Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(755)
- Faculty Publications (429)
- March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
- Teaching Note
France Télécom (A), (B), and (C)
By: Ashley Whillans
This case series discusses the evolution of France Télécom (now Orange) from a national telephone monopoly to a private company. During this process, the company faced numerous challenges including the entry of new competition from other countries and a workforce that... View Details
- March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
- Case
MTN: Unlocking Value While Driving Socioeconomic Progress
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha
On March 10, 2021, Ralph Mupita the new CEO of MTN Group, Africa's largest telecommunications company, presented the group’s 2020 annual results and unveiled a new strategy to “drive growth and unlock value.” Despite MTN’s leadership in most of its markets, the... View Details
- May 2021
- Case
Endeavor Kenya: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Shikhar Ghosh and Christian Godwin
In 2016, Fiona Mungai became Endeavor Kenya’s first managing director. In this role, she helped the organization build its inaugural board and select its first Endeavor entrepreneur, a fintech company called Cellulant. Throughout this process, Mungai observed the power... View Details
Keywords: Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Leadership; Leading Change; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Negotiation; Economy; Markets; Emerging Markets; Network Effects; Relationships; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Africa; Kenya
- April 2021
- Case
The Clean Network and the Future of Global Technology Competition
By: Meg Rithmire and Courtney Han
In May 2019, amidst of an ever-worsening trade war between the U.S. and China, President Donald Trump added Chinese telecom giant Huawei to the Department of Commerce’s “entity list,” essentially forbidding American firms from doing business with the company. Huawei,... View Details
- 2021
- Working Paper
Accounting for Product Impact in the Telecommunications Industry
By: George Serafeim and Katie Trinh
We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the telecommunications industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates of network... View Details
Keywords: Product Innovation; Impact; Impact Investing; Impact Measurement; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Ratings; Social Corporate Responsibility; Corporate Social Responsibility; Social Impact; Telecommunications; Product Design; Product Positioning; Society; Product; Environmental Sustainability; Measurement and Metrics; Framework; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Telecommunications Industry
- March 2021 (Revised January 2022)
- Case
Philips: Redefining Telehealth
By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Alec Petersen, Natalie Kindred and Sara M. McKinley
As one of the world’s largest healthcare companies, Philips sought to reach beyond the walls of the hospital and expand its hospital-to-home program to gain future competitive advantage through technology solutions combining predictive analytics with care delivery. By... View Details
Keywords: Health Care; Philips; Visicu; Telemedicine; eICU; Accountable Care Organization; ACO; Bundled Payment; Hospital To Home; Patient Monitoring Devices; Home Health Care; Health Care and Treatment; Communication Technology; Quality; Safety; Performance Productivity; Performance Capacity; Performance Efficiency; Consumer Behavior; Emerging Markets; Health Industry; Health Industry; Netherlands
- February 2021
- Case
Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (A)
By: Henry McGee, Nien-hê Hsieh, Sarah McAra and Christian Godwin
In 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook debuted the iPhone 6S with enhanced security measures that enflamed a debate on privacy and public safety around the world. The iPhone 6S, amid a heightened concern for privacy following the 2013 revelation of clandestine U.S. surveillance... View Details
Keywords: Iphone; Encryption; Data Privacy; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Making; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Globalized Firms and Management; Government and Politics; National Security; Law; Law Enforcement; Leadership; Markets; Safety; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Civil Society or Community; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States; China; Hong Kong
- December 2020
- Case
VIA Science (A)
By: Juan Alcácer, Rembrand Koning, Annelena Lobb and Kerry Herman
Via (a) captures the early days of the data analytics startup as founders Gounden and Ravanis considered which markets offer the right opportunities for their firm and what kinds of experiments will help them narrow their choice. Supplement Via (b) reveals the... View Details
- December 2020
- Supplement
VIA Science (B)
By: Juan Alcácer, Rembrand Koning, Annelena Lobb and Kerry Herman
Via (a) captures the early days of the data analytics startup as founders Gounden and Ravanis considered which markets offer the right opportunities for their firm and what kinds of experiments will help them narrow their choice. Supplement Via (b) reveals the... View Details
- December 2020 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
France Télécom (A): A Challenging Restructuring
These cases explore the impacts of industry shocks, resulting corporate actions that had a devastating impact on employees, and the legal conviction of corporate leaders for “institutional harassment."
This case series follows the evolution of France... View Details
This case series follows the evolution of France... View Details
Keywords: Health ＆ Wellness; Human Resource Management; Strategic Change; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Leadership And Change Management; Leadership And Managing People; Change; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Health; Human Capital; Human Resources; Labor; Labor and Management Relations; Labor Unions; Law; Social Psychology; Strategy; Leadership; Leadership Style; Organizations; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Employees; Well-being; Telecommunications Industry; Europe; European Union
- December 2020
- Supplement
France Télécom (B): A Wave of Staff Suicides
In the B case we learn that at least 19 France Telecom employees took their own lives between 2006 and 2009, 12 others attempted suicide, and eight suffered from serious depression for reasons reportedly related to work. Some of these deaths occurred in public places,... View Details
Keywords: Mental Health; Change; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Health; Human Capital; Human Resources; Labor and Management Relations; Labor Unions; Law; Social Psychology; Strategy; Leadership Style; Organizations; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Crisis Management; Employees; Well-being; Telecommunications Industry; Europe; European Union
- December 2020
- Supplement
France Télécom (C): An Unprecedented Trial
In the C case we learn that former CEO Didier Lombard, Deputy Chief Executive Louis-Pierre Wenes, Human Resources Head Olivier Barberot and France Telecom itself were charged for institutional harassment by French authorities, a first for a CAC 40 company. In December... View Details
Keywords: Human Behavior; Human Dignity; Human Resource Practices; Corporate Change And Sustainability; Corporate Culture; Strategic Corporate Decisions; Strategic Change; Strategic Decision Making; Emotion; Management Challenges; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Crisis Management; Law; Courts and Trials; Labor; Labor and Management Relations; Management Practices and Processes; Employees; Well-being; Telecommunications Industry; Europe; European Union
- 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
- November 2020 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
Sercomm: Operating in China Amid COVID-19 and Beyond
The COVID-19 pandemic had forced a production cut in the factory of Sercomm, one of the world’s major telecom equipment producers, in China. The case explores and highlights the challenges that Chief Executive Officer James Wang faced: How could Sercomm recover and... View Details
- September 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Comviva: Exploring New Frontiers (A)
By: Dante Roscini and Mahima Rao-Kachroo
Comviva, a mobile solutions provider active in India and 94 other countries, has had a rich history and been successful across many emerging and complex markets: Latin America, South-East Asia, Africa. What are the lessons learnt from expansion, cultural fits, and... View Details
- June 2020
- Case
In-housing Digital Marketing at Sprint Corp.
By: David E. Bell, Rajiv Lal and Olivia Hull
In the fall of 2019, Sprint’s Chief Digital Officer Rob Roy reflected on the telecom’s efforts to improve the effectiveness of its digital marketing campaigns. Digital media buying had long been handled by an outside agency, but in 2017, Sprint brought those functions... View Details
- April 2020 (Revised May 2020)
- Case
NTT DOCOMO's Race to 5G
By: Juan Alcácer, Horst Melcher and Akiko Kanno
The case, based on extensive interviews with NTT DOCOMO’s technology leaders, focuses on the opportunities and challenges that NTT DOCOMO faces with the launch of infrastructure and services for 5G wireless telecommunication technology. With higher data rates and... View Details
- April 2020
- Case
Apple Inc. in 2020
By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher
After a decade as CEO, Tim Cook is facing one of his biggest strategic transitions of his tenure. While Apple had performed spectacularly well under Cook, Apple's core business was maturing. Sales of iPhones, iPads, and Macs were flat or down. However, Apple's new... View Details
Keywords: Innovation; Market Positioning; Marketing Implementation; Planning; Products; Strategic Positioning; Strategy; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Communication; Competition; Leadership; Strategic Planning; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry
- April 2020
- Article
Technological Leadership (de)Concentration: Causes in Information and Communication Technology Equipment
By: Yasin Ozcan and Shane Greenstein
Using patent data from 1976 to 2010 as indicators of inventive activity, we determine the concentration level of where inventive ideas originate and then examine how and why those concentrations change over time. The analysis finds pervasive deconcentration in every... View Details
- March 2020 (Revised March 2024)
- Case
CIAM: Home-Grown Shareholder Activism in France
By: Charles C.Y. Wang, Tonia Labruyere and Vincent Dessain
The case discusses the strategy of CIAM, a French activist investment firm, involved in a case of a buy-out of minority shareholders in the telecommunications sector. Altice NV, an international telecommunications company based in the Netherlands that owned more than... View Details