Publications
Publications
- November 2020 (Revised March 2021)
- HBS Case Collection
Sercomm: Operating in China Amid COVID-19 and Beyond
By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Gary P. Pisano and Bonnie Yining Cao
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic had forced a production cut in the factory of Sercomm, one of the world’s major telecom equipment producers, in China. The case explores and highlights the challenges that Chief Executive Officer James Wang faced: How could Sercomm recover and ramp up production to meet its U.S. clients’ immediate demands? In the longer term, how could it manage the increasing shortage of migrant workers in China? As a supplier of hardware components to the U.S., the company was also caught in the cross-fire of U.S.-China trade tensions due to the tariffs imposed on telecom products. Should the company move its production out of China? Could adopting Artificial Intelligence in the production line be an option?
Keywords
Emerging Markets; Information Technology; Operations; Management; Health Pandemics; Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China
Citation
Choudhury, Prithwiraj, Gary P. Pisano, and Bonnie Yining Cao. "Sercomm: Operating in China Amid COVID-19 and Beyond." Harvard Business School Case 621-005, November 2020. (Revised March 2021.)