Alan D. MacCormack
MBA Class of 1949 Adjunct Professor of Business Administration
MBA Class of 1949 Adjunct Professor of Business Administration
Alan MacCormack is the MBA Class of 1949 Adjunct Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, a member of The Digital, Data, and Design (D^3) Institute at Harvard, and a core faculty member in the new MS/MBA joint degree program. He is an expert in the management of innovation and new product development, with a focus on the design and deployment of digital technologies. He is best known for his pioneering work on software development, where his research reveals the benefits of agile processes and the value of modular designs.
Professor MacCormack’s work has been published in a variety of leading journals, including Management Science, Research Policy, Production and Operations Management (POM), IEEE Software, Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review. His publications have been recognized on multiple occasions for their contributions to innovation management scholarship. He received the 2016 Wickham Skinner Award for the best paper published in POM; the 2013 Maurice Holland Award for the best paper published in Research-Technology Management; and was a finalist for the best paper in Technology and Innovation Management at the 2010 Academy of Management Conference.
Professor MacCormack teaches extensively in both the MBA program and Executive Education. He helped to design and subsequently chaired RC FIELD, a new style of MBA course that develops students’ teamwork abilities through experiential learning. He created Entrepreneurship Lab, an MBA elective in which student teams work on customer discovery projects for local startups. His innovations in teaching and course development have been recognized several times. He received the Greenhill Award for Outstanding Service to the HBS Community in 2013; the Apgar Award for Innovation in Teaching in 2011; and the Outstanding Teacher Award from MIT’s Sloan School of Management in 2009.
Professor MacCormack has authored over 50 Cases and Teaching Notes that explore how organizations like Intel, Microsoft and NASA effectively manage innovation. These cases are used extensively by educators around the globe. He has advised and consulted with a variety of technology-based companies and has provided expert testimony on behalf of firms like Amazon, with respect to their software design and development practices. In 2013, he co-founded Silverthread, a startup that provides commercial tools to help organizations assess and improve the quality of their software systems and services.
Professor MacCormack received his Doctor of Business Administration from HBS, where he was a recipient of the George S. Dively award for outstanding dissertation research. He holds an SM degree from MIT's Sloan School of Management and a BSc from the University of Bath in England. While studying at MIT, he was a recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Scholarship. He joined the Technology and Operations Management unit at HBS in 1998. From 2008 to 2011, he was a Visiting Professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
- Journal Articles and Peer-Reviewed Publications
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- Brusoni, Stefano, Joachim Henkel, Michael G Jacobides, Samina Karim, Alan MacCormack, Phanish Puranam, and Melissa Schilling. "Introduction." Special Issue on The Power of Modularity: Twenty Years of Design Rules. Industrial and Corporate Change 32, no. 1 (February 2023): 1–10. View Details
- Weinzierl, Matthew, Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Alan MacCormack, and Brendan Rosseau. "Your Company Needs a Space Strategy. Now." Harvard Business Review (November–December 2022): 80–91. View Details
- Trabucchi, Daniel, Antonella Moretto, Tommaso Buganza, and Alan MacCormack. "Disrupting the Disruptors or Enhancing Them? How Blockchain Re‐Shapes Two‐Sided Platforms." Journal of Product Innovation Management 37, no. 6 (November 2020): 552–574. View Details
- Lagerström, Robert, Alan MacCormack, David Dreyfus, and Carliss Y. Baldwin. "A Methodology for Operationalizing Enterprise IT Architecture and Evaluating Its Modifiability." Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly 19 (June–July 2019): 75–98. View Details
- Elsner, Daniel, Pouya Aleatrati Khosroshahi, Alan MacCormack, and Robert Lagerström. "Multivariate Unsupervised Machine Learning for Anomaly Detection in Enterprise Applications." Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 52nd (2019): 5827–5836. View Details
- Lagerstrom, Robert, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, Daniel J. Sturtevant, and Lee Doolan. "Exploring the Relationship Between Architecture Coupling and Software Vulnerabilities." Proceedings of the International Symposium on Engineering Secure Software and Systems (ESSoS) 9th (2017): 53–69. (Part of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, ISSN 0302-9743.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, and Robert Lagerstrom. "Designing an Agile Software Portfolio Architecture: The Impact of Coupling on Performance." Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings (2017). (doi:10.5465/AMBPP.2017.297, ISSN 2151-6561.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, and Daniel J. Sturtevant. "Technical Debt and System Architecture: The Impact of Coupling on Defect-related Activity." Journal of Systems and Software 120 (October 2016): 170–182. (Received 31 May 2015. Revised 28 May 2016. Accepted 4 June 2016.) View Details
- Lagerström, Robert, Carliss Y. Baldwin, and Alan MacCormack. "Visualizing and Measuring Software Portfolio Architecture: A Power Utility Case." Special Issue on DSM Conference 2014. Journal of Modern Project Management 3, no. 2 (September–December 2015): 114–121. View Details
- Mishra, Anant, Aravind Chandrasekaran, and Alan MacCormack. "Collaboration in Multi-Partner R&D Projects: The Impact of Partnering Scale and Scope." Journal of Operations Management 33-34 (January 2015): 1–14. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, and Anant Mishra. "Managing the Performance Tradeoffs from Partner Integration: Implications of Contract Choice in R&D Projects." Production and Operations Management 24, no. 10 (October 2015): 1552–1569. View Details
- Baldwin, Carliss Y., Alan MacCormack, and John Rusnak. "Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture." Research Policy 43, no. 8 (October 2014): 1381–1397. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Fiona Murray, and Erika Wagner. "Spurring Innovation Through Competitions." MIT Sloan Management Review 55, no. 1 (Fall 2013): 25–32. View Details
- Lakhani, Karim R., Kevin J. Boudreau, Po-Ru Loh, Lars Backstrom, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Eric Lonstein, Mike Lydon, Alan MacCormack, Ramy A. Arnaout, and Eva C. Guinan. "Prize-based Contests Can Provide Solutions to Computational Biology Problems." Nature Biotechnology 31, no. 2 (February 2013): 108–111. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Embracing Uncertainty." MIT Technology Review (website) (February 20, 2013). View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Fiona Murray, Scott Stern, and Georgina Campbell. "Grand Innovation Prizes: A Theoretical, Normative, and Empirical Evaluation." Research Policy 41, no. 10 (December 2012): 1779–1792. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Carliss Y. Baldwin, and John Rusnak. "Exploring the Duality Between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the 'Mirroring' Hypothesis." Research Policy 41, no. 8 (October 2012): 1309–1324. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, W. Crandall, P. Toft, and P. Henderson. "Do You Need a New Product-Development Strategy?" Research-Technology Management 55, no. 1 (January–February 2012): 34–43. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, N. Brown, Y. Cai, Y. Guo, R. Kazman, M. Kim, P. Kruchten, E. Lim, R. Nord, I. Ozkaya, R. Sangwan, C. Seaman, K. Sullivan, and N. Zazworka. "Managing Technical Debt in Software-Reliant Systems." In FoSER '10: Proceedings of the FSE/SDP Workshop on the Future of Software Engineering Research, 47–52. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2010. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "The Architecture of Complex Systems: Do Core-Periphery Structures Dominate? ." Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings (2010). View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Michael A. Cusumano, Chris Kemerer, and Bill Crandall. "Critical Decisions in Software Development: Updating the State of the Practice." IEEE Software 26, no. 5 (September–October 2009). View Details
- MacCormack, Alan David, and Marco Iansiti. "Intellectual Property, Architecture, and the Management of Technological Transitions: Evidence from Microsoft Corporation." Journal of Product Innovation Management 26, no. 3 (May 2009): 248–263. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Matthew J. LaMantia, Yuanfang Cai, and J. Rusnak. "Analyzing the Evolution of Large-Scale Software Systems using Design Structure Matrices and Design Rule Theory: Two Exploratory Cases." Proceedings of the Working IEEE/IFIP Conference on Software Architecture (WICSA) (February 2008). View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, and Theodore Forbath. "Learning the Fine Art of Collaboration." Forethought. Special Issue on HBS Centennial. Harvard Business Review 86, no. 1 (January 2008): 10–11. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, John Rusnak, and Carliss Y. Baldwin. "Exploring the Structure of Complex Software Designs: An Empirical Study of Open Source and Proprietary Code." Management Science 52, no. 7 (July 2006). View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Management Lessons from Mars." Forethought. Harvard Business Review 82, no. 5 (May 2004): 18–19. View Details
- Cusumano, Michael A., Alan David MacCormack, Chris Kemerer, and Bill Crandall. "Software Development Worldwide: The State of the Practice." 20th Anniversary Issue IEEE Software 20, no. 6 (November/December 2003): 28–34. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Chris F. Kemerer, Michael A. Cusumano, and Bill Crandall. "Trade-offs between Productivity and Quality in Selecting Software Development Practices." IEEE Software 20, no. 5 (September–October 2003): 78–85. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, and Roberto Verganti. "Managing the Sources of Uncertainty: Matching Process and Context in Software Development." Journal of Product Innovation Management 20 (May 2003): 217–232. View Details
- MacCormack, A. D. "Product-Development Practices That Work: How Internet Companies Build Software." MIT Sloan Management Review 42, no. 2 (winter 2001): 75–84. View Details
- MacCormack, A. D., R. Verganti, and M. Iansiti. "Developing Products on Internet Time: The Anatomy of a Flexible Development Process." Management Science 47, no. 1 (January 2001). View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Roberto Verganti, and Marco Iansiti. "Developing Products on 'Internet Time': The Anatomy of a Flexible Development Process." Management Science 47, no. 1 (January 2001). View Details
- MacCormack, A. D., and M. Iansiti. "Developing Products on Internet Time." Harvard Business Review 75, no. 5 (September–October 1997). View Details
- MacCormack, A. D., L. J. Newman III, and D. B. Rosenfield. "The New Dynamics of Global Manufacturing Site Location." MIT Sloan Management Review 35, no. 4 (summer 1994). View Details
- Book Chapters
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- MacCormack, Alan, Carliss Baldwin, and John Rusnak. "Evaluating the Impact of the Mozilla Software Redesign Effort." Chap. 3.5 in Design Structure Matrix Methods and Applications, by Steven D. Eppinger and Tyson R. Browning, 54–57. MIT Press, 2012. View Details
- Brunner, D., L. Fleming, A. MacCormack, and D. Zinner. "R&D Project Selection and Portfolio Management: A Review of the Past, a Description of the Present, and a Sketch of the Future." In The Handbook of Technology and Innovation Management. Edited by Scott Shane. Blackwell Publishing, 2009. View Details
- MacCormack, A. D., and M. Iansiti. "Developing Products for the Internet." In Sense and Respond: Capturing Value in the Network Era, edited by Stephen P. Bradley and Richard L. Nolan. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1998. View Details
- Working Papers
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- MacCormack, Alan, Robert Lagerström, Martin Mocker, and Carliss Y. Baldwin. "Digital Agility: The Impact of Software Portfolio Architecture on IT System Evolution." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-105, May 2017. (Revised October 2017.) View Details
- Lagerstrom, Robert, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, Dan Sturtevant, and Lee Doolan. "Exploring the Relationship between Architecture Coupling and Software Vulnerabilities: A Google Chrome Case." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-078, February 2017. View Details
- Lagerstrom, Robert, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, and David Dreyfus. "Visualizing and Measuring Software Portfolio Architectures: A Flexibility Analysis." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 14-083, March 2014. View Details
- Lagerstrom, Robert, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, and David Dreyfus. "Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-105, June 2013. View Details
- Lagerstrom, Robert, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, and Stephan Aier. "Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Application Architecture: An Exploratory Telecom Case." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-103, June 2013. View Details
- Baldwin, Carliss, Alan MacCormack, and John Rusnak. "Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-093, May 2013. (Revised April 2014.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Carliss Y. Baldwin, and John Rusnak. "The Architecture of Complex Systems: Do Core-periphery Structures Dominate?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10-059, January 2010. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., John Rusnak, and Carliss Y. Baldwin. "Exploring the Duality between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the Mirroring Hypothesis." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 08-039, March 2008. (Revised October 2008, January 2011.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, John Rusnak, and Carliss Y. Baldwin. "The Impact of Component Modularity on Design Evolution: Evidence from the Software Industry." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 08-038, December 2007. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Theodore Forbath, Peter Brooks, and Patrick Kalaher. "Innovation through Global Collaboration: A New Source of Competitive Advantage." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 07-079, July 2007. (revised August 2007.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan David, Theodore Forbath, Peter Brooks, and Patrick Kalaher. "From Outsourcing to Global Collaboration: New Ways to Build Competitiveness." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 07-080, May 2007. View Details
- LaMantia, Matthew J., Yuanfang Cai, Alan David MacCormack, and John Rusnak. "Evolution Analysis of Large-Scale Software Systems Using Design Structure Matrices and Design Rule Theory." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 07-081, April 2007. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Carliss Y. Baldwin, and John Rusnak. "A Dependency Matrix Tool to Analyze Software Architecture." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 06-047, March 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. Developing Complex Systems in Dynamics Environments: A Study of "Architectural Innovation". Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 02-035, December 2001. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Towards a Contingent Model of the New Product Development Process: A Comparative Empirical Study." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 00-077, May 2000. View Details
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- MacCormack, Alan D., Nori Gerardo Lietz, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Karina Souza, and Zeke Gillman. "Doing Business in Buenos Aires, Argentina." Harvard Business School Case 324-108, March 2024. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., Carlota Moniz, and Emilie Billaud. "Doing Business in Athens, Greece." Harvard Business School Case 323-100, February 2023. (Revised May 2023.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, and Kerry Herman. "FIELD Immersion 2022: Salt Lake City, Utah." Harvard Business School Background Note 622-095, June 2022. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Caroline M. Elkins, Allison H. Mnookin, Leonard A. Schlesinger, and Joyce J. Kim. "A Note on Design Thinking." Harvard Business School Background Note 322-042, August 2021. (Revised March 2024.) View Details
- Farronato, Chiara, Alan MacCormack, and Sarah Mehta. "Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL." Harvard Business School Case 619-003, October 2018. (Revised July 2023.) View Details
- Farronato, Chiara, Alan MacCormack, and Sarah Mehta. "Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 619-702, October 2018. (Revised August 2020.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "The Boston Cranberry Company." Harvard Business School Case 619-009, July 2018. (Revised June 2020.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, and Noah Fisher. "TouchTunes and the Connected Digital Jukebox Platform." Harvard Business School Case 615-051, February 2015. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Gustavo Herrero, and Maria Fernanda Miguel. "Doing Business in Peru." Harvard Business School Case 614-027, March 2014. (Revised September 2015.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Brian Kimball Dunn, and Chris F. Kemerer. "Barnes & Noble: Managing the E-Book Revolution." Harvard Business School Case 613-073, March 2013. (Revised April 2014.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Brian Kimball Dunn, and Chris F. Kemerer. "Research In Motion: The Mobile OS Platform War." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 614-041, November 2013. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Brian Kimball Dunn, and Chris F. Kemerer. "Barnes & Noble: Managing the E-Book Revolution." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 614-040, November 2013. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Michael Shih-ta Chen, and Dawn H. Lau. "Doing Business in Vietnam." Harvard Business School Case 713-434, October 2012. (Revised September 2014.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Brian Dunn, and Chris F. Kemerer. "Research In Motion: The Mobile OS Platform War." Harvard Business School Case 613-001, July 2012. (Revised April 2014.) View Details
- Huckman, Robert S., and Alan D. MacCormack. "BYD Company, Ltd." Harvard Business School Case 606-139, April 2006. (Revised September 2009.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Lee Fleming. "Linux, Supplement to Epodia." Harvard Business School Supplement 606-067, January 2006. (Revised May 2007.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "D-Wave Systems: Building a Quantum Computer (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 606-131, June 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Reinventing the Automobile: General Motors' AUTOnomy Project (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 606-129, May 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Activision: The 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer' Project (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 606-130, May 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Virgin.com (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 606-132, May 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World: Module 1: Innovation and Uncertainty." Harvard Business School Background Note 606-125, April 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Microsoft.NET User Scenario Video Clips." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 606-705, April 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Siemens ShareNet: Building a Knowledge Network (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 606-128, March 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World: Course Overview Note." Harvard Business School Background Note 606-105, March 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World: Module 3: Expanding Diversity." Harvard Business School Module Note 606-126, March 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World: Module 4: Sensing Opportunity." Harvard Business School Module Note 606-104, March 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World." Harvard Business School Module Note 606-103, March 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Microsoft.NET (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 606-127, March 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Mission to Mars (A) (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 606-101, March 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "The Fate of the Vasa (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 606-102, March 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Microsoft Office 2000 TN." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 602-034, September 2001. (Revised March 2006.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "The Rise and Fall of Iridium, The (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 602-106, January 2002. (Revised March 2006.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Red Hat and the Linux Revolution TN." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 602-150, March 2002. (Revised March 2006.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Space Data Corporation TN." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 602-149, March 2002. (Revised March 2006.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Intel Research: Exploring the Future (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 606-119, March 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Intel Research: Exploring the Future." Harvard Business School Case 605-051, December 2004. (Revised October 2005.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Reinventing the Automobile: General Motors' AUTOnomy Project." Harvard Business School Case 604-064, November 2003. (Revised August 2005.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., Enrico D"Angelo, and Kerry Herman. "Activision: The 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer' Project." Harvard Business School Case 605-020, July 2004. (Revised July 2005.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Richard Mason. "Fate of the Vasa, The." Harvard Business School Case 605-026, August 2004. (Revised June 2005.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "D-Wave: An Interview with Seth Lloyd, Professor of Quantum Mechanical Engineering at MIT." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 605-702, December 2004. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Microsoft.NET (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 605-025, August 2004. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., Ajay Agrawal, and Rebecca Henderson. "D-Wave Systems: Building a Quantum Computer." Harvard Business School Case 604-073, April 2004. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., Marius Leibold, Sven Voelpel, and Kerry Herman. "Dragon's Teeth Vineyards." Harvard Business School Case 604-069, December 2003. (Revised April 2004.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Jay Wynn. "Mission to Mars (A)." Harvard Business School Case 603-083, February 2003. (Revised January 2004.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Mission to Mars (B)." Harvard Business School Case 603-110, February 2003. (Revised January 2004.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Andrew P. McAfee. "Tyrell Web Developers, Inc. (A) and (B) (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 603-037, December 2002. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., Sandra J. Sucher, and Suraj Rangashayi. "Le Petit Chef." Harvard Business School Case 602-080, October 2001. (Revised September 2022.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Sandra J. Sucher. "Le Petit Chef TN." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 602-117, January 2002. (Revised November 2002.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., Sven Volpel, and Kerry Herman. "Siemens ShareNet: Building a Knowledge Network." Harvard Business School Case 603-036, November 2002. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Microsoft.NET." Harvard Business School Case 602-086, March 2002. (Revised August 2002.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Space Data Corporation Case Study -- Marketing Video." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 602-803, April 2002. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Dialpad Communications (B)." Harvard Business School Case 601-107, February 2001. (Revised April 2002.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Managing Technology Ventures - Module Teaching Note (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 602-139, April 2002. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Jay Wynn. "Space Data Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 602-121, January 2002. (Revised April 2002.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "A Note on Organizational Design at Yahoo! TN." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 602-151, April 2002. (Revised April 2002.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Red Hat and the Linux Revolution." Harvard Business School Case 600-009, November 1999. (Revised March 2002.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Socrates, Inc." Harvard Business School Exercise 602-115, January 2002. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Rise and Fall of Iridium, The." Harvard Business School Case 601-040, December 2000. (Revised November 2001.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "A Note on Organizational Design at Yahoo!" Harvard Business School Supplement 602-112, November 2001. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "AvantGo." Harvard Business School Case 601-095, April 2001. (Revised November 2001.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Virgin.com." Harvard Business School Case 601-041, March 2001. (Revised August 2001.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Dialpad Communications (A)." Harvard Business School Case 601-090, February 2001. (Revised August 2001.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "WholesalerDirect." Harvard Business School Case 601-067, February 2001. (Revised August 2001.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "eFrenzy, Inc. (C)." Harvard Business School Case 601-168, April 2001. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "eFrenzy, Inc. (B)." Harvard Business School Case 601-167, April 2001. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D. "Microsoft Office 2000." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 600-502, June 2000. (Revised December 2000.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Andrew P. McAfee. "Tyrell Web Developers Inc. (A)." Harvard Business School Exercise 600-025, May 2000. (Revised September 2000.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Microsoft Office 2000: Multimedia." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Case 600-023, March 2000. (Revised June 2000.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Kerry Herman. "Microsoft Office 2000." Harvard Business School Case 600-097, June 2000. (Revised June 2000.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., and Andrew P. McAfee. "Tyrell Web Developers Inc. (B)." Harvard Business School Exercise 600-026, May 2000. View Details
- Iansiti, Marco, and Alan D. MacCormack. "Living on Internet Time: Product Development at Netscape, Yahoo!, NetDynamics, and Microsoft." Harvard Business School Case 697-052, November 1996. (Revised June 1999.) View Details
- Iansiti, Marco, and Alan D. MacCormack. "Team New Zealand (A), (B), and (C) TN." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 697-112, June 1997. View Details
- Iansiti, Marco, and Alan D. MacCormack. "Team New Zealand (A)." Harvard Business School Case 697-040, October 1996. (Revised April 1997.) View Details
- Iansiti, Marco, and Alan D. MacCormack. "Team New Zealand (B)." Harvard Business School Case 697-041, October 1996. (Revised April 1997.) View Details
- Iansiti, Marco, and Alan D. MacCormack. "Team New Zealand (C)." Harvard Business School Case 697-042, October 1996. (Revised April 1997.) View Details
- Iansiti, Marco, and Alan D. MacCormack. "Silicon Graphics, Inc. (B)." Harvard Business School Case 697-038, September 1996. View Details
- Presentations
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- Trabucchi, Daniel, Antonella Moretto, Tommaso Buganza, and Alan MacCormack. "Disrupting the Disruptors or Enhancing Them? How Blockchain Re-Shapes Two-Sided Platforms." Paper presented at the 26th Innovation and Product Development Management Conference, European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, Leicester, UK, June 9–11, 2019. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Exploring the Links Between Product and Organizational Architectures: An Empirical Study of Open and Closed Source Software." Paper presented at the International Product Development Management Conference, Milan, Italy, June 11–13, 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. Exploring the Relationship between Product Architecture and Organizational Form: A Test of "Conway's Law". In Empirical Studies of Software Development (Session Chair). Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), Boston, MA, April 28–May 1, 2006. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Exploring the Architecture of Complex Software Products." In Design Structure Matrix Applications. Paper presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 5–8, 2005. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Exploring the Structure of Complex Software Designs: An Empirical Study of Open Source and Proprietary Code." Paper presented at the Wharton Technology Conference, Philadelphia, PA, April 01–04, 2005. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Managing Innovation and Product Development...Under Uncertainty." Paper presented at the Decision Sciences Institute Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 19–22, 2004. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Empirical Research in Software Deveopment: Lessons from the Field." In Empirical Research in New Product Development. Paper presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, October 24–27, 2004. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Achieving Flexibility in NPD: New Processes and New Ways of Organizing." In Better, Faster Innovation: Leading the Flexible Organization Conference. Paper presented at the Better, Faster Innovation : Leading the Flexible Enterprise, Boston, August 01, 2004. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Flexibility in New Product Development: Evidence, Insights and Obstacles from the Field." In Annual Metrics for Portfolio and Resource Management Conference. , Chicago, IL, October 01, 2003. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Agile Software Development: Evidence from the Field." Paper presented at the Agile Development Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, June 25–28, 2003. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Conference Organizer, Session Chair." Paper presented at the HBS-MIT Sloan Free/Open Source Software Conference, Boston, MA, June 19–20, 2003. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, and Marco Iansiti. "Intellectual Property, Architecture, and the Management of Technological Transitions: Evidence from Microsoft Corporation." Paper presented at the Global Acquisition, Protection, and Leveraging of Technological Competencies, Katz Graduate School of Business, October 01, 2002. View Details
- McAfee, Andrew, and Alan MacCormack. "To Beta or Not to Beta?: The Pedagogy and Execution of a Web-based New Product Development Exercise." Paper presented at the Production and Operations Management Society Annual Conference, San Francisco, April 01, 2002. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Developing Products on Internet Time: Managing Innovation in Turbulent Environments." Paper presented at the European Doctoral Summer School on Technology Management, Como, Italy, August 26–30, 2001. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, and Roberto Verganti. "Managing the Sources of Uncertainty: Matching Process and Context in New Product Development." Paper presented at the International Product Development Management Conference, Belgium, May 05, 2000. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Running Product Development at Internet Speed." Paper presented at the Product Development and Management Association Annual Global Conference, FL, October 10, 1999. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "A Comparative Study of Product Development Process Design." Paper presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH, May 5, 1999. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, M. Iansiti, and R Verganti. "Rapid Learning and Adaptation in Product Development: An Empirical Study of the Internet Software Industry." Paper presented at the International Product Development Management Conference, Italy, May 01, 1998. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Responding to Changing Customer Needs: The Design of a Flexible Development Process." Paper presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting, Montreal, April 4, 1998. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Managing Product Development in Rapidly Changing Environments." Paper presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting, October 10, 1997. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan David. "Developing Products on Internet Time." Paper presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting, Dallas, October 10, 1997. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan David, and M. Iansiti. "Product Development Flexibility." Paper presented at the International Product Development Management Conference, Stockholm, Sweden, May 01, 1997. View Details
- Other Publications and Materials
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- Sturtevant, Daniel J., Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, Sunny Ahn, and Sean Gilliland. "Computer-Implemented Methods and Systems for Measuring, Estimating, and Managing Economic Outcomes and Technical Debt in Software Systems and Projects: US Patent 11,126,427 B2." Cambridge, MA, September 2021. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, Anthony J. Mayo, Teresa Amabile, Andy Zelleke, and Jill Avery. "Introduction to the RC FIELD Course: 2015-2016." Harvard Business School Course Overview Note 416-010, July 2015. View Details
- MacCormack, Alan D., Marco Iansiti, and Sean Silverthorne. "The Secret of How Microsoft Stays on Top." Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (December 2, 2002). (Interview.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan, and Sean Silverthorne. "Mission to Mars: It Really Is Rocket Science." Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (March 1, 2004). (Interview.) View Details
- MacCormack, Alan. "Evaluating Total Cost of Ownership for Software Platforms: Comparing Apples, Oranges, and Cucumbers." AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies Related Publication, April 2003. View Details
- Research Summary
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A consistent finding in many studies of innovation is the repeated failure of established firms when faced with radical changes in their core markets or technologies. Professor MacCormack's research takes the view that many of these failures can be attributed to the design of the new product development process within these firms, and specifically, a process which can deal effectively with radical change. His work explores how successful firms manage the product development process in environments like internet software and computer workstations, industries in which rapidly changing technologies and customer needs are a fact of life. MacCormack's results suggest that in these types of environment, a more "adaptive" approach to developing products is required, based upon the ability to respond to new information throughout a development cycle. His work identifies the underlying mechanisms through which such an approach can be built. At a broader level, MacCormack's research begins to explore the elements of a contingent view of product development process design. With such a view, the concept of product development "best practice" is no longer as relevant. Instead, the process that is most appropriate for a given project must be designed to reflect the realities of the environment which that project faces. The challenge for researchers is therefore to identify the mediating factors which dictate the fit between environment and process. MacCormack's current work focuses on exploring these relationships in greater depth.
- Awards & Honors
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Runner-up for the 2019 Christer Karlsson Best Paper Award at the Annual International Product Development Management Conference for “Disrupting the Disruptors or Enhancing Them? How Blockchain Re-Shapes Two-Sided Platforms” with Daniel Trabucchi, Antonella Moretto, and Tommaso Buganza.Winner of the 2016 Wickham Skinner Award for the best paper published in Production and Operations Management for “Managing the Performance Tradeoffs from Partner Integration: Implications of Contract Choice in R&D Projects” (October 2015) with Anant Mishra.Winner of the 2013 Maurice Holland Award from the Industrial Research Institute for his paper with Alan W. Crandall, P. Toft, and P. Henderson, "Do You Need a New Product-Development Strategy?" (Research Technology Management, 2012).Received the 2013 Greenhill Award for Outstanding Service to the HBS Community.Received the Apgar Award for Innovation in Teaching in 2011 for his role in designing the new first-year FIELD (Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development) course.Finalist for the Best Paper Award from the Technology and Innovation Management Division of the Academy of Management for the paper “The Architecture of Complex Systems: Do Core-Periphery Structures Dominate?” (2010).Received a Siemens Corporate Research Grant ($80k) in 2010 for exploring the impact of software design choices on the level of defects and productivity in software projects.Won the Outstanding Teacher Award at MIT Sloan School of Management in 2009.In 2009, Software's editorial and advisory boards selected his 2003 article “Software Development Worldwide: The State of the Practice” (with Michael Cusumano, Chris Kemerer, and Bill Crandall) as one of the magazine's all-time best peer-reviewed articles.Received an IBM Corporate Research Gift in 2010.Received a Siemens Corporate Research Grant in 2009.Received a grant from the MIT Energy Initiative Seed Fund Program in 2009.Received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Software and Hardware Foundation Grant in 2008.
- Additional Information
- Areas of Interest
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- innovation
- organizational learning
- product development
- technological change
- technology management
- corporate venturing
- decision-making
- disruptive technology
- economics of design
- electronic commerce
- entrepreneurial management
- entrepreneurship
- experimentation
- information technology
- intellectual property
- knowledge management
- managing innovation
- modularity
- network organizations
- operations strategy
- organizational design
- organizational structure
- process research
- technological innovation
- technology strategy
- venture creation/development
- automotive
- communications
- computer
- e-commerce industry
- electronics
- high technology
- information technology industry
- internet
- semiconductor
- software
- telecommunications
- venture capital industry
- Asia
- Europe
- Germany
- India
- Japan
- North America
- South Central Asia
- Southeast Asia
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Western Europe
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