Publications

February 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

TikTok in 2020: Super App or Supernova? (Abridged)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dan Maher and Dan O'Brien

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around a simple idea—helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. In less than a decade, it had become one of the world’s most valuable private companies, with investors... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platform; Artificial Intelligence; AI; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; China

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System

By: Ranjay Gulati

In response to the 2001 market downturn, Cisco Systems implemented a major restructuring that transformed the company from a decentralized to centralized organization. While recognizing that a centralized, functional structure was necessary to avoid product and... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Customer Focus and Relationships; Governing and Advisory Boards; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Technology Industry

13 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

3 Ways Firms Can Profit From Environmental Investments

In the course of her work, Rebecca Henderson meets business executives who don't address the threat of climate change because they don't believe that it exists. Her recommendation: They should consider investments in environmental sustainability anyway, assuming that... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

11 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

The Business of Saving the Planet

employees are demanding businesses take action. Even business managers who retain doubts about climate change must nevertheless account for the possibility in their risk planning. At Harvard Business School, which studies these issues... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy; Green Technology

Teaching Interest

Managing International Trade and Investment

By: Dante Roscini

Managing International Trade and Investment (MITI) is designed for students who expect to engage directly or indirectly in commerce and in strategic or financial investments across national borders. It covers concepts that are relevant to a number of operating and... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Investment; Foreign Direct Investment

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

The Ingredients of a Deal Disaster

signed may sour. Risk Factors The most common causes of social contract problems are lack of awareness and benign neglect. The parties involved inevitably form expectations about how the deal will be carried out, whether they discuss them... View Details

Keywords: by Ron S. Fortgang, David A. Lax & James K. Sebenius

2021
Case

Walmart's Blockchain Quest: Integrating New Technology into a Complex Supply Chain

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Blockchain is a digital, distributed, immutable ledger designed to build trust among parties without requiring an independent, third-party arbitrator or intermediary. The technology has potential to improve a variety of industries, including the complex, fragmented,... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Supply Chain Management; Technology Adoption

September 2024
Case

InfraCredit and the Project Inception Facility

By: John Macomber, Namrata Arora and Maagatha Kalavadakken

Around the world, large infrastructure projects are frequently stymied by the high cost and high uncertainty of the project inception phase: the research and engineering and planning prior to financial close and start of construction. Could there be a new kind of... View Details

Keywords: Infrastructure; Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Cost; Cash Flow; Capital; Assets; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Insurance; Energy; Product Development; Financial Services Industry; Energy Industry; Banking Industry; Africa; Nigeria

November 1990 (Revised April 1999)
Case

General Motors: Packard Electric Division

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Packard Electric is the division of General Motors (GM) that does all of the electrical wiring and cabling for GM automobiles. They developed a new approach for passing the cables through the firewall between the engine and passenger compartments. The new technology... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Cost; Management Style; Product Design; Product Development; Production; Projects; Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Technology; Auto Industry

November 1973 (Revised April 1983)
Case

Southport Minerals, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Examines how the attractiveness of an investment project can be enhanced by making financing and operating decisions which either manage investment returns or reduce project risks. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Financing and Loans; Investment; Investment Return; Risk Management; Operations; Projects

February 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Alvogen

By: Daniel Isenberg and William Kerr

Alvogen is a young Icelandic generic pharmaceutical company, whose CEO believes that his global strategy will give them an edge in this competitive industry.
Robert Wessman, Alvogen’s CEO, was also previously the CEO of Actavis, another Icelandic generics... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Generic Drugs; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Risk and Uncertainty; Pharmaceutical Industry; Iceland

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Bank of America (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how Bank of America is creating a system for product and service innovation in its retail banking business. Emphasis is placed on the role of experimentation in some two-dozen real-life "laboratories" that serve as fully operating banking branches and as... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Problems and Challenges; Innovation and Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Failure; Banks and Banking; Learning; Banking Industry

January 2014
Case

Boeing 787 Manufacturing Footprint

By: Willy Shih

This case looks at the outsourcing strategy for major subsystems of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, and the risks and production consequences of letting go of core technology. It is intended to be used as a (B) case for 612-036 Boeing 737 Manufacturing Footprint: The Wichita... View Details

Keywords: Outsourcing; Outsourced Production; Boeing 787; Manufacturing Footprint; Systems Integration; Production; Supply Chain Management; Aerospace Industry; United States

08 Nov 2024
Op-Ed

How Private Investors Can Help Solve Africa's Climate Crisis

African people, businesses, and nations are becoming increasingly stressed by climate-related perils like droughts, river flooding, extreme heat, and rising sea levels. This is leading not only to the destruction of assets but also challenges to lives and... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Green Technology; Energy

21 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 21, 2009

focus of most panelists is the importance of a capital structure and risk management approach that complement the strategy and operations of the business. Instructive examples are provided by Judy Lewent,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Jul 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Beyond Symbolic Responses to Private Politics: Examining Labor Standards Improvement in Global Supply Chains

Keywords: by Andrea R. Hugill, Jodi L. Short, and Michael W. Toffel; Manufacturing

08 May 2006
Research & Ideas

The Cost of Cutting in Line

Third, installing and operating these emergency counters is costly. In all research on the fairness of prices, customers agree that it is fair to reimburse companies for the cost of providing extra services. View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

June 2021
Case

Mobileye 2021: Robotaxi and/or Consumer AV?

By: David B. Yoffie, Danielle Golan and Nicole Tempest Keller

In March 2021, Amnon Shashua, co-founder and CEO of Israel-based Mobileye, was preparing to meet with Intel’s new CEO, Pat Gelsinger, to review plans for the future. Mobileye had been acquired by California-based Intel in 2017, but still operated independently.... View Details

Keywords: Technology Companies; Robotics; Autonomous Vehicles; Strategy; Decision Making; Transportation; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry; Auto Industry; Transportation Industry; Israel