Publications

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August 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

T.G.S. Transportation: Battery Electric or Hydrogen?

Peter Schneider, the President of T.G.S. Transportation, Inc., faced a choice. His company operated drayage trucks that moved containerized cargo between the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland to customers across the State of California, with a focus on the... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Clean Technology; Energy; Energy Policy; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Truck Transportation; Transportation Industry; United States; California

07 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Deconstructing LEGO’s Decarbonization

In January 2023, Professors Willy Shih and Mike Toffel led more than 40 HBS MBA students on site visits to witness the energy transition and innovative sustainable production activities throughout Denmark... View Details

October 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Building Watson: Not So Elementary, My Dear! (Abridged)

This case is set inside IBM Research's efforts to build a computer that can successfully take on human challengers playing the game show Jeopardy! It opens with the machine named Watson offering the incorrect answer "Toronto" to a seemingly simple question during the... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Big Data; Business Analytics; Product Development Strategy; Machine Learning; Machine Intelligence; Artificial Intelligence; Product Development; AI and Machine Learning; Information Technology; Analytics and Data Science; Information Technology Industry; United States

Summer 2016
Article

The Real Lessons From Kodak's Decline

Eastman Kodak is often mischaracterized as a company whose managers didn't recognize soon enough that digital technology would decimate its traditional business. However, what really happened at Kodak is much more complicated—and instructive. Kodak suffered from a... View Details

Keywords: Technological Change; Disruption; Ecosystem; Semiconductors; Photography; Scaling-up; Scaling; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Product; Consumer Products Industry; United States

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30 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Amager Bakke: A Look into the Future of Waste Incineration

In January 2023, Professors Willy Shih and Mike Toffel led more than 40 HBS MBA students on site visits to witness the energy transition and innovative sustainable production activities throughout Denmark... View Details

17 Jun 2022
News

Another Shortage? Here’s What Is Happening to Supply Chains

September 2023
Teaching Note

Shad Process Flow Design Exercise: Kick-Off Class

The Shad Process Flow Design Exercise is a simulation designed to help students cement what they learn in the process fundamentals section of the RCTOM course by giving them the opportunity to translate classroom concepts into actual physical processes and experience... View Details

Keywords: Production; Business Processes; Manufacturing Industry; United States

01 Sep 2023
News

Made in Italy

HBS faculty members and students visited Lamborghini’s headquarters in Bologna during the immersion to learn how the company became experts in electric car technology. Photo courtesy Lamborghini IMMERSIVE FIELD COURSES OFFERED AS ELECTIVES IN 2023 Denmark and... View Details

Keywords: April White

March 2021
Article

Increasing the Level of Abstraction as a Strategy for Accelerating the Adoption of Complex Technologies

Many new technologies are complex and embody high levels of technical sophistication, and applying them should require significant knowledge and experience. Yet, the rapid adoption and incorporation of these technologies into other innovations seems inconsistent with... View Details

Keywords: Abstraction; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Technological Progress; Diffusion Of Innovation; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Complexity; Information Technology; Strategy

August 2013
Technical Note

Raising the Level of Abstraction

By: Willy Shih

This technical note discusses abstraction as a way of generalizing a process or component for wider application. By hiding complexity inside a module, abstraction enables system designers to think at a higher level. This lowers entry barriers to using (and reusing) a... View Details

Keywords: Abstraction; Modularity; Commercialization; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; United States; Asia; Europe

November 2016
Supplement

Irregular Operations

By: Ryan W. Buell, Willy C. Shih and Michael W. Toffel

This video shows a dispatcher responding to an irregular operations situation caused by weather at an East Coast airport. View Details

Keywords: Service; Service Excellence; Service Quality; Operating Systems; Operational Complexity; Operational Disruptions; Operational Efficiency; Operational Focus; Air Transportation; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Air Transportation Industry

21 Mar 2022
News

Are the Risks of Global Supply Chains Starting to Outweigh the Rewards?

January 2013
Case

Cabot Corporation: The Fuel Cell Decision (A)

By: Willy Shih and Ying Zhou

Managers at Cabot Corporation are faced with deciding the future of its fuel cell program. The (A) case recounts the view of the business manager and the technical project lead, and the (B) case describes the perspective of a senior manager who is the head of the New... View Details

Web

Technology & Operations Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

with David R. Bell and Santiago Gallino. Willy C. Shih : Received the 2020 Robert F. Greenhill Award. Michael W. Toffel : Finalist for the 2020 Responsible Research in... View Details

August 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Background Note

Competency-Destroying Technology Transitions: Why the Transition to Digital Is Particularly Challenging

By: Willy Shih

Some technology transitions are exceedingly difficult for incumbent firms to execute. The bankruptcy filing by the Eastman Kodak Company highlighted the difficulty companies faced when their core business transitioned from an analog to a digital world. Kodak's business... View Details

Web

Additional Outdoor Sculpture | About

Sculpture Exhibition 2016-2017 This exhibition was made possible by the generosity of the artists and galleries, including Tony Cragg (Lisson Gallery), Jaume Plensa (Richard Gray Gallery), Tony Tasset (Kavi Gupta Gallery), Hank View Details

October 2009
Case

Low-k Dielectrics at IBM

By: Willy C. Shih and Giovanni Carraro

Innovations at the frontiers of technology carry enormous risk of making wrong choices. This case examines a decision made by IBM in its semiconductor process technology strategy: a material to use as a dielectric insulator in its leading edge silicon chip technology.... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Product Development; Science; Creativity; Semiconductor Industry; United States