Publications

August 2013 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Tesla Motors

By: Eric Van den Steen

In mid-2013, Tesla Motors was riding a wave of success: It had launched its first really mass-produced car—the model S—to rave reviews; had recently raised first-year production targets; and had started taking orders for its next car, the Model X. Tesla seemed to be on... View Details

Keywords: Barriers To Entry; Economic Analysis; Learning Curve; Economies Of Scale; Innovation; Market Entry; Sustainable Competitive Advantage; Vision; Strategy And Leadership; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Advantage; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Learning; Economics; Analysis; Auto Industry

21 Mar 2019
HBS Case

The Ferrari Way

“If you drive a Ferrari, you put premium petrol in the tank, you hit the motorway, and you step on the gas.” —Soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic That purring engine. The buttery soft leather. Those sleek curves. The essence of a Ferrari transcends any one particular design... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Auto

31 Mar 2008
HBS Case

JetBlue’s Valentine’s Day Crisis

take on a new growth opportunity that may differ substantially from yourarea of expertise," he notes. For example, another case in the course, "BYD Company, Ltd.," examines the largest Chinese manufacturer of lithium ion batteries and its movement into... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Air Transportation

27 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

How the FBI Reinvented Itself After 9/11

transportation needs). “There’s no feeling of ownership surrounding cars anymore,” says Gulati, who meets regularly with Big Three auto manufacturer executives. “Millennials don’t feel like they need to own a car because they have Zipcar... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

24 Apr 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courage: The Defining Characteristic of Great Leaders

Source: guvendemir Courage is the quality that distinguishes great leaders from excellent managers. Over the past decade, I have worked with and studied more than 200 CEOs of major companies through board service, consulting, and research as a member of Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto; Auto

December 2017 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Tesla Motors (B): Merging with SolarCity

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2016, electric car manufacturer Tesla announced that it was making an offer to acquire solar panel manufacturer SolarCity in an all-stock offer worth $2.6 billion in Tesla stock. Tesla’s co-founder and CEO, Elon Musk, believed that the merger would generate... View Details

Keywords: M＆A; M＆A Valuation; Investing; Equities; Equity; Valuation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Auto Industry; Energy Industry; United States

12 Dec 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Can Sustainability Drive Innovation at Ferrari?

Keywords: Re: Raffaella Sadun; Auto

Article

The Re-Industrialization of the United States?

By: Willy C. Shih

Talk of "re-industrialization" in the United States has been supported by a seeming resurgence in manufacturing, but this is driven more by the end of labor arbitrage and increasing coordination costs of offshore manufacturing. Aggressive restructurings and significant... View Details

September 1992 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc.

On May 1, 1992, Doug Friesen, manager of assembly for Toyota's Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, faces a problem with the seats installed in the plant's sole product--Camrys. A growing number of cars are sitting off-line with defective seats or are missing them entirely.... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Production; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; Kentucky

05 Jul 2022
What Do You Think?

Have We Seen the Peak of Just-in-Time Inventory Management?

then exploded in our collective faces." US auto manufacturers, following Toyota’s lead, were at times maintaining just half a day of inventory of some parts supplied domestically—until the pandemic. What we had come to take for granted... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

April 2022
Case

NIO: A Chinese EV Company's Global Strategy

By: William C. Kirby, Shu Lin and Noah B. Truwit

Founded in November 2014 and based in Shanghai, NIO designed, jointly manufactured, and sold premium “smart” EVs. Its mission was to “shape a joyful lifestyle by offering high-performance smart electric vehicles and being the best user enterprise. At NIO Day 2021,... View Details

Keywords: Electric Vehicles; Expansion; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Green Technology; Auto Industry; China; Europe; Norway

25 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

Collaborating Across Cultures

doubt that the confluence of diverse cultures can create opportunities for innovation—think of the Crusades and the Renaissance, or of Japan revolutionizing the auto industry. "To the extent that creativity is about the recombination of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

June 2008
Case

Treadway Tire Company: Job Dissatisfaction and High Turnover at the Lima Plant

By: C. Wickham Skinner and Heather Beckham

Treadway Tire's plant in Lima, Ohio must confront strong job dissatisfaction and high turnover among its line foremen. The foremen are caught in the middle of an adversarial relationship between the union and management, and they must cope with the needs and interests... View Details

Keywords: Superior ＆ Subordinate; Labor Relations; Work Force Management; Human Resource Management; Hiring; Job Satisfaction; Management; Leadership; Retention; Rank and Position; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Selection and Staffing; Satisfaction; Personal Development and Career; Labor and Management Relations; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; Ohio

October 2022 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Driving Decarbonization at BMW

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel

The case describes BMW’s electrification and decarbonization strategy, and how the company measured carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of its vehicles and used tools like carbon abatement cost curves to evaluate decarbonization opportunities. In mid-2022,... View Details

26 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

How Toyota Turns Workers Into Problem Solvers

American Big Three and many other auto companies had done major benchmarking studies, and they and other companies had tried to implement their own forms of the Toyota Production System. There is the Ford Production System, the Chrysler... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston; Auto; Auto; Auto

27 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Cost of a Product Recall

Drivers on Interstate 25 in Colorado have been speculating about the fate of hundreds of Volkswagen cars sitting in a lot near Pikes Peak International Raceway. It’s one of 37 sites in the United States where the automaker is storing 300,000 diesel cars it recalled... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Auto; Auto; Auto; Auto

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (A)

By: Willy Shih

This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Exploration; Dominant Design; Business Growth and Maturation; Business History; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; Michigan