Blog

By Gregg Gallager, Arnold Jee, David Lembo, Colleen Manley, Eric Moldabayev and Paola Torres

First Solar (FS) was originally founded as Solar Cells in 1984 by inventor and visionary Harold McMaster. McMaster with the help of Jim Nolan made the switch from amorphous silicon to Cadmium telluride (CdTe). This switch in thin film technology allowed Solar Cells to manufacture moderately efficient (7%) and low-cost thin film cells on a large scale.

By Carlos Ceron, Isaac Chiu, Eric Craig, Tiina Kandzia, David Kuo, Tatiana Sunshine and David Yom

The perfect storm of economic downturn, high fuel prices and reduced demand worldwide put a serious hurt on DHL Express. In 2008, it pulled out of the US domestic market and in 2010, it sold its money-losing UK express parcel division. However, it appears that 2009-2010 has seen a fair degree of recovery for DHL Express and the industry as a whole. In the midst of this, Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL began the initiative of Strategy 2015 whose goal is to create synergy among the three divisions of DP-DHL into “One DHL." It is quite the rosy picture, but integrating each division’s respective strategy and culture will be easier said than done.

Frank Appel’s plan is to leverage the different business divisions of the company. He envisions the different divisions operating hand-in-hand, generating business for each other. According to a recent IBIS report DHL-Express contributes 21.7% of DHL-DP total revenue. If Mr. Appel’s plan works, eventually, this calculation will be blurred.

By Kishore Chagamreddy, Peter Addy, Ian Jensen, Darrell Member, Bindu Malik, Misty Caruth and Maggie Gu

"Aerospace is a leading global supplier of aircraft engines, avionics, and related products and services for aircraft manufacturers, airlines, aircraft operators, military services, and defense and space contractors" (Honeywell 2009 Annual Report). This statement by Honeywell sounds like the same mumbo jumbo that customers and investors read from a company. All for-profit organizations strategize in some way to be the leader in their industry. What is Honeywell’s recipe?

A favorable attribute of the aerospace industry that benefits Honeywell is the high barriers to entry into the market. This area is a recognizable strength for Honeywell and the company uses it to maintain profitability.

By Abhilash Mishra, Meha Gupta, Mrinal Das, Navjyot Ukarde, Sandeep Das and Vinod Jayavelu

“At the highest level, what I have initially found is a company with many great strengths and a history of achievements that are second to none in the industry. And yet our company faces a remarkably disruptive time in the industry, with recent results demonstrating that we must re-assess our role in and our approach to this industry.” These words by Stephen Elop, the newly appointed CEO of Nokia, sent out a message loud and clear that Nokia needs a facelift for its business strategy to prevent its dwindling market share. In reality, Nokia needs much more than a new CEO. The company needs a complete renovation of its business model that addresses Nokia’s failure to react to dynamic market trends.

By Edward Matloub, Thomas McIntyre, Peter Rohlfer, Caelie Fryers, Bert Valencia Jr. and Aditya Koyyalamud

A few years ago, BusinessWeek was valued at more than $1 billion and in October 2010 it was sold for a mere $5 million. When buying Newsweek in August 2010, the buyer Sydney Harman confessed, “Break-even is a serious accomplishment, especially in this world, the world of journalism. I’m not here to make money, I’m here to make joy." Print media is considered a dying business now but even in this environment The Economist, one of the oldest magazines in political, economic and academic news, is growing steadily. While most of the industry players have lost readership, The Economist has increased circulation 95% over the past ten years. Its circulation has risen another 3.3% from 2008 to 2009 while the largest news magazines lost more than 25% of their circulation, with Business Week losing 2% circulation and Forbes remaining steady with a 0.1% gain.

By Jones Dias, Abhinav Kant, Vamsi Kothapalli, Kristal Nicholson, Filippo Sclafani and Pankaj Tamrakar

As recently as four years ago, almost no one would have been aware of what the word Redbox meant. Today, Americans have become devoted customers of this rising star of the impulse DVD rental industry. But will the fun and ease of Redbox’s unique impulse proposition last through the next decade? Do advances in technology, with an ever-changing array of readily available options, such as downloads or streaming, mean that the days of the Redbox are numbered?

The discussion seems to vary as to which strategy Redbox needs to take in order to continue to thrive in the rental business. Coinstar (Redbox’ parent) CEO Paul Davis, expressing his ideas in a recent conference call, considers streaming a "significant opportunity" while maintaining that he foresees a "long, profitable life ahead" for Redbox's movie-machine kiosk business.

By Benjawan Thanachotipan, Jesse Randall, Peter Graham, Sriram Sridharan, Timothy Webb and Tyler McElhaney

Research in Motion [RIMM: $60.81], known for its private data security and e-mail addicts, may be on the verge of disappearing. Drawing this conclusion may seem strange in light of its recent stock price increases, its 27 percent market share, and the pending release of its iPad competitor, the Playbook. However, RIM’s demise isn’t apparent on the surface. Its misaligned long-term strategy is what will ultimately bring RIM to its knees.

By Aarohan Singh, Abhijit Chakrabarti, Alok Shah, Divy Jaisingh, Karn Dhandhania and Rishin Patel

The first credit for human flight in history is given to the Wright brothers, who took their first flight in 1903. However, for commercial air travel, that honor is given to the British Overseas Aircraft Corporation, which in 1952, provided the world’s first commercial jet service. Within commercial jets, there has been a constant innovation taking place throughout the industry. Whether aspiring to create faster, safer, or more luxurious planes, this highly competitive industry is always looking for the next big thing.