Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(117,151)
- Faculty Publications (342)
- Summer 2014
- Article
When Does a Platform Create Value by Limiting Choice?
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Hanna Halaburda
We present a theory for why it might be rational for a platform to limit the number of applications available on it. Our model is based on the observation that even if users prefer application variety, applications often also exhibit direct network effects. When there... View Details
Keywords: Platform Governance; Direct Network Effects; Indirect Network Effects; Complements; Tragedy Of The Commons; Equilibrium Selection; Coordination; Foresight; Strategy; Value Creation; Digital Platforms; Balance and Stability; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Applications and Software; Network Effects
- May 2014
- Article
Digital Dark Matter and the Economic Contribution of Apache
By: Shane Greenstein and Frank Nagle
Researchers have long hypothesized that research outputs from government, university, and private company R&D contribute to economic growth, but these contributions may be difficult to measure when they take a non-pecuniary form. The growth of networking devices and... View Details
Keywords: Open Source; Apache; Economic Measurement; Digital Economics; Measurement and Metrics; Open Source Distribution; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Economic Growth; Research and Development; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States
- April 2014 (Revised January 2015)
- Background Note
Note on Mobile Healthcare
By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez
Delivering health care to the global population was a challenge. Health care costs accounted for ten percent of world GDP by 2013. In the U.S., health care costs were expected to top $3.1 trillion in 2014. New technologies, shortages of trained personnel and... View Details
Keywords: Health Care; Mobile; Mobile App; Public Health; Startups; Hardware; Software; Telemedicine; Global; Medical Devices; Medical Services; Medical Solutions; Entrepreneurs; Government And Business; Technological Change; Health Care and Treatment; Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Technological Innovation; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Health Industry; Technology Industry
- 2014
- Working Paper
Visualizing and Measuring Software Portfolio Architectures: A Flexibility Analysis
By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and David Dreyfus
In this paper, we test a method for visualizing and measuring software portfolio architectures and use our measures to predict the costs of architectural change. Our data is drawn from a biopharmaceutical company, comprising 407 architectural components with 1,157... View Details
- February 2014
- Case
BGI: Data-driven Research
By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai
BGI has the largest installed gene-sequencing capacity in the world, and to Zhang Gengyun, general manager of the Life Sciences Division, this represented an opportunity to apply his training as a plant breeder and his early career work as a biochemist to improving... View Details
Keywords: Genomics; Gene Sequencing; Life Sciences; Plant Breeding; Human Genome Program; Beijing Genomics Institute; BGI; Rice Genome; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Research; Research and Development; Science; Genetics; Science-Based Business; Strategy; Commercialization; Corporate Strategy; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China; United States
- February 2014
- Technical Note
Mobile Broadband and the Telecommunications Industry in 2011
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Kerry Herman and Christine Snively
Mobile broadband carriers provide network access to the Internet for a range of devices (typically portable or mobile), including consumer devices such as smartphones, tablets and E-Readers, but also a host of new emerging devices. Mobile broadband networks enable data... View Details
- January 2014 (Revised March 2014)
- Case
SAP 2014: Reaching for the Cloud
By: Karim R. Lakhani, Marco Iansiti and Noah Fisher
In May 2014, Bill McDermott will become the sole CEO of SAP AG, the world leader in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) field. The case occurs in January 2014 at SAP's investors meeting, at a time when the company's stock is near record high. A 2010 strategy... View Details
- 2013
- Working Paper
Separating Homophily and Peer Influence with Latent Space
By: Joseph P. Davin, Sunil Gupta and Mikolaj Jan Piskorski
We study the impact of peer behavior on the adoption of mobile apps in a social network. To identify social influence properly, we introduce latent space as an approach to control for latent homophily, the idea that "birds of a feather flock together." In a series of... View Details
- 2014
- Case
Yonyou 2013
By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming and Ziqian Zhao
The case describes how a leading Chinese management software provider Yonyou (formerly known as "UFIDA") disrupted its value chain-based business model to transform itself into a platform provider. The case describes Yonyou's past success, the market forces and... View Details
- December 2013 (Revised February 2014)
- Supplement
Reinventing Brainlab (B)
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Karol Misztal
The management of Germany's Brainlab AG, a leading provider of software-driven oncology and surgery solutions, needs to evaluate strategic options for proceeding without an exclusive hardware partner in its most profitable business segment. View Details
- Article
Applying KISS to Healthcare Information Technology
By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Margo Seltzer and Mark Gaynor
Current public and private healthcare information technology initiatives have failed to achieve secure integration among providers. Applying the "keep it simple, stupid" principle offers the key guidance for solving this problem. View Details
Keywords: Technology; Health Care; Public Health; Information Technology Industry; Computer Networks; Computer Services Industries; Software; Hardware; Medical Services; Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Standards; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States
- October 2013
- Case
Rhythm & Blues
By: Willy Shih
The bankruptcy filing of Rhythm & Hues, who received an Oscar for the arresting visual effects in Life of Pi, raised questions about the challenges faced by the firms like it as well as the broader post-production industry. The rapid pace of technology certainly... View Details
Keywords: Post-production; Visual Effects; Digital; Entertainment; Animation Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Los Angeles
- 2013
- Working Paper
Digital Dark Matter and the Economics of Apache
By: Shane Greenstein and Frank Nagle
Researchers have long hypothesized that spillovers from government, university, and private company R&D contribute to economic growth, but these contributions may be difficult to measure when they take a non-pecuniary form. The growth of networking devices and the... View Details
- September 2013
- Case
Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins
After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details
Keywords: Management; Startup; Leadership; Leadership Style; Leadership Skills; Nutrition Database; Nutritionist In Your Pocket; Nutritional Educational Platform; Shazam Of Food; Weight Loss; Iphone; Android; Applications; App Development; Nutrition Labeling; Nutritional Information; Obesity; Epidemic; Applications and Software; Nutrition; Business Startups; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology Industry; Health Industry; Boston; Massachusetts
- August 2013 (Revised December 2014)
- Case
Taking Dell Private
By: David J. Collis, David B. Yoffie and Matthew Shaffer
In July 2012, Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell, Inc., met with a representative of Silver Lake Partners to explore taking his company private. The company, which he had founded in his dorm room as a college freshman and which had made him the youngest Fortune 500... View Details
Keywords: Strategy; Going Private; The PC Market; Market For Corporate Control; Corporate Strategy; Leveraged Buyouts; Change Management; Private Equity; Market Entry and Exit; Private Ownership; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Computer Industry; Technology Industry; United States
- August 2013
- Technical Note
Raising the Level of Abstraction
By: Willy Shih
This technical note discusses abstraction as a way of generalizing a process or component for wider application. By hiding complexity inside a module, abstraction enables system designers to think at a higher level. This lowers entry barriers to using (and reusing) a... View Details
- July 2013 (Revised August 2017)
- Case
TaKaDu
By: Elie Ofek and Matthew Preble
In December 2012, Amir Peleg, founder and CEO of TaKaDu, reflected on how to position his young firm for the next fiscal year and beyond. The small Israeli startup had developed an innovative software system that used patented algorithms and statistical analysis to... View Details
Keywords: Innovation; Customer Selection; Business Marketing; High-tech Marketing; Enterprise Resource Planning; Water Resources; Water Management; Utilities; Product Positioning; Expansion; Resource Allocation; Applications and Software; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Utilities Industry; Australia; Israel
- 2013
- Working Paper
Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case
By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and David Dreyfus
We test a method that was designed and used previously to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software systems. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover new facts about the components and their relationships in an enterprise... View Details
- 2013
- Working Paper
Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Application Architecture: An Exploratory Telecom Case
By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and Stephan Aier
We test a method for visualizing and measuring enterprise application architectures. The method was designed and previously used to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software applications. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover... View Details
- 2014
- Working Paper
Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture
By: Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and John Rusnak
In this paper, we describe an operational methodology for characterising the architecture of complex technical systems and demonstrate its application to a large sample of software releases. Our methodology is based upon directed network graphs, which allows us to... View Details