Publications

January 2015
Case

Aura Light: From a Light Bulb Manufacturer to an Energy Savings Solutions Provider

By: Krishna Palepu and Elena Corsi

A Swedish light bulb manufacturer reviews its strategy to better compete against large global multinationals. View Details

Keywords: Outsourcing; New Markets; Lighting Industry; Global Strategy

September 2016 (Revised September 2016)
Case

Spectio: A Digital Lighting Company

By: Rajiv Lal and Sarah McAra

Spectio Tech, founded in 2005, developed and implemented intelligent LED lighting solutions for the industrial market. Sensors and wireless connectivity embedded in its LED fixtures not only significantly reduced lighting-related energy use—by up to 90% in some... View Details

Keywords: Internet Of Things; IoT; LED Lighting; Start-up; Energy Efficiency; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Internet and the Web

June 1991 (Revised May 1992)
Case

Lithonia Lighting

By: Nitin Nohria

In early 1991, Lithonia, the U.S.'s largest manufacturer of lighting fixtures, faced a major slump in the construction business that threatened to cause its first decline in revenues after over a decade of strong growth. With financial pressures from its parent company... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Industry Growth; Decision Making; Information Technology; Financial Crisis; Investment; Business Growth and Maturation; Electronics Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

September 2014 (Revised April 2016)
Case

Cree Inc.: Introducing the LED Light Bulb

By: John Gourville and Michael Norris

Cree, a North Carolina-based maker of light emitting diodes (LEDs), has just introduced its first consumer product—an LED light bulb. It is designed as an energy efficient replacement for the ubiquitous incandescent light bulb. But given that it is an unfamiliar... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Innovation; Product Adoption; Technological Innovation; Technology Adoption; Energy Conservation; Product Launch; Consumer Products Industry; North Carolina

June 2024 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light

By: Jill Avery and Celine Chammas

On April 1, 2023, social media content creator and influencer Dylan Mulvaney recorded a promotional post. It featured a video of herself drinking from a can of Bud Light beer, offering a virtual toast to her followers. Alongside the video, she posted a photograph of a... View Details

Keywords: Brand Crises; Brand Management; Influencer Marketing; Boycott; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Social Media; Advertising; Social Issues; Public Opinion; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

understanding of technology/digital issues in the global economy. Despite the perceived “newness” of the field, I became captivated by the abundance of historical analogs to the important global technology trends we are seeing today. The Creating Emerging View Details

05 Mar 2020
News

Green Light

country’s leafy greens are produced in Arizona or California, according to the states' Leafy Green Marketing Agreement, and transportation to New England can take weeks; FreshBox being able to offer Massachusetts consumers a locally grown... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; photographed by Scott Nobles

01 Jun 2000
News

Seeing the Light

Living in Los Angeles and working as a marketer for a global biotechnology firm, Jana Kirlin Brownell (MBA '83) saw her career path take an unexpected turn. More than once, her father had asked her to come home and take over the Kirlin... View Details

04 Feb 2011
News

Turning on the lights

01 Sep 2006
News

Light Years Ahead

coursework similar to what I had been doing at JPL.” As his doctoral work progressed, Light became “more and more interested in the Business School side of the joint program.” He found mentors in Raiffa and Finance Professor Eli Shapiro,... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

01 Sep 2014
News

Afghanistan’s Hope and Light

responsible for a jump in their pay. In fact, the new system had simply cut out the middlemen, who once took what they saw as their rightful piece of the pie. Related Content: Case: Roshan: Light at the End of the Tunnel in Afghanistan... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

November 2012
Case

CSIRO: The Light Metals Flagship Decision

By: Willy Shih, Margaret P. Pierson and Dawn Lau

This case explores the challenge of investing in basic research as a public good. CSIRO was Australia's leading science and research agency, and it was chartered to enhance national prosperity through R&D. Its Flagships program was designed to align research interests... View Details

01 Dec 2022
News

A Quiet Force: Remembering Jay Light

new ways to think about how financial markets work. That made him a remarkable teacher. He also became a skilled leader at the School. He was able to succeed in each of these positions because his colleagues trusted him.” Throughout his... View Details

Keywords: leadership; HBS Dean; obituary; academia

October 1998 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Boston Beer Company: Light Beer Decision

By: Linda A. Cyr, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Michael J. Roberts

Boston Beer's current light-beer offering, Boston Lightship, has not been successful, and a student team is charged with investigating the problem and recommending a strategy. Highlights issues around branding, target customer selection, and cannibalization, and... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Brands and Branding; Customers; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston

01 Mar 2015
News

Case Study: The Speed of Light

(Photo courtesy of KDC Solar) Launched in 2011, QE solar is an operations and maintenance company focused on servicing large-scale, commercial solar energy structures—the kind typically owned by large utility companies. The company is based in New Jersey, the... View Details

Keywords: Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

01 Jun 2006
News

Jay Light Named New HBS Dean

a degree in engineering physics, Light earned a DBA from Harvard’s joint program in decision and control theory in 1970. Light’s research and teaching have focused on capital markets and institutional asset... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

18 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

New at the Helm: A Talk with HBS Dean Light

Forty years ago, in September 1966, a young mission analyst named Jay Light left the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California and headed east to Harvard Business School. At JPL, Light used his... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Education

April 2000
Background Note

Market Failures

By: Bharat N. Anand, Tarun Khanna and Jan W. Rivkin

Examines the role of transaction costs in impeding the functioning of markets and shows how the concept of transaction costs sheds light on a broad range of issues in strategy. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Cost; Market Transactions; Industry Clusters; Failure; Internet