Publications

December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Blockbuster Inc. & Technological Substitution (B): Confronting New Digital Formats

Investigates how the rise of digital video formats threatens to make videocassette technology obsolete; how this technological substitution might alter the economics and structure of the video rental and retail industries; and how Blockbuster Inc., the industry leader,... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Competition; Change Management; Service Industry; Service Industry

April 2005 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Information Technology at COSCO

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Guoqing Chen and David Lane

Describes the current status of IT applications at the second largest container shipping company in the world: China-based COSCO. Describes the challenges the company has faced in dealing with its development and shows a series of organizational and application... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Shipping Industry; China

April 1998
Teaching Note

Xerox Technology Ventures TN

By: Josh Lerner

Teaching Note for (9-295-127) and (9-298-109). View Details

Keywords: Service Industry; Service Industry

November 2006
Case

Brontes Technologies -- 2005

By: William A. Sahlman and Caroline Perkins

Describes a set of decisions confronting the founders of a company developing a new device for taking three-dimensional pictures of teeth in order to improve dental outcomes. The company needs more money and must choose between raising new equity capital from a venture... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Business Startups; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

February 2005 (Revised November 2006)
Case

InfoVision (A): Technology Transfer at Georgia Tech

InfoVision illustrates university technology transfer through the choices of a graduating doctoral student. Also explores the challenges of working across the scientific, business, and legal disciplines in the Georgia Tech transfer program. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Transformation; Higher Education; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Research and Development; Education Industry; Georgia (state, US)

19 Nov 2018
News

Architectural Innovation in the Software Industry

August 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Revenue Recognition Problems in the Communications Equipment Industry

By: Paul M. Healy and Arjuna J Costa

Designed to explore recognition issues in the context of a potential market downturn. In late 2000, Lucent Technologies reports multiple revisions to its recent financial results due to revenue recognition problems, leading to a dramatic decline in its stock price.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Revenue Recognition; Policy; Supply and Industry; Performance; Communications Industry

June 2019 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Parrot: Navigating the Nascent Drone Industry

By: Rory M. McDonald, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In 2018, Henri Seydoux, CEO and Founder of Parrot, believed that his company was at an inflection point in its history. Parrot had been a European leader in consumer electronics since the 1990s, first developing Bluetooth kits for cars before moving on to electronic... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Europe; France; Paris

May 2004
Teaching Note

Seagate Technology Buyout (TN)

By: Stuart C. Gilson

Teaching Note to (9-201-063). View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Participants; Equity; Value; Volatility; Assets; Capital; Computer Industry

February 2000 (Revised April 2003)
Case

InSite Marketing Technology (B)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Genevieve J.S. Feraud

Provides students an example of partnerships/acquisitions that allow delivery of packaged solutions to customers in the electronic commerce space. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Business Strategy; Web Services Industry

February 1994
Case

Alpha-Beta Technology, Inc.: Pioneering Carbohydrate Technology

Alpha-Beta was founded in 1988 by two scientist-entrepreneurs with ten patents on carbohydrate technology. In 1991, the company faces critical questions about how to focus its product definition from among several promising, but risky, choices. How should they analyze... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Product Design; Entrepreneurship; Product Development; Biotechnology Industry

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February 2018
Case

Vodafone: Managing Advanced Technologies and Artificial Intelligence

By: William R. Kerr and Emer Moloney

Vodafone was operating in the fast-moving telecommunications market where innovation and scale were key. Faced with an onslaught of technological advances—big data, automation, and artificial intelligence—CEO Vittorio Colao reflected on how he should change the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Opportunities; Telecommunications Industry

January 2018
Case

Environmental Technology Fund Partners and E-Leather

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Aldo Sesia

It is 2014 and Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF) Partners, a UK-based venture capital firm, has an opportunity to invest in a privately held UK company that manufactured engineered composition leather extracted from waste leather using an environmentally friendly... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Venture Capital; Investment Strategy; Investment; Strategy; Ownership; Valuation; Energy Conservation; Equity; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Performance Efficiency; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United Kingdom

Article

The Information Technology Ecosystem: Structure, Health, and Performance

By: Marco Iansiti and Gregory L. Richards

A number of modern industries are organized as complex networks of firms whose integrated efforts are necessary to deliver value to end customers. The complexity of these networks, or business ecosystems, and the associated interdependencies among firms, make... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Networks; Value; Customers; Performance Productivity; Product; Applications and Software; Innovation and Invention; Competition; Business Model; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology Industry

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October 2011
Case

Gene Sequencing: Staking a Position in an Expanding Industry

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Mara Aspinall and Phillip Andrews

Towards the end of 2010, companies in the gene sequencing industry were pushing aggressive R&D programs to develop technologies and products in the race to sequence the entire human genome at a cost of $1,000. It remained to be seen when the "$1,000 genome" would... View Details

Keywords: Genetics; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Plan; Competition; Venture Capital; Biotechnology Industry

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July 2011 (Revised September 2012)
Case

Industrial Metrology: Getting In-Line? (A)

By: Willy Shih

Metrology plays a key role in the manufacture of mechanical components. Traditionally it is used extensively in a pre-process stage where a manufacturer does process planning, design, and ramp-up, and in post-process off-line inspection to establish proof of quality.... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Machinery and Machining; Measurement and Metrics; Product Design; Planning; Quality; Opportunities; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Segmentation; Technology Adoption; Theory; Manufacturing Industry