Publications

November 2023
Case

From Imitation to Innovation: Zongshen Industrial Group (Abridged)

By: Willy Shih and Nancy Dai

Like other small shops based in Chongqing, China, Zongshen Industrial Group started by assembling motorcycles from "standard" parts. The quality of its early products was good enough for rural Chinese buyers, though wealthier consumers usually purchased premium... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Supply Chain; Product Positioning; Manufacturing Industry; Motorcycle Industry; China

Summer 2014
Article

Taiwan's PC Industry, 1976–2010: The Evolution of Organizational Capabilities

By: Howard H. Yu and Willy C. Shih

The stellar growth of Taiwan's personal computer (PC) industry over the past three decades represents a paradox. Participating in the global production system, local firms in Taiwan grew in association with established firms in the West. Despite their technical... View Details

Keywords: Personal Computer; PC; PC Industry; Taiwan PC Industry; Taiwan PC Manufacturers; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Industry Clusters; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Mobile Technology; Information Technology Industry; Taiwan

Find at Harvard

29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

Capacity to Do New Things Authors:Clayton M. Christensen, Stephen P. Kaufman, and Willy C. Shih Periodical:HBS Centennial Issue. Harvard Business Review 86, no. 1 (January... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2024
Case

Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?

By: Willy C. Shih, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds,... View Details

06 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 6

Fire Unprofitable Customers? Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia TeccoHarvard Business School Case 610-077 Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2011 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Digital Microscopy Is Making Me Crazy!

By: Willy Shih

For Carl Zeiss Microimaging, modular hardware and software enabled customers to tailor Zeiss's broad range of microscopy systems hardware and software to meet a wide range of needs from basic scientific research in the biological and medical sciences to clinical... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Corporate Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Science-Based Business; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Business Conglomerates; Digital Platforms; Opportunities; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Computer Industry

Web

2022 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

Chain Mess Professor Willy C. Shih + More Info – Less Info How did global supply chains become such a mess, and how does an understanding of the Beer Game and the “National... View Details

May 2009
Case

Tokyo Electron Ltd.

By: Willy C. Shih and Andrew A. King

Tokyo Electron Ltd. operates in a constrained innovation environment, defined by modular boundaries that are long standing in the industry that it serves, the global semiconductor manufacturing industry. While the original motivation for these boundaries was division... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance Controls; Technological Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Boundaries; Manufacturing Industry; Semiconductor Industry

Find at Harvard

25 Feb 2020
News

@Soldiers Field

IT’S A WRAP Above: In December, Professor of Management Practice Willy Shih (with Harvard Business Publishing’s Dave Di Iulio) filmed a video on the topic of digital transformation at the Klarman Studio... View Details

22 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 22

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/911028-PDF-ENG Purchase this supplement (B): http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/911029-PDF-ENG Purchase this supplement (C):http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/911030-PDF-ENG Assembling Smartphones: Takt Time =/= Cycle... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Feb 2023
News

Immersive Field Courses Take the Classroom on the Road

immersion locations vary each year based on the IFC portfolio. Below are some highlights of this year’s IFC. Denmark and the Netherlands Professors Michael Toffel and Willy Shih took 43 EC students to... View Details

May 2010 (Revised August 2013)
Case

Delta Electronics Hybrid Power Train

By: Willy C. Shih and Jyun-Cheng Wang

Delta Electronics, the world's largest manufacturer of switching power supplies, hoped to enter the market for gasoline-electric hybrid power trains for automobiles by being a major component and subsystem supplier. While most public awareness of hybrid vehicles fell... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Intellectual Property; Emerging Markets; Industry Clusters; Partners and Partnerships; Electronics Industry; China

October 2008 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Intel NBI: Intel Corporation's New Business Initiatives (A)

By: Willy C. Shih and Thomas Thurston

For Intel Corporation, the processes and priorities that have made it so successful are difficult to overcome as the company tries to diversify away from its core. The case examines the history and evolution of the New Business Initiatives (NBI) group, as the leader... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Transition; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business History; Management Practices and Processes; Resource Allocation; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty

March 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Pandora Radio: Fire Unprofitable Customers?

By: Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia Tecco

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Satisfaction; Music Entertainment; Venture Capital; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

November 2023 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Norse Atlantic Airways

By: Willy Shih

Bjørn Tore Larsen, Norse Atlantic Airways' founder and CEO, hadn't planned to get into the airline business. But when the COVID-19 pandemic depressed the global demand for air travel and the lease rates for jetliners, he realized if ever he was going to get into the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Market Entry and Exit; Leasing; Business Strategy; Segmentation; Interest Rates; Air Transportation Industry; Europe; North America; Norway; United Kingdom; United States

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Supplement

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

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; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan