Publications

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Article

Dynamic Capabilities at IBM: Driving Strategy into Action

By: J. Bruce Harreld, Charles A. O’Reilly III and Michael L. Tushman

Keywords: Strategy; Technology; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

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September 2012
Supplement

Industrial Metrology: Getting In-Line? (B)

By: Willy Shih

Rainer Ohnheiser, the President of Carl Zeiss's Business Group Industrial Metrology (IMT), was focused on the threat that in-line metrology posed to Carl Zeiss IMT's core business. Historically, coordinate measurement machines (CMMs) that employed tactile measurement... View Details

Keywords: Performance Trajectories; Emerging Technologies; Manufacturing Tools; Carl Zeiss; Go-to-market Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Production; Performance Improvement; Measurement and Metrics; Manufacturing Industry; Germany

2023
Article

Digital Health Reimbursement Strategies of 8 European Countries and Israel: Scoping Review and Policy Mapping

By: Robin van Kessel, Divya Srivastava, Ilias Kyriopoulos, Giovanni Monti, David Novillo-Ortiz, Ran Milman, Wojciech Wilhelm Zhang-Czabanowski, Greta Nasi, Ariel Dora Stern, George Wharton and Elias Mossialos

Background: The adoption of digital health care within health systems is determined by various factors, including pricing and reimbursement. The reimbursement landscape for digital health in Europe remains underresearched. Although various emergency reimbursement... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Health Care and Treatment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Price; Health Industry; Europe; Israel

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03 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Layoffs Can Be Bad Business: 5 Strategies to Consider Before Cutting Staff

organization long term, says Sucher, who collaborated with research associate Marilyn Morgan Westner on the case study and with both Westner and research associate Christopher Diak on the background note. Sucher outlines five strategies... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing

Research Summary

Putting Patients First: Marketing Strategies for Treating HIV in Developing Nations

It is more than mere coincidence that the highest rates of HIV occur in the world’s poorest countries. Of the over 40 million people currently living with HIV, 95 percent are in the developing world. The first half of this paper explores the economics of HIV and... View Details

May 2024
Background Note

Pricing Strategy and Channels of Distribution: Where Value Delivery and Value Capture Intersect

By: Elie Ofek

Channels of distribution are a critical component of a firm’s go-to-market strategy. A company may elect to sell its products directly to customers (DTC) without the assistance of any intermediaries or, alternatively, it may seek several channel partners to help it... View Details

Keywords: Price; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Markets

May 2023
Teaching Note

Tesla’s Uncertain Fate as EV Race Accelerates

By: David Collis

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 722-368. The case describes the strategic position of Tesla in 2021. While the firm has been successful in driving adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) globally and has a huge market share in the segment, it faces an impending tsunami of... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Competition; Business Growth and Maturation; Success; Adoption; Auto Industry

February 2013 (Revised March 2015)
Case

The LEGO Group: Publish or Protect?

By: Willy C. Shih and Sen Chai

Senior managers at the LEGO Group are faced with a quandary: Should they patent inventions coming out of their manufacturing process development work, should they keep them as trade secrets, or should they publish them so that they would go into the public domain and... View Details

January 2011
Case

AIC Netbooks: Optimizing Product Assembly

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Sunru Yong

AIC Systems, located in Taichung, Taiwan, is a manufacturer of printed circuit boards, primarily for motherboards and video cards for personal computers. The firm is considered an original design manufacturer (ODM) and takes an active role in innovating and designing... View Details

Keywords: Performance Management; Quantitative Analysis; Manufacturing; Production Planning; Production Management; Diversification; Production; Performance Efficiency; Product Design; Performance Improvement; Mobile Technology; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Taiwan

May 2011
Case

The Morrison Company

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Paul Meyers

The Morrison Company develops and manufactures radio frequency identification tags (RFID) known as smart labels for the retail and pharmaceutical industries. RFID technology is a fast-growing and increasingly competitive industry. Sales have risen dramatically over the... View Details

Keywords: Quantitative Analysis; Technology; Operations Management; Product Lines; Manufacturing; Capacity Planning; Production Planning; Information Technology; Strategy; Production; Organizational Structure; Infrastructure; Product Development; Information Infrastructure; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

April 2020 (Revised April 2023)
Case

TransDigm in 2017: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

TransDigm was a highly acquisitive company that manufactured a wide range of highly engineered aerospace parts for both military and commercial customers. Over the ten years ending in 2016, its stock price had increased ten times, and both EBITDA and revenues had grown... View Details

Summer 2014
Article

Taiwan's PC Industry, 1976–2010: The Evolution of Organizational Capabilities

By: Howard H. Yu and Willy C. Shih

The stellar growth of Taiwan's personal computer (PC) industry over the past three decades represents a paradox. Participating in the global production system, local firms in Taiwan grew in association with established firms in the West. Despite their technical... View Details

Keywords: Personal Computer; PC; PC Industry; Taiwan PC Industry; Taiwan PC Manufacturers; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Industry Clusters; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Mobile Technology; Information Technology Industry; Taiwan

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2011
Case

Founder's Group Diversification

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Chuanjiang Mao

Founder Group's Chairman of the Board, Wei Xin, made adjustments to the company portfolio in 2010. Established in the mid-1980s, Founder is the industry leader for Chinese laser typesetting systems and was once the second largest PC manufacturer in China. It is also... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Management; China

January 2018
Case

Environmental Technology Fund Partners and E-Leather

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Aldo Sesia

It is 2014 and Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF) Partners, a UK-based venture capital firm, has an opportunity to invest in a privately held UK company that manufactured engineered composition leather extracted from waste leather using an environmentally friendly... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Venture Capital; Investment Strategy; Investment; Strategy; Ownership; Valuation; Energy Conservation; Equity; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Performance Efficiency; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United Kingdom

January 2025
Case

COMAC - Chinese Aviation Soars to New Heights

By: William C. Kirby and Daniel Fu

COMAC's C919 manifested the first challenge to the Boeing-Airbus duopoly since it came to dominate aircraft manufacturing in the 1990s. Beijing sought to export the C919 abroad in its quest to become a "transportation superpower." Was it a wise decision for COMAC to... View Details

Keywords: Aviation; Boeing; Airbus; Aircraft; State-owned Enterprise (SOE); Chinese Manufacturing; Airline Industry; Airports; Global Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Supply Chain; Expansion; Aerospace Industry; China; United States; Europe

August 2013
Case

The Republic of the Philippines: The Next Asian Tiger?

By: Richard H.K. Vietor, Carol Dominguez and Tully Moss

The Philippines, for long a laggard in Asia, is now growing fast in 2012, with a positive current account balance. While it still exports services, it is increasing its assembly of manufactured products and trying to increase mining. For these activities, however, it... View Details

Keywords: Country Strategy; Asia; Outsourcing; Macroeconomics; Foreign Direct Investment; Country; Asia; Philippines

August 2019
Case

Legrand's Acquisition of Milestone

By: C. Fritz Foley and F. Katelynn Boland

In June 2017, Legrand, a global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructure which was a serial acquirer, announced it had signed an agreement to buy Milestone AV Technologies, a leading designer and manufacturer of branded audio-video products. This... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Acquisition Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Management; Strategy; Corporate Finance; Electronics Industry; Europe; United States

September 2020
Teaching Note

TransDigm in 2017: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 720-422. TransDigm was a highly acquisitive company that manufactured a wide range of highly engineered aerospace parts for both military and commercial customers. Over the ten years ending in 2016, its stock price had increase ten times,... View Details

July 2012 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Research In Motion: The Mobile OS Platform War

By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer

The case describes competition in the market for smart phones in the US, and the position of one player, Research In Motion (RIM) who manufacture the popular Blackberry line of products. Early in 2011, RIM is in trouble. Its stock price has plummeted, amidst poor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Product Development; Technology Strategy; Platform Strategy; Software; Hardware; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry; Canada; United States