Crosley

In October 1941, a top secret envoy from the U.S. military was sent to Crosley Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio, to ask for their support to a weapon that would increase dramatically to construct the defenses of U.S. troops: the proximity fuze. Such a fuze would be shot down enemy aircraft at a rate of accuracy significantly higher than the previous weapons. The task would be a challenge, because conventional wisdom held that it took at least four years for a gun to go from concept to production … Read more »

In October 1941, a top secret envoy from the U.S. military was sent to Crosley Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio, to ask for their support to a weapon that would increase dramatically to construct the defenses of U.S. troops: the proximity fuze. Such a fuze would be shot down enemy aircraft at a rate of accuracy significantly higher than the previous weapons. The task would be a challenge, because conventional wisdom held that it took at least four years, for a weapon to go from concept to production, while the proximity fuse was needed on a shorter time frame. In addition, the manufacturing process complex and would require hundreds of components from dozens of manufacturers, all of which have Crosley to assemble to produce the final product would be produced. Crosley want to accept the assignment?
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Tom Nicholas
David Chen
Source: Harvard Business School
22 pages.
Release Date: 22 June 2009. Prod #: 809160-PDF-ENG
Crosley HBR case solution