Publications

September 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Suntech Power

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Suntech, a Chinese manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and solar panels, is the third largest solar company in the world. About 90 percent of its sales have been in Europe—especially Germany and Spain. But with its new "pluto" technology, and with new governmental... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Strategy; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; China

February 2023
Case

Grupo Sancor Seguros: Facing the Digital Transformation of Insurance in Argentina (A)

By: Jorge Tamayo and Jenyfeer Martínez Buitrago

In 2020, Alejandro Simón, CEO of Sancor Seguros Group, a nearly 75-year-old cooperative that had become Argentina’s insurance leader, had to decide about the Group’s digital transformation strategy. The Group’s values and history needed to be considered during the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Transformation; Organizational Culture; Cooperative Ownership; Strategy; Business Strategy; Adaptation; Technology Adoption; Insurance Industry; Latin America; South America; Argentina

01 Sep 2013
News

Who Are We?

information. We owe it to those who passed away in the disaster to upgrade our systems to help save lives in any future calamity." —GE AGRICULTURE John Whiteside Grass Farmer, Wolf Creek Farm For years, the résumé of John Whiteside (MBA 1983) was classic HBS: He worked... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Julia Hanna; Dan Morrell; social media,; Twitter; SodaStream; consulting; consultant; CEO; farming; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Agriculture; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Rail Transportation; Transportation

01 Mar 2014
News

Innovation: Crowdfunding College Costs

Named godfather to his best friend's infant daughter in 2011, Marcos Cordero (MBA 2005) wanted to give something more meaningful and long-lasting than a stuffed animal or onesie. He investigated contributing to his goddaughter's college savings plan, but the paperwork... View Details

Keywords: Hanna, Julia; Gradsave; crowdfunding; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Finance

01 Dec 2009
News

Faculty Research Online

“I Read Playboy for the Articles”: Justifying and Rationalizing Questionable Preferences When people behave in ways that might appear selfish, prejudiced, or perverted, they employ a host of strategies designed to justify questionable... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

December 2019
Supplement

Interview with Stephen L. Herbert, X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Protagonist in 617-046 X Fire Paintball & Airsoft

By: Willy C. Shih and Feng Zhu

This is an interview with Stephen L. Herbert, founder of X Fire Paintball & Airsoft, in which he discusses competing with his online channel, Amazon. It is for use with HBS Case No. 617-046 X Fire Paintball & Airsoft. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Competition; Ethics; United States

1988
Chapter

Joint Ventures and Collaborative Arrangements in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry

By: Gary P. Pisano, Michael Russo and David Teece

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Cooperation; Communication Technology; Telecommunications Industry

2006
Case

Infosys Consulting

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble

Aiming to expand their value proposition from software development to consulting, Infosys launched a new business unit, Infosys Consulting. From scratch, it quickly grew to over 200 professionals. The case study illustrates the challenges of launching a new business in... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Software; Consulting Industry

Read Now

March 1997 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Amazon.com (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, an Internet-based bookseller, has created one of the most successful ventures for electronic commerce on the Web. With revenue growing at a pace of 30% per month, Bezos attributes the success of Amazon.com to its value... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry

Web

Faculty & Advisors | MBA

20 years of experience successfully commercializing new technology from research labs, currently as CEO of Xtalic, a company that engineers stable metal alloys at the Nano-scale. Tom was also CEO of Z Corporation, a leading pioneer in 3D... View Details

10 Aug 2015
News

Seeding a Better Future for Colombia

Part architectural spectacle, part tourist attraction, and part government-sponsored stage for forums and meetings that seed progress on key economic and diplomatic fronts, World Expos have been taking place since the 1850s. Colombia native Juan Pablo Cavelier (MBA... View Details

April 2020
Case

TiVo 2020

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

This short case provides an update on TiVo from 2016-2020. The case covers TiVo merger with Rovi, the turnover of several CEOs, and struggles on how to reposition its product business (the digital video recorder). View Details

Keywords: Streaming; Media; Technological Innovation; Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry

17 Nov 2016
News

Wrestler, Actor, Producer, Case Study Protagonist? Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Stars In His Very Own Harvard Case

June 2022
Case

Zalando: Becoming the Starting Point for Fashion

By: Antonio Moreno, Leela Nageswaran, Emilie Billaud and Federica Gabrieli

Born in 2008 as a small startup selling flip flops, by mid-2021 Zalando had turned into an online fashion company with an assortment of more than 4,500 international brands, 45 million active customers, and a presence in 23 European markets. An essential component in... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Customer Value and Value Chain; Digital Platforms; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Service Operations; Strategy; Business Strategy; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Europe

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Five Questions for Debora L. Spar

and law. Is Lewis being premature in his "Internet changes everything" scenario? Spar: I think he is. Lewis is right, I believe, in arguing that the Internet is a radical technology and that it has showered both wealth and power... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

April 1993 (Revised December 2001)
Case

General Dynamics and Computer Sciences Corporation: Outsourcing the IS Function (B)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Katherine Seger

Designed to look at outsourcing from the perspective of a major computer services company trying to get into the business. View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Business Startups; Business Plan; Business Strategy; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Financial Management; Management Teams; Communication Strategy; Organizational Design; Product Design; Accounting; Activity Based Costing and Management; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

March 2014
Case

MediaTek: From Feature Phones to Smartphones

By: Willy Shih

MediaTek was the third largest fabless semiconductor company in the world, and was the second largest supplier of the silicon microchips that powered mobile phones. Yet as the company's chairman reflected on his R&D strategy, he wondered why it hadn't moved faster on... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Technology Adoption; Telecommunications Industry; Semiconductor Industry; China; Taiwan