Publications

January 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (A)

By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen and Shirley Sun

ZBJ.com (ZBJ), an online platform that connects knowledge workers to small- and medium-sized enterprises, is China’s largest outsourcing platform. Founded by Mingyue Zhu in 2006, ZBJ had grown into a unicorn with 4,000 employees and a daily transaction volume of RMB15... View Details

Keywords: Outsourcing; Disintermediation; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Information Technology Industry; China

06 Dec 2017
Blog Post

The 23rd Annual Harvard Business School Tech Conference

(VC) funds. The unifying theme of this year’s conference was ‘The Future We’re Building’. At the baseline, we wanted to discuss emerging technologies and trends such as blockchain, augmented reality/virtual reality, cryptocurrency,... View Details

Keywords: Technology

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A2): Network Visions: Mike Clary on the Product that Hid in HR

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

Chief scientist Bill Joy of Sun Microsystems, Inc. had a vision for a new product called "Jini": a network computing piece of infrastructure that would reinforce Sun's leadership role in the industry for helping define how the Internet and networking technology... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Media; Product Development; Communication; Innovation and Management; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

Teaching Interest

Development Economics (PhD)

By: Shawn A. Cole

This course, intended for second-year PhD students in economics and related fields, is taught by Michael Kremer, Phillippe Aghion, and Shawn Cole.

Part I (Kremer) of the course will cover macro-economic topics including aggregate and non-aggregate growth... View Details

October 1988 (Revised April 1993)
Case

Seligram, Inc.: Electronic Testing Operations

Explores the obsolescence of a cost system when technology changes. In particular, it asks students to increase the number of cost center and allocation bases. The firm moves from a one-center, direct labor-hour system to a three-center, direct labor-hour and... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Cost Accounting; Change Management

Research Summary

Innovating in Energy: Learning from High-Potential Ventures

By: Joseph B. Lassiter

My work at HBS has always focused on high-potential ventures. Most recently, these have been professionally financed start-ups and buyouts in newly emerging energy and cleantech businesses. These ventures tend to be based on innovative insights into technology and... View Details

August 2011 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Language and Globalization: 'Englishnization' at Rakuten (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Hiroshi Mikitani, the CEO of Rakuten, (Japan's largest online retailer), is at the helm of an organization that is rapidly expanding into global markets. In a critical stride toward becoming the world's No. 1 Internet services company, Mikitani announces... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Human Capital; Change Management; Transformation; Social Enterprise; Communication Strategy; Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Leadership; Global Strategy; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Japan

08 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Employee Analytics: Productivity Dream or Micromanagement Nightmare?

hiring and productivity, says Jeffrey T. Polzer, the UPS Foundation Professor of Human Resource Management at Harvard Business School. His recent paper probes how organizational researchers should study people analytics practices, which... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

August 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Luckin Coffee (A): Caffeine-fueled Growth?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the founding of Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee in 2017 and its path to surpassing Starbucks as the largest coffee chain in China (by number of stores) in 2019. Unlike Starbucks stores, which were designed to be welcoming “third places” for... View Details

October 1996
Case

Jim Bender and Alert, Inc. (A)

Jim Bender has just been hired as CEO of Alert, Inc. Alert, founded in 1986 by a charismatic technologist, has accumulated an impressive portfolio of patents and leading edge technology projects in a variety of fields. The company has never, however, shown a profit and... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Entrepreneurship; Management Skills; Business Startups; Technology Industry

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December 1999 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Focuses on Millennium's strategy to grow and revolutionize drug development through the use of new technologies such as genomics. Describes how Millennium Pharmaceuticals--a fast-growing biotechnology firm in Cambridge, MA--has used strategic alliances to finance the... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Financing and Loans; Medical Specialties; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Time Management; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Alliances; Technology; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Cambridge

10 Jul 2023
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2023

entertaining experience during my leisure time. With this thoughtfully curated selection, I look forward to expanding my knowledge, gaining fresh perspectives, and finding moments of relaxation throughout the summer. Hise Gibson is a Senior Lecturer in the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

07 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

When Glasses Land the Gig: Employers Still Choose Workers Who 'Look the Part'

write. You Might Also Like: Unpacking That Icky Feeling of 'Shopping' for Diverse Job Candidates Too Nice to Lead? Unpacking the Gender Stereotype That Holds Women Back When Bias Creeps into AI, Managers Can Stop It by Asking the Right... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

09 Aug 2016
First Look

August 9, 2016

forthcoming Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes Managing Perceptions of Distress at Work: Reframing Emotion as Passion By: Wolf, Elizabeth Baily, Jooa Julia Lee, Sunita Sah, and Alison Wood Brooks Abstract—Expressing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Hiring Organizations

Global Capital Management G G2 Venture Partners Galaxy Galehead Development GALY Gartner, Inc. Gary Community Ventures Gate Technologies Capital, The Gates Ventures Gauge Capital Genentech General Atlantic... View Details

May 2007
Article

Location Strategies and Knowledge Spillovers

By: Juan Alcacer and Wilbur Chung

Given the importance of proximity for knowledge spillovers, we examine firms' location choices expecting differences in firms' strategies. Firms will locate to maximize their net spillovers as a function of locations' knowledge activity, their own capabilities, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; For-Profit Firms; Knowledge Management; Research and Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Disruptive Innovation; Five Forces Framework; Cost Management; Technology; Competition; United States

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01 Dec 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Modeling a Paradigm Shift: From Producer Innovation to User and Open Collaborative Innovation

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin & Eric von Hippel

30 Jun 2020
News

Disruption Amidst Disruption: Fintech in the Age of Coronavirus

March 1999 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Xerox: Book-In-Time

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Book-In-Time, developed at Xerox, can dramatically reduce the cost of printing "one" book. Combined with the possibilities of digital content storage and transmittal, the new technology has vast opportunities. Xerox needs a commercial plan. The case describes the state... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Distribution; Planning; Opportunities; Commercialization; Technology Adoption; Publishing Industry