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All HBS Web
(429)
- News (109)
- Research (243)
- Multimedia (4)
- Faculty Publications (196)
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- Summer 2016
- Article
The Real Lessons From Kodak's Decline
By: Willy C. Shih
Eastman Kodak is often mischaracterized as a company whose managers didn't recognize soon enough that digital technology would decimate its traditional business. However, what really happened at Kodak is much more complicated—and instructive. Kodak suffered from a...
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Keywords:
Technological Change;
Disruption;
Ecosystem;
Semiconductors;
Photography;
Scaling-up;
Scaling;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Information Technology;
Product;
Consumer Products Industry;
United States
Shih, Willy C. "The Real Lessons From Kodak's Decline." MIT Sloan Management Review 57, no. 4 (Summer 2016): 11–13.
- August 2013
- Technical Note
Raising the Level of Abstraction
By: Willy Shih
This technical note discusses abstraction as a way of generalizing a process or component for wider application. By hiding complexity inside a module, abstraction enables system designers to think at a higher level. This lowers entry barriers to using (and reusing) a...
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Keywords:
Abstraction;
Modularity;
Commercialization;
Information Technology;
Information Infrastructure;
Information Technology;
Applications and Software;
Digital Platforms;
United States;
Asia;
Europe
Shih, Willy. "Raising the Level of Abstraction." Harvard Business School Technical Note 614-019, August 2013.
- September 2023
- Teaching Note
Shad Process Flow Design Exercise: Kick-Off Class
By: Willy C. Shih
The Shad Process Flow Design Exercise is a simulation designed to help students cement what they learn in the process fundamentals section of the RCTOM course by giving them the opportunity to translate classroom concepts into actual physical processes and experience...
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- October 2009
- Case
Low-k Dielectrics at IBM
By: Willy C. Shih and Giovanni Carraro
Innovations at the frontiers of technology carry enormous risk of making wrong choices. This case examines a decision made by IBM in its semiconductor process technology strategy: a material to use as a dielectric insulator in its leading edge silicon chip technology....
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Keywords:
Competency and Skills;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Technological Innovation;
Product Development;
Science;
Creativity;
Semiconductor Industry;
United States
Shih, Willy C., and Giovanni Carraro. "Low-k Dielectrics at IBM." Harvard Business School Case 610-023, October 2009.
- January 2013
- Supplement
Cabot Corporation: The Fuel Cell Decision (B)
By: Willy Shih and Ying Zhou
Managers at Cabot Corporation are faced with deciding the future of its fuel cell program. The (A) case recounts the view of the business manager and the technical project lead, and the (B) case describes the perspective of a senior manager who is the head of the New...
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Keywords:
Technical Decision-making;
Decision Making Process;
Fuel Cells;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Decisions;
Judgments;
Business Plan;
Business Exit or Shutdown;
Energy Generation;
Energy Sources;
Innovation and Management;
Innovation Strategy;
Technological Innovation;
Research and Development;
Science-Based Business;
Commercialization;
Technology Industry;
Manufacturing Industry;
United States;
Massachusetts
Shih, Willy, and Ying Zhou. "Cabot Corporation: The Fuel Cell Decision (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 613-067, January 2013.
- August 2018 (Revised July 2019)
- Background Note
Conducting a Kaizen
By: Willy Shih
Kaizen, meaning change for the better in Japanese, is a set of activities directed at improving standardized work, equipment, and procedures for carrying out daily production or other business operations. It was popularized by Toyota as an integral part of its Toyota...
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Keywords:
Best Practices;
Continuous Improvement;
Kaizen;
Process Improvement;
5S;
Muda;
Toyota Production System;
Production;
Service Operations;
Performance Improvement;
North and Central America;
Asia;
Japan
Shih, Willy. "Conducting a Kaizen." Harvard Business School Background Note 619-016, August 2018. (Revised July 2019.)
- January 2013
- Case
Cabot Corporation: The Fuel Cell Decision (A)
By: Willy Shih and Ying Zhou
Managers at Cabot Corporation are faced with deciding the future of its fuel cell program. The (A) case recounts the view of the business manager and the technical project lead, and the (B) case describes the perspective of a senior manager who is the head of the New...
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Keywords:
Technical Decision-making;
Decision-making Process;
Fuel Cells;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Decisions;
Judgments;
Business Plan;
Business Exit or Shutdown;
Energy Generation;
Energy Sources;
Innovation and Management;
Innovation Strategy;
Technological Innovation;
Research and Development;
Science-Based Business;
Commercialization;
Technology Industry;
Manufacturing Industry;
Massachusetts;
United States
Shih, Willy, and Ying Zhou. "Cabot Corporation: The Fuel Cell Decision (A)." Harvard Business School Case 613-066, January 2013.
- January 2014
- Case
MIT Mystery Hunt: The Answer is Secondary
By: Willy Shih and Karen Robinson
The MIT Mystery Hunt is an annual puzzle-based scavenger hunt at MIT. It is run every year by a different team, and every year is slightly different as teams try new ideas and decide whether to keep or ignore new ideas from previous years. As the Mystery Hunt has...
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Keywords:
Puzzle-solving;
Puzzle Hunt;
MIT Mystery Hunt;
Innovation and Invention;
Collaborative Innovation and Invention;
Innovation Leadership;
Education Industry;
Massachusetts;
Cambridge;
United States
Shih, Willy, and Karen Robinson. "MIT Mystery Hunt: The Answer is Secondary." Harvard Business School Case 614-050, January 2014.
- August 2012 (Revised August 2013)
- Background Note
Competency-Destroying Technology Transitions: Why the Transition to Digital Is Particularly Challenging
By: Willy Shih
Some technology transitions are exceedingly difficult for incumbent firms to execute. The bankruptcy filing by the Eastman Kodak Company highlighted the difficulty companies faced when their core business transitioned from an analog to a digital world. Kodak's business...
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Keywords:
Technology Transitions;
Competency-destroying;
Digital;
Analog;
Digital Transition;
Modular;
Modularity;
Technological Change;
Radical Innovation;
Incremental Innovation;
Architectural Innovation;
Modular Innovation;
Sustaining Innovation;
Competency-enhancing;
Noise Propagation;
Perfect Copying;
Digital Music;
Digital Media;
Consumer Electronics;
Kodak;
Sony;
Panasonic;
Disruptive Innovation;
Technology Adoption;
Transition;
Change Management;
Consumer Products Industry;
United States
Shih, Willy. "Competency-Destroying Technology Transitions: Why the Transition to Digital Is Particularly Challenging." Harvard Business School Background Note 613-024, August 2012. (Revised August 2013.)
- May 2014
- Supplement
RCA: Color Television and the Department of Justice (B)
By: Willy C. Shih and Gregory Dieterich
This case is a supplement to 614-072, which examines the early history of the color television receiver market, and the global consequences of an historic 1958 consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice that opened RCA's patents to licensing by domestic...
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Keywords:
Intellectual Property;
Patents;
Rights;
Business Strategy;
Competitive Strategy;
Corporate Strategy;
Business History;
Information Technology;
Information Infrastructure;
Communications Industry;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
Electronics Industry;
United States;
Japan
Shih, Willy C., and Gregory Dieterich. "RCA: Color Television and the Department of Justice (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 614-073, May 2014.
- May 2014 (Revised July 2016)
- Case
RCA: Color Television and the Department of Justice (A)
By: Willy C. Shih and Gregory Dieterich
This case examines the early history of the color television receiver market and the global consequences of an historic 1958 consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice that opened RCA's patents to licensing by domestic competitors royalty-free. This externality...
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Keywords:
Intellectual Property;
Patents;
Rights;
Business Strategy;
Competitive Strategy;
Corporate Strategy;
Business History;
Information Technology;
Information Infrastructure;
Communications Industry;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
Electronics Industry;
United States;
Japan
Shih, Willy C., and Gregory Dieterich. "RCA: Color Television and the Department of Justice (A)." Harvard Business School Case 614-072, May 2014. (Revised July 2016.)
- Teaching Interest
IFC Asia: China's Belt & Road Initiative
By: Willy C. Shih
The course objective is to provide students perspectives and insight into one of the major political and economic development programs of China – its Belt and Road Initiative, a strategy that involves infrastructure development and investments in countries spanning... View Details
Keywords:
China;
Globalization;
Trade;
Infrastructure;
China;
Southeast Asia;
South Asia;
Central Asia
- 12 Aug 2018 - 14 Aug 2018
- Conference Presentation
Abstraction, Knowledge Flows, and the Rapid Dissemination of Emerging Technologies
By: Willy C. Shih
Many emerging technologies are remarkably complex and embody high levels of technological sophistication, and they often are key enablers for new products and services. Yet the speed of dispersal of the know-how required to employ these technologies and foster...
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- February 2019 (Revised November 2021)
- Case
MoviePass
By: Willy Shih
Mitch Lowe, the CEO of MoviePass, was having trouble convincing people of the viability of the company's business model. The company was building a multi-sided platform and was planning to extract value from increasing traffic to movie theaters through a number of...
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Keywords:
Start-up;
Start-up Growth;
Start-ups;
Business Model Innovation;
Business Model;
Innovation and Invention;
Multi-Sided Platforms;
Business Startups;
Planning;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry;
United States
Shih, Willy. "MoviePass." Harvard Business School Case 619-052, February 2019. (Revised November 2021.)
- December 2014 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
Dalian Wanda Group: The AMC Entertainment Acquisition (A)
By: Willy Shih
When Dalian Wanda Group of China announced its plan to acquire the AMC Entertainment theatrical exhibition chain in the United States, many people in the U.S. were mystified. Unlike China where theatrical exhibition was experiencing rapid growth, the U.S. market was...
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Keywords:
Dalian Wanda Group;
AMC Entertainment;
Wang Jianlin;
Theater Entertainment;
Film Entertainment;
Acquisition;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Foreign Direct Investment;
Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Corporate Strategy;
Expansion;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry;
China;
United States
Shih, Willy. "Dalian Wanda Group: The AMC Entertainment Acquisition (A)." Harvard Business School Case 615-033, December 2014. (Revised April 2018.)
- October 2013
- Case
Rhythm & Blues
By: Willy Shih
The bankruptcy filing of Rhythm & Hues, who received an Oscar for the arresting visual effects in Life of Pi, raised questions about the challenges faced by the firms like it as well as the broader post-production industry. The rapid pace of technology certainly...
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Keywords:
Post-production;
Visual Effects;
Digital;
Entertainment;
Animation Entertainment;
Film Entertainment;
Television Entertainment;
Theater Entertainment;
Job Cuts and Outsourcing;
Information Technology;
Internet and the Web;
Applications and Software;
Information Infrastructure;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry;
Los Angeles
- Teaching Interest
Immersive Field Course: China and Taiwan
By: Willy C. Shih
I designed this course to enable students to examine cross-strait issues between the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of China—(Taiwan) at a critical juncture. Many products produced for the global marketplace—televisions, computers and computer components,...
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- February 2008 (Revised December 2023)
- Case
Digital Music: From MP3 to Streaming
By: Willy Shih
The emergence of the MP3 file-based music format not only disrupted the market for portable audio players, it also impacted the business models of major record labels. Modularity, and the commoditization spillover enabled by modularity in the personal computer...
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Keywords:
Recording;
Digital Devices;
Digital Media;
Digital Music;
Digital;
Digital Economics;
Consumer Electronics;
Customer Value and Value Chain;
Disruptive Innovation;
Technological Innovation;
Information Technology;
Music Industry;
Technology Industry;
Electronics Industry;
United States
Shih, Willy. "Digital Music: From MP3 to Streaming." Harvard Business School Case 608-119, February 2008. (Revised December 2023.)
- Summer 2014
- Article
Taiwan's PC Industry, 1976–2010: The Evolution of Organizational Capabilities
By: Howard H. Yu and Willy C. Shih
The stellar growth of Taiwan's personal computer (PC) industry over the past three decades represents a paradox. Participating in the global production system, local firms in Taiwan grew in association with established firms in the West. Despite their technical...
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Keywords:
Personal Computer;
PC;
PC Industry;
Taiwan PC Industry;
Taiwan PC Manufacturers;
Innovation and Invention;
Innovation and Management;
Innovation Strategy;
Growth and Development;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Growth Management;
Industry Clusters;
Industry Growth;
Industry Structures;
Information Technology;
Technological Innovation;
Mobile Technology;
Information Technology Industry;
Taiwan
Yu, Howard H., and Willy C. Shih. "Taiwan's PC Industry, 1976–2010: The Evolution of Organizational Capabilities." Business History Review 88, no. 2 (Summer 2014): 329–357.
- September 2013
- Case
Boeing 787: More Electric Architecture
By: Willy Shih
The "more electric architecture" of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner represented a significant shift in the design of secondary power systems for commercial aircraft, compared to traditional designs that employed a mix of hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical power. While the...
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