Publications

26 Jan 2024
Blog Post

HBS Alumna Fighting Cancer with a Novel Cell Therapy

pursue a Ph.D. However, she now knew that she likely needed another advanced degree to be a decision maker in an industry like pharma/biotech. Zutshi joined the second-ever cohort of students in the MS/MBA in Engineering Sciences degree... View Details

April 2007
Teaching Note

iPod vs. Cell Phone: A Mobile Music Revolution? (TN)

By: David B. Yoffie

Teaching note to 707419. View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Emerging Markets; Brands and Branding; Sales; Opportunities; Price; Business Model; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Service Delivery; Music Industry

27 Feb 2024
Blog Post

Fighting Cancer with a Novel Cell Therapy: Ananya Zutshi (MS/MBA '21)

pursue a Ph.D. However, she now knew that she likely needed another advanced degree to be a decision maker in an industry like pharma/biotech. Zutshi joined the second-ever cohort of students in the MS/MBA in Engineering Sciences degree... View Details

December 1982
Case

New Technology and Job Design in a Phone Company (A)

By: Richard E. Walton

Keywords: Information Technology; Job Design and Levels; Human Resources; Management; Telecommunications Industry

Find at Harvard

December 1982
Supplement

New Technology and Job Design in a Phone Company (B)

By: Richard E. Walton

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Job Design and Levels; Telecommunications Industry

Find at Harvard

December 1982
Supplement

New Technology and Job Design in a Phone Company, Assignment

By: Richard E. Walton

Keywords: Job Design and Levels; Telecommunications Industry

Find at Harvard

January 2018 (Revised May 2018)
Case

AT&T Managing Technological Change and the Future of Telephone Operators in the 20th Century

By: Daniel P. Gross and William R. Kerr

By the 1930s, AT&T dominated the American phone industry, serving 10 million telephones and employing over 100,000 switchboard operators. But beginning in the mid-1910s, the company began changing from manually operated switchboards to mechanical switching systems that... View Details

Keywords: AT＆T; Bell Telephone; Phone Lines; Phone Operators; Mechanical Switching; Layoffs; Technological Change; Transition; History; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Disruption; Change Management; Communications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Industrial Giant

reach the Internet and request in-car traffic updates, news headlines, weather reports, sports scores, stock quotes, and e-mail." On the face of it, OnStar has huge potential. There is no denying the popularity of cell View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, Davis Dyer & Frederick Dalzell; Manufacturing

May 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Bharti Infratel: Unlocking Value in Mobile Infrastructure

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Prashant Salwan, Tanya Bijlani and Rachna Tahilyani

Bharti Infratel, a telecom tower company, provides shared telecom infrastructure to mobile operators in India. It is a spin off from Bharti Airtel, India's largest leading mobile services operator. Bharti Infratel partnered with its rivals, Vodafone and Idea Cellular,... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Strategic Alliances (Business); Mobile Phone Industry; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Asia; India

November 2020
Case

The Rise and Fall of Nokia (Abridged)

By: Juan Alcácer and Tarun Khanna

In 2013, Nokia sold its Device and Services business to Microsoft for €5.4 billion. For decades Nokia had led the telecommunications (telecom) industry in handsets and networking. By the late 2000s, however, Nokia's position as market leader in mobile devices was... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Phones; Smartphones; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Emerging Markets; Technological Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Telecommunications Industry

Research Summary

Industrial competitiveness in high tech and science-based businesses

By: Willy C. Shih

How do emerging economies develop industrial and technical capabilities that overtake those of advanced economies? Are there some industrial sectors that are especially susceptible to such targeting? What will it take to restore America’s... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Technology Diffusion; Knowledge Flows; Competitive Advantage; Globalization; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; China; Asia

January 2014 (Revised June 2020)
Case

The Rise and Fall of Nokia

By: Juan Alcacer, Tarun Khanna and Christine Snively

In 2013, Nokia sold its Device and Services business to Microsoft for €5.4 billion. For decades Nokia had led the telecommunications (telecom) industry in handsets and networking. By the late 2000s, however, Nokia's position as market leader in mobile devices was... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Phones; Smartphone; Telecommunications; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Emerging Markets; Technological Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Asia

December 1984
Teaching Note

New Technology and Job Design in a Phone Company (A) and (B), Teaching Note

By: Michael Beer

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Job Design and Levels; Telecommunications Industry

2025
Working Paper

Using Satellites and Phones to Evaluate and Promote Agricultural Technology Adoption: Evidence from Smallholder Farms in India

By: Shawn Cole, Grady Killeen, Tomoko Harigaya and Aparna Krishna

This paper evaluates a low-cost, customized soil nutrient management advisory service in India. As a methodological contribution, we examine whether and in which settings satellite measurements may be effective at estimating both agricultural yields and treatment... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Technology Adoption; Measurement and Metrics; Analytics and Data Science; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

Read Now

May 2018
Teaching Note

AT&T: Managing Technological Change and the Future of Telephone Operators in the 20th Century

By: Daniel P. Gross and William R. Kerr

Teaching Note for HBS No. 718-486. View Details

Keywords: AT＆T; Bell Telephone; Phone Lines; Phone Operators; Mechanical Switching; Layoffs; Technological Change; Transition; History; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Disruption; Change Management; Communications Industry; Communications Industry; United States

September 2025
Article

Using Satellites and Phones to Evaluate and Promote Agricultural Technology Adoption: Evidence from Smallholder Farms in India

By: Shawn Cole, Tomoko Harigaya, Grady Killeen and Aparna Krishna

This paper evaluates a low-cost, customized soil nutrient management advisory service in India. As a methodological contribution, we examine whether and in which settings satellite measurements may be effective at estimating both agricultural yields and treatment... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

Read Now

14 Mar 2014
HBS Seminar

Jeremy M. Levin, former President and CEO, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

September 2013
Case

PadFone vs. FonePad

By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai

To Jonney Shih, Chairman of ASUSTek Computer, the introduction of Apple's iPad made clear the need to transition his company to a new cloud-computing era. But the company's roots in the manufacture of Windows-powered desktop and notebook PCs bounded the creativity of... View Details