Harvard Business Review
SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
During an economic crisis, the exaggerated decline in orders can be especially damaging to upstream suppliers that have high fixed costs tied to production assets. Ford CEO Alan Mulally tried to mitigate the impending bullwhip during the 2008 financial crisis by imploring the U.S.
Harvard Business Review
APRIL 6, 2016
The latest nuclear reactor designs, promising higher safety, longer operating life, and lower operating costs, cost up to $25 billion after factoring in the huge budget overruns. This all presents CEOs with a tough dilemma. In the meantime, the JV has also started doing contract printing for third parties.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Harvard Business Review
MAY 8, 2012
"When the proposal to outsource technology was originally put on the table," said Sunil Mittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel , "most of our board members' jaws dropped, and they thought we had gone crazy.". Bharti's innovative business model converted fixed costs in capital expenditure to a variable cost based on usage of capacity.
Harvard Business Review
JULY 20, 2011
A succession of CEOs prior to Rick Wagoner (who fought heroically to overcome the dreadful hand he was dealt) allowed all manner of legacy costs to build up (retiree health, Jobs Bank, etc.) and those largely fixed costs were more painful and debilitating if GM shrank in the U.S. — as it did — than if it grew.
Harvard Business Review
FEBRUARY 22, 2011
Wired reported late last year, "The top 10 Web sites accounted for 31% of US page views in 2001, 40% in 2006, and 75% in 2010." As each of these companies expands its fixed-cost infrastructure, profits grow geometrically because the additional variable cost of adding each new user is near zero. These are tech companies.
Expert insights. Personalized for you.
8 
Let's personalize your content