Publications

May 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Building the Digital Manufacturing Enterprise of the Future at Siemens

By: Willy Shih

This case describes the motivation for and the development of Siemens' digital manufacturing enterprise vision, which became the foundation for its implementation of Industrie 4.0. While the effort started with a purely defensive move by Anton Huber, head of the... View Details

19 Jan 2010
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing the Economic Crisis

why. Key concepts include: Regulations and laws offer little guidance about what specifically boards should do, and, given this lack of specificity, most boards have gradually developed an implicit... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

16 Dec 2015
News

Your grandmother was right. Slouching is bad for you–and maybe your career

September 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Case

VMware, Inc., 2008

By: David B. Yoffie, Andrei Hagiu and Michael Slind

Paul Maritz took the helm of VMware in July 2008, just as the company confronted a radically new competitive environment. Since its founding in 1998, VMware had been the leading provider of virtualization software. Now it faced the kind of threat that every software... View Details

Keywords: History; Digital Platforms; Competition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Applications and Software; Business Strategy

December 2020
Supplement

France Télécom (B): A Wave of Staff Suicides

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Ashley V. Whillans

In the B case we learn that at least 19 France Telecom employees took their own lives between 2006 and 2009, 12 others attempted suicide, and eight suffered from serious depression for reasons reportedly related to work. Some of these deaths occurred in public places,... View Details

25 Apr 2014
News

Disrupting criminal enterprises that prey on children

Department of Justice for more than eight years, prosecuting child exploitation and human-trafficking crimes. "The UN is in a position to coordinate and incentivize countries to work together to develop... View Details

March 2021
Article

The Impact of the General Data Protection Regulation on Internet Interconnection

By: Ran Zhuo, Bradley Huffaker, KC Claffy and Shane Greenstein

The Internet comprises thousands of independently operated networks, where bilaterally negotiated interconnection agreements determine the flow of data between networks. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes strict restrictions on... View Details

Keywords: Personal Data; Privacy Regulation; GDPR; Interconnection Agreements; Internet and the Web; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

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February 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Financing Matillion's Scaleup (A)

By: Raymond Kluender, Emanuele Colonnelli and Ramana Nanda

In 2019, Matthew Scullion, founder and CEO of U.K. startup Matillion, faced a decision about which term sheet to accept for the lead investor in his company’s $35 million Series C financing round. Would the connections and opportunities offered by Silicon Valley-based... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Ownership; Business Startups; Decisions; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Valuation; Information Technology Industry; United Kingdom

March 2020
Article

Which Early Withdrawal Penalty Attracts the Most Deposits to a Commitment Savings Account?

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Christopher Harris, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and Jung Sakong

Previous research has shown that some people voluntarily use commitment contracts that restrict their own choice sets. We study how people divide money between two accounts: a liquid account that permits unrestricted withdrawals and a commitment account that is... View Details

Keywords: Quasi-hyperbolic Discounting; Present Bias; Sophistication; Naiveté; Commitment; Flexibility; Savings; Contract Design; Defined Contribution Retirement Plan; 401 (K); IRA; Saving; Behavior; Contracts; Design; Interest Rates

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January 2025
Teaching Note

Vytal: Packaging-as-a-Service

By: George Serafeim, Michael W. Toffel and Stacy Straaberg

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 124-007. The Germany-based startup Vytal operated the largest digital-native reusable packaging-as-a-service network globally, having raised nearly €15 million, established a large network of restaurant partners, and prevented the use of... View Details

September 1991 (Revised May 1994)
Background Note

Note on the PC Network Software Industry--1990

By: David B. Yoffie

Examines the economics, technology, customer segments, and competitors of the PC networking software industry. View Details

Keywords: Customers; Economics; Competition; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Information Infrastructure

07 Aug 2017
News

New Harvard Business Analytics Program

October 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Foremostco, Inc. (A)

Describes the rocky transition from an outdated, nonintegrated information system to a new customized system built by programmers in a small, IT-dependent foliage company that distributes plant material. The old system has increasingly become a "burning platform," but... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Information Technology; Crisis Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

December 2007 (Revised June 2009)
Case

KPMG (A): A Near-Death Experience

By: Robert G. Eccles and Eliot Sherman

Describes the way in which "Big Four" auditor KPMG dealt with an indictment stemming from the firm's sale of tax shelters. In 2005 Tim Flynn has been KPMG Chairman for a matter of days when he learns that the government is preparing to indict the firm on charges of... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Crime and Corruption; Taxation; Lawsuits and Litigation; Crisis Management; Partners and Partnerships; Accounting Industry; Service Industry

February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Dialpad Communications (A)

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Describes the evolution of Dialpad, a voice-over-Internet-protocol telephony company. Set in September 2000, CEO Brad Garlinghouse faces a dilemma: what to do about the large number of international users who use Dialpad to call the United States for free. He must also... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy; Investment; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Venture Capital; Telecommunications Industry; California