Publications

August 2005 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Best Buy Co.,Inc.: Competing on the Edge

By: John R. Wells and Travis Haglock

While Circuit City struggles, Best Buy has overtaken it to become the premier consumer electronics retailer in the United States. What has driven its success? How can it be sustained? View Details

Keywords: Competition; System; Organizational Structure; Retail Industry; United States

31 Oct 2006
HBS Case

Governing Sumida Corporation

Issues surrounding corporate governance are a source of ongoing debate in the boardrooms of companies around the world—not just the United States. A new Harvard Business School case, "Governing Sumida Corporation," takes readers inside a Japanese manufacturer... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Electronics

July 1997 (Revised June 2001)
Case

H.E. Butt Grocery Company: A Leader in ECR Implementation (B) (Abridged)

By: Robert D. Austin and F. Warren McFarlan

H.E. Butt Grocery Co. led the grocery industry in adopting many innovations, including category management, electronic data interchange, and continuous replenishment. They have also moved aggressively and profitably into newer applications such as Scanner-based payment... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Independent Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Invention; Business Organization; Risk and Uncertainty; Science-Based Business; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk Management; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry

August 1996
Case

ThermoLase

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

John Hansen, CEO of ThermoLase, must develop a plan of action to exploit the company's new development-stage revolutionary hair removal technology with negligible revenues and a $500 million market capitalization. This nascent public Thermo Electron spin out company... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Plan; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

25 Aug 2016
Video

Jose Figueres responds to MOC class discussion in 2016

14 Sep 2017
News

Global work orientation: A case study

2017
Working Paper

Inventory Management for Mobile Money Agents in the Developing World

By: Karthik Balasubramanian, David F. Drake and Douglas Fearing

Mobile money systems, platforms built and managed by mobile network operators to allow money to be stored as digital currency, have burgeoned in the developing world as a mechanism to transfer money electronically. Mobile money agents exchange cash for electronic value... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Mobile Technology; Market Platforms; Developing Countries and Economies

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May 2020
Article

Measuring Collaboration in Modern Organizations

By: Stephen Michael Impink, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

Internal communication has been a central theme in organizational economics, as employee collaboration provides insight into the structure of firms. Use of electronic communications data can be transformational for organizational economics, as these data provide a... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Employees; Interactive Communication; Measurement and Metrics; Organizations; Performance

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January 1992 (Revised August 1992)
Case

Lexon Corp. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine

A general manager at Lexon Computer Corp. must decide whether interception and surveillance of employees' e-mail is acceptable company practice, and whether to follow the advice of his computer operations manager who wants to fire the person who complained that the... View Details

Keywords: Information; Rights; Managerial Roles; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Ethics; Computer Industry

12 Apr 2019
News

Bond Market Turmoil Sparked E-Trading

September 2005 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Angels and Devils: Best Buy's New Customer Approach (A)

By: Anita Elberse, John T. Gourville and Das Narayandas

In November 2004, The Wall Street Journal reported that consumer electronics retailer Best Buy's new customer approach was to shun the "devils" among its customers. The "customer centricity" initiative, which was led by Best Buy's CEO Brad Anderson, was based on an... View Details

Keywords: History; Customer Relationship Management; Opportunities; Marketing Strategy; Leadership Style; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development Strategy; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry

12 Mar 2020
Video

Robert Brozin

Robert Brozin, the co-Founder of Nando’s, a South African-based restaurant chain specializing in Portuguese food, discusses how he started the business with Fernando Duarte, after tiring of being an auditor and... View Details

May 2005
Exercise

Forecasting the Adoption of E-books

By: Elie Ofek

Gives students an opportunity to understand the challenges inherent in forecasting the diffusions of innovations. Provides data for forecasting the adoption of electronic books. Students are encouraged to use the Bass Model framework, while being cognizant of its... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Framework; Books; Analytics and Data Science; Product Launch; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption

May 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Marshall Industries

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Confounding predictions that the Internet would "disintermediate" commerce, making "middle man" companies all but obsolete, Marshall Industries, a leading electronics distributor, used the Internet and digital technologies to reinvent itself. Marshall continued to sell... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Supply Chain; Emerging Markets; Customer Focus and Relationships; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry

August 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Background Note

Competency-Destroying Technology Transitions: Why the Transition to Digital Is Particularly Challenging

By: Willy Shih

Some technology transitions are exceedingly difficult for incumbent firms to execute. The bankruptcy filing by the Eastman Kodak Company highlighted the difficulty companies faced when their core business transitioned from an analog to a digital world. Kodak's business... View Details

30 Aug 2010
News

Samsung's Lee Shifts Strategy in Challenge to Apple

August 1993 (Revised June 1994)
Case

21-Speed Gizmos, Inc.

In this hypothetical case, 21-Speed Gizmos, Inc., a manufacturer of electronic bicycle components for the serious cyclist, must decide what price to charge for a new product. Describes the product and includes cost and demand information available for making the... View Details

Keywords: Price; Decision Making; Product Marketing; Manufacturing Industry