Publications

April 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Maersk: Betting on Blockchain

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

In March 2018, international shipping giant Maersk is getting ready to debut a trade digitization platform. Maersk hopes the platform will help streamline global trade since shipping goods internationally is an extraordinarily complicated and inefficient process.... View Details

Keywords: Maersk; IBM; Blockchain; Shipping; Shipping Line; Trade; Bitcoin; Digitization; Container Shipping; Joint Ventures; Ship Transportation; Transportation Networks; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Applications and Software; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry

March 2018
Case

Sandra Brown Goes Digital (A): The Promise and Perils of Social Movements in a Healthcare Company

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

As a middle manager at a biotechnology company, Sandra Brown harnessed digital tools and social media to engage others and build campaigns for change in the company. This case follows her career at the company and describes the challenges she faced as a change agent,... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Engagement; Stakeholder Engagement; Grassroots Movement; Organization Change And Adaptation; Quality; Health Care; Health Care Industry; Career Path; Leading Change; Management; Innovation and Management; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry

March 2018
Supplement

Sandra Brown Goes Digital (B): The Commitment Decision

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

Sandra Brown, a middle manager at a biotech company who has led internal and external movements for change over the last few years, faces a decision. Whether to continue to work for change at the company or move on to pursue new opportunities elsewhere, where her new... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Stakeholder Engagement; Managing Change; Career Path; Health Care Industry; Quality; Leading Change; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions

March 2018
Case

Zensar Technologies Ltd.

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Tanvi Deshpande

Zensar, an established mid-tier IT services company based in India, is known for its customer-centric approach and close-knit culture. Sandeep Kishore has recently stepped in as the MD and CEO, replacing the previous CEO of 15 years. Kishore is developing his strategy... View Details

Keywords: Digitalization; Business Processes; Strategy; Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Information Technology Industry

November 2017
Case

iRobot: Moving Beyond the Roomba

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

The makers of the Roomba, a robotic vacuum cleaner, connected the latest version of their product to the Internet. This new feature opened up a wealth of new opportunities and challenges for the company. View Details

Keywords: Irobot; Smart Home; Connected Home; Roomba; Vacuum; Mapping; Internet Of Things; Connected Products; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; United States

Article

Why Every Organization Needs an Augmented Reality Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann

While the physical world is three-dimensional, most data is trapped on two-dimensional pages and screens. This gulf between the real and digital worlds prevents us from fully exploiting the volumes of information now available to us. Augmented reality (AR), a set of... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Effectiveness

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2017
Chapter

Platforms, Open/User Innovation, and Ecosystems: A Strategic Leadership Perspective

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Michael Tushman

Platform, open/user innovation, and ecosystem strategies embrace and enable interactions with external entities. Firms pursuing these approaches conduct business and interact with environments differently than those pursuing traditional closed strategies. This chapter... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Open/user Innovation; Ecosystems; Crowdsourcing; Strategic Leadership; Top Management Teams; CEO Role; Business Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Digital Platforms

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Article

Repositioning and Cost-Cutting: The Impact of Competition on Platform Strategies

By: Robert Seamans and Feng Zhu

Organizational structures are increasingly complex. In particular, more firms today operate as multi-sided platforms. In this paper, we study how platform firms use repositioning and cost-cutting in response to competition, elucidate external and internal factors that... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategy; Repositioning; Cost-cutting; Intra-firm Learning; Multi-Sided Platforms; Cost Management; Product Positioning; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Knowledge Acquisition; Journalism and News Industry

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May 2017 (Revised July 2017)
Supplement

Aadhaar: From Voluntary to Mandatory

By: Tarun Khanna, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

Approximately 1.1 billion residents of India (99% of the population) had a unique biometric identity—Aadhaar—by 2017. In six years, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had achieved an unprecedented milestone in emerging and developed markets. The... View Details

April 2017
Teaching Note

Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health (Abridged)

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone and Jonathan Cohen

Sesame Workshop was in the middle of a turnaround in 2016. CEO Jeff Dunn had reorganized and shifted the iconic institution to respond to digital disruption and a consensus culture. This Teaching Note helps instructors teach the abridged and full-length versions of... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; NGO; Non-profit; Organization Alignment; Managing Change; Philanthropy; Media; Television; Reorganization; Talent; Innovation; Risk Aversion; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Restructuring; Identity; Transformation; Education Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

April 2017 (Revised May 2022)
Case

King Digital Entertainment

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Davide Sola, Federica Gabrieli and Elena Corsi

Riccardo Zacconi was the co-founder and CEO of King Digital Entertainment, the video game company that had quickly established itself as the world’s leading maker of casual games for mobile devices after the sensational success of its game “Candy Crush Saga.” Zacconi... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure; Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Video Game Industry; Europe; Sweden

April 2017 (Revised February 2020)
Case

edaixi (eWash): Digital Transformation of Laundry Services (A)

By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen, Chuang Chen and Ciwu Lin

Founded in 2013 as a laundry service featuring online ordering for home pickup and delivery, China’s edaixi (eWash) illustrated the online-to-offline (O2O) business model. As yet unclear in 2016 was the optimal way to organize third-party laundry service providers,... View Details

Keywords: Laundry; O2O; Online-to-offline; Business Model; Service Operations; Ownership Type; Digital Platforms; Transformation; China

April 2017 (Revised February 2020)
Supplement

edaixi (eWash): Digital Transformation of Laundry Services (B)

By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen, Chuang Chen and Ciwu Lin

Founded in 2013 as a laundry service featuring online ordering for home pickup and delivery, China’s edaixi (eWash) illustrated the online-to-offline (O2O) business model. As yet unclear in 2016 was the optimal way to organize third-party laundry service providers,... View Details

Keywords: Laundry; O2O; Online-to-offline; Service Operations; Business Model; Digital Platforms; Transformation; Service Industry; China

2017
Working Paper

Explaining the Vertical-to-Horizontal Transition in the Computer Industry

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This paper seeks to explain the technological forces that led to the rise of vertically integrated corporations in the late 19th century and the opposing forces that led to a vertical-to-horizontal transition in the computer industry 100 years later. I first model the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Business History; Vertical Integration; Horizontal Integration; Digital Platforms; Computer Industry

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March 2017 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Walmart: Navigating a Changing Retail Landscape

By: Michael E. Porter and Jorge Ramirez-Vallejo

As the largest company, by revenue, in the world, Walmart has been a lightning rod for criticism. However, in an attempt to stay ahead of traditional and digital retailers, and keep customers satisfied with evolving demands, the company is strengthening its competitive... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Strategy; Department Stores; Sustainability; Social Responsibility Of Business; Value Creation; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Retail Industry

February 2017 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Bringing Digital to Wimbledon

By: John T. Gourville and David Arnold

It was mid-December 2016 as Alexandra (Alex) Willis read with satisfaction that The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC) had won yet another award for its use of social media to reach its fan base. As the organizer and host of “The Championships, Wimbledon,”... View Details

Keywords: Wimbledon; London; Digital; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Online Technology

February 2017
Teaching Note

The Tate's Digital Transformation

By: Jill Avery

John Stack was the visionary Head of Digital Transformation at the Tate, a collection of four major art galleries in the UK, including Tate Modern, the most visited gallery devoted to modern and contemporary art in the world. Stack was the architect of the Tate’s... View Details

2017
Working Paper

Platforms, Open/User Innovation, and Ecosystems: A Strategic Leadership Perspective

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Michael L. Tushman

Platform, open/user innovation, and ecosystem strategies embrace and enable interactions with external entities. Firms pursuing these approaches conduct business and interact with environments differently than those pursuing traditional closed strategies. This paper... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Open/user Innovation; Ecosystems; Crowdsourcing; Institutional Logics; Strategic Leadership; Top Management Teams; CEO Role; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Design; Strategy; Managerial Roles

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February 2017
Case

GE Digital

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

Known for manufacturing industrial equipment, GE has decided to invest in software and analytics capabilities to become a digital industrial company. They have also created a software platform that they hope will power the Industrial Internet. GE executives forecasted... View Details

Keywords: GE; General Electric; Manufacturing; Industrial Internet; Wind Power; Digital Manufacturing; Renewable Energy; Energy; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Transformation; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; North America