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Getting to Grips With Take-Back Laws
Atasu, Atalay; Van Wassenhove, LukArticle ART-1892-EService and Operations ManagementAs diverse environmental legislation is being formulated around the world, companies may find themselves in a ¿gray zone,¿ as the authors explain in a new paper on the subject. This presents challenges but also opportunities for companies to clarify operations in four areas: forming a network, rethinking product design, setting up a closed-loop supply chain, and adopting new technologies and business models. The authors believe that individual pr...Starting at €8.20
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Ebola: Managing to Save Lives
IESE InsightArticle ART-2676-EService and Operations ManagementA year after the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in March 2014, health-care experts are cautiously optimistic that the epidemic appears to be slowing. Although the outlook is brighter than a year ago when the first case was detected in Guinea, there is still a long way to go and many lessons to be learned in managing a crisis of this scale, related to institutional shortfalls, international coordination, engagement with local stakeholders and, m...Starting at €8.20
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Does America Really Need Manufacturing
Pisano, Gary P.; Shih, WillyArticle HBS-R1203G-EService and Operations ManagementToo many U.S. companies base decisions about where to locate production largely on narrow financial criteria. They don't consider whether keeping manufacturing at home makes more sense strategically or take into account the impact it might have on their ability to innovate. The result has been an exodus of manufacturing from America, which has weakened the capabilities that domestic firms need to keep inventing high-quality, cost-competitive prod...Starting at €8.20
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Tug-of-War (HBR Case Study and Commentary)
Sheffi, Yossi; Mozaffar, Shakeel; Moffat, Robert W., Jr.; Blascovich, John D.; Lahowchic, NickArticle HBS-R0509A-EService and Operations ManagementJack Emmons, the CEO of Voici Brands, knew his apparel company needed a supply chain overhaul. Over the past couple of years, sales had dropped because of late deliveries, stock-outs, and other supply problems. Meanwhile, a major competitor had significantly reduced its time to market and boosted its bottom line by outsourcing all its product lines to a dazzlingly efficient "supply chain city" in Shanghai. Unfortunately, Jack's company was just t...Starting at €8.20
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Just in Time for the Holidays (HBR Case Study and Commentary)
McNulty, Eric; Johnson, M. Eric; Brandstatter, Horst; Hausman, Warren H.; Omrod, AnneArticle HBS-R0512A-EService and Operations ManagementIt's the busiest time of year for North Pole Workshops. Production is in high gear, and the elves are on overtime in the sprint toward Christmas. But an unexpected spike in demand for one toy may leave children around the world disappointed on Christmas morning, whether they've been naughty or nice. At the same time, another toy's popularity threatens to plummet, leaving Santa and his elves faced with the prospect of millions of unloved plaything...Starting at €8.20
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Untangling the Knots in the New Silk Route
Ribera Segura, Jaume; Castillo, CristinaArticle ART-2081-EService and Operations ManagementWhile China remains the worlds factory, some companies are starting to realize that the extraordinary margins they once enjoyed are steadily being eroded. Why? The rising costs of raw materials and labor only partially explain why a growing number of companies are opting to bring back part or all of the production that they had previously outsourced to China. More likely, the disjointed and inefficient supply chain between China and Europe is th...Starting at €8.20
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3-D Printing Will Change the World
D'Aveni, Richard A.Article HBS-F1303E-EService and Operations Management3-D printing, also known as additive printing, is ushering in a new era--of flexible, just-in-time, customized manufacturing. And as it revolutionizes manufacturing, it will tip the East-West balance, so that China is no longer the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.Starting at €8.20
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Subsidies and the China Price
Haley, Usha C.V.; Haley, George T.Article HBS-F0806C-EService and Operations ManagementNew research suggests that Chinese companies' price advantage comes not from low-cost labor but from massive government subsidies. That finding has major implications for foreign firms that compete with, or source from, those companies.Starting at €8.20
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Green Rules to Drive Innovation
Esty, Daniel C.; Charnovitz, SteveArticle HBS-R1203L-EService and Operations ManagementIncoherent U.S. energy and climate policies have cast a pall over the entire economy and are putting U.S. companies at a serious global disadvantage. The authors offer 10 prescriptions for reforms, two of which they describe in detail. First, they argue that the U.S. should impose a gradually increasing carbon charge; this would help internalize environmental costs, drive investment in energy efficiency, encourage innovation in renewable power, a...Starting at €8.20
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Eliminate the Middleman? (HBR Case Study and Commentary)
Huang, Ming-Hui; Riggs, Bruce K.; Lynn, Barry C.; Dongsheng, Wang; Gaffney, PaulArticle HBS-R0603A-EService and Operations ManagementGreg Jamison, the head of global sourcing at USTech, has a complicated situation on his hands. The U.S. consumer electronics giant has long outsourced much of the design and production of its branded offerings to TaiSource, an original design manufacturer, or ODM, in Taiwan. TaiSource, in turn, has moved most of its manufacturing to Beijing, giving USTech many of the cost benefits--and none of the hassles--of sourcing in China. But commodity prod...Starting at €8.20