Publications

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

January 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Transforming ASUSTeK: Breaking from the Past

By: Willy C. Shih, Ho Howard Yu and Hung-Chang Chiu

What happens when an original design manufacturer (ODM) firm tries to transform itself into a branded goods seller? The case traces the evolution of ASUSTeK from a motherboard supplier, to an ODM of desktop and notebook PCs, through its split into three companies that... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Disruptive Innovation; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Taiwan

November 2009
Teaching Note

HTC Corp. in 2009 (TN)

By: David B. Yoffie

Teaching Note for [709466]. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Decisions; Brands and Branding; Customer Value and Value Chain; Telecommunications Industry; Taiwan

June 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Case

HTC Corp. in 2009

By: David B. Yoffie and Renee Kim

Taiwan-based HTC Corp. had emerged as the world's fourth largest smartphone manufacturer by 2009. CEO Peter Chou was extremely proud of the remarkable achievements his company had made over the last 12 years since starting off as an unknown manufacturer of PDAs for... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Competitive Advantage; Mobile Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Taiwan

06 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 6, 2008

business model, one that positioned the company simultaneously in the PC industry and the consumer electronics industry. While Apple enjoyed a high market share in digital media players and in online music... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2012
Case

Quietly Brilliant: Transformational Change at HTC

By: Michael L. Tushman and Kerry Herman

The case examines smartphone maker HTC's 2006 decision to become a branded company. The case focuses on the cultural and organizational shifts HTC underwent to successfully make the transition from an ODM, founded in 1997, to a leading branded manufacturer (7% market... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Telecommunications Industry; Taiwan

01 Apr 1996
News

Technology for Learning's Sake

year, more than 150 first-year cases had software that was specifically designed to help students analyze cases. PC use eventually became commonplace in second-year courses and exams as well. (More than 90 percent of all exams today are... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; photo by David Zadig

Web

VCPE Database Comparison | Baker Library

total) \# VCPE firms 63K 28K 31K 44K \# VCPE funds 115K 124K not available 50K \# deals 325K VC 376K Corp/Strategic M&A 142K Buyout 75K Private Debt 72K IPO 146K PE/Buyout 319K VC 20K Private Debt 106K Real Estate 430K VC 505K Buyout 515K VC 938K M&A/Buyout 487K IPOs... View Details

May 2012 (Revised September 2012)
Case

HTC Corp. in 2012

By: David B. Yoffie, Juan Alcacer and Renee Kim

After 15 years of remarkable achievements, Taiwan-based HTC Corp. faced difficult times by 2012. CEO Peter Chou, who drove HTC's transformation from an unknown manufacturer of PDAs for other companies to a well-known global player in smartphones, faced an uncertain and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Telecommunications; Brand Management; Economies Of Scale And Scope; Market Positioning; Intellectual Property Management; Technological Innovation; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Product Positioning; Telecommunications Industry; Taiwan

May 1999 (Revised November 2012)
Teaching Note

Acer, Inc.: Taiwan's Rampaging Dragon (TN)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Teaching Note for (9-399-010). View Details

Keywords: Computer Industry; Taiwan

Web

Paul Baier | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

(PDF) Paul Baier, HBS 1994, launched several entrepreneurial ventures. His first, Compare.com, enabled customers to compare prices on everything from PCs to mortgages. He and his partner bootstrapped for ten months but were unable to get... View Details

01 Mar 2007
News

Microsoft’s Ballmer Makes His Pitch

“This is the most exciting time in the technology industry since I left Stanford Business School 26 years ago,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (Harvard ’77) told a student audience that nearly filled Burden Auditorium in early December.... View Details

Keywords: News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

06 Dec 2012
News

New Thinking on Healthcare Reform

Tim Brown, president and CEO of the design firm IDEO. Christensen then drew a parallel between the evolution of the computer industry and what is slowly taking place in healthcare. Initially, people had to take their problems to the sites... View Details

Keywords: Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

01 Oct 2000
News

After the Revolution: Putting the Internet in Perspective

industrial model to the new information economy, said CEOs of incumbent (pre-Internet) companies are trying to compete with dot-coms, "but they get dot-com vertigo. They trust their senses, even after realizing they're wrong, and they get... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

01 Apr 1999
News

Q & A: Confronting New Technologies: When Doing Right Is Wrong

obliterates all competitors, fall so precipitously? Other minicomputer firms were suddenly failing too. How could good managers seemingly turn bad so fast? That was the puzzle. Colleagues suggested exploring the disk-drive industry... View Details

July 1993
Teaching Note

Acer Incorporated TN

By: David B. Yoffie

Teaching Note for (9-691-104). View Details

Keywords: Computer Industry; Taiwan

June 1991 (Revised April 1993)
Case

Acer, Inc.

By: Robert H. Hayes

Acer is undergoing two major transitions at the time of this case: from a small, entrepreneurially-run company to a large professionally-run one; and from a largely domestic company to a multinational one. After a decade of phenomenal growth, it is now facing a major... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Motivation and Incentives; Multinational Firms and Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Employees; Resignation and Termination; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Diversity; Computer Industry; Taiwan