Publications

September–October 2013
Article

The Role of Organizational Scope and Governance in Strengthening Private Monitoring

By: Lamar Pierce and Michael W. Toffel

Governments and other organizations often outsource activities to achieve cost savings from market competition. Yet such benefits are often accompanied by poor quality resulting from moral hazard, which can be particularly onerous when outsourcing the monitoring and... View Details

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August 2024
Case

Zipline: Expanding the World's Largest Autonomous Drone Delivery Network

By: Tarun Khanna and George Gonzalez

Zipline initially established the world's largest logistics network in Rwanda and Ghana by delivering medical supplies to hospitals via automated drones from a centralized hub. The company is now looking to expand to the U.S. home delivery market and designed a... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Expansion; Air Transportation; Business Model; Rwanda; Ghana; United States

Fast Answer

Airline industry: overviews & statistics

Australian, and global markets Statista - quick statistics and articles on the topic Additional resource: United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics Federal Aviation Administration Global and European Air View Details

November 1996 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Farmington Fresh: Growers Changing Produce Distribution

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Don Daniels

Opening up of Asian markets for U.S. produce provided an opportunity for large-scale producers to develop their own packing house and airline to ship their product to Asian markets. Teaching Purpose: How do farmers take a proactive strategy in reaching global produce... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Global Strategy; Air Transportation; Asia; United States

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June 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Railroads and the Beginnings of Modern Management (Abridged)

By: Thomas K. McCraw

Consists of three selections by the most innovative of the early American railroad managers describing the organizational structures and control systems they created. Questions to be asked are: why and how such managerial techniques were created, how well they worked,... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Rail Transportation; Organizational Structure; Management Systems; Rail Industry; United States

February 2017
Case

BlaBlaCar: The Road Ahead...

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Arun Sundararajan, Emilie Billaud and Caroline Caltagirone

In 2017, the co-founders of BlaBlaCar—the world’s largest long-distance carpooling company—reflected on the evolution of their venture and the way forward. BlaBlaCar had reached critical mass and size; yet staying still was not going to be enough to be relevant and... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Transformation; Decision Making; Values and Beliefs; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Network Effects; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Transportation Networks; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; France; Europe

September 2013
Case

Boeing 787: More Electric Architecture

By: Willy Shih

The "more electric architecture" of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner represented a significant shift in the design of secondary power systems for commercial aircraft, compared to traditional designs that employed a mix of hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical power. While the... View Details

Keywords: Boeing; 787; Airbus; A350XWB; Architectural Innovation; Technological Substitution; Technological Innovation; Vertical Integration; Air Transportation; Aerospace Industry; United States

01 Feb 2000
News

Staying Afloat

With revenues of $600 million in 1998, the Szczecin shipyard in Poland is one of that country's most notable post-Cold War economic successes, according to an article in USA Today (November 8, 1999). The yard's turnaround is all the more remarkable for having been... View Details

10 Dec 2019
News

At Massport, New CEO is Ready for Change

Keywords: Air Transportation; Air Transportation

01 Dec 2009
News

Faculty Books

7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis by Bill George (Jossey-Bass) Drawing on his in-the-trenches experience and lessons from crisis-tested executives, Professor George shows what leaders must do to become strong and survive any crisis. His seven lessons include Face... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Air Transportation

01 Jun 2009
News

Sounds Like a Plan

BRENNEMAN: A fast way to make money. Rigorous, thorough analysis is the precursor of an effective business plan, right? Maybe not. In an interview about leadership in the New York Times (March 15, 2009), Greg Brenneman (MBA ’88), chairman of private-equity firm CCMP... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Air Transportation

28 Jun 2014
News

Southwest Founder Rollin King Dies at 83

Keywords: Air Transportation; Air Transportation

12 May 2014
News

New HBS Startup is the Remedy to All Your Airline Headaches

Keywords: Air Transportation; Air Transportation

01 Jun 2007
News

Delta’s Flight from Bankruptcy

By all accounts, September 11, 2001, was the worst day in the history of the airline industry. But that didn’t stop Jim Whitehurst (MBA ’94), then a partner at The Boston Consulting Group in Atlanta, from joining Delta Airlines that day as the firm’s acting treasurer.... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Air Transportation

01 Jun 2002
News

HBS Students Negotiate a Victory

Chung and Kapadia: winning teamwork. (photo by Thomas J. Fitzsimmons) Chung and Kapadia: winning teamwork. (photo by Thomas J. Fitzsimmons) Two students in the MBA/JD joint degree program took top honors at Harvard Law School's 79th annual Williston Competition in... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Air Transportation

July 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Building a Mishap-Free U.S. Navy

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Herman B. Leonard, Michael W. Toffel and Michael Norris

In 2021, Kevin “Bud” Couch, a retired Navy captain who was now working as a civilian employee of the Navy Safety Center, was trying to determine how best to reduce the risk of Navy mishaps. The Navy had experienced a series of major mishaps in 2017 that had led to a... View Details

Keywords: National Security; Safety; War; Ship Transportation; Risk Management; Operations; Singapore; Tokyo; San Diego

November 2022
Article

Impacts of Micromobility on Car Displacement with Evidence from a Natural Experiment and Geofencing Policy

By: Omar Isaac Asensio, Camila Apablaza, M. Cade Lawson, Edward W Chen and Savannah J Horner

Micromobility, such as electric scooters and electric bikes—an estimated US$300 billion global market by 2030—will accelerate electrification efforts and fundamentally change urban mobility patterns. However, the impacts of micromobility adoption on traffic congestion... View Details

Keywords: City; Policy; Transportation; Sustainable Cities