Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(368)
- Faculty Publications (179)
- March 2014
- Case
MediaTek: From Feature Phones to Smartphones
By: Willy Shih
MediaTek was the third largest fabless semiconductor company in the world, and was the second largest supplier of the silicon microchips that powered mobile phones. Yet as the company's chairman reflected on his R&D strategy, he wondered why it hadn't moved faster on... View Details
- September 2013 (Revised August 2015)
- Background Note
Leadership and Teaming
By: Ethan Bernstein
Small differences in the leadership of teams can have large consequences for the success of their efforts. Many initiatives fail not because of a fatal error in judgment or insufficient ideas, knowledge, motivation, or capabilities to deliver a solution. They fail... View Details
Keywords: Teams; Teaming; Leadership And Managing People; Leadership; Team Effectiveness; Team Performance; Team Design; Team Leadership; Teamwork; Team Process; Team Function; Team Launch; 60/30/10 Rule; Team Boundary; Distribution Of Leadership Authority; Self-Managed Teams; Virtual Teams; Unbounded Teams; Acts Of Leadership; Execution Teams; Decision Making Teams; Creativity Teams; Team Size; Task Design; Team Timeline; Team Roles; Team Representation; Diversity; Team Familiarity; Collective Intelligence; Team Stages Of Development; Team Coaching; Performance Pressure; X-Teams; Team Focus; Interaction; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Management Systems; Management Style; Management Skills; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Efficiency; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Networks; Social Psychology; Behavior; Conflict and Resolution; Creativity; Social and Collaborative Networks; Satisfaction; Prejudice and Bias; Power and Influence; Personal Characteristics; Familiarity; Cognition and Thinking; Attitudes; Projects; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Knowledge Sharing; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Design; Interpersonal Communication; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Asia; North and Central America; South America; Atlantic Ocean; Central Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; Oceania; West Indies
- July 2013 (Revised July 2013)
- Case
Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation
By: Willy Shih and Chen-Fu Chien
Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation has a horizontal firm structure in an industry that is predominantly organized vertically. While it has been successful in up markets, in the current down market its strategic rationale was being tested. As a capital-intensive... View Details
- July 2013 (Revised November 2021)
- Module Note
Exploration vs. Exploitation
By: Willy Shih
This module note introduces James March's concept of exploration and exploitation, and the management challenge of balancing the allocation of resources to the two activities in the firm. The note also touches on the O'Reilly and Tushman paper on the ambidextrous... View Details
Keywords: Exploration And Exploitation; Exploitation; Research; Scientific Research; Product Commercialization; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Strategic Planning; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Corporate Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; United States
- November 2012 (Revised August 2013)
- Supplement
Global Unichip Corporation (B)
By: Willy Shih and Chen-Fu Chien
Jim Lai, President of Global Unichip Corporation (GUC), mapped out the changes he saw coming to the global semiconductor industry. The big question was how many system developers would start coming directly to GUC. View Details
Keywords: Abstraction; Value-network; Vertical Integration; Entry Barriers; Intermediaries; Dis-intermediation; Aggregator; Vertical Specialization; Technology Adoption; Digital Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Integration; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Industry Structures; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Complexity; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Taiwan
- October 2012 (Revised August 2013)
- Case
Global Unichip Corporation (A)
By: Willy Shih and Chen-Fu Chien
Global Unichip Corporation (GUC) is a design services company that acts as a front-end to TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor foundry. In so doing, it masked the complexity of the latest process technologies, and reduced the entry barriers for small firms to... View Details
Keywords: Abstraction; Value-network; Entry Barriers; Intermediaries; Dis-intermediation; Aggregator; Vertical Specialization; Technology Adoption; Digital Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Industry Structures; Information Infrastructure; Complexity; Information Technology; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Taiwan
- April 2012
- Case
Renesas Electronics and the Automotive Microcontroller Supply Chain (A)
By: Willy Shih and Margaret Pierson
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan in March 2011 caused extensive damage to Renesas Electronics wafer fabrication facility, a critical link in the global automotive supply chain. Many OEMs sole-sourced customized microprocessors from the fab, so its... View Details
- April 2012
- Article
Local R&D Strategies and Multi-location Firms: The Role of Internal Linkages
By: Juan Alcacer and Minyuan Zhao
This study looks at the role of firms' internal linkages in highly competitive technology clusters, where much of the world's R&D takes place. The leading players in these clusters are multilocation firms that organize and integrate knowledge across sites worldwide.... View Details
- 2011
- Article
Strategic Change and the Jazz Mindset: Exploring Practices That Enhance Dynamic Capabilities for Organizational Improvisation
By: Ethan S. Bernstein and Frank J. Barrett
How can leaders adopt a mindset that maximizes learning, remains responsive to short-term emergent opportunities, and simultaneously strengthens longer-term dynamic capabilities of the organization? This chapter explores the organizational decisions and practices... View Details
Keywords: Dynamic Capabilities; Strategic Change; Jazz; Jazz Mindset; Improvisation; Innovation; Change Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Leadership; Management; Management Style; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizations; Creativity; Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Semiconductor Industry; United States; Japan; Taiwan; Europe; Asia
- November 2011 (Revised September 2012)
- Case
Underwater Engineer at Intel Corporation
Molly Miller, an Intel employee and shareholder, must decide whether to vote FOR or AGAINST Intel's proposed 2009 option exchange program. Given recent declines in Intel's stock price, more than 99% of Intel's outstanding employee stock options are "underwater," and... View Details
- July 2011
- Teaching Note
Suntech Power (TN)
Teaching Note for 712001. View Details
- March 2011
- Case
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Company in 2011
By: Willy Shih and Jia Cheng
When David Wang took over as the CEO of SMIC, he knew that if he was to capitalize on the company's strategic location in the China market, he would have to transform the company mindset and its operating structure from its roots in the manufacturing of DRAMs to the... View Details
- March 2011 (Revised February 2014)
- Case
Cree, Inc.: Which Bright Future?
By: David J. Collis, Mary Furey and Matthew Shaffer
After its founding in the late 1980s, Cree Inc. quickly grew into a major player in the emerging LED market. By 2007, technological improvements in LEDs had made them suitable for TV, computer, and mobile "backlighting"; and concerns over global warning led to calls to... View Details
Keywords: Cree; LEDs; Lighting Market; Clean Tech; Energy Policy; Semiconductors; North Carolina; Business Growth and Maturation; Forecasting and Prediction; Innovation and Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Technology Adoption; Electronics Industry; Green Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; North Carolina; Raleigh
- July 2010
- Teaching Note
Shanzhai! MediaTek and the "White Box" Handset Market (TN)
By: Willy C. Shih
Teaching Note for 610081. View Details
- April 2010
- Teaching Note
Carrot or Stick? Getting Paid for Innovation at Tessera Technologies (TN)
By: Willy C. Shih
Teaching Note for 610085. View Details
- April 2010 (Revised December 2010)
- Case
Shanzhai! MediaTek and the "White Box" Handset Market
By: Willy C. Shih, Chen-Fu Chien and Jyun-Cheng Wang
The term "white box" is often used to describe products without a brand name. Such products are assembled from standardized parts, and they became a very popular category of desktop PCs. Hsinchu, Taiwan based MediaTek is a fabless semiconductor company that unleashed a... View Details
- March 2010 (Revised January 2011)
- Case
Carrot or Stick? Getting Paid for Innovation at Tessera Technologies
By: Willy C. Shih
Tessera Technologies has been very successful developing technologies for the semiconductor and mobile device industry, and then licensing them broadly to manufacturers. In addition to licensing patents, it also supplies know-how to help manufacturers move into... View Details
- 2010
- Working Paper
Local R&D Strategies and Multi-location Firms: The Role of Internal Linkages
By: Juan Alcacer and Minyuan Zhao
This study looks at the role of firms' internal linkages in highly competitive technology clusters, where much of the world's R&D takes place. The leading players in these clusters are multi-location firms that organize and integrate knowledge across sites worldwide.... View Details
- October 2009
- Case
Low-k Dielectrics at IBM
By: Willy C. Shih and Giovanni Carraro
Innovations at the frontiers of technology carry enormous risk of making wrong choices. This case examines a decision made by IBM in its semiconductor process technology strategy: a material to use as a dielectric insulator in its leading edge silicon chip technology.... View Details