Publications

May 2023
Course Overview Note

Space: Public and Commercial Economics (SPACE)

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl

SPACE is a course with two goals: to use the tools of economics to better understand the rapidly evolving space sector, and to train the next generation of commercial space leaders. We pursue these goals through a systematic study of the growing space economy,... View Details

Keywords: Industry Growth; Aerospace Industry

March 2022 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Commercial Space Stations, Chickens and Eggs, and Demand for Activity in Low-Earth Orbit

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Brendan L. Rosseau

With the International Space Station set to retire in January 2031, NASA has made clear its desire to transition to commercially-led space stations in low-earth orbit (LEO). But the history of commercial station attempts has been fraught, characterized by a lack of... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Opportunities; Business Model; Aerospace Industry; Aerospace Industry; Aerospace Industry

April 2020 (Revised October 2021)
Case

SpaceX, Economies of Scale, and a Revolution in Space Access

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl, Kylie Lucas and Mehak Sarang

From the time he transformed the world of online banking, Elon Musk established himself as a bold innovator. After selling X.com to PayPal in 2002, he founded a series of revolutionary start-ups, starting with Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). Hoping to "make... View Details

Keywords: Space Tech; Space Access; Vision; Economies Of Scale; Technological Innovation; Emerging Markets; Commercialization; Finance; Aerospace Industry

28 Jul 2023
Blog Post

How I Landed My Manufacturing Internship at HBS

thereof), I wasn’t sure what industry/sector I wanted to pursue for a summer internship. After some research and reflection, I focused on manufacturing. I was an aerospace systems View Details

November 2022
Case

Chêne Bleu: Caught in the Trade Tariff Crossfire

By: Dante Roscini, Elena Corsi and Daniela Beyersdorfer

A French wine estate faced a 25% tariff on its U.S. exports following a multi-decade-long EU-U.S. trade dispute in the aerospace industry. View Details

Keywords: Trade; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Expansion; Family Business; Distribution; Agribusiness; Taxation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; France; United States; Europe

04 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: Harder Than I Thought

Editor's note: A hybrid of a novel and a guidebook, Harder Than I Thought: Adventures of a Twenty-First Century Leader invites readers to critique the journey of Jim Barton, the new CEO of a west coast View Details

Keywords: by Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan & Shannon O'Donnell; Aerospace

Article

Digital Ubiquity: How Connections, Sensors, and Data Are Revolutionizing Business

By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

When Google bought Nest, a maker of digital thermostats, for $3.2 billion just a few months ago, it was a clear indication that digital transformation and connection are spreading across even the most traditional industrial segments and creating a staggering array of... View Details

Keywords: Digital Innovation; Digitization; Industrial Internet; Technological Innovation; Production; Competitive Strategy; Engineering; Aerospace Industry

Register to Read

September 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Case

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Steven Russel

Keywords: Aerospace Industry; United States

Profile

Lara Hodgson

It seemed patently inefficient; the small businesses with a high cost of capital essentially funding the big players with all the cash. While many entrepreneurs might have been sunk by the conundrum, Hodgson, an aerospace engineer by... View Details

September 2014
Article

The Interrelationships Between Brand and Channel Choice

By: Scott Neslin, Kenshuk Jerath, Anand Bodapati, Eric T. Bradlow, John A. Deighton, Sonja Gensler, Leonard Lee, Elisa Montaguti, Rahul Telang, Raj Venkatesan, Peter C. Verhoef and Z. John Zhang

We propose a framework for the joint study of the consumer's decision of where to buy and what to buy. The framework is rooted in utility theory where the utility is for a particular channel/brand combination. The framework contains firm actions, the consumer search... View Details

Keywords: Brand Choice; Channel Choice; Utility Theory; Marketing; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Learning; Aerospace Industry; Aerospace Industry; Aerospace Industry; Aerospace Industry; Aerospace Industry

February 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Astroscale, Space Debris, and Earth's Orbital Commons

By: Matthew Weinzierl, Angela Acocella and Mayuka Yamazaki

An engineer and technology entrepreneur, Nobu Okada, had turned a mid-life crisis into a bold—some would say quixotic—quest to prevent a tragedy of the commons at the global scale. Namely, Okada believed the accumulation of debris in near-Earth orbital space posed a... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Global Range; Entrepreneurship; Crisis Management; Wastes and Waste Processing; Economics; Aerospace Industry

07 Nov 2007
Op-Ed

How Marketing Hype Hurt Boeing and Apple

Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge. Last month, Boeing stock went wobbly on news that test flights View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Aerospace; Aerospace

Article

Equitable and Efficient Coordination in Traffic Flow Management

By: Cynthia Barnhart, Dimitris Bertsimas, Constantine Caramanis and Douglas S. Fearing

When air traffic demand is projected to exceed capacity, the FAA implements Traffic Flow Management programs. Independently, these programs maintain a first-scheduled, first-served invariant, which is the accepted standard of fairness within the industry. Coordinating... View Details

Keywords: Traffic Flow Management; Ground Holding Programs; Equitable Flight Delay; Equity; Saving; Management; Management Practices and Processes; Demand and Consumers; Performance Capacity; Performance Efficiency; Conflict and Resolution; System; Aerospace Industry

May 1982 (Revised June 1982)
Case

Air Traffic Controllers

By: Michael Beer

On August 3, 1981 President Ronald Reagan terminated 12,000 air traffic controllers, members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, for violating their no-strike oath. Provides background on the human resources policies and practices of the Federal... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Labor and Management Relations; Government and Politics; Labor Unions; Negotiation; Employees; Air Transportation Industry; United States

20 Sep 2021
Blog Post

Student Spotlight: Summer Internships in Business and Environment

durations, and dispatch it as electricity on demand. Cal's role prior to HBS was an Aerospace Industry Application Engineer at Mathworks. Aditya Desai (MBA 2022, Section J), Summer Internship: MBA Summer... View Details

June 1996 (Revised April 2003)
Case

AeroTech Service Group, Inc.

AeroTech Service Group uses Internet protocols and other advanced computing technologies to interconnect the IS networks of McDonnell-Douglas Aerospace with many of its customers, suppliers, and other partners. The case discusses AeroTech's product and explores options... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry; Air Transportation Industry

March 2019 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Space Angels, Multiple Equilibria, and Financing the Space Economy

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Alissa Haddaji

Chad Anderson had reason to be proud of his young space-focused investment firm, Space Angels. Since becoming CEO, Anderson had overseen growth along multiple dimensions, and Space Angels was “the preeminent name in space finance” according to one prominent space... View Details

Keywords: Space Economy; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Business Model; Aerospace Industry

October 2022
Case

Spaceport America, Public Sector Risk-taking, and Political Accountability (A)

By: Matthew Weinzierl, Dava Newman, Rebecca Browder and Angela Acocella

Sitting quietly in the heart of the New Mexico desert in the summer of 2014, Spaceport America (SA) housed little of the activity its supporters anticipated when opening its hangar doors in 2011. Despite $1 million in annual rent from Virgin Galactic, British... View Details

Keywords: Funding Sources; Risk and Uncertainty; Public Sector; Business and Government Relations; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Aerospace Industry; New Mexico