Publications

March 2023
Teaching Note

Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline Company

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 123-069. On the morning of May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline Company became aware that the company had been the victim of a malicious ransomware attack that had stolen and locked up company data. The extortionists demanded 75 bitcoins (worth... View Details

July 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Lenovo: Building A Global Brand

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Announced in December 2004, the $1.75 billion acquisition of IBM's PC division by Lenovo, China's largest PC maker, made headlines around the world. A relative upstart in the business, Lenovo acquired the division of IBM that invented the PC in 1981. While Lenovo was... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Information Infrastructure; Global Strategy; Acquisition; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China

February 2022
Case

US Foods: Driving Post-Pandemic Success?

By: David E. Bell, Olivia Hull and Amy Klopfenstein

In November 2021, US Foods CEO Pietro Satriano must decide his company’s trajectory following the COVID-19 pandemic. US Foods suffered due to business closures and social distancing during the height of the pandemic. While the situation improved following the return of... View Details

24 Feb 2020
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Vulnerabilities of Open Source Software

with the Linux Foundation’s Core Infrastructure Initiative (CII). The Census II analysis and report represent important steps toward understanding and addressing structural and security complexities in the modern day supply chain where... View Details

Keywords: by Frank Nagle and Jenny Hoffman; Computer

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

ASOS PLC

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Launched in 2000, ASOS was one of the world’s largest online fashion specialists in 2018. Focusing on young consumers aged 16–25 years, the company offered over 85,000 items on its websites, many times more than the largest fashion stores, and added several thousand... View Details

Keywords: ASOS; AsSeenOnScreen; Online Fashion; Online Apparel; Nick Beighton; Nick Robertson; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Social Media; Marketplaces; Shipping; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Startups; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Age; Gender; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Revenue; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United Kingdom; England; London

15 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: November 15

political consensus to make investments in the infrastructure that will lead to more effective use of these resources. There is a largely unrecognized opportunity for the private sector to engage in selective investments that consider... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Markets of Progress: Coffee, Commerce, and Community in the Soconusco, Chiapas, 1867-1920

Markets of Progress presents a new holistic story of rural development in Mexico at the turn of the century. In the Soconusco, as in regions throughout the world, the accelerating circulation of commodities and capital, ideas and immigrants reshaped society... View Details

Keywords: Commodities; Coffee; Mexico; Foreign Investment; Institutions; Immigration; Developing Agriculture; Development; Export Crop; Emerging Market; Property Rights; Labor History; History; Capital Markets; Business History; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Latin America; Mexico; Central America

03 Apr 2017
What Do You Think?

How About Investing in Human Infrastructure?

SUMMING UP: Investment in Human Infrastructure: Not Whether But How? Few dispute the notion that a significant US investment in human infrastructure is warranted and timely, although there were significant differences of opinion about how... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Construction

2008
Working Paper

The Architecture of Platforms: A Unified View

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and C. Jason Woodard

The central role of "platform" products and services in mediating the activities of disaggregated "clusters" or "ecosystems" of firms has been widely recognized. But platforms and the systems in which they are embedded are very diverse. In particular, platforms may... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Industry Clusters; Infrastructure; Information Infrastructure; Digital Platforms

Read Now

20 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

Globalization Hasn’t Killed the Manufacturing Cluster

Globalization hasn't made manufacturing clusters obsolete, but the geographically concentrated pockets of industry have to be smart to ensure their survival, according to new research from Harvard Business School. Gary P. Pisano, the... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Manufacturing; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion

November 2011
Case

Envision Charlotte: Building an Energy Cluster

By: William W. George

Keywords: Energy; Industry Clusters; Economic Growth; Infrastructure; North Carolina

24 Jul 2013
Op-Ed

Detroit Files for Bankruptcy: HBS Faculty Weigh In

are steps that major players working together in metropolitan areas can do to save their cities: When it comes to the elements of soft infrastructure such as education and healthcare, it's essential to create an environment for capital,... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber, Robert C. Pozen, Eric D. Werker & Benjamin Kennedy; Auto

May 2000 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Contractual Innovation in the UK Energy Markets: Enron Europe, The Eastern Group, and the Sutton Bridge Project

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Peter Tufano

In December 1996, Enron Europe and The Eastern Group were on the verge of signing an innovative transaction in the utility industry. Eastern was going to buy a long-term option to convert natural gas into electricity from Enron, thereby giving it the economic right to... View Details

Keywords: Project Finance; Infrastructure; Supply and Industry; Corporate Finance; Utilities Industry; Utilities Industry

March 1994 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Lotus Development Corp. in 1994

Jim Manzi, president and CEO of Lotus, must decide whether to position the firm as a provider of network applications or of the architectural programs required to support network applications. The decision will have lasting implications for Lotus's position in both... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Competitive Advantage; Applications and Software; Industry Structures; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

03 Oct 2012
What Do You Think?

Can We Bring Back the “Industrial Commons” for Manufacturing?

US. A "commons" fosters the process-oriented innovation that in turn contributes to the vitality of the industrial sector and the health of the economy. Respondents to this month's column were somewhat pessimistic that such... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing

08 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Everything Must Go: A Strategy for Store Liquidation

liquidation process. “We don't spend enough time thinking about the death or liquidation of businesses” "When we were first exposed to the issue of store liquidations, we didn't have a sense of how big it was—that there is a massive View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

May 1997 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Intel Corporation: 1968-1997

By: Gary P. Pisano, David J. Collis and Peter K. Botticelli

Traces Intel's history and strategy from 1968 to 1997. Examines the company's decision to exit DRAMS and its entry into microprocessors. Focuses on how the company managed to achieve and sustain its competitive advantage in microprocessors, and the threats it faces in... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Information Infrastructure; Corporate Strategy; Industry Structures; Technology Industry