Publications

September 1989 (Revised January 1990)
Case

Vinod Khosla and Sun Microsystems (A)

Describes how Vinod Khosla got Sun Microsystems started, and a critical marketing challenge the company faced at the end of the first year. Objective is to illustrate how bold creative thinking can make or break start-ups. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry

We develop a theoretical model of, and provide the first large-sample evidence on, the behavior and impact of non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the intellectual property space. Our model shows that NPE litigation can reduce infringement and support small inventors.... View Details

January 2022
Case

Bee-ing Better at Bombas

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Youngme Moon and John Masko

David Heath and Randy Goldberg founded Bombas in 2013 to serve two missions: to deliver the “best socks in the history of feet,” and to donate socks (the most requested item in homeless shelters) to Americans experiencing homelessness. Eight years later, Bombas had... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Digital Marketing; Distribution; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Quality; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Human Needs; Poverty; Growth and Development Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; New York (city, NY)

08 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

How to Fix a Broken Marketplace

An economic handyman of sorts, Alvin E. Roth fixes broken markets. As a Nobel Prize-winning pioneer in the field of market design, the Harvard Business School professor... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

March 2005 (Revised August 2019)
Case

Cisco Systems: Managing the Go-to-Market Evolution

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

With the collapse of the dot-com market and related shrinkage in the high-tech industry, Cisco took a dip in its sales and profits in 2001. Coming back from the recession, Cisco had to manage and evolve its go-to-market strategy and design in keeping with its new... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Design; Business Cycles; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Business Strategy

Research Summary

Organizations with Dual Competitive Advantage

A close examination of several leading US service firms illustrates an unusual competitive phenomenon in that these firms are both cost and service leaders in their industries. My research documents this phenomenon, critically analyzing it in light of strategic and... View Details

September 1991 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Chaparral Steel: Rapid Product and Process Development

By: Dorothy Leonard-Barton and Gil Preuss

One of the nation's foremost mini-mills' core competence is the rapid realization of technology into products. This case describes the development of a highly innovative casting technique and features the role of the company's culture in achieving its goals. The... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Information Infrastructure; Product; Organizational Culture; Business Processes; Competency and Skills

04 Jun 2013
News

4 Ways Big Business Can Be a Keystone in Entrepreneurship Ecosystems

Productive Tensions: How Every Leader Can Tackle Innovation’s Toughest Trade-Offs

How leaders can recast innovation’s toughest trade-offs—efficiency vs. flexibility, consistency vs. change, product vs purpose—as productive tensions.

Why is leading innovation in today’s dynamic business environment so distressingly... View Details

November 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Sam Huttenbauer: Entrepreneurship in Food Preservation and Nutraceuticals

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Stacey J. Bell and David Benedict Pearcy

Sam Huttenbauer is trying to get two companies, in high-pressure food preservation and in nutraceuticals, off the ground. This case covers strategic, marketing, and financing challenges. It also looks at innovative technologies in the food industry and the role of the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Food; Problems and Challenges; Corporate Strategy; Marketing; Finance; Technological Innovation; Commercialization

May 2009
Article

Customer-Based Valuation

By: Sunil Gupta

Customer lifetime value (CLV) has emerged as an important metric to manage and grow customers. Marketing scholars have written many books and articles on this topic. However, most of this research has focused on tactical marketing decisions. While this is important, it... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Valuation

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February 2003 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Precise Software Solutions

When and how should a firm introduce an innovative new product? Introduce too early and functionality may not be there, too late and strong competition might appear. Precise Software Solutions, headquartered in Westwood, MA, is a small, growing company with a... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Product Launch; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Sales; Information Technology Industry; Massachusetts

October 2009
Case

Medisys Corp.: The IntensCare Product Development Team

By: Anne Donnellon and Joshua D. Margolis

Key topics include designing teams, managing teams, managing conflict, group dynamics, project management, product development, interdepartmental relations, and organizational change. MediSys, a U.S.-based medical equipment maker, has been developing IntensCare, a new... View Details

Keywords: Project Management; Interdepartmental Relations; Organizational Change; Leadership; Conflict Management; Interpersonal Communication; Groups and Teams; Product Design; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Health Care and Treatment; Power and Influence; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

August 2002
Background Note

Customer Benefit Stack

By: Das Narayandas

Describes a process to understand customer benefits created in industrial markets using the metaphor of a customer benefit stack. View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Manufacturing Industry

20 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

How to be a Customer

Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge.99 percent View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

03 Jun 2014
Blog Post

Springing Forward on Social Enterprise Career Paths

Hello from HBS Social Enterprise Initiative! We apply innovative business practices and managerial disciplines to drive sustained, high-impact social change at HBS and beyond. Spring is one of the most... View Details

June 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Institut Pasteur

The Pasteur Institut is implementing a proactive commercialization strategy under the direction of Christian Policard. Highlights the government's innovation policy and the role that the Pasteur Institut can play in shaping it. Also addresses issues relating to higher... View Details

Keywords: Commercialization; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; France