A decade and a half of instability: The history of Google messaging apps
Sixteen years after the launch of Google Talk, Google messaging is still a mess.
Editor’s Note: This is a very long but fascinating look at how one of the world’s most successful companies has completely missed the boat, strategically speaking, over and over again.
Content: Case Study | Author: Ron Amadeo | Source: “Ars Technica” | Subject: Strategy | Company: Google
The Strategic Decisions That Caused Nokia’s Failure
The moves that led to Nokia’s decline paint a cautionary tale for successful firms.
Content: Case Study | Author: Yves Doz | Source: “INSEAD Knowledge” | Subject: Strategy | Company: Nokia
How Amazon Innovates in Ways that Google and Apple Can’t
Amazon has shown a remarkable ability to succeed in a wide variety of different product categories. That’s a contrast to most other high-profile tech companies that are really good in one area — Google’s dominant online services or Apple’s extraordinarily profitable hardware — but struggle when the quest for growth pushes them outside their zone of core competency. Amazon has figured out how to combine … [ Read more ]
Content: Case Study | Author: Timothy B. Lee | Source: “Vox” | Subjects: Innovation, Management, Strategy | Industry: Retail | Company: Amazon.com Inc.
How Discovery Keeps Innovating
CEO Adrian Gore describes how the South African company has been shaking up its industry through business-model innovation and explains what helps to catalyze new ideas.
Content: Case Study | Author: Adrian Gore | Source: “McKinsey Quarterly” | Subjects: Innovation, Strategy | Company: Discovery
Reborn in the Cloud
Adobe executives discuss the company’s move from selling shrink-wrapped products to offering web-based software and services.
Content: Case Study | Source: “McKinsey Quarterly” | Subjects: Marketing / Sales, Strategy | Company: Adobe Systems
Hyundai’s Capabilities Play
The Korean automaker’s explosive growth in the last few years—achieved through better quality, stylish design, and clever marketing—has made it a dynamic player in the U.S. auto industry.
Content: Case Study | Author: William J. Holstein | Source: “strategy+business” | Subject: Strategy | Industry: Automotive | Company: Hyundai
The Hershey Company: Aligning Inside to Win on the Outside
Changes in the marketplace, if not monitored, can cause serious losses in profit, market share, and in stakeholders’ confidence. Such was the case with one of the most celebrated American companies, Hershey’s. When the company failed to keep its ear to the ground and eye on the ball it lost touch with consumers and retailers. A shift in the company’s focus and a re-alignment of … [ Read more ]
Content: Case Study | Author: Rick Kash | Source: “Ivey Business Journal” | Subjects: Management, Marketing / Sales, Operations, Strategy | Industry: Food Products/Service | Company: Hershey’s
Blank Checks: Unleashing the Potential of People and Businesses
How an unusual management technique inspires business teams to envision — and achieve — breakthrough results.
Content: Case Study | Authors: Mohanbir Sawhney, Sanjay Khosla | Source: “strategy+business” | Subject: Strategy | Company: Kraft Foods Inc.
The First Customers
In a new market, you need to secure a foothold. World domination can come later.
Content: Case Study | Author: Stephen Wunker | Source: “The Conference Board Review” | Subjects: International – Africa, Management, Strategy | Industries: Finance / Banking, Telecommunications | Company: Celpay
Thales: Defending Independence
With rivals poised to pounce, is there a way for Thales to remain a standalone company?
Content: Case Study | Authors: Ashok Som, Thomas Oberbillig | Source: “European Business Forum (EBF)” | Subject: Strategy | Industry: Aerospace & Defense | Company: Thales
Selling to a Cash Poor Firm
“Bertrand Caron sat in his office and contemplated his most recent communications with George Milne and Philip Brown of Vancouver Aluminum Company of Vancouver, Washington, USA. Caron was the marketing director of the Canadian Railway Car Corporation (CRCC) headquartered in Montreal. CRCC was a privately-held firm that manufactured various types of railway cars. However, Caron’s firm was now threatened by increasing competition from U.S. manufacturers … [ Read more ]
Content: Case Study | Author: William R. Smith, Ph.D. | Source: “Graziadio Business Report” | Subject: Strategy
Block by Block
During an economic downturn, Cemex, the world’s second-largest cement maker, decided to try to sell more products to Mexico’s poor. Almost by accident, the company discovered a global model for developing previously overlooked markets.
Content: Case Study | Author: Ricardo Sandoval | Source: “Stanford University” | Subjects: Social Responsibility (ESG), Strategy | Industry: Construction | Company: Cemex
Smarter ways to do business with the competition
Companies that enter into strategic alliances thus encounter many dilemmas. This article summarises the key issues into six categories of 10 dilemmas and discusses how Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline alliance, has dealt with these 10 dilemmas.
Content: Case Study | Authors: Angela Andal-Ancion, George Yip | Source: “European Business Forum (EBF)” | Subject: Strategy | Industry: Airlines | Company: Star Alliance
The Keys to Success
For 150 years, Steinway & Sons has set the standard for the quality manufacture of pianos. The secret to its longevity: a mix of old-world craftsmanship and modern-day management techniques.
Content: Case Study | Author: David Liebeskind | Source: “STERNbusiness (NYU)” | Subjects: Industry Specific, Strategy | Industry: Music
Where Does Apple Go from Here?
Macintosh market share continues to decline, but the iPod and iTunes are hit products. Where does Apple Computer’s future lie? An interview with HBS professor David Yoffie.
Content: Case Study | Author: David Yoffie | Source: “Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge” | Subjects: Industry Specific, Strategy | Industry: Personal Computer
ChateauOnline
This Case Study examines how ChateauOnline took its wine e-tailing model from promising and well-publicized beginnings in cyberspace and then met the challenge of negotiating the complexities of a less propitious climate in a highly fragmented market. It explains how this young company developed a viable, sustainable and profitable business at a time when other start up competitors were collapsing as a result of financing … [ Read more ]
Content: Case Study | Authors: David Midgley, Matti Snall, Timothy Devinney | Source: “INSEAD” | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Strategy | Industry: Food Products/Service | Company: ChateauOnline
ARM Holdings Plc
In just ten years, ARM transformed itself from beleaguered computer company to designer of RISC chips that are today the de facto standard for mobile phones, storage devices, automotive computing, and others. In this Case Study, Eleanor O’Keeffe and Professor Peter Williamson present the company’s innovative business model based on partnerships that give it unrivalled capability to “learn from the world”.
Content: Case Study | Authors: Eleanor O’Keeffe, Peter Williamson | Source: “INSEAD” | Subjects: Management, Strategy | Industry: Semiconductor | Company: ARM Holdings Plc
NTT DoCoMo i-mode: Creating a solution for the masses
The Internet: wow, what a great concept! And wouldn’t it be even better if you could access it from your mobile phone? Kouiji Ohboshi, chairman of the Japanese telephone giant, NTT DoCoMo, thought so. But back in the early days of 1999, it seemed that few others agreed. In this story of a contrarian business leader, Professors W. Chan Kim, Renée … [ Read more ]
Content: Case Study | Authors: Ben M. Bensaou, Renée Mauborgne, W. Chan Kim, Yasushi Shiina | Source: “INSEAD” | Subjects: Industry Specific, Strategy | Industry: Telecommunications | Company: NTT DoCoMo
The Secret of How Microsoft Stays on Top
Critics say Microsoft’s incredible two-decade run at the top of the computer industry has less to do with innovation than it does with bully tactics. But new research from Harvard Business School professors Marco Iansiti and Alan MacCormack suggest a different reason: the company’s ability to spot technological trends and exploit key software technologies.
Content: Case Study | Authors: Alan MacCormack, Marco Iansiti, Sean Silverthorne | Source: “Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge” | Subjects: Industry Specific, Strategy | Industry: Software | Company: Microsoft
SingTel (A): Newfound Status; SingTel (B): Taking Control
From state-regulated monopoly to pan-Asian powerhouse, the Singaporean telecom SingTel has come a long way. In this two-part case study, Research Fellow Sarah Meegan and Professor Peter Williamson focus on SingTel’s mobile operations, asking you to consider the firm’s history, its acquisition of Optus, and the challenges it faces in managing its network of partnerships and executing its regional strategy.
Content: Case Study | Authors: Peter Williamson, Sarah Meegan | Source: “INSEAD” | Subjects: Industry Specific, Strategy | Industry: Telecommunications | Company: SingTel