Publications

Find at Harvard

2020
Book

Experimentation Works: The Surprising Power of Business Experiments

By: Stefan Thomke

Don’t fly blind. See how the power of experiments works for you. When it comes to improving customer experiences, trying out new business models, or developing new products, even the most experienced managers often get it wrong. They discover that intuition,... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Experiments; Market Research; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Customers; Research

Find at Harvard

March 2016
Case

N12 Technologies: Building an Organization and Building a Business

By: David A. Garvin and Aldo Sesia

N12 Technologies was a startup founded in 2010 that employed nanotechnology to manufacture a patented material to improve the performance of carbon fiber composites, which were used in a wide variety of products, ranging from bicycles to automobiles to aircraft parts.... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Organizational Structure; Nanotechnology; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Management Systems; Commercialization; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Bicycle Industry; Transportation Industry; United States

24 Dec 2019
News

Following the 737 Max scandal, Boeing finally has a new CEO.

December 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

DoubleTwist, Inc.

By: Joseph L. Bower and Christina L. Darwall

John Couch, CEO of DoubleTwist, has transformed a software products company into an Internet application service provider, racing to provide databases and tools for those working to explore the human genome. Crafting strategy and building organizational capability are... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Information Technology Industry

01 Jan 2004
News

09 Apr 2012
News

Diagnosing Your Top Team's Span of Control

June 2000 (Revised March 2003)
Case

IBM Technology Group

By: Andrew P. McAfee and Kerry Herman

Explores two main issues: how the IBM Technology Group was able to build a robust, scalable, and functional IT platform using packaged enterprise resource planning (ERP) software from SAP, and how the division should best leverage this capability going forward. View Details

Keywords: Management; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Projects; Information Technology Industry

The need for leadership development has never been more urgent. Companies of all sorts realize that to survive in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment, they need different leadership skills and organizational capabilities from those that... View Details

04 Oct 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Soul and Machine (Learning)

Keywords: by Davide Proserpio, John R. Hauser, Xiao Liu, Tomomichi Amano et al.

May 6, 2020
Editorial

Separated by a Common Infection

By: Amar Bhide and Leif Pagrotsky

Unprecedented lockdowns and quarantines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic have evoked emotional disagreements, both between and within different countries. Yet, the consequences of this or any future pandemic depend as much on responses and capabilities on the front... View Details

Keywords: Coronavirus; Coronavirus Pandemic; Governance; Policy; Health Pandemics

Read Now

14 Dec 2012
News

High-Tech Factories Built to Be Engines of Innovation

26 Mar 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Managed Ecosystems and Translucent Institutional Logics: Engaging Communities

Keywords: by Elizabeth J. Altman, Frank Nagle, and Michael Tushman

April 2015
Supplement

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp: Redefining Success in the U.S. (B)

By: Gautam Mukunda, Thomas DeLong and Aldo Sesia

This (B) case describes the actions André Wyss, president of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, took in early 2012 to transform the company's General Medicines group and build its specialty medications, marketing the selling capabilities in the face of falling... View Details

Keywords: LEAD; Leadership And Change Management; Talent Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

July 2014 (Revised August 2014)
Case

AmazonFresh: Rekindling the Online Grocery Market

By: Rory McDonald, Clayton Christensen, Robin Yang and Ty Hollingsworth

More than a decade after the high-profile failures of several early online grocers, grocery remains the largest single U.S. retail category and one of the few that has not yet migrated online. Amazon began testing its grocery-delivery service, AmazonFresh, in Seattle,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; New Markets; Grocery; Operations Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Learning; Service Operations; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

01 Jan 2002
News

June 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Netonomy

A new software product enables wireless telcos to offer a self-service customer service solution, lowering costs and improving service levels. Discusses the definition of good self-service. Examines how the company should prioritize its growth opportunities and what... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Applications and Software; Globalization; Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

14 Jan 2013
News

April 2015 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Steve Jobs: Leader Strategist

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and David B. Yoffie

Strategically, Steve Jobs got it brilliantly right some times and terribly wrong other times. This case examines Jobs' development as a leader strategist over the course of his entire career. The successes and failures of Apple, NeXT, and Pixar are used to probe the... View Details

Keywords: Strategist; Steve Jobs; Apple; Leadership; Competitive Advantage; Personal Development and Career; Strategy