Publications

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November 2003 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Flextronics International, Ltd.

By: Robert S. Huckman and Gary P. Pisano

Describes Flextronics' evolution from providing outsourced manufacturing services for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the electronics industry to developing entire unbranded products for purchase by OEMs. In 2001, Flextronics began a development program that... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Production; Service Operations; Performance Effectiveness; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry

April 2021
Teaching Note

Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

Within 20 years of launch, entrepreneur Wang Yanquing had built Wuxi Lead into the world’s largest manufacturer of equipment for manufacturing capacitors, lithium-ion batteries, and fuel cells.
The first big choice an entrepreneur faces is what sector to... View Details

Keywords: Lithium-ion Batteries; Industry Dynamics; Entrepreneurial Journey; Entrepreneurship; Markets; Strategy; Decision Making; Manufacturing Industry; China

10 Feb 2012
News

World's Best B-School Professors: Clayton Christensen

January 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Background Note

News in the Digital World: Who Pays?

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

Models to monetizing news in the digital landscape, which is real-time, searchable, sharable, multi-sourced, anytime, and any screen, were emerging in 2010. Could content creators get people to pay for what they watched, read, listened to, and shared online? Were news... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Newspapers; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Online Technology; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry

14 Oct 2014
News

The Counterproductive Perils of Transparency

06 Sep 2019
Video

Mo Ibrahim

Mo Ibrahim, the founder of the African telecommunications company Celtel and later a major corporate philanthropist, describes his decisions to leave the large telecommunications company British Telecom and... View Details

June 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Inside Intel Inside

By: Youngme E. Moon and Christina L. Darwall

In early 2002, Pamela Pollace, vice president and director of Intel's worldwide marketing operations, is debating whether the company should extend its "Intel Inside" branding campaign to non-PC product categories, such as cell phones and PDAs. The "Intel Inside"... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Growth and Development; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Sales; Expansion; Competitive Advantage; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; California

17 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 17, 2006

Course. Purchase this note: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=307011 iPod vs. Cell Phone: A Mobile Music Revolution? Harvard Business School Case 707-419 In 2006, a nascent market for music-enabled mobile... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Oct 2012
News

Anchored to mobiles

02 Dec 2016
News

Why We Are So Careless with the Things We Own?

March 2008 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Sony Digital Entertainment, Japan

By: Anita Elberse

It is late 2007. So-called cell phone ("keitai") novels have turned into an extremely popular form of entertainment-on-the- go in Japan, in particular among young, female readers. In fact, consisting mostly of love stories written by amateurs in short sentences and... View Details

Keywords: Books; Marketing Strategy; Open Source Distribution; Competition; Mobile Technology; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Japan

05 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 5, 2007

strategies for extracting it. Not surprisingly, when a rival comes along with a friendlier alternative, customers defect. Adversarial value-extracting strategies are common in such industries as cell View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 Jan 2021
Video

Sunil Bharti Mittal

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, discusses entering the telecommunications industry by creating India’s first pushbutton phones in the early 1980s as a result of India banning the import of generators – his previous business. In 1992, he... View Details

08 May 2020
News

Which Covid-19 Data Can You Trust?

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

29 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 29, 2008

Harvard Business School Supplement 308-095 Supplements the (A) case. Purchase this supplement: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=308095 Sony Digital Entertainment, Japan Harvard Business School Case 508071 It is late 2007. So-called View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 Sep 2017
Blog Post

HBS Startup Bootcamp and Founders Unfiltered

I’ve kept a list of new product and business ideas on my phone for over 10 years now. While they range from dog toys to B2B SaaS businesses, they all have one thing in common: they only exist on my phone. I’ve never seriously pursued any... View Details

February 2014 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Go Mobile: Aligning District Managers and Store Teams

By: Tatiana Sandino

Indian cell phone retailer Go Mobile had implemented high-powered incentives to motivate its store employees to behave as owners and provide exceptional service. As the company scaled up, it faced multiple challenges in building a layer of district managers that were... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth Management; Organizational Design; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Telecommunications Industry; India

October 2000 (Revised September 2002)
Case

NTT DoCoMo (A): The Future of the Wireless Internet?

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Matthew Sandoval

NTT DoCoMo was established in 1992 and became publicly held in 1998. This case tracks how DoCoMo became the number one mobile phone company in Japan and how its i.mode service revolutionized the cellular phone market. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Japan