Publications

January 1994 (Revised August 1998)
Case

Hold or Fold?: The War of Attrition

Costly "wars of attrition" are common. Examples include: 1) the battle over the business of market-making in British government bonds that took place following the 1986 deregulation of the London financial markets, and 2) the battle that took place in the late 1980s... View Details

Keywords: Competition

April 2024
Case

ChatGPT Enters the Voice Wars 2024

By: David B. Yoffie and Sarah von Bargen

OpenAI joined the Voice Wars in September 2023 when it launched its voice feature for ChatGPT. Initially only available to Pro subscribers, ChatGPT gave free access to all users two months later. It formed partnerships with a variety of companies, including carmakers,... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Partners and Partnerships; Lawsuits and Litigation; Technology Adoption; Market Entry and Exit; Technology Industry

April 2022
Case

The First Opium War and Global Free Trade

By: Jeremy Friedman and Allison Lazarus

The First Opium War (1839-1842) symbolized the peak of the era of European imperialism, with a political and cultural legacy that remains potent to this day. The British Empire, “acquired in a fit of absent-mindedness” as one observer famously claimed, seemed to be... View Details

Keywords: Imperialism; Narcotics; Importing; History; Globalized Markets and Industries; Trade; Social Issues

07 Apr 2016
News

The war on business

29 Mar 2012
News

Apple's War on Android

February 2010 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Barclays Wealth: Reignite WAR or Launch AlphaStream?

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Elisa Farri

In late January 2009, Thomas Fekete, managing director at Barclays Wealth in London, redeemed the most illiquid positions in the so-called Wealth Absolute Return Fund (WAR), one of Barclays Wealth's most promising offshore funds of hedge funds, and halted the Fund's... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Financial Liquidity; International Finance; Investment Funds; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; London

01 Mar 2025
News

Audit: War & Peace

QUESTION: “How did you ensure the talks didn’t fail because of internal strife?” —Alexandra Baranowski (MBA 2025) “I had to handle that with a lot of cold blood and not engage the opposition in every argument. I had to maintain the course, explain why we were doing... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Illustration by Matt Rota

20 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Language Wars Divide Global Companies

more efficient, the use of such a lingua franca can add layers of complication and delay. And instead of fostering collaboration, it can create cultural fissures between employees. “It's volcanic, waiting for something to ignite it, and then it explodes” It turns out... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

17 May 2011
News

New York Talent Wars

Keywords: News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade

June 2025
Case

AI Wars in 2025

By: Andy Wu and Anna Yang

In June 2025, Google leaders in Mountain View, CA convened after its parent company Alphabet shed a quarter-trillion in market capitalization in a matter of months. The immediate spark—the quiet revelation that Google searches had dipped for the first time in 20... View Details

June 2015
Teaching Note

Coffee Wars in India

By: David B. Yoffie

Keywords: Competition; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; India

15 Aug 2008
News

War of the Computers

2023
Working Paper

Point Four and the Politics of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States during the Early Cold War

By: Melanie Sheehan

This article traces business influence in the formulation of the Point Four technical assistance program, the first US Cold War-era international development program. It focuses specifically on business interest associations’ efforts to secure federal incentives to... View Details

Keywords: Point Four Program; Business Interest Association; International Development; Cold War; Foreign Direct Investment; Business History; Business and Government Relations

Read Now

2020
Working Paper

Inventing the Endless Frontier: The Effects of the World War II Research Effort on Post-War Innovation

By: Daniel P. Gross and Bhaven N. Sampat

During World War II, the U.S. government launched an unprecedented effort to mobilize science for war: a newly-established Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) entered thousands of R&D contracts with industrial and academic contractors, spending one to... View Details

Keywords: World War II; Vannevar Bush; OSRD; Mission-oriented R＆D; Direction Of Innovation; Geography Of Innovation; Technology Clusters; U.S. Innovation System; Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; Problems and Challenges; War; History; Government Administration; United States

SSRN

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10 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

Lessons from the Browser Wars

In a famous example of how first movers can lose their advantage, second-mover Microsoft won the Web browser wars from Netscape and continues to dominate the market today. But that competition was the subject of another "war,"... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Computer; Consumer Products; Technology

March 2015 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Coffee Wars in India: Café Coffee Day 2015

By: David B. Yoffie and Rachna Tahilyani

This case is an update of "Coffee Wars in India: Café Coffee Day 2013." It explores Café Coffee Day's progress after Starbuck's entry into India and the decisions it faces in 2015. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competitor Analysis; Emerging Markets; Competitive Strategy; India