Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Since joining the Harvard Business School in 2007 (after a long career at IBM, Kodak, Silicon Graphics, and other companies), I have visited hundreds of factories. Producing biologics involves enough biochemistry, chemical engineering, and cell biology to make a graduate student wince.

Supply Chain 15

Supply Chain Offshoring Engineering Pharmaceuticals 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 15, 2014

The US-based company used to be a diversified industrial group, with activities in all types of glass, chemicals, paints, optical materials, and biomedical systems. PPG (originally “Pittsburgh Plate Glass”) is a splendid example of such a transformation.

Company 11

Company Chemicals Short-term How To 11

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 16, 2015

To fuel their analysis, Graetz and Michaels employ new data from the International Federation of Robotics to analyze the use of industrial robots across 14 industries in 17 countries between 1993 and 2007. percentage points, respectively, between 1993 and 2007. thanks to its highly technical metal and chemical industries.

Productivity 8

Productivity Products Cost GDP 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

capital markets between 1985 and 2007. Sometimes, they just come right out and admit it, as PaineWebber did in confronting Monsanto’s strategy to gain R&D synergies by constructing a portfolio of businesses spanning the chemicals, biotech, and agribusiness sectors.

Agility 8

Agility Chemicals Creativity Banking 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 20, 2013

Employees at semiconductor-chip-maker Intel recently devised a new chemistry process that reduced chemical waste by 900,000 gallons, saving $45 million annually. Another team developed a plan to reuse and optimize networking systems in offices, which cut energy costs by $22 million.

Metrics 9

Metrics Chemicals Simon Energy 9

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 29, 2017

A wonderful New York Times article from 2007 recounted the 20 th annual “Operator’s Challenge” — aka the “Sludge Olympics” — a competition for New York sewage treatment workers. Sam Austin/Unsplash. The participants compete to show skill in their work, and often do so with great passion.

Chemicals 8

Chemicals Corporate Accountability Article Learning-by-Doing 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 17, 2018

Sarah Williamson is the CEO of FCLTGlobal (formerly Focusing Capital on the Long Term), an organization cofounded in 2016 by BlackRock, CPPIB, Dow Chemical, McKinsey, and Tata Sons to encourage a longer-term focus in business and investment decision making. For each of the 17 companies, I compared their RQ with that of their industry.

Long-term 10

Long-term Innovation Technology Stage-Gate 10

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 25, 2013

My client (a different chemical company) later had a similar explosion. Copyright 2007-2013 by StrategyDriven Enterprises, LLC. Trees with thicker bases and deeper roots will sprout greener (be profitable), shed less often (fewer corporate flaws) and live longer (dominate its industry). Consider leaving a comment! All rights reserved.

Crisis Management 81

Crisis Management Crisis Risk Management Budgeting 81

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 21, 2012

A group of us bought the company from the Armstrong Group in a buy-out in 2007. Starting in our biggest business — carpet tiles — our managers and staff have gone through the grinding process of identifying every single chemical in our products. I'm also an owner. We did that. Sounds pretty idealistic, doesn't it?

Strategy 11

Strategy McKinsey Chemicals Armstrong 11

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Dental lab techs, chemical equipment tenders, and medical equipment preparers are all jobs that require a degree at least 50% more often than they used to as recently as 2007. There are two huge problems with this approach. One is that college is really expensive, and getting more so all the time.

Education 14

Education Chemicals Learning-by-Doing Cost 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 28, 2017

Prior to this, only 2007-2008 saw this many annual deals, and before that the single-year peak of 2000 saw “just” over 40,000 deals. But what happened this year in chemicals is real, not speculation. They have forced firms to reshuffle the cards they hold and remix the ownership of assets in the economy.

Automotive 8

Automotive Retail Restructuring Chemicals 8

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

Further, many problems are common across industries and a solution that works for, say, the chemicals industry may be surprisingly relevant in a financial services context. Copyright 2007-2011 by StrategyDriven, Inc. Finally, it’s really striking how quickly and frequently people change their business models today. All rights reserved.

Innovation 50

Innovation NPV Business Model Constraint 50