Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • December 2016 (Revised December 2017)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Faber-Castell

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Christine Snively
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:18
ShareBar

Abstract

By 2016, Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell had led the 255-year-old pencil manufacturer Faber-Castell through waves of technological change. The pocket calculator decimated Faber-Castell’s slide rule business in the 1970s, and computer aided design technology undermined the company’s manual drafting tools in the 1980s. With each new threat the Count had to decide whether to adapt to new technologies or maintain focus on the company’s core products and identity. Analysts continued to ask Count Anton-Wolfgang the same question they had posed to his grandfather: Could the company strategy endure in the modern era?

Keywords

Leadership Style; Leading Change; Family Ownership; Manufacturing Industry; Germany

Citation

Raffaelli, Ryan, and Christine Snively. "Faber-Castell." Harvard Business School Case 417-010, December 2016. (Revised December 2017.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Ryan L. Raffaelli

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

Related Work

    • December 2016 (Revised December 2018)
    • Faculty Research

    Faber-Castell (B)

    By: Ryan Raffaelli and Christine Snively
    • December 2016 (Revised December 2017)
    • Faculty Research

    Faber-Castell

    By: Ryan Raffaelli and Christine Snively
    • December 2018 (Revised February 2025)
    • Faculty Research

    Faber-Castell (A) and (B)

    By: Ryan Raffaelli and Akshaya Varghese
Related Work
  • Faber-Castell (B) By: Ryan Raffaelli and Christine Snively
  • Faber-Castell By: Ryan Raffaelli and Christine Snively
  • Faber-Castell (A) and (B) By: Ryan Raffaelli and Akshaya Varghese
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.