• December 2023
• Article

When Should the Off-Grid Sun Shine at Night? Optimum Renewable Generation and Energy Storage Investments

By: Christian Kaps, Simone Marinesi and Serguei Netessine

Globally, 1.5 billion people live off the grid, their only access to electricity often limited to operationally-expensive fossil fuel generators. Solar power has risen as a sustainable and less costly option, but its generation is variable during the day and... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Renewable Energy

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Kaps, Christian, Simone Marinesi, and Serguei Netessine. "When Should the Off-Grid Sun Shine at Night? Optimum Renewable Generation and Energy Storage Investments." Management Science 69, no. 12 (December 2023): 7633–7650.

• November 2023
• Teaching Plan

Geely SEA: New Electric Vehicle Platforms

By: Willy Shih

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 622-001. Kent Bovellan, the Chief Engineer and Head of the Vehicle Architecture Center for Geely Holding, the Hangzhou, China headquartered global automotive group, was debating the platform choice for an upcoming "D" segment midsized... View Details

Keywords: Product Innovation; Product Architecture; Product Engineering; Platform Design; Platform Strategy; Product Design; Product Development; Cost Management; Competitive Strategy; Industry Structures; Product Positioning; Auto Industry; China; Sweden

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Shih, Willy. "Geely SEA: New Electric Vehicle Platforms." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 624-055, November 2023.

• September 2023
• Article

The Health Costs of Dirty Energy: Evidence from the Capacity Market in Colombia

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Theresa Molina, Anant Nyshadham, Jorge Tamayo and Nicholas Torres

The health effects of “dirty” (fossil fuel driven) energy production are difficult to measure accurately due to the endogeneity of fuel choice. We exploit an electricity policy in Colombia that generates a price-based trigger for the use of thermal energy sources.... View Details

Keywords: Pollution; Health Disorders; Energy Industry; Colombia

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Adhvaryu, Achyuta, Theresa Molina, Anant Nyshadham, Jorge Tamayo, and Nicholas Torres. "The Health Costs of Dirty Energy: Evidence from the Capacity Market in Colombia." Art. 103116. Journal of Development Economics 164 (September 2023).

• August 2023 (Revised July 2024)
• Technical Note

Power-to-X

By: Willy Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Kelsey Carter

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions that were contributing to climate change, the world needs to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Power-to-X (PtX) refers to an array of processes that convert electricity (power) to various gaseous and liquid... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Strategies; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Transition; Renewable Energy; Energy Industry

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Shih, Willy, Michael W. Toffel, and Kelsey Carter. "Power-to-X." Harvard Business School Technical Note 624-038, August 2023. (Revised July 2024.)

• August 2023
• Case

BYD, China, and Global Electric Vehicle Rivalry

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Max Hancock

In 2023, BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker, surpassed Tesla to become the world's best-selling EV brand. BYD began selling mobile phone batteries in 1995, acquired a license to sell vehicles in 2002, and spent two decades building its EV brand, growing its... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Vertical Integration; Market Participation; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Electronics Industry; China; Europe; United States; Japan; South Korea

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Montgomery, Cynthia A., and Max Hancock. "BYD, China, and Global Electric Vehicle Rivalry." Harvard Business School Case 724-358, August 2023.

• August 2023 (Revised September 2023)
• Case

T.G.S. Transportation: Battery Electric or Hydrogen?

By: Willy C. Shih

Peter Schneider, the President of T.G.S. Transportation, Inc., faced a choice. His company operated drayage trucks that moved containerized cargo between the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland to customers across the State of California, with a focus on the... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Clean Technology; Energy; Energy Policy; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Truck Transportation; Transportation Industry; United States; California

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Shih, Willy C. "T.G.S. Transportation: Battery Electric or Hydrogen?" Harvard Business School Case 624-032, August 2023. (Revised September 2023.)

• August 2023 (Revised April 2024)
• Case

eBee: Affordable Mobility for Africa

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in March 2023, as Sten van der Ham and Jaap Maljers, CEO and co-founder of eBee, an electric bike (e-bike) company in Africa, are contemplating the different avenues for growth and path to profitability for the young and ambitious company. In 2023, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Bicycle Industry; Africa; Kenya

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Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, and Gamze Yucaoglu. "eBee: Affordable Mobility for Africa." Harvard Business School Case 724-360, August 2023. (Revised April 2024.)

• 2025
• Working Paper

Residential Battery Storage - Reshaping the Way We Do Electricity

By: Christian Kaps and Serguei Netessine

In this paper, we aim to understand when private households invest in behind-the-meter battery storage next to rooftop solar and how those batteries impact households, the electricity market, and emissions. We answer three main research questions: 1) When do customers... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Energy Storage; Technology And Innovation Management; Energy; Energy Policy; Renewable Energy; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Energy Industry

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Kaps, Christian, and Serguei Netessine. "Residential Battery Storage - Reshaping the Way We Do Electricity." Working Paper, February 2025.

• August 2023
• Article

Status and Mortality: Is There a Whitehall Effect in the United States?

By: Tom Nicholas

The influential Whitehall studies found that top-ranking civil servants in Britain experienced lower mortality than civil servants below them in the organizational hierarchy due to differential exposure to workplace stress. I test for a Whitehall effect in the United... View Details

Keywords: Mortality; Status; Working Conditions; Rank and Position; Welfare; Well-being; Health

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Nicholas, Tom. "Status and Mortality: Is There a Whitehall Effect in the United States?" Economic History Review 76, no. 3 (August 2023): 1191–1230.

• 2025
• Working Paper

When Where Watt: Harnessing the Value of Time and Location for Renewable Electricity Generation

By: Vishrut Rana, Christian Kaps and Serguei Netessine

Problem definition: Investments in renewable energy have surged worldwide in recent years, with over $2 trillion spent globally on clean energy. This surge was driven by growing policy support, concerns about energy security, and, most importantly, the cost... View Details

Keywords: Wind Power; Electricity Distribution; Renewable Energy; Profit; Investment Return; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Geographic Location; Revenue; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry

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Rana, Vishrut, Christian Kaps, and Serguei Netessine. "When Where Watt: Harnessing the Value of Time and Location for Renewable Electricity Generation." Working Paper, January 2025.

• July 2023 (Revised July 2023)
• Background Note

Generative AI Value Chain

By: Andy Wu and Matt Higgins

Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that can create new content (e.g., text, image, or audio) in response to a prompt from a user. ChatGPT, Bard, and Claude are examples of text generating AIs, and DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion are... View Details

Keywords: AI; Artificial Intelligence; Model; Hardware; Data Centers; AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Analytics and Data Science; Value

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Wu, Andy, and Matt Higgins. "Generative AI Value Chain." Harvard Business School Background Note 724-355, July 2023. (Revised July 2023.)

• May 2023
• Case

Natural Gas in New England

By: Robin Greenwood, Richard S. Ruback and Gil Highet

Participants in the New England power market are exploring several strategies to meet the region's renewable power goals while also providing its residents with inexpensive and reliable electricity and heating fuel. New England was a first-mover into natural gas power... View Details

Keywords: Natural Gas; Energy; Energy Industry; United States; Massachusetts

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Greenwood, Robin, Richard S. Ruback, and Gil Highet. "Natural Gas in New England." Harvard Business School Case 223-094, May 2023.