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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(3,793)
- People (8)
- News (739)
- Research (2,339)
- Events (23)
- Multimedia (21)
- Faculty Publications (1,402)
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- 2025
- Working Paper
Greenlighting Innovative Projects: How Evaluation Format Shapes the Perceived Feasibility of Early-Stage Ideas
By: Jacqueline N. Lane, Simon Friis, Tianxi Cai, Michael Menietti, Griffin Weber and Eva C. Guinan
The evaluation of innovative early-stage projects is essential for allocating limited resources. We
investigate how the evaluation format affects the identification of feasibility issues through a
field experiment at a leading research university. Experts were... View Details
Keywords: Innovation Evaluation; Evaluation Criteria; Feasibility Assessment; Attention Allocation; Cognitive Mechanisms; Field Experiment; Research; Performance Evaluation; Innovation and Invention; Prejudice and Bias
Lane, Jacqueline N., Simon Friis, Tianxi Cai, Michael Menietti, Griffin Weber, and Eva C. Guinan. "Greenlighting Innovative Projects: How Evaluation Format Shapes the Perceived Feasibility of Early-Stage Ideas." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-064, March 2024. (Revised May 2025.)
- March 2020
- Article
Do Managers Matter? A Natural Experiment from 42 R&D Labs in India
By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna and Christos A. Makridis
We exploit plausibly exogenous variation in the staggered entry of new managers into India’s 42 public R&D labs between 1994 and 2006 to study how alignment between the CEO and middle-level managers affect research productivity. We show that the introduction of new lab... View Details
Keywords: Incentives; Innovation; Productivity; Management; Alignment; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Performance Productivity; India
Choudhury, Prithwiraj, Tarun Khanna, and Christos A. Makridis. "Do Managers Matter? A Natural Experiment from 42 R&D Labs in India." Journal of Law, Economics & Organization 36, no. 1 (March 2020): 47–83.
- September 2014 (Revised April 2016)
- Case
Cree Inc.: Introducing the LED Light Bulb
By: John Gourville and Michael Norris
Cree, a North Carolina-based maker of light emitting diodes (LEDs), has just introduced its first consumer product—an LED light bulb. It is designed as an energy efficient replacement for the ubiquitous incandescent light bulb. But given that it is an unfamiliar... View Details
Keywords: Marketing; Innovation; Product Adoption; Technological Innovation; Technology Adoption; Energy Conservation; Product Launch; Consumer Products Industry; North Carolina
Gourville, John, and Michael Norris. "Cree Inc.: Introducing the LED Light Bulb." Harvard Business School Case 515-026, September 2014. (Revised April 2016.)
- winter 1989
- Article
Split-Awards Procurement and Innovation
By: James J. Anton and Dennis A. Yao
In many procurement settings, it is possible for a buyer to split a production award between suppliers. In this article, we develop a model of split-award procurement auctions in which the split choice is endogenous. We characterize the set of equilibrium bids and... View Details
Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Cost; Supply Chain; Investment; Balance and Stability
Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Split-Awards Procurement and Innovation." RAND Journal of Economics 20, no. 4 (winter 1989): 538–552. (Harvard users click here for full text.)
- 30 Mar 2021
- Research & Ideas
Commuting Hurts Productivity and Your Best Talent Suffers Most
School Assistant Professor of Business Administration Andy Wu to conduct a study that asked: Does the daily commute affect innovation and productivity for tens of millions of workers? And if so, what are the... View Details
Keywords: by Lane Lambert
- 05 Mar 2008
- What Do You Think?
Where Will Management Innovation Take Us?
including hiring, training, and firing personnel. All reward teams at all levels for performance. All provide generally unmonitored time for employees to develop product and service innovations as well as... View Details
Keywords: by Jim Heskett
- September 1991 (Revised January 1998)
- Case
Chaparral Steel: Rapid Product and Process Development
By: Dorothy Leonard-Barton and Gil Preuss
One of the nation's foremost mini-mills' core competence is the rapid realization of technology into products. This case describes the development of a highly innovative casting technique and features the role of the company's culture in achieving its goals. The... View Details
Keywords: Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Information Infrastructure; Product; Organizational Culture; Business Processes; Competency and Skills
Leonard-Barton, Dorothy, and Gil Preuss. "Chaparral Steel: Rapid Product and Process Development." Harvard Business School Case 692-018, September 1991. (Revised January 1998.)
- 2022
- Book
Productive Tensions: How Every Leader Can Tackle Innovation's Toughest Trade-Offs
By: Chris Bingham and Rory McDonald
Why is leading innovation in nascent business environments so distressingly hit-or-miss? More than 90% of high-potential ventures don’t reach their projected targets. Surveys show that 80% of executives consider innovation crucial to their growth strategy, but only 6%... View Details
Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Organizational Culture; Leadership Style; Decision Making
Bingham, Chris, and Rory McDonald. Productive Tensions: How Every Leader Can Tackle Innovation's Toughest Trade-Offs. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2022.
- 2019
- Article
When Gender Diversity Makes Firms More Productive
By: Stephen Turban, Dan Wu and Letian Zhang
Does diversity make a company more productive? Many say yes—some researchers argue that gender diversity leads to more innovative thinking and signals to investors that a company is competently run. Others say no—conflicting research indicates that gender diversity can... View Details
Turban, Stephen, Dan Wu, and Letian Zhang. "When Gender Diversity Makes Firms More Productive." Harvard Business Review (website) (February 11, 2019).
- 06 Apr 2016
- Research & Ideas
Should Entrepreneurs Pitch Products or Ideas for Products?
In trying to secure financial backing for a new product, independent innovators generally face the question of how much to invest in development before showing it around. Should they create, say, a working prototype (and maybe even... View Details
- Article
On the Division of Profit in Sequential Innovation
By: Jerry R. Green and Suzanne Scotchmer
In markets with sequential innovation, inventors of derivative improvements might undermine the profit of initial innovators through competition. Profit erosion can be mitigated by broadening the first innovator's patent protection and/or by permitting cooperative... View Details
Green, Jerry R., and Suzanne Scotchmer. "On the Division of Profit in Sequential Innovation." RAND Journal of Economics 26, no. 2 (Spring 1995): 20–33.
- January 2004 (Revised August 2005)
- Case
Kikkoman Corporation: Consumer Focused Innovation
By: Rohit Deshpande and Hal Hogan
In May 2003, the president and CEO of Kikkoman Corp. sat in his Tokyo office weighing various options for strengthening the company's long-term growth. Kikkoman was the world's largest producer of soy sauce, largely due to its pioneering role since the 1950s as the... View Details
Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Innovation Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Japan
Deshpande, Rohit, and Hal Hogan. "Kikkoman Corporation: Consumer Focused Innovation." Harvard Business School Case 504-067, January 2004. (Revised August 2005.)
- January 2014
- Case
In a Bind: Peak Sealing Technologies' Product Line Extension Dilemma
By: Robert J. Dolan and Heather Beckham
Peak Sealing Technologies (PST), a manufacturer of premium carton sealing tapes, stresses technological innovation as the company's core value. But when a new regional competitor introduces a less expensive and inferior product, PST is faced with a decision that could... View Details
Dolan, Robert J., and Heather Beckham. "In a Bind: Peak Sealing Technologies' Product Line Extension Dilemma." Harvard Business School Brief Case 914-533, January 2014.
- November 2010
- Article
The Litigation of Financial Innovations
By: Josh Lerner
This paper examines the litigation of patents relating to financial products and services. I show that these grants are being litigated at a rate 27 to 39 times greater than that of patents as a whole. The patents being litigated are disproportionately those issued to... View Details
Lerner, Josh. "The Litigation of Financial Innovations." Journal of Law & Economics 53, no. 4 (November 2010): 807–831.
- 2016
- Book
Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice
By: Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon and David S. Duncan
The foremost authority on innovation and growth presents a path-breaking book every company needs to transform innovation from a game of chance to one in which they develop products and services that customers want to buy and are willing to purchase at a premium price.... View Details
Christensen, Clayton M., Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon, and David S. Duncan. Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice. New York: Harper Business, 2016.
- 2024
- Working Paper
Product Liability Litigation and Innovation: Evidence from Medical Devices
By: Alberto Galasso and Hong Luo
We examine the relationship between product liability litigation and innovation by systematically
combining data on product liability lawsuits with data on new product introductions in a panel dataset of
leading medical device firms. We first document a decline in... View Details
Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Product Development; Technological Innovation; Safety; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry
Galasso, Alberto, and Hong Luo. "Product Liability Litigation and Innovation: Evidence from Medical Devices." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-063, March 2024.
- Research Summary
Distributed Innovation in Open Systems—The Role of Modularity
Distributed innovation in open systems is an important trend in the modern global economy. As education levels rise and communication costs fall, more people have the means and motivation to innovate. Supply chains now stretch around the world as firms outsource... View Details
- September 2006 (Revised September 2007)
- Case
Bang & Olufsen: Design Driven Innovation
By: Robert D. Austin and Daniela Beyersdorfer
A successful company, recognized worldwide for exquisite design of consumer electronics products, strives to better integrate software design into its traditional physical product design processes to meet the demands of a post-iPod world. Details the Bang & Olufsen... View Details
Keywords: Diversification; Production; Applications and Software; Product Design; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Electronics Industry
Austin, Robert D., and Daniela Beyersdorfer. "Bang & Olufsen: Design Driven Innovation." Harvard Business School Case 607-016, September 2006. (Revised September 2007.)
- 29 Sep 2003
- Research & Ideas
Why Managing Innovation is Like Theater
consistently delivers a valuable, innovative product under the pressure of a very firm deadline (opening night, eight o'clock curtain). The product, a play, executes again and again with great precision,... View Details
Keywords: by Rob Austin & Lee Devin
- August 1997 (Revised March 1998)
- Case
Unilever's Butter-Beater: Innovation for Global Diversity
By: Clayton M. Christensen and Jorg Zobel
Unilever, one of the world's largest food product manufacturers, has achieved impressive growth in Europe, primarily by acquiring local food companies. Initially Unilever allowed each acquired company to manage its own product development in a way that was tailored to... View Details
Keywords: Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Mergers and Acquisitions; Local Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Innovation and Management; Food; Conflict Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Europe
Christensen, Clayton M., and Jorg Zobel. "Unilever's Butter-Beater: Innovation for Global Diversity." Harvard Business School Case 698-017, August 1997. (Revised March 1998.)