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October 2008 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Amazon Web Services

By: Robert S. Huckman, Gary P. Pisano and Liz Kind

Considers the development of Amazon Web Services (AWS), a division of Amazon.com, Inc., specializing in the provision of web-based storage and computing services to web developers. The case focuses on the issues facing Andy Jassy, the head of AWS, in 2008 as AWS faces... View Details

Keywords: Price; Market Entry and Exit; Service Operations; Competition; Diversification; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry

November 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Warner Bros. Entertainment

By: Gary P. Pisano and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Examines the process used by a major motion picture studio to develop and select movie projects. Warner Bros.' strategy is to focus its efforts on a small number of major "event" films (i.e., films with the potential to generate gross box office receipts of $300... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Film Entertainment; Risk Management; Product Development; Strategic Planning; Projects; Sales; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

Web

Placement - Doctoral

and Gary P. Pisano 2022 Tommy Pan Fang Technology & Operations Management, 2022 Placement: Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business Dissertation: Technological Coordination of Platform Ecosystems... View Details

September 2016
Case

Hewlett Packard Enterprise: The Dandelion Program

By: Gary P. Pisano and Robert D. Austin

This case describes Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s “Dandelion Program," which has developed a new service offering for the company’s clients by drawing on the special talents of people with autism. The company has deployed “pods” organized around 8 or 9 employees with... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Talent and Talent Management; Service Operations; Training; Diversity; Innovation and Invention; Technology Industry

11 Oct 2023
Blog Post

A Journey of Discovery, Teamwork, and Impact with FIELD Global Immersion

In early May, I embarked on a journey to Seoul, South Korea, accompanied by 70 fellow Harvard Business School classmates. Our purpose? To culminate our first-year studies through the FIELD Global Immersion program. Throughout this... View Details

Web

The Founding of U.S. Steel and the Power of Public Opinion | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

enterprise as a “soulless” corporation. For example, United States Steel , a corporate history written by Cotter in cooperation with Gary and U.S. Steel, leveraged text and photographs illustrating the... View Details

October 2008 (Revised June 2011)
Case

JetBlue Airways: Managing Growth

By: Robert S. Huckman and Gary P. Pisano

Considers the situation facing David Barger, President and CEO of JetBlue Airways, in May 2007 as he addresses the airline's need to slow its growth rate in the response to increasing fuel costs and the effects of major operational crisis for the airline in February... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Operations; Performance Capacity; Performance Efficiency; Competitive Strategy; Air Transportation Industry

June 2015
Article

You Need an Innovation Strategy

By: Gary P. Pisano

Why is it so hard to build and maintain the capacity to innovate? The reason is not simply a failure to execute but a failure to articulate an innovation strategy that aligns innovation efforts with the overall business strategy. Without such a strategy, companies will... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy

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September 1998
Case

McDonald's: International Expansion Strategy

By: Gary W. Loveman and Sabina M. Ciminero

James Cantalupo, CEO of McDonald's International, and top management have a few months to decide how the McDonald's brand should be transferred into India. Faced with the challenges presented by the Indian market--80% of Indians are Hindus and cherish cows as sacred... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Expansion; Brands and Branding; Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; India

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Podcast - Business & Environment

leadership roles. He highlights how the clean energy transition in the United States is being driven by public policy, community engagement, and new funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. He... View Details

18 Nov 2015
News

Aspiring biotech entrepreneurs ‘would be crazy’ not to take this Harvard class

Research Summary

The Evolution of Corporate Structure, Internal Governance, and Leadership

My research documents the evolution of the internal governance of senior management in large US firms over a 20-year period and explores, via multiple methods, the causes and consequences of these changes. My findings suggest that... View Details

Article

How to Capture Value from Innovation: Shaping Intellectual Property and Industry Architecture

By: Gary P. Pisano and David J. Teece

Capturing value from innovation requires innovators to figure out how to blunt inroads into the profit stream by imitators, customers, suppliers, and other providers of complementary products and services. In making strategic decisions around technology... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Intellectual Property; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Industry Structures; Standards; Commercialization; Value

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People - Advancing Racial Equity

Faculty / Organizational Behavior; Senior Associate Dean for Research Melissa Pierre Associate Director of Security and Emergency Management, Operations Gary Pisano Faculty / Technology and Operations... View Details

November 1991 (Revised April 1994)
Case

Nucleon, Inc.

By: Gary P. Pisano

Nucleon is a small biotechnology company whose first potential product is about to enter clinical testing. Before Nucleon can begin clinical trials, however, its management must decide how and where to manufacture the product. Three options are being contemplated: 1)... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Entrepreneurship; Health Testing and Trials; Rights; Product Development; Production; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry

October 1992 (Revised December 1992)
Case

American Connector Company (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano

American Connector Co. is forced to reexamine operations at its Sunnyvale plant when a Japanese competitor announces plans to build an "ultimate" plant in the United States. Case examines issues related to benchmarking a competitor's manufacturing capabilities and... View Details

Keywords: Production; Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Policy; Strategic Planning; Performance Productivity; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Performance Effectiveness; Sunnyvale; Japan

August 2019
Case

Humanistic Capitalism at Brunello Cucinelli

By: Francesca Gino and Gary Pisano

This case explores one company’s attempt to experiment with a different underlying model for a capitalist enterprise. Brunello Cucinelli, S.p.A. is a leading manufacturer of luxury fashion apparel. Despite being a publicly traded enterprise with annual revenues... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Culture; Human Resource Practices; Growth; Growth Strategy; Motivation; Values; Fashion; Capitalism; Organizational Culture; Values and Beliefs; Human Resources; Management; Business Model; Policy; Behavior; Growth and Development Strategy; Luxury; Italy

September 2017 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Marriott International: The Next 90 Years

By: Chiara Farronato and Gary Pisano

The case examines how Marriott should respond to the potential threats from new home-sharing platforms and the rise of online travel agencies. In 2017 Marriott was the largest hotel chain, with more than one million rooms and 7% of worldwide room supply. In the... View Details

November 2003 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Flextronics International, Ltd.

By: Robert S. Huckman and Gary P. Pisano

Describes Flextronics' evolution from providing outsourced manufacturing services for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the electronics industry to developing entire unbranded products for purchase by OEMs. In 2001, Flextronics began a development program that... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Production; Service Operations; Performance Effectiveness; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry