Publications

Article

How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition

By: Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann

Information technology is revolutionizing products. Once composed solely of mechanical and electrical parts, products have become complex systems that combine hardware, sensors, data storage, microprocessors, software, and connectivity in myriad ways. These "smart,... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competition; Information Technology; Transformation; Information Technology Industry

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Dennis W. Campbell is currently the Dwight P. Robinson Jr. Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. His research and teaching activities focus broadly on how management control systems can be designed to balance short-term strategy execution... View Details

Keywords: financial services; service industry; hotels ＆ motels; consumer products; restaurant; manufacturing; professional services

November 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Allianz Turkey: Focus on the Customer (A)

By: W. Earl Sasser and Gamze Yucaoglu

At the age of 39, Solmaz Altın took over the helm at Allianz Turkey. Solmaz quickly realized that, although the insurance market was thinly penetrated in Turkey, the company was operating in a very competitive environment with pressure on prices and, hence, cost... View Details

Keywords: Service Excellence; Customer Experience; Customer Service; Emerging Market; Customer Focus; Net Promoter Score; Customer Relationship Management; Competition; Leading Change; Service Operations; Emerging Markets; Customer Satisfaction; Insurance Industry; Turkey

October 2015
Case

Transpower New Zealand: Evaluating Board Performance

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Sarah L. Abbott

Mark Verbiest, Chairman of Transpower New Zealand, initiated a performance review of Transpower's board of directors. The review, which took four months to complete, provided board members with individualized feedback on their performance, as well as information on how... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Performance Evaluation; Governance; Leadership; Performance; Organizations; Human Resources; Decision Making; New Zealand

Steve Wheelwright is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus at Harvard Business School.

Following his retirement from HBS in 2006, he served with former Dean Kim B. Clark at BYU-Idaho and then from 2007-2015 he served as... View Details

January–February 2020
Article

Competing in the Age of AI

By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

Today’s markets are being reshaped by a new kind of firm—one in which artificial intelligence (AI) runs the show. This cohort includes giants like Google, Facebook, and Alibaba, and growing businesses such as Wayfair and Ocado. Every time we use their services, the... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Algorithms; Technological Innovation; Business Model; Competition; Competitive Strategy; AI and Machine Learning

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Strategic Brew simulates real life challenges facing the strategist. It allows users to experience and internalize the process of strategy formulation, execution, and communication in a simulated context and to see how these processes interplay with other... View Details

April 2006 (Revised September 2009)
Case

BYD Company, Ltd.

By: Robert S. Huckman and Alan D. MacCormack

Considers whether BYD Co., Ltd., the largest Chinese maker of rechargeable batteries, should enter the Chinese automobile industry by acquiring Qinchuan Auto, a state-owned car manufacturer. Set just after BYD's initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Labor; Production; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China

May 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Netflix

By: Willy C. Shih, Stephen P. Kaufman and David Spinola

Reed Hastings founded Netflix with a vision to provide a home movie service that would do a better job satisfying customers than the traditional retail rental model. But as it encouraged challenges it underwent several major strategy shifts, ultimately developing a... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Film Entertainment; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Distribution Channels; Service Delivery; Renting or Rental; Competitive Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

March 2018
Case

EKOL Logistics: Thinking Outside the Box

By: Willy C. Shih and Esel Çekin

This case describes Ekol, an intermodal transportation and logistics company, and how it manages capacity planning. Its busiest routes linked motor vehicle assemblers in Germany and Turkey with many of their parts suppliers, but it had also developed key links in... View Details

2023
Chapter

Organizational Development

By: Min Basadur, Tim Basadur and Goran Calic

Our review of the field of Organizational Development (OD) reveals an extensive range of tools which attempt to help organizations improve performance. We believe that OD should be studied differently: As a continuous process of change-making or innovation. How this... View Details

Keywords: Change; Cognition and Thinking; Creativity; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Innovation and Management

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13 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Turning a Moment into a Movement: How the Anti-Racism Fund Co-Founders are Fighting Racism and Encouraging Other Companies to Do Their Part

process that educates and engages donors and anti-racism allies. By building a platform that explains how donors can make an impact through the ARF four Pillars of Purpose -... View Details

October 1992 (Revised December 1992)
Case

American Connector Company (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano

American Connector Co. is forced to reexamine operations at its Sunnyvale plant when a Japanese competitor announces plans to build an "ultimate" plant in the United States. Case examines issues related to benchmarking a competitor's manufacturing capabilities and... View Details

Keywords: Production; Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Policy; Strategic Planning; Performance Productivity; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Performance Effectiveness; Sunnyvale; Japan

August 1985 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Universal Circuits, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Piper

The manager of international finance of a major U.S. electronics company is concerned about the exposure of the firm to changes in exchange rates. Of particular concern is the exposure of operations to changes in real exchange rates. The teaching objectives include: 1)... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; International Finance; Currency Exchange Rate; Business Plan; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Electronics Industry; United States

Paige Tsai is PhD candidate in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. Her research broadly examines the effects of job design on employees. Her current projects explore the financial and well-being effects of holding multiple jobs,... View Details

Keywords: service industry; restaurant; retailing; hotels ＆ motels

September 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

J.P. Morgan Private Bank: Risk Management during the Financial Crisis 2008-2009

By: Anette Mikes, Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

Mary Erdoes, the CEO of JP Morgan's asset management business, and three colleagues provide insights into risk management issues faced by the firm's private bank during the financial crisis in 2008–2009. The case provides perspective on the philosophy with which they... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Financial Crisis; Globalized Firms and Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods; Banking Industry; United States

Teaching Interest

Overview

Teaching Fellow, Technology and Operations Management Core MBA course 2011, 2012 Rating: 4.6/5 n=24 (Fall, 2012) Teaching Fellow, Frances Frei's Technology and Operations Management Core MBA course 2010 Teaching Fellow, Pre-MBA Program 2009-2010 View Details

Keywords: Operations

January 2010 (Revised February 2010)
Case

IFP, Indonesia

By: Roy D. Shapiro

IFP, Ltd. is a Europe-based multinational mining and minerals company contemplating an investment to produce forest products in Indonesia. The primary case decisions are 1) how to assess political and operating risk, 2) how to integrate economic and political risk... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment; Geographic Location; Risk Management; Supply Chain Management; Business and Government Relations; Forest Products Industry; Indonesia