage Roche's reputation with consumers,
leading to lower sales levels for its products.
Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller, an office furniture supplier, decided to implement the
Herman Miller: Moving Toward cradle-to-cradle (C2C) design protocol during the design of its mid-
Environmental Sustainability level office chair, Mirra. The C2C protocol was a set of environmentally
friendly product development guidelines created by architect William
Deishin Lee, Lionel Bony McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart. The essence of this
protocol was to eliminate waste and potentially harmful materials by
Type: HBS designing the product so that, at the end of its useful life, the raw
Pub. Date: 5/30/2007 materials could be fed back into either a technical or biological cycle
Product #: 607003 and used for the same or other purposes. Therefore, materials
Length: 21p remained in a closed-loop, eliminating the need for landfill and other
Teaching Note: available toxic forms of disposal such as incineration. The case describes the
C2C protocol, the details of how Herman Miller implemented C2C
during the design of the Mirra chair, as well as the impact of the new
protocol on their internal processes: design decisions, manufacturing,
and supply chain management. The proximate decision point in the
case is whether the company should replace the polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) material in the arm pads of the Mirra chair. PVC was a highly
toxic material to manufacture and dispose of and thus violated the C2C
protocol. However, it was the standard material for arm pads and many
other parts in the office furniture industry as it was durable, scratch
resistant, and inexpensive. To switch to thermoplastic urethane (TPU),
a more environmentally friendly material, for the Mirra Chair arm pad
required at least modification of a production tool, or possibly a
completely new tool. In addition, the cost of TPU was higher than PVC.
There was also uncertainty about how consistent the quality of the arm
pad would be with TPU.
ECCO A/S - Global Value ECCO A/S (ECCO) had been very successful in the footwear industry
Chain Management by focusing on production technology and assuring quality by
maintaining full control of the entire value chain from "cow to shoe." As
Bo Nielsen, Torban Pedersen, ECCO grew and faced increased international competition, various
Jacob Pyndt value chain activities, primarily production and tanning, were offshored
to low-cost countries. The fully integrated value chain tied up
Type: Richard Ivey School of significant capital and management attention in tanneries and
Business Foundation production facilities, which could have been used to strengthen the
Pub. Date: 4/24/2008 branding and marketing of ECCO's shoes. Moreover, an increasingly
Product #: 908M14 complex and dispersed global value chain configuration posed
Length: 21p organizational and managerial challenges regarding coordination,
Teaching Note: available communication and logistics. This case examines the financial,
organizational and managerial challenges of maintaining a highly
integrated global value chain and asks students to determine the
appropriateness of this set-up in the context of an increasingly market-
oriented industry. It is suitable for use in both undergraduate and
graduate courses in international corporate strategy, international
management, international marketing, supply-chain management,
cross-border strategic management and international business studies
in general.
Evolution of the Xbox Supply In November 2005, Microsoft prepared for a global launch of its next-
Chain generation game console, the Xbox 360. Microsoft's original Xbox had
been introduced a year after Sony's Playstation, but would beat Sony's
Hau Lee, David W. Hoyt, next-generation system to market by a substantial amount. It would
Charles Holloway also play an important part in Microsoft's future strategy, where the
home entertainment system was seen as a major growth opportunity.
Type: Stanford Graduate Describes the evolution of the video game console business and the
School of Business evolution of the Xbox, both from a design and manufacturing
Pub. Date: 4/14/2006 perspective. Microsoft's decisions for the original Xbox supply chain
Product #: GS49 are described, together with the changes in the supply chain that were
Length: 13p made for the Xbox 360. Asks questions about the motivation for
Teaching Note: available changes to the supply chain, the risks and benefits of global rather
than regional launch, and the use of contract manufacturers. Prepares
students for discussion of how supply chains must evolve to support
changing business strategy.
Ford Motor Co.: Supply Chain Describes Ford's examination of its supply chain to evaluate whether
Strategy the company should "virtually integrate" on the Dell Computers model.
Netafim: Migrating from In 2005, Erez Meltzer, the president and CEO of Netafim (the world's
Products to Solutions leading manufacturer of drip irrigation equipment), was wondering
whether Netafim's supply chain was strong enough to support the
Hau L. Lee, Guy Michlin change in strategy he was planning for the company: migrating from
selling products to selling solutions. When Meltzer stepped into office
Type: Stanford Graduate three years earlier, the company was struggling with flat sales, an out-
School of Business of-date supply chain, and no global synergies. In just three years,
Pub. Date: 2/17/2006 Meltzer turned around the company, restructured its supply chain, and
Product #: GS46 reinvigorated its growth. The question was whether the newly
Length: 22p restructured supply chain would support the new strategy--one that
Teaching Note: none would require new supply chain-related competencies from the
organization.
PCH International: Managing PCH International started out as a sourcing agent of low-priced
the Flows of Information, Goods electronic components from Taiwan and China to the Western world in
and Finance the mid 1990s, it had evolved to become a provider of comprehensive
supply chain solutions to global technology companies by 2007. PCH
Hau Lee, Jennie Tung was designed to address the needs of a complex global technology
supply chain landscape. The first section of the case provides an
Type: Stanford Graduate overview of the global technology supply chain in the 2000s; the
School of Business second section describes the physical, information and capital "flows"
Pub. Date: 2/17/2006 in the technology supply chain and the third section discusses how
Product #: GS61 PCH had designed solutions to address the challenges in the three
Length: 22p "flows." Customers examples included in the case to illustrate the
Teaching Note: none various supply chain priniples.
Polo Ralph Lauren & Luen Luen Thai is considering adopting a "design-to-store" supply chain
Thai: Using Collaborative strategy to compete in the apparel market as he faces increasing
Supply Chain Integration in the margin pressure, new market entrants, and China's WTO entry. The
Apparel Value Chain decision to implement "design-to-store" will depend on the success of
partner process integration (between fabric mill, manufacturer, and
Benjamin Yen, Ali F. brand) and mechanisms to enhance "collaborative behavior" between
Farhoomand, Shamza Khan partners. Luen Thai endeavors to fundamentally improve information
flow which could lead to change in processes and create multi-
Type: University of Hong Kong company efficiencies.
Pub. Date: 11/24/2006
Product #: HKU595 Subjects: Collaboration, Efficiency, Operations management,
Length: 19p Production, Strategic management, Value chains.
Teaching Note: available
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Scotts Miracle-Gro: The The Scotts Miracle-Gro company is the world's largest marketer of
Spreader Sourcing Decision branded consumer lawn and garden products, with a full range of
products for professional horticulture as well. Headquartered in
John Gray, Michael Leiblein, Marysville, Ohio, the company is a market leader in a number of
Shyam Karunakaran consumer lawn and garden and professional horticultural products.
The case describes a series of decisions regarding the ownership and
Type: Richard Ivey School of organization of the assets used to manufacture fertilizer spreaders.
Business Foundation This case is intended to illustrate the application of and tradeoffs
Pub. Date: 12/12/2008 between financial, strategic and operations perspectives in a relatively
Product #: 908M78 straightforward manufacturing "make-buy" decision. The case involves
Length: 11p a well-known, easily-described product that most students would
Teaching Note: available assume is made overseas. Sufficient information is provided to roughly
estimate the direct financial cost associated with internal (domestic)
production, offshored (non-domestic) production and outsourced
production. In addition, information is included that may be used to
estimate potential transaction costs as well as costs associated with
foreign exchange risk.
Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Discusses the structure of the Seven-Eleven Japan supply chain in
terms of its facilities network, inventory management, distribution, and
Sunil Chopra information.
Sport Obermeyer Ltd. The case describes operations at a skiwear design and merchandising
company and its supply partner. Introduces production planning for
Janice H. Hammond, Ananth short-life-cycle products with uncertain demand and allows students to
Raman analyze a reduced version of the company's production planning
problem. In addition, it provides details about information and material
Type: HBS flows that allow students to make recommendations for operational
Pub. Date: 10/13/1994 improvements, including comparisons between sourcing products in
Product #: 695022 Hong Kong and China.
Length: 19p
Teaching Note: 696012 Subjects: Apparel, Demand analysis, Forecasting, International
operations, Production planning, Sourcing, Supply chain.
Supply Chain Management at In 2006 Wal-Mart, the second largest firm in the world by sales, was
Wal-Mart looking to improve its already efficient supply chain. The company's
supply chain was closely integrated with its retail and information
Fraser P. Johnson systems strategies and has been developed incrementally over the
past 40 years. However, rivals were copying every aspect, from the
Type: Richard Ivey School of way Wal-Mart cross-docks product in warehouses to Wal-Mart's use of
Business Foundation a sophisticated database to capture, store, and disseminate store-level
Pub. Date: 11/28/2006 information to suppliers. Wal-Mart's new executive vice president,
Product #: 907D01 logistics, Johnnie Dobbs, was overseeing a handful of initiatives
Length: 15p designed to improve the firm's supply chain. However, it was not
Teaching Note: none certain that these initiatives were going to have a significant impact on
Wal-Mart costs, and he needed to consider what the company should
do to stay ahead of the competition.
Supply Chain Management at Describes a supply chain with very quick (i.e., two week) response
World Co. Ltd. times and allows students to explore how such short response times
are achieved. Allows students to explore why other supply chains, with
Ananth Raman, Anna much longer response times, might not be able to replicate this
McClelland, Marshall L. Fisher performance.
Type: HBS Subjects: Inventory management, Supply & demand, Supply chains,
Pub. Date: 4/4/2001 Time to market.
Product #: 601072
Length: 21p
Teaching Note: 601147
Chapter 17: Enterprise
Abstract
Resource Planning Systems
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Boeing Australia Ltd.: Formed in late 1996, Boeing Australia Ltd. (BAL) was a relatively new
Assessing the Merits of company and a global extension of the U.S. firm, the Boeing Co. BAL
Implementing a Sophisticated developed capabilities in the areas of space and communications, site
e-Procurement System management, and the upgrade and maintenance of military aircraft and
equipment. As BAL grew, so did the legacy information system it used
Ali Farhoomand, Peta Ashworth for both internal communications and external dealings with customers.
BAL, however, faced difficult decisions as it sought to upgrade its
Type: University of Hong Kong procurement systems and processes to improve operations. In early
Pub. Date: 8/1/2003 1999, BAL recruited a new national procurement manager, Russell
Product #: HKU271 Menere, whose immediate task was to look for gains in productivity by
Length: 15p improving procurement processes, either through cost savings or by
Teaching Note: available reduced processing time. To meet this objective, Menere initiated a
number of short-term improvements. These included the rationalization
of a large number of BAL's suppliers, improving BAL's relationships
with its key suppliers; the introduction of a credit-card purchasing
system for low-value, large-volume consumables; and the adoption of
electronic ordering processes with BAL's larger suppliers. In 2002, with
new opportunities available through e-business technology, Menere
needed to decide what BAL's next step should be. Should BAL invest
in a new system that would simplify the procurement process across
different divisions and support complex interfaces with suppliers?
Should BAL continue to sit on the fence and seek short-term
improvement tools for integration with its existing legacy systems?
Campbell Soup Co.: A Leader Campbell Soup, like most food manufacturers, faced grocery chain and
in Continuous Replenishment wholesale demand for its goods driven by Campbell's own promotional
Innovations pricing structure rather than retail consumer demand. Former policies
to encourage overstock created huge swings in production and
James L. McKenney, Theodore inventory levels. Campbell's introduced continuous product
H. Clark replenishment (CPR) under which they would manage inventory for
their customers, enabled by electronic data interchange to link supply
Type: HBS to actual demand. Implementing this channel shift required a
Pub. Date: 10/14/1994 restructuring of relationships with its customers and a radical
Product #: 195124 restructuring of its promotional policies.
Length: 21p
Teaching Note: available Subjects covered: Data processing; Information technology;
Organizational change
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Citibank's e-Business Strategy This case examines the challenges Citibank is facing in implementing
for Global Corporate Banking e-business strategies. The focus is on how Citibank has developed an
(2008) e-business strategy that fits with its corporate business strategy.
Citibank not only needs to use information technology to improve
Ali Farhoomand, Minyi Huang internal operations and provide more efficient customer services at
lower costs, but it also needs to ensure that its single, global online
Type: University of Hong Kong platform can serve the highly segmented market. At one end of the
Pub. Date: 10/24/2008 spectrum of the market are multinationals and top-level domestic
Product #: HKU797 corporations that operate sophisticated treasuries, and at the other end
Length: 20p are companies and small- and medium-sized businesses that are not
Teaching Note: available yet ready to upgrade or transform their systems.
Enterprise IT at Cisco (2004) Illustrates the challenges associated with centralizing IT decisions at
Cisco after a decade of decentralized planning and project funding.
Andrew McAfee, F. Warren When Brad Boston became Cisco's new CIO in 2001, he found that
McFarlan, Alison Berkley managers were starting to get frustrated with the results of their latest
Wagonfeld IT initiatives. Boston believed that Cisco needed to focus on its global
infrastructure before investing in more functional tools and
Type: HBS applications. Under the leadership of Boston and an executive
Pub. Date: 9/9/2004 operating committee, Cisco selected three major enterprise projects
Product #: 605015 that required an unprecedented level of process planning and cross-
Length: 13p functional cooperation, a major change from Cisco's legacy of
Teaching Note: available entrepreneurial drive. As these three projects started to wind down in
2004, Boston and the operating committee were thinking about what
types of new projects the IT organization should support. Raises
issues about change management, centralized planning, IT
prioritization and resource allocation, enterprise cooperation, and
project funding.
Subjects: Computer hardware, Computers, High technology, High
technology products, Entrepreneurship, Agility, Change management,
Cross functional management, Centralization, Enterprise systems,
Information technology, Management of information systems,
Technology management, ERP, Telecommunications, Consumer
electronics.
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Enterprise Resource Planning The Oracle acquisition of PeopleSoft in 2005 seems like ancient
Software--Ongoing history (at least in technology years). In fact, the PeopleSoft acquisition
Maintenance Cost Benefit is not even Oracle's latest major acquisition (Siebel was acquired in
Analysis September 2005). One of the primary reasons that Oracle acquired
PeopleSoft was to gain access to the 10,000+ customer base of
Mike Canniff PeopleSoft (and JD Edwards), which provides more than $1 billion in
annual revenue. This customer base is a gift that keeps on giving in
Type: Richard Ivey School of the form of a lucrative maintenance stream. Discusses options that
Business RFoundation PeopleSoft customers and, by extension, other enterprise software
Pub. Date: 7/19/2006 owners pursue to minimize enterprise resource planning (ERP)
Product #: 906E12 ongoing costs of ownership. Encourages students to evaluate several
Length: 16p criteria that can be used to lower ERP costs.
Teaching Note: available Subjects: Cost control, Enterprise systems, Outsourcing, Strategic
management, Vendor management.
i2 Technologies, Inc. Describes the emergence and growth of i2 Technologies and the
supply chain planning software industry. In December 1998, i2's
Ananth Raman, Jasjit Singh market capitalization was in excess of $2 billion; the supply chain
planning software industry had annual sales of approximately $1 billion
Type: HBS and was expected to grow at 57% annually. By describing i2's products
Pub. Date: 12/7/1998 and the process that the company followed to sell and implement its
Product #: 699042 software at companies, the case provides students with the
Length: 21p background needed to understand why i2 was successful. This
Teaching Note: 601143 understanding enables students to address issues like what i2 should
do in the future, and whether new competition such as SAP poses a
substantial threat to i2's future success.
Subjects: Forecasting, Mathematical programming, Operations
management, Operations research, Production planning, Software,
Supply chain.
Richter: Information Technology The director of information technology (IT) at Ritcher, a major
at Hungary's Largest Pharma Hungarian pharmaceutical company with operations throughout
Eastern Europe, is in the midst of planning for the IT department for
Deborah Compeau, Jordan the coming years. The three main considerations for the coming year
Mitchell, Gyorgy Drotos, Emma are: Is the current IT structure appropriate to meet the growing
Incze, Gyorgy Vas demands of the overall organization? To what extent should IT
affiliates be centrally controlled? How can IT best serve the rest of the
Type: Ivey company?
Pub. Date: 5/7/2008
Product #: 907E21 Subjects: Corporate governance, Governance, Centralized
Length: 23p organizations, Corporate structure, Organizational structure, Enterprise
Teaching Note: available systems, Information systems.
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SAP's Platform Strategy in In face of globalization, outsourcing, changing regulations, and rapid
2006 technological innovations, companies in the 2000s were increasingly
challenged to devise and implement adaptable business models. This
Ali F. Farhoomand, Samuel entailed putting in place enterprise applications that were open-source,
Tsang simple to implement, and easy to integrate within and without the
organizational bounds. Because traditional enterprise resource
Type: University of Hong Kong planning (ERP) systems were generally complex, proprietary, and
Pub. Date: 2/23/2006 difficult to install, ERP systems providers had to reposition themselves
Product #: HKU564 strategically. SAP, the leading company in this space, faced this
Length: 27p challenge by transforming itself from a closed-source software
Teaching Note: available developer to an open-source software integrator. By opening up its
proprietary software products as an open development and integration
platform, SAP allowed its customers to modify their ERPs to suit their
specific needs. This new strategy, however, would fundamentally affect
the company's business architecture. In other words, SAP had to
rethink how it would define its value proposition, identify and target its
customers, deploy its resources, configure its business processes,
manage its alliances, and develop and maintain its profit and growth
engines. How could the company pull off this repositioning initiative?
Would it be able to attract the global army of independent developers
in supporting its new software platform strategy? How would the
ongoing consolidation in the software industry affect the Company's
new strategy? How would the main competitors such as Oracle, IBM,
Microsoft, and a host of companies emerging in India react?
The San Diego City Schools: This case focuses on the challenge of quantifying the return on
Enterprise Resource Planning investment (ROI) of a large technology project, enterprise resource
Return on Investment planning (ERP), in the nonprofit environment of the San Diego City
Schools. The school district does not generate a profit, so traditional
Nancy Kulick, Mark Jeffery, Tim revenue enhancement arguments do not work. Instead, the case
Riitters, Scott Abbott, Douglas discusses the internal processes re-design and system consolidation
Papp, Tiffany Schad, Jed enabled by the new ERP system. The system ROI is composed of two
Wallace, Jeff Wiemann major components: cost savings from removal of legacy applications
and productivity improvements. The cost containment benefits are
Type: Kellogg School of relatively straightforward to quantify, but do not justify the system. The
Management productivity improvements are harder to quantify, and many can be
Pub. Date: 1/1/2006 categorized as soft benefits. Furthermore, many of the productivity and
Product #: KEL174 cost-saving benefits will not be realized without personnel reductions,
Length: 18p which are especially difficult in school districts and government
Teaching Note: available agencies. The case debrief therefore discusses the tradeoffs
quantifying soft benefits and productivity improvements, best practices
for management decision making, and the organizational change
necessary to realize the ROI.
Vandelay Industries, Inc. An ICS consultant considers issues at the start of a full-scale
implementation of SAP software for a large client. The enterprise
David Upton, Andrew McAfee resource planning (ERP) software will integrate previously fragmented
business processes and so must be supported by the entire client
Typer: HBS organization.
Pub. Date:10/29/1996
Product #: 697037 Subjects: Change management, Consulting, Data processing,
Length: 16p Enterprise systems, ERP, Information systems, Manufacturing
Teaching Note: 697063 strategy, Reengineering, Software.
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ZARA: IT for FastFashion Zara's CIO must decide whether to upgrade the retailer's IT
infrastructure and capabilities. At the time of the case, the company
Andrew McAfee; Anders relies on an out-of-date operating system for its store terminals and
Sjoman and Vincent Dessain has no full-time network in place across stores. Despite these
limitations, however, Zara's parent company, Inditex, has built an
Type: HBS Premier Case extraordinarily well-performing value chain that is by far the most
Collection responsive in the industry. The case describes this value chain,
Pub. Date: 6/25/2004 concentrating on its operations and IT infrastructure.
Product #: 604081
Length: 23p Learning Objective: To show how one company makes brilliant use of
Teaching Note: available multiple information channels: subjective and objective; qualitative and
quantitative; and phone, face-to-face, e-mail, and modem. Also, to
highlight the inside-out approach to selecting IT. To demonstrate how
information and IT support a business model.
Demand and Supply Explores the process and inputs behind financial and operational
Forecasting at Air Products-- forecasting in the Electronic Specialty Materials unit at Air Products
Electronics Specialty Materials and Chemicals, a global chemical company. The protagonist, John
Goldberg, grapples with how to better integrate the two forecasting
Shoshanah Cohen, Taylor processes, while also trying to prepare for unexpected urgent orders
Randall, Zahra Kanji, Susan L. and natural disasters.
Kulp
Subjects: Contingency planning, Demand planning, Disaster planning,
Type: HBS Operations, Performance measurement, Supply chain management.
Pub. Date: 5/23/2007
Product #: 107018
Length: 15p
Teaching Note: available
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Four Products: Predicting One of the critical tasks in the marketing of new innovations is
Diffusion (2006) predicting demand and rates of diffusion for those products. Focuses
on four innovative products from different domains. Although one can
John T. Gourville speculate on the scope and rate of diffusion for each of these products
independently, it's helpful to compare and contrast diffusion across
Type: HBS these products. Doing so allows one to focus on the "levers" or product
Pub. Date: 1/18/2006 characteristics that influence product diffusion, making one product a
Product #: 506050 star and another a dog. Importantly, looking across products allows
Length: 9p one to pick up on things that get lost in discussing a single product.
Teaching Note: none
Subjects: Market research, Brainstorming, Innovation, Innovations,
Technological innovation, Digital technology, Emerging technologies,
Nanotechnology, Technology, Product introduction, New product
marketing, Demand analysis.
Handleman Co. Describes the organization and operations of the Handleman Co., an
intermediary in the music industry that buys recorded music and resells
Janice Hammond, Kevin Dolan it to mass retailers such as Wal-Mart. The company provides
distribution, inventory management, retail merchandising, and category
Type: HBS management to its retail customers. It differentiates itself by keeping
Pub. Date: 4/14/2005 track of trends in the music industry and ensuring that the trends in
Product #: 605024 music popularity translate to the appropriate assortments in each retail
Length: 30p store. Recounts the changes that Handleman has made in
Teaching Note: none organizational structure, processes, and system to support its
business. Describes the challenges facing the president of the
entertainment division in light of increasing product proliferation, price
pressure, the need for growth, and the advent of online music.
Henkel Iberica (A) In 2002, Esteban Garriga, customer service director at Henkel Iberica,
questions whether Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and
F. Asis Martinez-Jerez, V.G. Replenishment (CPFR) would help manage retail promotions and limit
Narayanan, Lisa Brem their impact on the stock-outs and obsolete inventory. Describes the
situation facing Henkel Iberica, the Spanish subsidiary of the German
Type: HBS consumer products company Henkel KgaA, with respect to the
Pub. Date: 3/23/2005 management of retail promotions. The increasing number of
Product #: 105023 promotions and the complexity of the company portfolio seriously taxed
Length: 12p Henkel Iberica's sales, production, and distribution systems. Many in
Teaching Note: available the organization believed the company should abandon or cut back
promotions and adopt an everyday low pricing strategy. Garriga
believes the solution to be in CPFR. Describes Henkel Iberica's
operations and provides the necessary background to discuss whether
CPFR is the adequate solution for its problems.
L.L. Bean, Inc.: Item L.L. Bean must make stocking decisions on thousands of items sold
Forecasting and Inventory through its catalogs. In many cases, orders must be placed with
Management vendors twelve or more weeks before a catalog lands on a customer's
doorstep, and commitments cannot be changed thereafter. As a result,
Arthur Schleifer Jr. L.L. Bean suffers annual losses of over $20 million due to stockouts or
liquidations of excess inventory. Provides a context in which buying
Type: HBS decisions that balance costs of overstocking and understocking when
Pub. Date: 10/27/1992 demand is uncertain are made and implemented on a routine basis.
Product #: 893003
Length: 5p Subjects: Direct marketing, Forecasting, Inventory management,
Teaching Note: 985057 Order processing, Risk management, Uncertainty.
Leitax (A) Leitax, a young digital camera manufacturer selling its cameras mainly
through retailers, experienced poor matching of inventory availability
Noel Watson, Rogelio Oliva, with demand for new and existing products in 2002. Describes the
Laura Winig implementation and details of a consensus forecasting approach, a
crucial part of a demand and supply planning redesign that was
Type: HBS introduced to address the problem. The forecasting approach is a
Pub. Date:8/3/2005 cross-functional one involving the sales, operations, and finance
Product #: 606002 functions. Describes the results of the introduction, including planning
Length: 21p challenges the company continued to face.
Teaching Note: available
Subjects: Inventory management, Forecasting, Sales forecasting,
Supply & demand, Cross functional management, Demand planning,
Supply chain optimization.
Case Map for
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Merchandising at Nine West Describes the merchandising decision process (organization, structure,
Retail Stores and incentives) at Nine West retail stores, a large footwear retailer in
the United States. Also describes changes currently occurring at Nine
Ananth Raman, Colin Welch West and thus provides a context in which students can recommend
changes to the merchandising process and the structure of the
Type: HBS merchandising organization. To explain how merchandising decisions
Pub. Date: 5/15/1998 are made at a fashion retailer and to explore how changes in the
Product #: 698098 environment will impact the merchandising organization.
Length: 17p
Teaching Note: 601148 Subjects: Budgeting, Forecasting, Incentives, Inventory control,
Inventory management, Merchandising.
Necanko, Inc., Carol Prahinski Necanko, Inc. is a large international food manufacturer. A buyer-
scheduler for the company must forecast sales demand to determine
Type: Richard Ivey School of production planning, inventory management, and distribution for the
Business Foundation year. Sales were normally predictable and stable, but the company has
Pub. Date: 12/7/2004 just come back from a three-month layoff due to slow sales, and it is
Product #: 904D20 now experiencing a sales increase three times greater than usual. The
Length: 3p buyer-scheduler is uncertain why the sales are spiking and must
Teaching Note: available decide what action to take.
Wilkins, A Zurn Company: The newly promoted inventory manager wonders if there is an easier,
Demand Forecasting more reliable means of forecasting sales demand. Currently, forecasts
are based on the plant manager's, sales/marketing manager's, and
Carol Prahinski, Eric Olsen inventory manager's knowledge of industry trends, competitive
strategies, and sales history. The inventory manager must decide if
Type: Richard Ivey School of using statistical forecasting methods would ease the forecasting
Business Foundation process and make the forecasts more reliable. Students are exposed
Pub. Date: 9/13/2006 to different forecasting techniques, including executive opinion, linear
Product #: 906D06 regression, and time series. The data characteristics include
Length: 12p seasonality, trend, and random fluctuations.
Teaching Note: available
Subjects: Demand analysis, Manufacturing, Planning, Sales
forecasting, Uncertainty.
Play Time Toy Co. The president of a toy company is considering the adoption of level
production in a business characterized by highly seasonal sales. The
Thomas R. Piper issues include balancing the cost savings and the inventory risk,
estimating the seasonal financing need, and determining the
Type: HBS appropriate approach to the bank. A rewritten version of an earlier
Pub. Date:10/31/1991 case.
Product #: 292003
Length: 6p Subjects: Financing, Inventory management, Production planning,
Teaching Note: 292055 Production scheduling, Risk management.
Toy World, Inc. A shift from seasonal to level production of toys will change the
seasonal cycle of Toy World's working capital needs and necessitate
W. Carl Kester new bank credit arrangements. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Learning Objective: Students must analyze the company's
Type: HBS performance, forecast funds needs, and make a recommendation.
Pub. Date: 11/23/1994 Introduces the pattern of current assets and cash flows in a seasonal
Product #: 295073 company and provide an elementary exercise in the construction of pro
Length: 6p forma financial statements and estimation of funds needs.
Teaching Note: 297118
Subjects: Financing, Inventory management, Production planning,
Production scheduling, Risk management.
Wilkins, A Zurn Company: The general manager of the Wilkins plant in Paso Robles, California
Aggregate Production Planning has received instructions from the head office to reduce inventory by
30% in the next quarter. Although inventory had been accumulating
Eric Olsen, Carol Prahinski, over the past years, this had been seen as a benefit to the company
Jenni Denniston for a couple of reasons. One is that the cost of raw materials has risen
in the past year. The second is that the company has a policy of no
Type: Richard Ivey School of layoffs, so having inventory in stock allows the company to minimize
Business Foundation the use of overtime and temporary workers. The general manager
Pub. Date:9/13/2006 wondered whether revising the production planning process would be
Product #: 906D17 enough to solve Wilkins' inventory problems.
Length: 11p
Teaching Note: available Subjects: Inventory control, Logistics, Manufacturing strategy,
Operations management.
Chapter 20: Inventory Control Abstract
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Barilla SpA (A) Barilla SpA, an Italian manufacturer that sells to its retailers largely
through third-party distributors, experienced widely fluctuating demand
Janice H. Hammond patterns from its distributors during the late 1980s. This case describes
a proposal to address the problem by implementing a continuous
Type: HBS replenishment program, under which the responsibility for determining
Pub. Date: 5/17/1994 shipment quantities to the distributors would shift from the distributors
Product #: 694046 to Barilla. Describes support and resistance within Barilla's different
Length: 21p functional areas and within the distributors Barilla approached with the
Teaching Note: available proposal.
Blanchard Importing and Illustration of the two main types of errors resulting from use of the
Distribution Co., Inc. economic order quantity (EOQ) as a tool in production scheduling.
Designed to permit class discussion to begin with a consideration of
Paul W. Marshall, Alan H. one common type of mistake, errors in calculation of the EOQ volume
Drinan resulting from use of incorrect data for the input parameters of the
formula. The analysis can then shift to a more general discussion of
Type: HBS the second type of error, the misapplication of EOQ and re-order point
Pub. Date: 9/1/1972 (ROP) techniques to a given system. Class discussion can conclude
Product #: 673033 with student recommendations of alternative techniques which may be
Length: 11p better suited to the Blanchard operation than the EOQ/ROP method.
Teaching Note: 678033
Subjects: Beverages, Inventory management, Order quantity,
Production scheduling, Wholesaling.
Case Map for
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Boeing Co.: Moonshine Shop Describes how the "Moonshine Shop," a group of plant-savvy creative
generalists, is helping a great industrial company become more
Robert D. Austin, Richard L. innovative. Chronicles the history of the Moonshine Shop, its
Nolan, Shannon O'Donnell successes and failures, and describes innovations they've helped put
in place. The group routinely creates savings equal to multiples of their
Type: HBS own budge through front-lines process innovation and support of staff
Pub. Date: 4/3/2007 on-the-floor.
Product #: 607130
Length: 25p Subjects: Inventory management, Brainstorming, Innovation,
Teaching Note: none Innovations, Technological innovation, Process innovation, Operations,
Operations management, Creativity, Organizational change, Plant
management.
CarMax Carmax is the largest multi-market used car dealer in the U.S., and has
no format-to-format competitor in the $375 billion used car market.
Rajiv Lal, David Kiron CarMax is trying to do what some analysts believed to be impossible:
sell used cars profitably on a national scale, and at the same time
Type: HBS revamp the tarnished image of the used car salesman.
Pub. Date: 6/15/2005
Product #: 505080 Subjects: Corporate strategy, Growth management, Information
Length: 29p systems, Innovation, Inventory management, Operations management.
Teaching Note: none
David Berman Examines the decision of a hedge fund manager who is considering
investing in a retail stock. The protagonist is concerned about the
Ananth Raman, Vishal Gaur, retailer's inventory level. Explores the relationship between the
Saravanan Kesavan retailer's inventory and future earnings--and, hence, the relationship
between inventory level and stock price.
Type: HBS
Pub. Date:4/12/2005 Subjects: Inventory, Stocks, Earnings, Hedge funds, Investments,
Product #: 605081 Business valuation, Valuation, Financial institutions, Financial services,
Length:19p Supply chain management, Supply chains.
Teaching Note: available
Elite Rent-a-Car The president and founder of a premier luxury car rental agency
located throughout Europe must decide on the composition of the fleet
Gregory S. Zaric, Jordan of cars for the upcoming summer season. She has to balance a desire
Mitchell for high utilization versus the possibility of having to turn away clients if
they request a car that is not in stock. Can be used to introduce or
Type: Richard Ivey School of reinforce a number of concepts, including break-even analysis, basic
Business Foundation descriptive statistics, and the new vendor model.
Pub. Date: 4/23/2007
Product #: 907E11 Subjects: Breakeven analysis, Inventory control, Statistical analysis
Length: 6p
Teaching Note: none
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Operations and Supply Chain Management
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Food Security and The Church The Mormon Church focuses on self-reliance and being prepared for
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day emergencies. Part of their program encourages each member of the
Saints Church to have a reserve food supply on hand at all times. Given U.S.
and global food stock levels, is the Church program a good model for
Ray A. Goldberg, Eliot the country?
Sherman
Subjects: Inventory, Charities, Philanthropy, Religion & business,
Type: HBS Agriculture, Food, Natural foods, Agribusiness.
Pub. Date: 9/25/2007
Product #: 508002
Length: 35p
Teaching Note: none
Hewlett-Packard Co.: DeskJet Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Vancouver Division faced a challenge in 1990.
Printer Supply Chain (A) Although its new inkjet printers were selling well, inventory levels
worldwide were rising as sales rose. In Europe, high product variety
Laura Rock Kopczak, Hau Lee was making inventory levels especially high. HP considered several
ways to address the inventory issue: air-freighting printers to Europe,
Type: HBS developing more formalized inventory planning processes, or building
Pub. Date: 5/11/2001 a factory in Europe.
Product #: GS3A
Length: 12p Learning objective: To discuss inventory analysis and/or to discuss
Teaching Note: none the organizational challenges companies face in implementing supply
chain solutions.
Merrimack Tractors and At Merrimack Tractors and Mowers in 2008, product manufacturing
Mowers: LIFO or FIFO? costs are increasing faster than competitors' costs, and as a result
earnings are likely to fall below those reported in 2007. The company
William J. Bruns Jr., Sharon president and the company controller have discussed this problem,
Bruns, Susan S. Harmeling and the controller has mentioned that if the company changed from
LIFO to FIFO it might be possible to maintain earnings growth in 2008.
Type: HBS He prepares a memo to the president explaining how inventory flow
Pub. Date: 12/9/2008 assumptions work and provides pro-forma income statements that
Product #: 3217 show that, for one product (reel mower units), adopting FIFO would
Length: 6p allow Merrimack to report higher income in 2008 than it did in 2007, but
Teaching Note: available higher income taxes would have to be paid.
Paper and More (A) Provides a context and exercise for introducing retail inventory
management, including cost optimization, service-level criteria, and
Noel Watson forecasting in single and multiproduct settings. The owner of a single-
location paper and paper products store considers the implications of
Type: HBS expansion for inventory management. Considerations include lost
Pub. Date: 7/19/2005 sales, retail metrics for multiproduct settings, and shelf space
Product #: 606023 constraints.
Length: 11p
Teaching Note: available Subjects: Inventory management, Forecasting, Sales forecasting,
Expansion, Consumer goods, Department stores, Retail stores,
Retailers, Retailing.
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Progistix-Solutions Inc.--The The president and chief executive officer of Progistix-Solutions Inc. has
Critical Parts Network asked an analyst to prepare an annual review of the Xerox Critical
Parts Network for presentation to management in two weeks. The
P. Fraser Johnson, Alison president expected the analyst to review the performance of the
Woodcock network and establish an improvement plan for the coming year,
supported by specific goals and objectives. Although Xerox and
Type: Richard Ivey School of Progistix were satisfied with their relationship, after five years, both
Business Foundation parties were interested in exploring ways to improve the network,
Pub. Date: 9/13/2004 especially because competitors had adopted similar approaches. In
Product #: 905D02 preparation for the meeting, the analyst wanted to explore
Length: 9p opportunities in three specific areas: First, identify opportunities to
Teaching Note: available improve depot operations. Second, determine how and where Progistix
could work together with Xerox on such an initiative making additional
improvements in the area of inventory management. Third, improve
systemwide inventory turn performance by re-examining the cut-off
point for filling the technicians' trunks with inventory.
Supply Chain Close-Up: The The owners of the Video Vault struggle to determine the optimal
Video Vault stocking levels of home videos in an industry fraught with new
technology, new pricing paradigms, and stiff competitive pressure from
V.G. Narayanan, Lisa Brem large national chains. Teaching Purpose: To demonstrate the role of
incentive contracts in achieving supply chain coordination.
Type: HBS
Pub. Date: 3/25/2002 Subjects: Accounting, Contracts, Incentives, Inventory, Operations
Product #: 102070 management, Pricing, Supply chains.
Length: 10p
Teaching Note: 103012
Material Requirements Material requirements planning (MRP) systems have been widely used
Planning at A-Cat Corp by manufacturing firms to maintain an optimum flow of inputs for best
production results. By using an MRP system, a firm can prepare a
Jitendra R. Sharma, Tinu production plan that specifies the number of sub-assemblies that go
Agrawal into the final products along with the exact timeline of an order, from
placement to completion. This case analyzes how Sunita Menon's
Type: Richard Ivey School of adoption of an MRP system at A-CAT Corp. (A-CAT) has improved the
Business Foundation production-planning process. To make one unit of A-CAT's main
Pub. Date: 4/11/2012 product, P0110, requires two P0X units and two P0Y units; in addition,
Product #: W12868 each P0X unit needs two types of subparts: four P1X1 units and three
Length: 5p P1X2 units. The case examines the intricacies of procurement,
Teaching Note: available warehousing and processing costs of various material components by
critically evaluating different techniques in practice. Using situational
scenarios, the case presents lot-sizing techniques - including lot for lot,
economic order quantity, least total cost and least unit cost - for
balancing costs such as set-up costs, ordering costs and inventory-
holding costs.
Wilkins, A Zurn Company: The materials manager at the Wilkins plant in California is surprised to
Materials Requirement find out that an auditor's report recommends a second annual physical
Planning inventory count. He has concerns about the level of the inventory that
was conducted, knows changes are needed, and must decide what
Carol Prahinski, Eric Olsen alternatives to consider. Explores the difficulties of managing inventory
as well as typical problems that occur in growing businesses.
Type: Richard Ivey School of
Business Foundation Subjects: Inventory control, Manufacturing, Materials management,
Pub. Date: 4/11/2006 Planning.
Product #: 906D05
Length: 19p
Teaching Note: available
Hines Goes to Rio The Torre Almirante office tower, Hines' newest project in Rio de
Janeiro, was a 36-story, Class AA office tower with an adjoining 420-
Arthur I. Segel, Ricardo Reisen stall parking structure and a preserved 14-story historic facade. It was
de Pinho completely different from anything that had previously been built in the
city. It was also the first time that a developer took the risk of publicly
Type: HBS announcing to the Brazilian business community its intention and
Pub. Date: 7/21/2004 commitment to complete such a complex real estate project on
Product #: 805001 schedule. It was an impressive and unprecedented enterprise, but at
Length: 26p this stage, the project was enmeshed in some operational
Teaching Note: available complications. Several project designs were not yet ready, and
discussions among the different companies involved in the
development had intensified in the past weeks. Robert A.M. Stern
Architects, the New York-based design architect, was debating with
Hines about issues ranging from the glass window specifications to the
material for the gold leaf lobby ceiling. Pontual Arquitetura, the local
production architect, was concerned about the fire protection system.
In addition, Racional, the local general contractor, just pointed out a
serious problem in the freight elevator shaft that could force Hines to
modify substantial parts of the project and, consequently, trigger a new
round of required approvals. Includes color exhibits.
Manzana Insurance: Fruitvale Deals with performance assessment and improvement of a service
Branch (Abridged) operation in the insurance industry, a market that is highly sensitive to
response time. Two branch offices in direct competition are described,
Steven C. Wheelwright and the impact of response time on performance is suggested.
Management choices that impact response time are explored and the
Type: HBS poorer performer of the two branches must decide how to respond.
Pub. Date: 9/4/1991
Product #: 692015 Subjects: Competition, Insurance, Operations management,
Length: 14p Performance measurement, Scheduling, Service management.
Teaching Note: 696043
Southern Pulp and Paper A paper mill's paper machines are a bottleneck in the operation. The
causes include poor scheduling, lack of investment, and ineffective
David Upton, William H. Bolen process control. The plant manager is charged with improving this
Jr. situation fairly rapidly and has a number of proposals for change from
which to choose.
Type: HBS
Pub. Date: 4/26/1996 Subjects: Computer systems, Facilities, Implementation,
Product #: 696103 Manufacturing, Operations management, Plant management.
Length: 10p
Teaching Note: none
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Ti-Tech (A) This case concerns the selection and scheduling of orders by a small
industrial titanium fabricator that recently has been plagued by poor
Benson P. Shapiro, John T. deliveries and a lack of capacity. At the time of the case, Ti-Tech must
Gourville, Craig E. Cline decide which of four orders to accept, with capacity making it
impossible to accept all four. Each order represents a different mix of
Type: HBS labor, revenues, and potential future work. The case forces the student
Pub. Date: 4/25/2008 to choose among the four orders, given limited capacity available,
Product #: 508095 other business likely to come along, and the requirements of each
Length: 16p order.
Teaching Note: none
Subjects: Business to business, Competitive bidding, Efficient
markets, Market analysis, Market structure, Marketing strategy, Order
processing, Pricing, Production scheduling.
Da Click's "Throwback" Jerseys This simple case enables students to determine production bottlenecks
and perform sensitivity analyses. It can be used to accompany a
Elliot N. Weiss discussion of "The Goal" by Eli Goldratt.
ForeFront Manufacturing: ForeFront Wood Products produces high-quality wooden door sets.
Production Processes and The company faces capacity constraints and inefficiencies resulting
Change Management in from its processes and culture. As a consequence, it struggles to be
Mainland Chin profitable. ForeFront's parent company, ForeFront Holdings, plans an
initial public offering in 2007. It has recently hired a new operations
Chris J. Piper, Nigel Goodwin manager with the mandate to turn the factory around. As the
operations manager begins his job he tours the manufacturing facilities
Type: Richard Ivey School of to gather information on production processes and factors affecting
Business Foundation capacity, cost, and conformance. Describes the firm's manufacturing
Pub. Date: 10/6/2006 and managerial processes. Many issues are covered, including high
Product #: 906D20 costs, low yields, unreported defects, and equipment that fails to
Length: 15p operate near its rated capacity. Organizational and change
Teaching Note: available management challenges, including high employee turnover, excessive
use of overtime, and failure of supervisors to observe or report
employee errors are also described.
Southwest Airlines in Baltimore The number of connecting passengers through Southwest Airlines'
Baltimore station has grown 100% CAGR since 1997. Originally
Rogelio Oliva, Jody Hoffer designed as a point-to-point network, this load of connecting
Gittell, David Lane passengers has been stressing Baltimore ground operations, resulting
in an erosion of service quality and difficulties in achieving fast plane
Type: HBS turnarounds--one of the key elements of Southwest's low-cost strategy.
Pub. Date: 6/21/2002 This case presents comparative data to illuminate the key elements of
Product #: 602156 Southwest's operating strategy and provides detailed information about
Length: 23p the activities and information flows required to turn around a plane,
Teaching Note: available allowing for a meaningful analysis of the process--e.g., resource
utilization, capacity, bottlenecks, and coordination mechanisms. A
rewritten version of an earlier case.
3M Health Care A summer intern student at 3M Health Care must analyse the health
care division's logistics systems and report her findings to the vice
P. Fraser johnson, Viola Hoo president of 3M Health Care Markets. The vice president is most
interested in the recommendations for the proposed changes to the
Type: Richard Ivey School of existing method of distributing products to Canadian hospitals. This
Business Foundation case provides sufficient information for students to assess the
Pub. Date: 1/4/2011 quantitative and qualitative issues relating to direct distribution versus
Product #: 904D08 maintaining its current supply chain structure of using valu-added
Length: 12p resellers.
Teaching Note: available
Learning objective: This case provides an opportunity to explore
issues related to disintermediation. It provides sufficient information for
students to assess the quantitative and qualitative issues related to
direct distribution versus maintaining its current supply chain structure
of using value-added resellers (VARs).
Intermountain Health Care Intermountain Health Care (IHC), an integrated delivery system based
in Utah, has adopted a new strategy for managing health care delivery.
Richard Bohmer, Amy C. The approach focuses management attention not only on the facilities
Edmondson, Laura R. Feldman where care takes place but also on physician decision making and the
care process itself, with the aim of boosting physician productivity and
Type: HBS Premier Case improving care quality, while saving money. This case explores the
Collection challenges facing Brent James, executive director of the Institute for
Pub. Date: 10/1/2002 Health Care Delivery Research at IHC, as he implements new
Product #: 603066 structures and systems (including a data warehouse for care
Length: 23p outcomes, electronic patient records, computer workstations, clinical
Teaching Note: available data support systems, and protocols for care) designed to support
clinical process management across a geographically diverse group of
physicians with varying levels of interest and dedication to IHC. Also
highlights an innovative strategy for creating and disseminating
knowledge at the individual and organizational levels to maintain high
standards in care delivery.
Pharmacy Service CVS's retail pharmacy operations are functioning poorly and
Improvement at CVS (A) dissatisfying customers. Many customers are defecting as a result. A
pharmacy service improvement team has documented the current
Andrew McAfee prescription fulfillment process, its exception rates, and the problems
generated by exceptions. The company must now decide how to
Type: HBS Premier Case change this process, and what information system changes to make in
Collection support of the redesigned process.
Pub. Date: 12/14/2005
Product #: 606015 Learning objective: To show the tight linkages between business
Length: 11p processes and IT in many operations.
Teaching Note: available
Subjects covered: Business process automation; Business process
reengineering; Business processes; Customer retention; Customer
service; Information technology; Process improvement
Case Map for
Chase / Jacobs / Aquilano
Operations and Supply Chain Management
13nd Edition
(Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin)
Deloitte & Touche Consulting Examines two dilemmas often faced by an operations consultant. First,
Group the dual responsibility to both client and consulting firm. Second, the
management of the often competing pressure to deliver immediate
David Upton, Christine results, at the same time laying the foundation for long-term
Steinman performance improvement.
Quantum Corp.: eSupplyChain The eSupplyChain group has been recently formed with Quantum
Group Corp.'s Hard Disk Drive Group to evaluate Internet/IT-based
approaches to improving supply chain performance. The Hard Disk
Andrew McAfee, Gregory Drive Group has endured several quarters of poor financial
Bounds performance and has already embarked on a number of supply chain
initiatives. The eSupplyChain group has been tasked with extending
Type: HBS these and with understanding how to take advantage of eHITEX, a
Pub. Date: 1/23/2001 Web-based exchange just founded by a group of high-tech
Product #: 601099 manufacturers, including Quantum. Quantum and the eSupplyChain
Length: 21p group must decide which initiatives to pursue, and how to work with all
Teaching Note: 603032 involved stakeholders, both internal and external, to execute them
successfully. The case also highlights the role of IT platforms both
within and outside the firm.
Rosenbluth International and Rosenbluth, the third largest U.S. travel agency, uses the Internet to
Biztravel.com serve new customers with a high-service strategy. Rosenbluth
acquires Biztravel.com and integrates the customer support and
Roger Hallowell logistics aspects of service delivery.
World Wide Technology and Covers inter-firm, IT-enabled supply chain collaboration and focuses
ClearOrbit: Enabling Supply on supplier-manufacturer collaboration. To assess collaboration from a
Chain Collaboration holistic point of view, the case describes the distinct role played by the
various parties involved in the collaborative effort: the manufacturer
Luis C. Blancas, Hau Lee and its supply base, as well as a consulting firm, a supply chain
process outsourcing company, and a software provider. Centers on the
Type: Stanford Graduate two latter companies--World Wide Technology (WWT), a $2 billion
School of Business supply chain process outsourcing company based in St. Louis, and
Pub. Date: 9/27/2006 ClearOrbit, a rapidly growing software company based in Austin,
Product #: GS53 Texas. Presents the story of a world-class automotive original
Length: 32p equipment manufacturer (OEM) whose purchasing operations for
Teaching Note: available maintenance, repair, and operations material had grown complex,
costly, and error prone. In mid-2004, WWT, along with a consulting
firm, proposed an outsourcing program to the OEM: the consulting firm
would perform strategic sourcing and WWT would manage the entire
fulfillment cycle. A critical feature of this program was that it would be
collaborative. Early on in the program, however, it became apparent to
WWT that delivering on the collaborative requirements of the program
demanded the aid of specialized technological capabilities. WWT
decided to partner with ClearOrbit, a company that had recently
developed an Internet-based solution for companies to manage POs,
deliveries, and invoices with a supply base regardless of size and
technological resources available at each supplier. Describes the
challenges of design, implementation, and growth of the program.