Publications

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November 2010
Case

Spudnik, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth A. Kind

This case describes the plan to finance a revolutionary new television set manufacturing business in late 2009. Yatin Mundkur, a venture capitalist at Artiman Ventures, has recruited a team of veteran eecutives from the optical disk drive business, to design large... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Venture Capital; Disruptive Innovation; Corporate Finance; Electronics Industry

05 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: iPads, Kindles, and the Close of a Chapter in Book Publishing

Two days ago, the first buyers of Apple's iPad began putting it through its paces, playing games, navigating the Internet, and downloading electronic books. That groan you heard was from dozens of book... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Information; Publishing; Entertainment & Recreation

04 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 4

Abstract—What is the relationship between product prices and vertical integration? While the literature has focused on how integration affects prices, this paper shows that prices can affect integration.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2011
Article

Strategic Change and the Jazz Mindset: Exploring Practices That Enhance Dynamic Capabilities for Organizational Improvisation

By: Ethan S. Bernstein and Frank J. Barrett

How can leaders adopt a mindset that maximizes learning, remains responsive to short-term emergent opportunities, and simultaneously strengthens longer-term dynamic capabilities of the organization? This chapter explores the organizational decisions and practices... View Details

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05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Wintel: Cooperation or Conflict

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell & David B. Yoffie; Computer

19 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 19

companies perform sales, marketing, and product definition work, while eastern companies in Asia like his perform the engineering and View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 25, 2007

will in fact homogenize consumption patterns, and a few superstar products will emerge as winners in the market place. In this study, using two large customer transactions data sets obtained from an online... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 May 2013
Op-Ed

Making America an Industrial Powerhouse Again

computer science, optics, and various engineering disciplines. We need to get over the outdated notion that manufacturing is "mature" View Details

Keywords: by Gary Pisano; Manufacturing

28 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 28

popularity of price-matching apps for mobile phones made price differences between retailers transparent, online and offline. Shoppers' desire to test electronics first-hand before purchase drove them to use... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

01 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Better by the Bundle?

says. All kinds of products are sold in bundles. Microsoft Office is sold as a bundle of computer software, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Cable companies offer their... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

03 Oct 2012
What Do You Think?

Can We Bring Back the “Industrial Commons” for Manufacturing?

skills, and engineering capabilities" resulting from the clustering of universities, suppliers, and manufacturers in industries such as biotechnology, View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing

May 2012
Case

BoldFlash: Cross-Functional Challenges in the Mobile Division

By: Michael Beer and Rachel Shelton

Roger Cahill has spent less than a year as head of the Mobile Division of BoldFlash, a flash memory component maker. On the corporate level, BoldFlash has adapted to an evolving and difficult marketplace, but the Mobile Division is struggling. The four groups within... View Details

Keywords: United States; Massachusetts; Morale; Human Resource Management; Technology; Leadership; Opportunities; Organizational Design; Conflict and Resolution; Product Development; Change Management; Information Infrastructure; Business Processes; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Massachusetts

September 1993 (Revised June 1994)
Case

Hewlett-Packard: Singapore (A)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

In the over 20 years since Hewlett-Packard (HP) set up a manufacturing site in Singapore to produce calculators, HP has invested managerial talent and resources in developing its licensor into a technology development partner. The case details the growth of high-volume... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Multinational Firms and Management; Market Entry and Exit; Competency and Skills; Research and Development; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Product Development; Computer Industry; Singapore

March 1994
Case

Bose Corp.: The JIT II Program (A)

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Bruce Isaacson

Bose Corp. is evaluating an unusual plan to manage relationships with vendors that supply components for Bose speakers. The company must decide: 1) which planning and ordering activities should be performed by Bose and which can be performed by vendors, 2) how much... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Planning; Production; Alliances; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Electronics Industry

26 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

How Toyota Turns Workers Into Problem Solvers

quality, low cost, short lead-time and flexible production. And Toyota's operating system—the Toyota Production System—had been widely credited for Toyota's sustained... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston; Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing

April 1995 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Silicon Graphics, Inc. (A)

By: Marco Iansiti and Ellen Stein

Based on a Silicon Valley company that has developed the capability to compete in a rapidly growing, highly turbulent environment. This capability hinges on its flexible and rapid development process, which the case characterizes in detail. Focuses on the development... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Information Infrastructure; Product Launch; Managerial Roles; Expansion; Design; Applications and Software; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; California