Publications

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October 2024 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Nvidia

By: Andy Wu and Matt Higgins

This case study examines Nvidia's strategic pivot from gaming GPUs to becoming a leader in general-purpose computing and AI. It explores how Nvidia leveraged its GPU architecture to dominate the growing fields of data center acceleration and AI training, outpacing... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Technological Innovation; AI and Machine Learning; Product Development; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry; United States; China; Taiwan

23 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 23, 2007

introducing a generation to the practice of personal computing and laying the foundation for the Information Age. Gates and Jobs turned their curiosity about electronics into a multi-billion dollar industry.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

DVD War

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In 2006, the DVD was the most popular storage medium in the entertainment and computer industries. The development of high-definition (HD) technology created a need for a format with greater storage capacity. Instead of agreeing on a single standard for a new HD disc,... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Entertainment; Business History; Intellectual Property; Product; Competition; Technology Adoption; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry

25 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 25, 2007

Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=608053 Dell Computers (B): The Transition Harvard Business School Supplement 607-081 The case presents the outcome of the (A) case and explores challenges... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

29 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

Time Pressure and Creativity: Why Time is Not on Your Side

real-time information on these individuals, the teams, and their work, in a relatively unobtrusive way, was to have the participants fill out an electronic "Daily Questionnaire" (DQ) for us. Every workday, Monday through Friday,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education; Fine Arts

14 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Can Entrepreneurs Drive People Movers to Success?

problems from (in)convenience to price to congestion, he says. “Robust computer control is at the core of a successful PRT.” The concept is well known—you have likely encountered automated, driverless people movers in cities such as... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Transportation

20 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

The 5 Strategy Rules of Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs

would move beyond the computer to use a range of electronic devices for entertainment and communication and then systematically rolled them out one step at a time—the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Building an... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Computer

27 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, June 27

cash for electronic value and vice versa, forming the backbone of an emerging electronic currency ecosystem that has potential to connect millions of poor and “unbanked" people to the formal financial... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 12, 2018

agents over eight weeks to examine how differing types of guidance and training impact the agents' inventory management. We find agents who are trained in person and receive an explicit, personalized, daily text message recommendation of how much View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

clearly epitomized by the advent and affirmation of the electronic processing and sharing of data at a magnitude and speed that in no way we have seen before. The digital age is enabled by the emergence and adoption of four key... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

May 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Apple Inc. in 2015

By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin

At the end of 2014, Apple Inc. recorded the most profitable quarter of any firm in history, and its market capitalization soon topped $700 billion. 'Apple Inc in 2015' explores the history of Apple, its successes under Jobs, its continued growth under Tim Cook, and the... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Innovation; Market Positioning; Marketing Implementation; Planning; Products; Strategy; Strategic Positioning; Technology; Information Technology; Strategic Planning; Product Positioning; Leadership; Communication; Competitive Advantage; Product; Innovation and Invention; Computer Industry; Computer Industry

12 Apr 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Productivity Suffers When Employees Are Allowed to Schedule Their Own Tasks

other images randomly assigned to each of them by the firm’s centralized queuing system. The analysis covered all 2,766,209 cases that the firm processed between July 2005 and December 2007. Because the radiologists did their work at View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

20 Nov 2007
First Look

First Look: November 20, 2007

broadband Internet, and the related crisis faced by companies whose business models relied on TV advertising—played to TiVo's unique strengths. Leadership in DVR technology and a TV-centric user interface arguably positioned TiVo to become something more than a... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company

objective. Combining the two banks created opportunities to eliminate overlaps in such areas as back-office staff, branch offices, and computing infrastructure. Management of both banks also believed that larger and more diversified... View Details

Keywords: by Stuart C. Gilson

January 2009 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Responding to the Wii?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Hanna Halaburda

After years of gaming console industry leadership, how should Sony respond to the overwhelming success of competitor Nintendo's user-friendly Wii over Sony's high-tech PlayStation 3? It was August 2008 and Kazuo Hirai, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Two-Sided Platforms; Industry Structures; Competitive Strategy; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry

31 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Japan Disaster Shakes Up Supply-Chain Strategies

The full cultural and sociological aftershocks of the earthquake in Japan—the worst disaster to hit the country since World War II—are washing like a tsunami across many industries as manufacturers and their customers scramble to replace suppliers disrupted and even... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Computer; Computer; Computer; Computer

30 May 2018
Research & Ideas

Should Retailers Match Their Own Prices Online and in Stores?

let me order the costume on the store’s computer and get free shipping. Sold! For multichannel retailers—those who sell both in physical stores and online—pricing is a particularly prickly problem. And when it comes to self-matching... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

New Research Explores Multi-Sided Markets

sellers), ad-supported media (ad sponsors and readers/viewers), computer operating systems (application developers and users), videogame consoles (game developers and geeks), shopping malls (retailers and consumers), digital media... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

April 2010 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Apple Inc. in 2010

By: David B. Yoffie and Renee Kim

On April 4, 2010, Apple Inc. launched the iPad, the company's third major innovation released over the last decade under its iconic CEO Steve Jobs. Apple's strategy of shifting its business into non-PC products had thrived so far, driven by the smashing success of the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Computer Industry; Computer Industry