Publications

August 2023
Case

BYD, China, and Global Electric Vehicle Rivalry

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Max Hancock

In 2023, BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker, surpassed Tesla to become the world's best-selling EV brand. BYD began selling mobile phone batteries in 1995, acquired a license to sell vehicles in 2002, and spent two decades building its EV brand, growing its... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Vertical Integration; Market Participation; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Electronics Industry; China; Europe; United States; Japan; South Korea

Summer 2016
Article

Dynamic Capabilities at Samsung: Optimizing Internal Co-opetition

By: Jaeyong Song, Kyungmook Lee and Tarun Khanna

This article presents a clinical study, based on a decade of ongoing research at Samsung Group, which describes how the Samsung Group and its mobile phone division competed successfully in smartphones. The ability to manage co-opetition—simultaneous forces of... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Business Divisions; Cooperation; Mobile Technology

Find at Harvard

08 May 2020
News

Which Covid-19 Data Can You Trust?

February 2015 (Revised May 2015)
Supplement

Nokia's Bridge Program: Outcome and Results (B)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg

Nokia's leaders reflect on the Bridge program, lessons learned during its implementation, and the business benefits it brought to the company. Nokia's Bridge program resulted in 60% of employees knowing their next step the day they exited the firm. It also helped... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Plant Closure; Outplacement; Shared Value; Business or Company Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Restructuring; Employee Relationship Management; Telecommunications Industry

News

Data Can Do for Change Management What It Did for Marketing

June 2012
Article

The Transparency Paradox: A Role for Privacy in Organizational Learning and Operational Control

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

Using data from embedded participant-observers and a field experiment at the second largest mobile phone factory in the world, located in China, I theorize and test the implications of transparent organizational design on workers' productivity and organizational... View Details

February 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Nokia's Bridge Program: Redesigning Layoffs (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg

"Not another Bochum." Nokia Board Chairman Jorma Ollila was clear in the goals he set for the 2011 restructuring that Nokia's new CEO, Stephen Elop, had decided was necessary to address the dramatically changed competitive environment the company faced in smartphones... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Plant Closure; Outplacement; Shared Value; Business or Company Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Restructuring; Employee Relationship Management; Telecommunications Industry

Research Summary

Industrial competitiveness in high tech and science-based businesses

By: Willy C. Shih

How do emerging economies develop industrial and technical capabilities that overtake those of advanced economies? Are there some industrial sectors that are especially susceptible to such targeting? What will it take to restore America’s... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Technology Diffusion; Knowledge Flows; Competitive Advantage; Globalization; Manufacturing Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Technology Industry; United States; China; Asia

July 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Launching Telmore (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Celso Fernandez and Moritz Jobke

When the Danish mobile phone service provider Telmore entered the market in October 2000, few people took notice. Its business model was not perceived as particularly aggressive or threatening to the industry. Less than three years later, Telmore's creative adaptation... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Creativity; Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Telecommunications Industry; Denmark

14 Feb 2005
Research & Ideas

The World in Your Palm?

features. "Do I want my business phone to play music?" The key to living in a multiple-device life is a standard way of sharing information between devices, such as via data cards and network communication, said Susan K.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

28 Nov 2018
HBS Seminar

Paul Niehaus, University of California San Diego, Department of Economics

November 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Nike: Changing the Sneakers Game

By: Anita Elberse, Bryce Aiken and Howard Johnson

“Our goal is to be the kind of start-up that would terrify Nike—if Nike didn’t already own us.” Ron Faris, general manager of S23NYC, a Manhattan-based digital studio owned by sports apparel giant Nike, is on the phone with Adam Sussman, Nike’s chief digital officer.... View Details

Keywords: Digital Technology; Apparel; Fashion; Superstar; Innovation; General Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Management; Sports; Entertainment; Digital Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry

November 2020 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Holaluz: Taking on the Spanish Energy Market

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg, Elena Corsi and Emer Moloney

In 2020, the three cofounders of Holaluz, a newcomer to Spain’s electricity retail market, are preparing to launch a new offering: installing and managing solar panels on households' roofs at no extra cost for the consumer, who would still benefit from the energy... View Details

Keywords: Electricity; Solar Power; Subscription Business; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Service Delivery; Business Model; Product Launch; Marketing; Energy Industry; Spain

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

2021
Working Paper

CEO Activism, Consumer Polarization, and Firm Performance

By: Young Hou and Christopher W. Poliquin

CEOs are increasingly engaging in activism on controversial social and political issues that do not directly affect their businesses. Simultaneously, the general public is increasingly polarized. We examine how CEO support for gun control after two mass shootings... View Details

Keywords: CEO Activism; Guns; Polarization; Non-market Strategy; Social Issues; Leadership; Consumer Behavior; Performance