Publications

March 2020 (Revised April 2020)
Case

CarTrade

By: Rajiv Lal and Shreya Ramachandran

Vinay Sanghi, the founder and CEO of CarTrade, had been trying different business strategies to keep the company, which he founded in 2010 as an online marketplace for used and new cars, profitable and on track for growth. In a crowded and disorganized dealer... View Details

Keywords: Online Marketplace; Automobiles; Customer Base; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Financing and Loans; E-commerce; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; India; Mumbai

2014
Working Paper

Management Practices, Relational Contracts and the Decline of General Motors

By: Susan Helper and Rebecca Henderson

General Motors was once regarded as one of the best managed and most successful firms in the world, but between 1980 and 2009 its share of the US market fell from 62.6 to 19.8 percent, and in 2009 the firm went bankrupt. In this paper we argue that the conventional... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Structure; Decision Making; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

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2011
Working Paper

The Architecture of Transaction Networks: A Comparative Analysis of Hierarchy in Two Sectors

By: Jianxi Luo, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Daniel E. Whitney and Christopher L. Magee

Many products are manufactured in networks of firms linked by transactions, but comparatively little is known about how or why such transaction networks differ. This paper investigates the transaction networks of two large sectors in Japan at a single point in time. In... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Market Transactions; Networks; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; Japan

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November 2009
Case

Dawn Stokes: The View from the Driver's Seat

By: Boris Groysberg and Lindsay Tanne

Dawn Stokes founded and was successful as CEO of Texas Driving Experience, a company that provided driving lessons, both safety-based for teens, and high-performance racecar driving for individual thrill seekers and corporate events. Although the company had done well,... View Details

Keywords: Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Training; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; Texas

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March 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Foreign Exchange Hedging Strategies at General Motors

By: Mihir A. Desai and Mark Veblen

How should a multinational firm manage foreign exchange exposures? Examines transactional, translational, and competitive exposures. Describes General Motors' corporate hedging policies, its risk management structure, and how accounting rules impact hedging decisions.... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Currency Exchange Rate; Investment; Financial Markets; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Argentina; Japan; Canada; United States

February 1992 (Revised January 2002)
Case

BMW: The 7-Series Project (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano

Explores BMW's decision about how to manufacture prototype vehicles. Historically, BMW's prototypes were handcrafted by highly skilled artisans in the company's shop. A proposal has been made to alter the process so that prototypes are made in a way that can better... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Research and Development; Design; Production; Strategy; Quality; Decision Making; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; Germany

July 1993 (Revised June 1994)
Case

Peak Electronics: Vendor Relationship with the Ford Motor Co. (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Relationships; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry

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February 1990 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Carter Automotive Group

By: Walter J. Salmon

The Carter Automotive Group is a Southern California automobile dealer group. The head of the group is assessing whether his current and unique marketing strategy should be modified in light of changing competitive conditions. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Change; Competition; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; California

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November 1987 (Revised March 1990)
Case

Ethyl Corp. in 1979

Describes the competitive situation facing the market leader in antiknock additives, the Ethyl Corp. Demand is declining rapidly and Ethyl has to decide whether to close capacity, and if so, how. Raises issues of corporate as well as SBU strategy because antiknock... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Corporate Strategy; Performance Capacity; Auto Industry; Auto Industry

November 2022 (Revised April 2025)
Teaching Note

Driving Decarbonization at BMW - Teaching Note

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel

Teaching note in support of the case "Driving Decarbonization at BMW" (HBS No. 123-008) View Details

20 Aug 2024
Book

Why Competing With Tech Giants Requires Finding Your Own Edge

an effective way to establish themselves as hubs. Ping An successfully utilized this tactic in its auto services ecosystem. In a similar vein, Adidas entered the digital fitness market—a field Nike had already ventured into— by acquiring... View Details

Keywords: by Feng Zhu; Technology; Information Technology

September 1998 (Revised September 1999)
Supplement

Edmund's-www.edmunds.com (Supplement)

By: Richard L. Nolan, Stephen P. Bradley, John J. Sviokla and Kelley Porter

Supplements the case. View Details

Keywords: Auto Industry; Auto Industry

October 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

TH!NK: The Norwegian Electric Car Company

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

On August 1, 2007, 61-year-old Jan-Olaf Willums' plane was flying along the Greenland coastline on his way back to Norway after intense discussions with several prominent U.S. venture capital investors, among them Kleiner Perkins and Rockport Capital Partners, about... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Innovation and Invention; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; Europe; Norway

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Look at Globalization Now

concentration is increasing rapidly in its industry. Our article, "The Dubious Logic of Global Megamergers," in the July-August 2000 issue of Harvard Business Review, provides additional details on concentration patterns in View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

26 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

The Power of the Noncompete Clause

found just that in Michigan. At the turn of the twentieth century, Detroit in many ways resembled the Silicon Valley of the last few decades. Growth of the nascent auto industry was explosive, with more than... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

August 2019
Case

Experiencya Cuba: Two Entrepreneurs in Havana

By: Charles F. Wu, Mariana Cal and Fernanda Miguel

In 2019, two Cuban entrepreneurs discussed their growth strategy, given the regulatory framework instability, for private companies, in Cuba. Experiencya Cuba offered car and apartment rentals, airport pick-up, and tours around the island, all conducted in perfectly... View Details

Keywords: Self-employed; Regulatory Changes; Developing Countries and Economies; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Tourism Industry; Tourism Industry; Tourism Industry; Cuba