Publications

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February 2019 (Revised January 2022)
Case

The U.S. – China Trade War

By: Alberto Cavallo, Mariana Cal and Anne Laski

On December 1, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Leader Xi Jinping faced each other across a dinner table during a G20 meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After what Trump called an “amazing and productive meeting,” the two leaders announced a truce in the... View Details

Keywords: Trade War; Trump; Current Account; NAFTA; Balance Of Payments; Intellectual Property Protection; Trade; Macroeconomics; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; International Relations; United States; China

Research Summary

War & Peace

By: Deepak Malhotra

A second stream of research looks at issues related to conflict resolution in the context of international and ethno-political conflict, and in particular, at the role of negotiation in ending armed conflicts. I launched a new course at HBS entitled "War & Peace:... View Details

May 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

DVD War

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In 2006, the DVD was the most popular storage medium in the entertainment and computer industries. The development of high-definition (HD) technology created a need for a format with greater storage capacity. Instead of agreeing on a single standard for a new HD disc,... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Entertainment; Business History; Intellectual Property; Product; Competition; Technology Adoption; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

October 2023
Teaching Note

Metaverse Wars

By: Andy Wu and Matt Higgins

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 723-431. Metaverse Wars recaps the development of the metaverse concept and the attendant hype, bringing the narrative up to the summer of 2023 when Meta’s big pivot looked more like a costly misstep than a stroke of strategic genius. In... View Details

Keywords: Metaverse; Strategy; Social Media; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry

April 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

AI Wars

By: Andy Wu, Matt Higgins, Miaomiao Zhang and Hang Jiang

In February 2024, the world was looking to Google to see what the search giant and long-time putative technical leader in artificial intelligence (AI) would do to compete in the massively hyped technology of generative AI. Over a year ago, OpenAI released ChatGPT, a... View Details

Keywords: AI; Artificial Intelligence; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation

March 2013
Case

Currency Wars

By: Laura Alfaro and Hilary White

In February 2013, the G-20 finance ministers met in Moscow, Russia to discuss the rising anxieties over a potential international currency war. It was speculated that certain countries were purposely devaluing their currencies in order to improve their competitiveness... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Competitiveness; Trade Policy; Devaluation; Exchange Rate; Monetary Policy; Quantitative Easing; Inflation Targeting; Capital Flows; Central Banking; Currency Exchange Rate; Competitive Strategy; Emerging Markets; Policy; Trade; Conflict and Resolution; Banking Industry; Public Administration Industry; Moscow

March 2023 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Metaverse Wars

By: Andy Wu, David B. Yoffie and Matt Higgins

In 2023, the term metaverse — a combination of “meta” and “universe” — had become a catch-all for a diverse set of expectations about online virtual worlds and the future of the internet. To some, the metaverse conjured images of a massive participatory videogame... View Details

Keywords: Metaverse; Technology; Virtual Reality; Facebook; Social Media; Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption

May 2024
Teaching Note

AI Wars

By: Andy Wu and Matt Higgins

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 723-434. In 2024, the world was looking to Google to see what the search giant and long-time putative technical leader in artificial intelligence (AI) would do to compete in the massively hyped technology of generative AI popularized over... View Details

Keywords: AI; Trends; AI and Machine Learning; Public Opinion; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Technology Industry

March 2009
Case

The Hotel Bed Wars

By: Youngme E. Moon

This case describes the start of The Hotel Bed Wars, the competition among hotel chains to attract customers by offering better and more elaborate bedding. The case is written from the standpoint of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which is credited with starting The Hotel... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Customization and Personalization; Customers; Accommodations Industry

01 Dec 2013
News

War History

should have the power to declare war." But, he noted, "you look through American history, 200 years, only five wars have been declared by Congress, and I think we fought a few more than that" (The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, September 5,... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Broadcasting (except Internet); Information; Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government

01 Sep 2011
News

Whale Wars

Thoren Photo courtesy Beth Thoren Related Links View video of confrontations in the Southern Ocean Have you noticed that when you live in a big city long enough, your thoughts can struggle to travel further than the building in front of you? When I was in my 20s,... View Details

Keywords: Marybeth I. Thoren; Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

01 Mar 2024
News

The War Within

When the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Nataliia Zhyliak’s world was upended in a matter of days. At the time, Zhyliak, a psychologist in the western Ukrainian city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, was working at an education and rehabilitation... View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos; illustration by Daniel Bejar

06 Apr 2018
News

Trade War or a War of Words?

2016
Working Paper

The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Market

By: Feng Zhu

Strategy scholars have documented in various empirical settings that firms seek and leverage stronger institutions to mitigate hazards and gain competitive advantage. In this paper, we argue that such “institution-seeking” behavior may not be confined to the pursuit of... View Details

Keywords: Patent Wars; Patent Litigation; Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement; Institutions; Smartphone; Patent Thicket; Digital Platforms; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business Strategy; Telecommunications Industry

August 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Launching the War on Terrorism

Describes the decision-making process employed by President George W. Bush's War Cabinet in the days following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Examines how the president and his advisers framed the problem, exchanged ideas, generated alternatives, and developed a... View Details

Keywords: War; National Security; Decision Making; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Public Administration Industry; United States

April 1990 (Revised August 1997)
Case

Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II

By: Robert D. Cuff and Richard S. Tedlow

A vehicle for the discussion of a very important set of institutional arrangements that helped enable America to mobilize its economy for World War II. View Details

Keywords: Economy; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; War; United States

The Emergence of Charismatic Business Leadership is an examination of how the role of the business leader in the U.S. has changed from World War II to the present. A small number of high-profile individuals have transformed the face of modern-day... View Details

November–December 2016
Article

The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Industry

By: Yongwook Paik and Feng Zhu

Strategy scholars have documented in various empirical settings that firms seek and leverage stronger institutions to mitigate hazards and gain competitive advantage. In this paper, we argue that such “institution-seeking” behavior may not be confined to the pursuit of... View Details

Keywords: Patent Wars; Patent Litigation; Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement; Institutions; Patent Thicket; Smartphone; Patents; Corporate Strategy; Mobile Technology