Publications

November 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Wallbox

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Max Hancock

Enric Asunción co-founded Wallbox, a private EV charger company, in Spain in 2015. As CEO, Asunción transformed the company from a small start-up, focused on the European market, to a multimillion-dollar enterprise with offices on three continents. In 2021, a private... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Going Public; Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Startups; Entrepreneurial Finance; Spain; United States; United Kingdom

15 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 15, 2009

Case 510-037 Nanosolar is a start-up company in the clean tech sector. It expects to be one of the first manufacturers to produce thin-film solar panels using copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) technology. Although this View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Levels: The Remote, Asynchronous, Deep Work Management System

By: Joseph B. Fuller and George Gonzalez

Levels is a highly innovative startup in the health care space. They intend to revolutionize health by linking behavior—eating, exercise, sleeping, etc.—to changes in metabolism. They believe metabolic health can be managed through careful monitoring of changes in... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Business Startups; Organizational Culture; Management Style; Technology Industry; United States

January 1986 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Horizon Group

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a situation confronting the co-founder of a company planning to produce software for microcomputers. The company has just completed raising money from some wealthy investors by forming an R&D Limited Partnership. Development of the program (an... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Business Plan; Outcome or Result; Research and Development; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry

TeachingInterests

The Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports (MBA)

By: Anita Elberse

This second-year MBA course is primarily designed for students pursuing a career in the entertainment, media and sports sectors -- including film, television, music, publishing, video games, the performing arts, sports, fashion, and advertising -- or who plan to work... View Details

January – February 2012
Article

How Managers Use Multiple Media: Discrepant Events, Power, and Timing in Redundant Communication

By: Paul Leonardi, Tsedal Neeley and Elizabeth M. Gerber

Several recent studies have found that managers engage in redundant communication; that is, they send the same message to the same recipient through two or more unique media sequentially. Given how busy most managers are, and how much information their subordinates... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Media; Information; Groups and Teams; Projects; Management Style; Power and Influence; Motivation and Incentives; Technology

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27 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 27

the global automobile industry. After 15 years of building a leading technology for autonomous driving systems, Mobileye emerged in 2014 as one of the most exciting companies in the race for the driverless... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Doubling Down: Elon Musk's Big Bets in 2022

By: David Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

2021 was a banner year for Elon Musk. CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, the aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, and a few smaller startups, Musk became the richest person on Earth after Tesla reached a market capitalization of $1 trillion and SpaceX a private... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Transportation; Strategic Planning; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Goals and Objectives; Aerospace Industry; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; United States; Europe; China

March 2022
Case

Unilever: Remote Work in Manufacturing

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Susie L. Ma

In December 2021, Unilever—one of the world’s largest producers of consumer goods—was in the midst of a pilot project to digitize its manufacturing facilities and enable remote work for factory employees. This was possible because of an earlier project to retrofit a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Globalization; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Human Resources; Jobs and Positions; Operations; Education; Training; Manufacturing Industry

March 2022 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Nexleaf Analytics: Saving the World Using the Internet of Things

By: Frank Nagle

In 2019, a decade after co-founding Nexleaf Analytics, CEO Nithya Ramanathan faced an important decision that would impact the ability of the small, but growing, not-for-profit organization to thrive for another decade. Their sensor technologies and big data analytics... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Nonprofit Organizations; Competitive Strategy; Patents; Expansion; Information Technology; Health Industry; Information Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Technology Industry

Program

Leading and Building a Culture of Innovation

chief technology officers, chief information officers, and chief HR executives Leaders from corporate strategy, finance, legal, human resources, marketing, manufacturing, customer service, and sales Individuals and teams are welcome to... View Details

March 2001 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Cisco Systems Architecture: ERP and Web-enabled IT

By: Richard L. Nolan, Kelley Porter and Christina Akers

In a seven-year process, Cisco built its strategic I-Net. Beginning in 1994, Cisco completely replaced its back-office legacy systems. At that time, the company standardized Internet protocols. In addition, the company shifted strategic focus from IT back-office... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Management Practices and Processes; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry

February 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Alphatec Electronics Pcl

By: Stuart C. Gilson, C. Fritz Foley and Perry Fagan

The newly appointed CEO of an important high-technology company in Thailand must lead the company through a complicated debt restructuring. Due to the collapse of the Thai currency, the company's debt burden, like that of most Thai companies, has skyrocketed because it... View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Valuation; Management Teams; Restructuring; Laws and Statutes; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Developing Countries and Economies; Borrowing and Debt; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Thailand; United States

October 2022 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Driving Decarbonization at BMW

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel

The case describes BMW’s electrification and decarbonization strategy, and how the company measured carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of its vehicles and used tools like carbon abatement cost curves to evaluate decarbonization opportunities. In mid-2022,... View Details

Web

Lifelong Learning - Alumni

Career Management Climate Change Diversity and Inclusion Economy, Government Entrepreneurship Finance and Operations Governance and Boards Happiness, Purpose and Meaning Health Care Management and Leadership Marketing and Communications Navigating Work and Life... View Details

November 2000
Case

FireDrop

By: William A. Sahlman and Michael J. Roberts

Describes the evolution of FireDrop, a new venture-backed company that has developed a new platform for e-mail communication. The FireDrop application--called a Zaplet--allows for e-mails to be continually updated so they are current when read (rather than when sent).... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet and the Web; Communication Technology; Venture Capital; Technological Innovation; Information Technology Industry