Publications
Publications
- March 1990 (Revised June 1993)
- HBS Case Collection
Analog Devices, Inc.: The Half-Life System
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Abstract
The company has committed to major improvements in quality, cost, and on-time delivery performance. Despite strong senior management support, however, the actual rate of improvement was disappointing until a new measurement philosophy was introduced. The new approach specified expected rates of improvement and compared actual improvements to the expected rate. Operational people preferred the new measures to the monthly financial reports they continued to receive. The case explores the conflicts between financial measurements and operating improvements.
Keywords
Quality; Performance Improvement; Earnings Management; Financial Reporting; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Productivity; Business or Company Management; Cost Management; Measurement and Metrics; Management Teams; Semiconductor Industry
Citation
Kaplan, Robert S. "Analog Devices, Inc.: The Half-Life System." Harvard Business School Case 190-061, March 1990. (Revised June 1993.)