Publications

June 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Case

Microsoft in 2004

By: Michael G. Rukstad, David B. Yoffie, Brian DeLacey and Deborah Freier

Surveys Microsoft's expansion into new businesses, such as mobile and embedded devices, home and entertainment, and business solutions, as it faces challenges due to size and maturity and outside threats from Linux and Google. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Applications and Software; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Washington (state, US)

28 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 28, 2010

deal" stance? Or was it time to switch to a recorded-music-only deal? Designed for use alongside "Octone Records," HBS No. 507-082, the case allows for an in-depth examination of new-product development and talent... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

American Auto’s Troubled Road

game, highly profitable Toyota has announced it will produce 9.06 million cars worldwide this year, while money-losing GM will cut production (after manufacturing an estimated 9.08 million vehicles in 2005). Increasingly, the glory days... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Manufacturing; Transportation; Auto

25 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

An Organization Your Customers Understand

Imagine an organization made up of a variety of three-dimensional shapes. Rectangular blocks represent the functions: manufacturing, R&D, and sales and marketing. The spheres are regional offices. Pyramids represent product groups—one... View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

01 Mar 2016
News

The Western Front

Illustration by Brian Stauffer Illustration by Brian Stauffer The government used to be America’s greatest innovator. Among many things, it developed or helped fund the creation of the Internet, GPS, microchips, and even Cheetos. (True... View Details

Keywords: Jason Feifer

01 Dec 2009
News

The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle

intriguing new book Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle (Twelve), written by Dan Senor (MBA ’01) and Saul Singer, a columnist at the Jerusalem Post. Most Israelis in their late teens serve several years in the elite Israel Defense Forces, an... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; National Security and International Affairs; Government

May 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Zoom Video Communications vs. Microsoft Teams

By: Andy Wu

In June 2021, Zoom executives prepared for competition in the post-pandemic world. Zoom‘s breakthrough success in the previous year put the company in a position to set up many new opportunities going forward. At the same time, its success attracted competitors like... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Competition; Growth and Development Strategy

February 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Supplement

Ant Financial (C)

By: Feng Zhu, Ying Zhang, Krishna G. Palepu and Anthony K. Woo

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Finance; Opportunities

15 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

In the Virtual Dressing Room Returns Are A Real Problem

Many distinctive aspects of the textile and apparel industries present challenges to implementing electronic commerce. First, and perhaps most important, is the difficulty of accurately characterizing the product online. Many of the... View Details

Keywords: by Jan Hammond & Kristin Kohler; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

01 Jun 2003
News

400 and Counting: Surge in HBS Cases with Women Protagonists

in key decision-making roles. “The cases feature women in all areas of responsibility, including accounting, production and operations management, competitive strategy, entrepreneurship, and service management,” notes Hart in an... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

Alfred E. Mann

Mann was a prolific inventor who developed many lifesaving medical devices including the rechargeable pacemaker which formed the basis of the successful Pacesetter company. Mann continued to perfect the pacemaker and View Details

Keywords: Healthcare

Web

Esther Koh | MBA

Esther Koh Bioengineering (SB), Secondary in Global Health & Health Policy Kirkland 2022 Cohort 3 Bridging experiments in the lab with commercialization strategies in industry fuels my drive to turn innovative delivery medical device... View Details

November 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

United Technologies: Are the Parts Worth More Than the Whole?

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

After spending more than 50 years creating a diversified industrial conglomerate that Fortune magazine described as “arguably the most profitable conglomerate in America” in 2014, UTC’s CEO Greg Hayes was under pressure from activist investors (Dan Loeb and Bill... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Financial Management; Corporate Governance; Organizational Structure; Investment Funds; Value Creation; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; United States