Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(120,049)
- Faculty Publications (165)
- Article
Exploring the Duality Between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the 'Mirroring' Hypothesis
By: Alan MacCormack, Carliss Y. Baldwin and John Rusnak
A variety of academic studies argue that a relationship exists between the structure of an organization and the design of the products that the organization produces. Specifically, products tend to "mirror" the architectures of the organizations in which they are... View Details
- December 2012
- Article
Grand Innovation Prizes: A Theoretical, Normative, and Empirical Evaluation
By: Alan MacCormack, Fiona Murray, Scott Stern and Georgina Campbell
This paper provides a systematic examination of the use of a Grand Innovation Prize (GIP) in action—the Progressive Automotive Insurance X PRIZE—a $10 million prize for a highly efficient vehicle. Following a mechanism design approach we define three key dimensions for... View Details
- July 2012 (Revised April 2014)
- Case
Research In Motion: The Mobile OS Platform War
By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer
The case describes competition in the market for smart phones in the US, and the position of one player, Research In Motion (RIM) who manufacture the popular Blackberry line of products. Early in 2011, RIM is in trouble. Its stock price has plummeted, amidst poor... View Details
Keywords: Innovation; Product Development; Technology Strategy; Platform Strategy; Software; Hardware; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry; Canada; United States
- 2012
- Chapter
Evaluating the Impact of the Mozilla Software Redesign Effort
By: Alan MacCormack, Carliss Baldwin and John Rusnak
- January–February 2012
- Article
Do You Need a New Product-Development Strategy?
By: Alan MacCormack, W. Crandall, P. Toft and P. Henderson
Many firms rely on a single new-product development process for all projects. But designing new products for different business contexts requires that a firm deploy different new-product development processes. Products designed for stable and mature end-user markets... View Details
- 2010
- Chapter
Managing Technical Debt in Software-Reliant Systems
By: Alan MacCormack, 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
- 2010
- Working Paper
The Architecture of Complex Systems: Do Core-periphery Structures Dominate?
By: Alan MacCormack, Carliss Y. Baldwin and John Rusnak
Any complex technological system can be decomposed into a number of subsystems and associated components, some of which are core to system function while others are only peripheral. The dynamics of how such "core-periphery" structures evolve and become embedded in a... View Details
- September – October 2009
- Article
Critical Decisions in Software Development: Updating the State of the Practice
By: Alan MacCormack, Michael A. Cusumano, Chris Kemerer and Bill Crandall
This article focuses on how to choose the "right" software development process, how to structure global software design chains, how to manage the interaction of project structure and software design, and how to balance innovation and efficiency in a software business. View Details
- 2009
- Chapter
R&D Project Selection and Portfolio Management: A Review of the Past, a Description of the Present, and a Sketch of the Future
By: D. Brunner, L. Fleming, A. MacCormack and D. Zinner
- May 2009
- Article
Intellectual Property, Architecture, and the Management of Technological Transitions: Evidence from Microsoft Corporation
By: Alan David MacCormack and Marco Iansiti
- 2008
- Working Paper
Exploring the Duality between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the Mirroring Hypothesis
By: Alan D. MacCormack, John Rusnak and Carliss Y. Baldwin
A variety of academic studies argue that a relationship exists between the structure of an organization and the design of the products that this organization produces. Specifically, products tend to "mirror" the architectures of the organizations in which they are... View Details
- Article
Analyzing the Evolution of Large-Scale Software Systems using Design Structure Matrices and Design Rule Theory: Two Exploratory Cases
By: Alan MacCormack, Matthew J. LaMantia, Yuanfang Cai and J. Rusnak
- January 2008
- Article
Learning the Fine Art of Collaboration
By: Alan MacCormack and Theodore Forbath
Innovations are increasingly brought to the market by networks of firms, selected for their unique capabilities and operating in a coordinated manner. This collaborative model demands that firms develop different skills, yet despite this need, there is little guidance... View Details
Keywords: Digital Platforms
- 2007
- Working Paper
The Impact of Component Modularity on Design Evolution: Evidence from the Software Industry
By: Alan MacCormack, John Rusnak and Carliss Y. Baldwin
Much academic work asserts a relationship between the design of a complex system and the manner in which this system evolves over time. In particular, designs which are modular in nature are argued to be more "evolvable," in that these designs facilitate making... View Details
- 2007
- Working Paper
Innovation through Global Collaboration: A New Source of Competitive Advantage
By: Alan MacCormack, Theodore Forbath, Peter Brooks and Patrick Kalaher
Many recent studies highlight the need to rethink the way we manage innovation. Traditional approaches, based on the assumption that the creation and pursuit of new ideas is best accomplished by a centralized and collocated R&D team, are rapidly becoming outdated.... View Details
- 2007
- Working Paper
From Outsourcing to Global Collaboration: New Ways to Build Competitiveness
By: Alan David MacCormack, Theodore Forbath, Peter Brooks and Patrick Kalaher
- 2007
- Working Paper
Evolution Analysis of Large-Scale Software Systems Using Design Structure Matrices and Design Rule Theory
By: Matthew J. LaMantia, Yuanfang Cai, Alan David MacCormack and John Rusnak
- July 2006
- Article
Exploring the Structure of Complex Software Designs: An Empirical Study of Open Source and Proprietary Code
By: Alan MacCormack, John Rusnak and Carliss Y. Baldwin