Publications

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June 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Background Note

An Overview of Project Finance and Infrastructure Finance--2009 Update

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

Provides an introduction to the fields of project finance and infrastructure finance and gives a statistical overview of project-financed investments over the years from 2005 to 2009. Examples of project-financed investments include the $1.4 billion Mozal aluminum... View Details

Keywords: Project Finance; Infrastructure; Investment; Projects; Trends

2009
Working Paper

Capitalizing On Innovation: The Case of Japan

By: Robert Dujarric and Andrei Hagiu

Japan's industrial landscape is characterized by hierarchical forms of industry organization, which are increasingly inadequate in modern sectors, where innovation relies on platforms and horizontal ecosystems of firms producing complementary products. Using three... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Government Legislation; Innovation and Invention; Industry Structures; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

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2006
Other Unpublished Work

Does Competition Increase Patent Litigation? Empirical Evidence of Strategic Patenting in the Telecom Equipment Industry

By: Juan Alcacer and Rachelle C. Sampson

Anecdotal evidence suggests that patent litigation has increased in the last 20 years as firms in knowledge intensive industries use patents more frequently to protect their knowledge stocks and managers focus on extracting new revenue streams from existing patent... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Competition; Lawsuits and Litigation

16 Nov 2021
HBS Case

How a Company Made Employees So Miserable, They Killed Themselves

can make extreme means seem justifiable.” A company spiraling into debt France Télécom’s troubles started in the late 1990s, after the French government turned the national telephone monopoly into a publicly traded company, now known as Orange. The View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

April 2020
Case

Apple Inc. in 2020

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

After a decade as CEO, Tim Cook is facing one of his biggest strategic transitions of his tenure. While Apple had performed spectacularly well under Cook, Apple's core business was maturing. Sales of iPhones, iPads, and Macs were flat or down. However, Apple's new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Market Positioning; Marketing Implementation; Planning; Products; Strategic Positioning; Strategy; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Communication; Competition; Leadership; Strategic Planning; Telecommunications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Telecommunications Industry

2014
Book

Can China Lead? Reaching the Limits of Power and Growth

By: Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby and F. Warren McFarlan

At the time of the American Revolution, China was the strongest, richest, and most powerful civilization in the world. The Great Qing Empire ruled China and dominated East Asia by a combination of power and cultural prestige. China's economy was the world's largest.... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Leadership; Power and Influence; China

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09 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Location, Location, Location: The Strategy of Place

telecommunications venture initially forayed into Japan on a learning expedition to better understand the country's sophisticated consumers, but was soon captivated by the established market. The exploratory mission quickly morphed into... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

22 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

Restoring a Global Economy, 1950–1980

followed by a phenomenal increase in air traffic. The development of telex was a considerable advance over telephones in facilitating international communications and coordinating multinational business. In 1965 the first satellite for commercial View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales. These results were in marked contrast... View Details

June 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Verizon Communications, Inc.: Implementing a Human Resources Balanced Scorecard

By: Srikant M. Datar, Marc J. Epstein and Jeremy Cott

In early 2000, Verizon Communications implemented a Human Resources Balanced Scorecard to evaluate the effectiveness of and payoffs from human resource management. This case describes the benefits of the scorecard and the challenges of measurement and implementation.... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Human Resources; Telecommunications Industry

16 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

When the Internet Runs Out of IP Addresses

The Internet is running out of room. Experts predict that in two or three years we will run out of Web addresses, so-called IP addresses, that can be assigned to new Internet-based sites and services. Each site is assigned a unique number based on the IPv4 standard.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Telecommunications

May 2018 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Apple Inc. in 2018

By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin

Many observers worried about what would happen to Apple when Steve Jobs died in 2011. But Apple had performed above everyone's expectations in Cook's six years as CEO. Apple's core business—the iPhone—continued to deliver spectacular results. In addition, Cook was... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Telecommunications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Telecommunications Industry

February 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Nokia's Bridge Program: Redesigning Layoffs (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg

"Not another Bochum." Nokia Board Chairman Jorma Ollila was clear in the goals he set for the 2011 restructuring that Nokia's new CEO, Stephen Elop, had decided was necessary to address the dramatically changed competitive environment the company faced in smartphones... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Plant Closure; Outplacement; Shared Value; Business or Company Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Restructuring; Employee Relationship Management; Telecommunications Industry

February 2021
Case

Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (A)

By: Henry McGee, Nien-hê Hsieh, Sarah McAra and Christian Godwin

In 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook debuted the iPhone 6S with enhanced security measures that enflamed a debate on privacy and public safety around the world. The iPhone 6S, amid a heightened concern for privacy following the 2013 revelation of clandestine U.S. surveillance... View Details

01 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

First Minutes are Critical in New-Employee Orientation

The first few minutes of new employee orientation, if done right, can lead to happier and more productive workers and, ultimately, increased customer satisfaction. Unfortunately, a lot of companies do it wrong. In many firms, employee orientation focuses solely on... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Telecommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications

December 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Circles.Life at a Crossroads of Growth

By: Juan Alcácer and Adina Wong

In June 2022, the founders of Singapore mobile operator Circles.Life had a crucial decision to make. Circles.Life developed a new business model in mobile telecommunications—a digital telco—built around its proprietary operating system. After expanding its brand in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Applications and Software; Business Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Singapore

08 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Creating Value in Your Business Ecosystem

organizations. The keystone's importance to ecosystem health is such that, in many cases, its removal will lead to the catastrophic collapse of the entire system. For example, WorldCom's failure had negative repercussions for the entire ecosystem of suppliers of View Details

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Roy Levien

July 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

India Stack: Digital Public Infrastructure for All

By: Tarun Khanna, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

Amitabh Kant, India Sherpa in the year of India's G20 Presidency, and Nandan Nilekani iconic tech entrepreneur wondered how to share India's model of digital public infrastructure to build social and economic inclusion. 'India Stack', the umbrella term for India's DPI... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Telecommunications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Asia; South Asia; India