Publications

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; Manufacturing Industry; Canada; China

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March 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Celtel International B.V.: June 2004 (A)

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Depicts the options facing Mohammed Ibrahim, founder and chairman of Celtel International, the largest pan African wireless telecommunications provider, as he tries to position his company for further growth. Should the firm, which has reached $1 billion in revenues in... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Africa

06 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: February 6, 2018

personnel data for newly hired college graduates within an Indian technology firm. We leverage the fact that the assignment of an employee to one of many production centers within the firm is uncorrelated with observable characteristics... View Details

June 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Netonomy

A new software product enables wireless telcos to offer a self-service customer service solution, lowering costs and improving service levels. Discusses the definition of good self-service. Examines how the company should prioritize its growth opportunities and what... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Applications and Software; Globalization; Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

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26 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 26, 2017

Umit Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers Abstract—The patent system is commonly justified as a way to promote social welfare and, more specifically, technological progress. For years, however, there has been... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Millennial Net

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Johanna Regine Naunton Blaxall

Millennial Net created self-organizing, ultra-low-power, wireless sensor networks, a space that was getting a lot of attention in 2004. The company was founded in 2000 and in early 2004 was looking for a second round of funding. The area had attracted a number of new... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

02 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 3, 2018

on-demand programming. Priced at $39.99 per month, Hulu Live TV offered consumers a tremendous savings over traditional cable program packages and allowed subscribers to watch programs on Internet-connected televisions View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2015
Other Teaching and Training Material

Marketing Reading: Digital Marketing

By: Sunil Gupta and Joseph Davin

Digital technology has changed how consumers search for information, interact with each other, and buy products. The popularization of these technologies has made it possible for companies to have a better understanding of their customers' decision journey and... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Buzz Marketing; Internet Marketing; Marketing; Marketing Management; Social Media; Social Networks; Viral Marketing; Word-of-mouth Marketing; Digital; Internet; Marketing Channels; Marketing Reference Programs; Online Advertising; Advertising Industry

Research Summary

Recruiting specialized inventors into young organizations

Commercializing nascent technologies may require the expertise of those intimately involved in the original invention, especially when tacit knowledge is essential. Yet the organization home to the original invention may not serve as the best commercialization... View Details

01 May 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 1, 2018

Point’s market opportunity and growth rate but can be seen as a change in their growth strategy. The founder needs to decide his strategy for his next board meeting. Should he focus on past performance? Or should he spend time outlining... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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

November 2017
Teaching Note

Amazon.com, 2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402. On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and... View Details

13 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

with technology take longer, they're harder to follow. I'm involved, in addition to running Merck, I co-chair the commission in New Jersey about re-opening the state. Corporate America is asking what it needs to do about racial... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Pharmaceutical

27 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 27

and repay CPP funds early. Collectively, the results provide new evidence on the realized consequences of the CPP for bank SEOs. The tests suggest the CPP's indirect costs of restrictions on corporate policies View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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

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

November 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Paytm: A Payments Journey in India

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui, Amram Migdal and Kanika Jain

Paytm was an Indian financial technology company. Since its launch in 2010, it had built a dominant payments system in India, comprising mobile wallets, offline payments via QR codes, and a payments bank that offered no-frills banking. However, in 2016, the Indian... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Situation or Environment; Business Ventures; Business Model; Banks and Banking; Business Strategy; Competition; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Asia; South Asia; India

October 2021
Case

(180) Days of Quibi

By: David J. Collis and Terrence Shu

Mobile streaming app Quibi was ready to take the entertainment world by storm at its April 2020 launch. Backed by $1.75 billion, influential investors from Hollywood to Wall Street eagerly anticipated early success for this brainchild of Meg Whitman, former CEO of... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Strategy; Business Model; Business Startups; Mobile Technology