Publications

February 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Wipro Technologies (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Suma Raju

The new general manager of Wipro's software services division has been brought on board from General Electric to develop the division into a leading provider of software services to the world's largest corporations. A native of India who received management training in... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Transformation; Change Management; Human Resources; Software; Information Technology Industry; India

TeachingInterests

Strategy and Technology (Elective Curriculum)

By: David B. Yoffie

This course explores the unique aspects of creating effective management and investment strategies for technology-intensive businesses. What strategies can win in markets with strong network effects? How can firms leverage technology to build multi-sided platforms?... View Details

Research Summary

Technology and Operations Strategy

By: Marco Iansiti

Marco Iansiti studies the evolving nature of strategy, innovation and operations in the modern enterprise. Over the past 20 years, he has researched the processes for technology adoption, development, and integration in hundreds of firms across a wide... View Details

Teaching Interest

Technology and Operations Management

By: Christina R. Wing

This course enables students to develop the skills and concepts needed to ensure the ongoing contribution of a firm's operations to its competitive position. It helps them to understand the complex processes underlying the development and manufacture of products as... View Details

22 Apr 2008
Working Paper Summaries

An Exploration of Technology Diffusion

Keywords: by Diego A. Comin & Bart Hobijn

October 1986 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Advanced Medical Technology Corporation

By: Thomas R. Piper and Steven Rogers

A loan officer must decide whether to lend $8 million to a rapidly growing high technology company. The company has had a series of relationships with three other banks. Reports from loan officers at these banks are mixed and raise questions as to the ease with which a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Commercial Banking; Financing and Loans; Financial Condition; Technology Industry

28 Jul 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Technology Reemergence: Creating New Value for Old Technologies in Swiss Mechanical Watchmaking, 1970–2008

Keywords: by Ryan Raffaelli; Consumer Products; Apparel & Accessories

Research Summary

Strategy and Technology

By: David B. Yoffie

Professor Yoffie’s research examines different aspects of strategy and technology. His most recent research has focused on three areas. The first research topic looks at the dynamics of cooperation and competition among “complements.” In a number of articles and... View Details

February 1989 (Revised November 1991)
Case

Science Technology Co.--1985

By: Thomas R. Piper

The CEO of a U.S. electronics firm is assessing the financial forecasts and the financing plan prepared by the chief financial officer. Given the cyclicality of the industry and the volatility of the firm's performance, the CEO is unsure as to the usefulness of... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Change Management; Industry Growth; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Strategy; Volatility; Electronics Industry

05 Nov 2008
News

Sweetly Disruptive Technology

May 2005 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Founder-CEO Succession at Wily Technology

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Henry McCance

Before he accepts the new CEO position, Dick Williams wants founder Lew Cirne to step down as chairman. While considering Williams' incredible demand, Cirne reflects on everything he has already given up to get Wily Technology to this point. He agreed to step down as... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Succession

October 2020
Case

Israelis, Palestinians and the Technology Bridge Between Them: A Work in Progress

By: Elie Ofek and Lia Weiner

In Israel of 2020 the demand for software engineers was endless. Meanwhile just miles away, Palestinian universities were graduating 3,000 engineers a year, and many of them could not find jobs in the still nascent Palestinian tech sector. Could these dots be... View Details

Keywords: Geopolitics; Technology Ecosystem; Software Engineers; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Business Startups; International Relations; Cooperation; Opportunities; Problems and Challenges; Technology Industry; Israel; Palestinian state

April 1980
Case

Townsend Technology Co.

By: Wickham Skinner and David Rikert

Keywords: Technology Industry

November 1974 (Revised May 1994)
Case

Science Technology Co.

By: Thomas R. Piper

The president of a medium-sized electronics company is evaluating the financial forecasts and proposed financing program submitted by the chief financial officer. The forecasts are prepared in constant dollars, on which basis the proposed financing plan seems... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Financial Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Inflation and Deflation; Risk and Uncertainty; Outcome or Result; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

July 2000 (Revised February 2001)
Case

alphaWorks: IBM's Technology Talent Agents

AlphaWorks has catalyzed IBM researchers and offered them a new path to take technology to market. With success, though, comes new organizational challenges. Should John Wolpert extend alphaWorks to all IBM labs, refocus, or shut down its operations? View Details

Keywords: Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Research and Development

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... View Details

Research Summary

Teaching Information Technology

Upton is also developing a tutorial and a case-based module for the MBA program, as well as external audiences. The objective of this work is to develop materials that provide general managers with sufficient knowledge of Information Systems to be effective in the... View Details

May 2017
Supplement

ATH Technologies (E)

By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard

Supplements the (A) case. Designed as an in-class handout. View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Balancing Innovation And Control; Health Industry

2003
Case

Corning Microarray Technologies

By: Vijay Govindarajan, Chris Trimble and Gautam Bellur

In mid-2000, the scientific community reached a momentous milestone—the complete mapping of the human genome. Researchers in the field of genomics were anxious to dig into a tremendous array of newly possible scientific inquiries, and needed efficient experimental... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Genetics; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry