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- January 2025
- Case
A Winning Strategy (A): Innovation in Olympic Speed Skating
By: Rebecca Karp, Maria Roche, Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon and Tom Quinn
This case describes two innovators in the Olympic sport of speed skating: the U.S. Men’s team, which devised a new approach to the team pursuit event following their disappointing performance in the 2018 Winter Olympics; and Nils van der Poel, a Swedish skater who... View Details
- January 2025
- Supplement
A Winning Strategy (B): Innovation in Olympic Speed Skating
By: Rebecca Karp, Maria Roche, Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon and Tom Quinn
This case describes the aftermath of decisions made by two innovators in the Olympic sport of speed skating: the U.S. Men’s team, which devised a new approach to the team pursuit event; and Nils van der Poel, a Swedish skater who created a new training plan that defied... View Details
- 2025
- Working Paper
Too Much, Too Soon? Early Funding, Technological Unconventionality, and Innovation Capabilities
By: Harsh Ketkar and Maria Roche
The availability of financial resources significantly shapes firm innovation outcomes, especially for early-stage,
innovation-focused technology firms. However, prior research has provided conflicting findings about this
relationship: On the one hand, resource... View Details
- July 2024
- Case
ZEISS: Commercializing Science
By: Maria P. Roche, Carlota Moniz and Daniela Beyersdorfer
Karl Lamprecht, President and CEO of the ZEISS AG Group, mused on how far ZEISS had come in 175 years of being a pioneer in optics, and how the course he had charted since taking the helm of the company could keep it on track. In his role, he oversaw the four core... View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Business Organization; Decisions; Business Strategy; Competition; Business History; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Independent Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Organizational Culture; Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Risk and Uncertainty; Adaptation; Commercialization; Resource Allocation; Corporate Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; Technology Industry; Germany; Europe
- March 2024
- Teaching Note
CoPilot(s): Generative AI at Microsoft and GitHub
By: Frank Nagle and Maria P. Roche
This teaching note is the companion to case N9-624-010 CoPilot(s): Generative AI at Microsoft and GitHub, which takes place in late 2021. The case briefly describes the history of both GitHub and Microsoft with a particular focus on open source software (OSS)—software... View Details
- February 2024
- Teaching Note
The Globalization of Manchester City Football Group
By: Tiona Zuzul, Maria P. Roche and Exequiel Hernandez
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 723-391. View Details
- February 2024 (Revised May 2024)
- Case
Moving Science: The Rowland Institute at Harvard
By: Maria P. Roche
Set in 2022, this case describes the considerations involved in organizing the physical relocation of the Rowland Institute at Harvard (RIH), a research institute established in 1980 by Edwin H. Land, the founder of the Polaroid Corporation, for the advancement of... View Details
- 2023
- Working Paper
Coordinated R&D Programs and the Creation of New Industries
By: Daniel P. Gross and Maria P. Roche
Complex systems technologies—including “deep tech”—are prone to numerous frictions that stymie commercial development. Yet technologies with these features underpin some of the most valuable industries of the past century. We examine how large, mission-oriented... View Details
- November 2023
- Case
Copilot(s): Generative AI at Microsoft and GitHub
This case tells the story of Microsoft’s 2018 acquisition of GitHub and the subsequent launch of GitHub Copilot, a tool that uses generative artificial intelligence to suggest snippets of code to software developers in real time. Set in late 2021, when Copilot was... View Details
- 2024
- Working Paper
Bringing Science to Market: Knowledge Foundations and Performance
By: Justine Boudou and Maria Roche
Possessing unique knowledge is widely considered a critical source of competitive advantage. In this paper, we examine the relationship between the extent to which founders exploit their own technologically unique knowledge and subsequent new venture performance. Using... View Details
- September 2023 (Revised May 2024)
- Teaching Note
Accelerating AI Adoption in the U.S. Air Force
By: Maria P. Roche
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 723-429. View Details
Keywords: AI; ＂USA,＂; Military; Strategy; Innovation; Economic Growth; Organizational Design; Technology
- 2025
- Working Paper
Better Keep the Twenty Dollars: Incentivizing Innovation in Open Source
By: Annamaria Conti, Vansh Gupta, Jorge Guzman and Maria P. Roche
Open source is key to innovation yet is assumed to be done largely through intrinsic motivation. How can we incentivize it? In this paper, we examine the impact of a program providing monetary incentives to motivate innovators to contribute to open source. The Sponsors... View Details
- 2023
- Working Paper
Learning to Use: Stack Overflow and Technology Adoption
By: Daniel Jay Brown and Maria P. Roche
In this paper, we examine the potential impact of Q&A websites on the adoption of technologies.
Using data from Stack Overflow – one of the most popular Q&A websites worldwide
– and implementing an instrumental-variable approach, we find that users whose questions... View Details
- March 2023 (Revised March 2024)
- Case
Accelerating AI Adoption in the U.S. Air Force
By: Maria P. Roche and Alexander Farrow
In August 2022, the Pentagon tasked U.S. Air Force Captain Victor Lopez to launch a new office for AFWERX, an Air Force innovation unit that leveraged commercial developers and military talent to acquire advanced technologies. This task was particularly arduous because... View Details
- March, 2023
- Article
Academic Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial Advisors and Their Advisees' Outcomes
By: Maria P. Roche
The transfer of complex knowledge and skills is difficult, often requiring intensive interaction and extensive periods of co-working between a mentor and mentee, which is particularly true in apprenticeship-like settings and on-the-job training. This paper studies a... View Details
- November 2022 (Revised May 2024)
- Teaching Note
Walmart USA—Searching for Growth
By: Maria P. Roche
This teaching note is the companion to case 722-395 Walmart USA – Searching for Growth. View Details
- November 2022 (Revised February 2024)
- Case
The Globalization of Manchester City Football Group
By: Maria P. Roche, Tiona Zuzul, Exequiel Hernandez and Amy Klopfenstein
This case describes the efforts of City Football Group (CFG) to purchase Esporte Clube Bahia (Bahia), a Brazilian professional soccer club. CFG’s strategy was to acquire under-performing clubs worldwide, invest money in high-profile players, and improve the teams’... View Details
Keywords: Business Ventures; Acquisition; Business Conglomerates; Geography; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Globalization; Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Organizations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Sports; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Sports Industry; Europe; United Kingdom; England; South America; Brazil
- March 2022
- Background Note
Assets, Capabilities, and Other Resources
By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Maria Roche
- February 9, 2022
- Article
What's the Optimal Workplace for Your Organization?
By: Maria P. Roche and Andy Wu
More than two years in the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are struggling with how to reimagine their workspaces for their strategic needs. Too often, leaders push the decision down the road when, in fact, taking decisive action now can pay off later. But how do you... View Details
- January 2022
- Case
Walmart USA—Searching for Growth
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Maria P. Roche
In 2022, Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart, and his team looked back at a difficult but ultimately successful past year. The global pandemic had posed enormous challenges, but the company had weathered the storm successfully, raising same-store sales growth,... View Details