Publications

June 2021
Case

Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not... View Details

Keywords: Agility; Ecosystem; Innovation Ecosystems; Innovation; Crowdsourcing; XPRIZE; Open Innovation; Partnership; Government; Collaboration; Co-creation; Purpose; Impact; Social Impact; Movement; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Ambidexterity; Ambidexterity; Culture; Culture Change; Global Teams; Experimentation; Space; Space Industry; Airline Industry; Start-up; Platform Business; Platform Strategy; Platform; Digital; Robotics; Robots; Avatar; Telepresence; Innovation Lab; Mobility; COVID-19; Intrapreneurship; Public-private Partnership; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Alignment; Leadership; Leading Change; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transportation Industry; Aerospace Industry; Japan

July 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Qihoo

By: Feng Zhu

Qihoo, one of the largest Internet companies in China today, was founded in 2005. The company started its business by offering a security software product, and quickly dominated the market in China after its unusual move of giving its product away for free in 2009.... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategy; Business Model Innovation; Chinese Internet Market; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry

March 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Ant Financial (A)

By: Feng Zhu, Ying Zhang, Krishna G. Palepu, Anthony K. Woo and Nancy Hua Dai

Headquartered in Hangzhou (China), Ant Financial has grown into a fintech “Unicorn.” The fintech empire that the company established spanned verticals such as mobile and online payment (Alipay), money market fund (Yu’e Bao), wealth management (Ant Fortune),... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Finance; Opportunities; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

20 Nov 2014
News

Here's What Happened When 5 Harvard Students Worked in a Chinese Factory

23 May 2019
News

Coming Soon: A World Without Cash

25 Apr 2012
News

Moonves' $69M Pay Shows How Boards Manipulate Data

19 Feb 2015
Video

Ajay Agarwal, managing director, Bain Capital

27 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 27

and repay CPP funds early. Collectively, the results provide new evidence on the realized consequences of the CPP for bank SEOs. The tests suggest the CPP's indirect costs of restrictions on corporate policies and actions as the most likely explanation for the results.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2023 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Optimalen Capital

By: Malcolm Baker, Elisabeth Kempf and Jonathan Wallen

A new client portfolio manager at a quantitative investment management firm must explain why her firm, Optimalen Capital, has rebalanced a client portfolio with a set of trades that seem unintuitive. In particular, Optimalen has added to its position of Walmart (ticker... View Details

Keywords: Investments; CAPM; Capital Asset Pricing Model; Investment Portfolio; Asset Pricing; Stocks

14 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Breaking the Smartphone Addiction

Editor's note: Check out the crowd at a concert, a movie, a school play, a beach—heck, even a funeral—and you'll likely see several people sneaking prolonged peeks at their smartphones. They just can't help themselves. Ringtones and message alerts are siren songs that... View Details

Keywords: by Leslie A. Perlow

September 1992 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Chrysler: Iacocca's Legacy

By: Nitin Nohria and Sandy Green

Describes the changes fashioned by Iacocca during his tenure as CEO of the Chrysler Corp. Pays particular attention to the rhetoric he employed in mobilizing change and the actions he took to implement change. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Management Teams; Communication Strategy; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry

March 2018
Technical Note

Internet Data Capping Note (B)

By: Shane Greenstein and Christine Snively

The B note brings the reader up through early 2017 and addresses an informal review carried out by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) on sponsored data and zero-rating data plans in the mobile broadband market. View Details

Keywords: Telecommunications; Information Technology; Internet and the Web

March 2001 (Revised July 2007)
Background Note

Power and Influence: Achieving Your Objectives in Organizations

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Elizabeth Long Lingo

Power is the potential to mobilize energy. This rather neutral definition does not address the issues of how to exercise power or to what ends. The answers to these questions determine the ultimate value of an individual's power. This note is written to help readers... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Value

October 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

The NFL's Digital Media Strategy

By: Anita Elberse, C. Kelsey Calhoun and Daven Johnson

In late 2009, Brian Rolapp, senior vice president of media strategy and digital media for the NFL, was faced with the challenge of determining the league's strategic approach to the wireless market—and presenting his views to NFL team owners. What was the league's best... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Media; Distribution Channels; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Sports Industry

04 Feb 2020
Video

Murat Vargı

Murat Vargı, founder of MV Holding and the mobile phone provider Turkcell, describes the challenges he faced in Turkey of growing his telecom business in an industry where there was a state monopoly at the time. View Details

10 May 2018
Cold Call Podcast

'Candy Crush' Was a Blockbuster; Can King Digital Capitalize?

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey F. Rayport; Video Game; Entertainment & Recreation

09 Jun 2017
News

People want to see each other face-to-face

April 1999 (Revised September 2000)
Case

Interep National Radio Sales, Inc.

By: Benson P. Shapiro, Stephen X. Doyle and Wade Myers

Interep must mobilize sales information technology, organizational structures, and sales management processes to protect and enhance its strong position as a radio advertising sales firm. Opportunities and risks are high in this complex, rapidly changing sales agency... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Sales; Strategy; Information Technology; Advertising; Risk and Uncertainty; Opportunities; Fluctuation; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Advertising Industry; New York (state, US)