Publications

March 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Nora N. Khan and Elizabeth W. Legris

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm is the story of one entrepreneur's vision and journey to create a market-leading, environmentally responsible business founded on the principles of product quality, organizational alignment, and sustainability. A former environmental... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Values; Development Stage Enterprises; Innovation; Management By Objective; Experimentation; Emerging Technologies; Mission and Purpose; Management Style; Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Organizational Culture; Environmental Sustainability; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; New Hampshire

01 Dec 2006
News

Inside Intel

excellence in technology. In its industry, technology and testosterone were linked. Real men live on the technological edge. The second dogma dealt with marketing. Intel owed it to its customers and... View Details

Keywords: Richard S. Tedlow; Hanna, Julia; technology; manufacturing; innovation; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing; Manufacturing

Research Summary

General research interests

Implications of information technology for strategy and operations
Organizational knowledge, learning, and information processing
Business growth and scalable organizational architectures
Japanese busines
High technology... View Details

February 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Mona Sinha

Describes the Mumbai-based Dabbawala organization, which achieves very high service performance (6 Sigma equivalent or better) with a low-cost and very simple operating system. The case explores all aspects of their system (mission, information management, material... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Logistics; Alignment; Management Systems; Human Resources; Innovation and Invention; Mumbai

February 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Hewlett-Packard's Merced Decision

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Matt Verlinden

Describes managing the threat of disruptive technology at the high end of the computer industry. Many aspects of the innovator's dilemma can be explored. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Risk Management; Disruptive Innovation; Computer Industry; United States

Ryan W. Buell is a Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches View Details

Keywords: high technology; high technology; high technology; high technology; high technology; high technology; high technology; high technology; high technology; high technology; high technology

November 1991 (Revised January 1995)
Case

Teradyne Japan

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Describes a parent-subsidiary relationship in the high technology industry. The subsidiary, located in Japan, has been expanding its activities throughout the 1980s in the face of stiff local competition. Examines the dilemma facing corporate and country management as... View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Mergers and Acquisitions; Expansion; Competition; Business or Company Management; Communication; Buildings and Facilities; Business Subsidiaries; Japan

Find at Harvard

March 1968 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Basic Industries

By: Joseph L. Bower and John W. Rosenblum

Policy problems, mainly organizational issues, face a young middle manager in the context of capital budgeting in a highly technological conglomerate firm with high market uncertainty. View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Capital Budgeting; Policy; Managerial Roles; Risk and Uncertainty

15 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Growing Pains: Prescriptions for U.S. Health Care

companies to develop ever more sophisticated technologies, products, and systems — typically for the market's high end, where margins are greatest. However, the market's ability to utilize and pay for these advances grows more slowly,... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Health

18 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

The Essentials for Enlightened Experimentation

New technologies such as computer simulations not only make experimentation faster and cheaper, they also enable companies to be more innovative. But achieving that requires a thorough understanding of the link between experimentation and... View Details

Keywords: by Stefan Thomke

fall 1995
Article

Standard Setting Consortia, Antitrust, and High-Technology Industries

By: James J. Anton and Dennis A. Yao

Examines the antitrust treatment of private-sector standard setting in the U.S. Applicability of law and decision-making issues in high technology industries; Examination of cost-based facilitating theory; Approach to evaluate the reasonableness of a standard. View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; Information Technology; Law; Decision Making; Cost; Theory; Performance Evaluation; Standards; United States

Find at Harvard

June 2017
Case

Waze Connected Citizens Program

By: Mitchell Weiss and Alissa Davies

Di-Ann Eisnor, Director of Growth at Waze, founded the company’s Connected Citizens Program (CCP), a data-sharing partnership that provided officials with traffic incident and congestion data. Since 2015, her program had enabled officials in Kentucky and elsewhere to... View Details

August 1979
Case

Claire McCloud

Describes the situation faced by a young MBA with an economics background who is offered the opportunity to manage a high technology fiber optics business. Designed to facilitate exploring the skills and knowledge that the general manager of a technology-based firm... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Management Skills; Technology Industry

24 Jan 2015
News

Boost the right kind of innovation

June 1990 (Revised January 1994)
Case

Desktop Printer Industry in 1990

The desktop printer industry in 1990 is characterized by significant uncertainty about new technologies and about the types of features customers may demand in the next decade. The case looks at the positions of Hewlett-Packard, Canon, Kodak, Xerox, and IBM enabling... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Change Management; Competition; Hardware; Computer Industry

July 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

India Stack: Digital Public Infrastructure for All

By: Tarun Khanna, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

Amitabh Kant, India Sherpa in the year of India's G20 Presidency, and Nandan Nilekani iconic tech entrepreneur wondered how to share India's model of digital public infrastructure to build social and economic inclusion. 'India Stack', the umbrella term for India's DPI... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Asia; South Asia; India

March 2016 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Lotus F1 Team

By: Stefan Thomke, Nikolaos Trichakis, Jérôme Lenhardt and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Describes the detailed inner workings of a high performance Formula One (F1) racing team. It shows how Lotus F1 Team has been able to battle bigger rivals in a very fast-moving, highly regulated, and ultra-competitive environment, where winning races can come down to... View Details

Keywords: Formula One; Motor Sport; Racing Cars; Car Development; Supply Chain; Logistics; Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Product Design; Research and Development; Auto Industry; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry