Publications

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September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Telepass: From Tolling to Mobility Platform (Abridged)

By: Chiara Farronato, Stefano Denicolai and Sarah Mehta

Telepass, until very recently the sole processor of electronic toll payments on Italy’s highways, has ambitions beyond tolling. Since the mid-2010s, the company has been expanding into adjacent services. In 2017, Telepass launched TelepassPay—a mobile payment... View Details

July 2010
Teaching Note

Shanzhai! MediaTek and the "White Box" Handset Market (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for 610081. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Brands and Branding; Market Entry and Exit; Trade; Growth and Development Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; China

01 Jun 1999
News

Conference Brings Global Perspective to Cape Town

Africa. As founder and CEO of Adesemi, Monique Maddy (MBA '93) spoke about her goal to deliver wireless communication - through a system of voicemail, pagers, and pay phones - to underdeveloped areas of the globe. Panelist John L. Mack of... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

20 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 20

David LaneHarvard Business School Case 810-075 Iqbal Quadir, a former New York investment banker, set about to bring universal telecommunications to his native Bangladesh. He was convinced that GSM, the same advanced wireless technology... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2004
Case

Valhalla Partners Due Diligence

By: William A. Sahlman and Dan Heath

The Valhalla Partners venture capitial firm introduced a new approach to the due-diligence process. An internal due-diligence report analyzes Telco Exchange, a startup company in the IT software space. An extended excerpt examines the trade-offs involved in the new... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Risk Management; Venture Capital; Business Plan; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

15 Dec 2015
News

The Year in Ideas 2015

to explore.) PLUS: Alumni experts on what big ideas we’ll see in 2016. The experiment started with weather balloons attached to Styrofoam beer coolers, each with a wireless router inside. It was proof of concept for an ambitious endeavor... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna, Christine Lejeune, Dan Morrell, and April White

April 2017 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Korea Telecom: Building a GiGAtopia (A)

By: Shane Greenstein, Feng Zhu and Kerry Herman

Korea Telecom (KT) has committed $4 billion in investments and R&D to build a GiGAtopia, essentially ushering in the next generation of mobile (5G) and wired infrastructure. CEO Dr. Chang-Gyu Hwang, and his team are considering which areas to prioritize in terms of new... View Details

Keywords: Mobile and Wireless Technology; Technological Innovation; Infrastructure; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Telecommunications Industry

19 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 19

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53199 forthcoming Industrial and Corporate Change Toward a Prescriptive Theory of Dynamic Capabilities: Connecting Strategic Choice, Learning, and Competition By: Pisano, Gary P. Abstract—The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Comviva: Exploring New Frontiers (A)

By: Dante Roscini and Mahima Rao-Kachroo

Comviva, a mobile solutions provider active in India and 94 other countries, has had a rich history and been successful across many emerging and complex markets: Latin America, South-East Asia, Africa. What are the lessons learnt from expansion, cultural fits, and... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Acquisition; Emerging Markets; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; India; South Asia

October 2016 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Bootstrapping at Lightricks

By: Robert White, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Christine Snively

By August 2015, two-year-old mobile imaging software startup Lightricks had developed and released two best-selling paid mobile apps, grown to a team of 30, earned a revenue run rate of nearly $10 million, and achieved modest profitability. The bootstrapped company had... View Details

Keywords: Business Startup; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Information Infrastructure; Business Startups; Digital Marketing; Finance; Strategy; Technology Industry; Israel

01 Dec 2005
News

One-on-One with Peter Cuneo

model? We make money in two ways. First, we expose our characters in all appropriate forms of mass media, such as motion pictures, television, the Internet, publishing, and wireless applications. In negotiating these arrangements, our... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; comic books; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet)

14 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 14, 2017

Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53507 forthcoming Journal of Financial Economics Bubbles for Fama By: Greenwood, Robin, Andrei Shleifer, and Yang You Abstract—We evaluate Eugene Fama's claim that stock prices do not exhibit price... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

June 1995
Case

Northern Telecom and Tong Guang Electronics (A1): Getting to Know Each Other

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Pamela A. Yatsko

In its second year of operation, the joint venture between Northern Telecom (Nortel) of Canada and Tong Guang Electronics of China to manufacture telecommunications equipment in China has hit a crisis. The Chinese partner has asked Northern Telecom to replace its... View Details

Keywords: Mobile and Wireless Technology; Joint Ventures; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Leadership; Telecommunications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Canada; China

Find at Harvard

January 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

China Mobile's Rural Communications Strategy

By: William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, G.A. Donovan and Tracy Manty

China Mobile was the world's leading mobile communications service provider with over 400 million customers. In some cities, its penetration rate was over 100%. With such huge successes, Chairman Wang Jianzhou was exploring ways to expand its customer base. Nearly... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Investment; Rural Scope; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Telecommunications Industry; China

February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Dialpad Communications (A)

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Describes the evolution of Dialpad, a voice-over-Internet-protocol telephony company. Set in September 2000, CEO Brad Garlinghouse faces a dilemma: what to do about the large number of international users who use Dialpad to call the United States for free. He must also... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy; Investment; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Venture Capital; Telecommunications Industry; California

March 2018
Case

IBM: Watson and the Internet of Things

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

IBM has recently launched a business unit devoted to the Internet of Things. The group's leadership team needs to figure out the best way to quickly scale its business in a fragmented and nascent market. View Details

Keywords: IBM; Internet Of Things; Watson; Artificial Intelligence; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry

June 2012
Case

Innovating at AT&T: Partnering to Lead the Broadband Revolution

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Phillip Andrews and Kerry Herman

In 2010, the U.S. retail market value for next-generation non-handset wirelessly-enabled devices was just over $1 billion. By 2011 it had grown 1,141% to $13.2 billion and was forecast to reach $24.7 billion in 2015. At the same time, user demand for data was surging... View Details

Keywords: Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Team Leadership; Emerging Technologies; Business Models; Business To Business; Corporate Vision; Growth Strategy; Corporate Culture; Innovation and Invention; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships; Leadership; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Model; Technology Industry; United States

March 2012 (Revised September 2012)
Case

INRIX

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Ryan Johnson

Since its founding in 2004, INRIX, a leading global provider of traffic information and driver services, had received four rounds of financing from leading venture capital (VC) firms and by 2012 had been cash flow positive for the past six quarters. Its founder, Bryan... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Startups; Organizational Structure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Washington (state, US)

September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Telepass: From Tolling to Mobility Platform

By: Chiara Farronato, Stefano Denicolai and Sarah Mehta

Telepass, until very recently the sole processor of electronic toll payments on Italy’s highways, has ambitions beyond tolling. Since the mid-2010s, the company has been expanding into adjacent services. In 2017, Telepass launched TelepassPay—a mobile payment... View Details