Publications

October 2008 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Intel NBI: Intel Corporation's New Business Initiatives (A)

By: Willy C. Shih and Thomas Thurston

For Intel Corporation, the processes and priorities that have made it so successful are difficult to overcome as the company tries to diversify away from its core. The case examines the history and evolution of the New Business Initiatives (NBI) group, as the leader... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Transition; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business History; Management Practices and Processes; Resource Allocation; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty

May 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Building the Digital Manufacturing Enterprise of the Future at Siemens

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

March 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Pandora Radio: Fire Unprofitable Customers?

By: Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia Tecco

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Satisfaction; Music Entertainment; Venture Capital; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

August 2019
Case

Kazakhstan Railways: From the Middle of Nowhere to a Center of Trade?

By: Willy Shih and Esel Çekin

This case describes the evolution of Kazakhstan's rail connectivity strategy post-collapse of the Soviet Union and its now central role in China's Belt and Road Initiative. This meant shifting from a north-south orientation towards an east-west one, as well as the... View Details

Keywords: Geopolitics; China’s Infrastructure Exports: The ‘Belt And Road’ Initiative; Logistics; Trade; Economic Growth; Geopolitical Units; Geography; Rail Transportation; Rail Industry; Transportation Industry; Central Asia; Kazakhstan; China

20 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 20

more likely to involve collaboration across locations, particularly with inventors from the firm's primary R&D site. Our results suggest that R&D dynamics in clusters are heavily influenced by multi-location firms with innovative... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2024 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?

By: Willy C. Shih, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds,... View Details

29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

Capacity to Do New Things Authors:Clayton M. Christensen, Stephen P. Kaufman, and Willy C. Shih Periodical:HBS Centennial Issue. Harvard Business Review 86, no. 1 (January... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

22 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 22

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/911028-PDF-ENG Purchase this supplement (B): http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/911029-PDF-ENG Purchase this supplement (C):http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/911030-PDF-ENG Assembling Smartphones: Takt Time =/= Cycle... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 5

Sen, and Willy Shih Abstract—Scientific research and its translation into commercialized technology is a driver of wealth creation and economic growth. Partnerships to foster the translational processes from... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2011 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Digital Microscopy Is Making Me Crazy!

For Carl Zeiss Microimaging, modular hardware and software enabled customers to tailor Zeiss's broad range of microscopy systems hardware and software to meet a wide range of needs from basic scientific research in the biological and medical sciences to clinical... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Corporate Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Science-Based Business; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Business Conglomerates; Digital Platforms; Opportunities; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Computer Industry

May 2010
Supplement

Tim Westergren of Pandora Radio

By: Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia Tecco

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model.... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Model; Customers; Venture Capital; Internet and the Web; Cost Management; Outcome or Result; Customization and Personalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Music Industry

24 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 24

Canada—grow its own retirement business, find a joint venture partner, or sell the business. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/311023-PDF-ENG Delta Electronics Hybrid Power Train Willy View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2023 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Norse Atlantic Airways

Bjørn Tore Larsen, Norse Atlantic Airways' founder and CEO, hadn't planned to get into the airline business. But when the COVID-19 pandemic depressed the global demand for air travel and the lease rates for jetliners, he realized if ever he was going to get into the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Market Entry and Exit; Leasing; Business Strategy; Segmentation; Interest Rates; Air Transportation Industry; Europe; North America; Norway; United Kingdom; United States

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Supplement

Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (B)

This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Exploration; Dominant Design; Business Growth and Maturation; Business History; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan

June 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Intel 2006: Rising to the Graphics Challenge

By: Willy C. Shih and Elie Ofek

Examines the evolution of the PC hardware industry over the span of two and a half decades. The open architecture design of the IBM Personal Computer followed by the rapid appearance of clones drove a high level of standardization and modularity in the industry, and... View Details

Keywords: History; Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Technology Industry

21 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: December 21

PublicationsHas the Shift to Stronger Intellectual Property Rights Promoted Technology Transfer, FDI, and Industrial Development? Authors:Lee Branstetter, C. Fritz Foley, and Kamal Saggi Publication:The WIPO Journal: Analysis and Debate... View Details

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

http://hbr.org/2012/03/why-us-competitiveness-matters-to-all-of-us/ar/1 Does America Really Need Manufacturing? Authors:Gary P. Pisano and Willy C. Shih Publication:Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: Jan. 22

Using Public-Private Partnerships to Improve Firm Survival, Employment Growth, and Innovative Performance Authors:Chai, Sen, and Willy C. Shih Abstract Scientific research and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2009
Case

The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

By: Willy C. Shih, Chen-Fu Chien, Chintay Shih and Jack Chang

When L.C. Tu receives an emergency order, he is confronted with a range of production scheduling choices, each of which has unique costs and trade-offs. The case was designed to help students understand job-shop style production and the impact of disruptions and... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Production; Semiconductor Industry; Taiwan