Publications

February 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM)

By: Michael E. Porter, Willis M. Emmons III and Christian Fenner

Le Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique S.A. (CSEM)--the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology--was a major nonprofit research institution located in Neuchatel, Switzerland, with roots in the Swiss watch industry. CSEM maintained close links to... View Details

Keywords: Cooperation; Information Technology; Alliances; Research and Development; Performance Productivity; Innovation and Invention; Nonprofit Organizations; Electronics Industry; Switzerland

Article

Unraveling the Process of Creative Destruction: Complementary Assets and Incumbent Survival in the Typesetter Industry

By: M. Tripsas

When radical technological change transforms an industry established firms sometimes fail drastically and are displaced by new entrants, yet other times survive and prosper. Drawing upon an unusually rich data set that covers the technological and competitive... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Transformation; Market Entry and Exit; Competition; History; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Business Processes; Competency and Skills; Assets; Perspective; Disruptive Innovation

Find at Harvard

Maria Roche is an Assistant Professor in the Strategy Unit. She teaches the MBA elective Innovating at Scale and contributes to teaching in executive education programs. Her research examines how specialized knowledge is commercialized and how... View Details

Keywords: high technology; high technology; high technology; high technology

August 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

1928 Diagnostics: Fighting Antibiotics Resistance

By: Ariel D. Stern and Daniela Beyersdorfer

In 2019, the co-founders of the Swedish medical start-up 1928 Diagnostics, CEO Dr. Kristina Lagerstedt and COO Dr. Susanne Staaf, had to pick the right business model to commercialize their novel technology to hospitals and health care providers. Developed in... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Science-Based Business; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Information Technology; Digital Platforms; Health Disorders; Market Entry and Exit; Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Europe; Sweden

September 2018
Case

Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek

In mid-2010 the Sealed Air Corporation has to decide on next steps for its novel video tracking technology (called VTID) after unsuccessful attempts to market it in three different industry settings. The company must determine whether its most recent target market, the... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Commercialization; Service Industry

November 2010
Case

Spudnik, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth A. Kind

This case describes the plan to finance a revolutionary new television set manufacturing business in late 2009. Yatin Mundkur, a venture capitalist at Artiman Ventures, has recruited a team of veteran eecutives from the optical disk drive business, to design large... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Venture Capital; Disruptive Innovation; Corporate Finance; Electronics Industry

03 Nov 2013
News

Innovation Imperative: Change Everything

October 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

The CRISPR-Cas9 Quarrel

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Matthew G. Preble

In mid-2016, the Broad Institute and the University of California, Berkeley were in the middle of a contentious patent dispute over which entity controlled a breakthrough gene editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9. With CRISPR-Cas9, scientists might soon be able to... View Details

Keywords: CRISPR; Broad Institute; University Of California Berkeley; Intellectual Property; Patents; Law; Lawsuits and Litigation; Science; Genetics; Entrepreneurship; Biotechnology Industry; United States

29 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Delving Deeper into Development with the MBA/MPA-ID Program – a Q+A with Zainab Raji (MBA/MPA-ID 2022)

Can you share a bit about your background and where you grew up? Zainab Raji I am one of four children born to my Nigerian parents. I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest commercial hub, and in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city. I have fond... View Details

Shikhar Ghosh

Shikhar Ghosh is a Professor of Management Practice in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit. He currently teaches in the elective curriculum and is the course head for 3 Technologies that will Change the World. Shikhar received the Apgar Award for innovation in... View Details

03 Dec 2007
Research & Ideas

Authenticity over Exaggeration: The New Rule in Advertising

The past 10 years have seen some level of this direct marketing model bear out. But according to an HBS working paper to be published in the Journal of Interactive Marketing, consumers are using technology to learn about marketers, rather... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Publishing; Advertising

February 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Tennant Company

By: Toby E. Stuart, Lynda M. Applegate and James Weber

Tennant, a leading producer of floor cleaning equipment, must determine how to create, finance, structure, staff, govern, measure, and manage a new venture for developing a fundamentally new product line. In 2005, Tennant Company had developed an innovative,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Change Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Product Development; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Research and Development

April 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

The Engine

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Fiona Murray and Nicholas Christman

The Engine, a venture capital firm founded by MIT to fill a gap in the technology funding landscape by commercializing breakthrough science and technology. Led by managing partner and CEO Katie Rae, the Engine's unique approach involved an unusually longer fund life,... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurial Finance; Financial Services Industry

December 2021 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Katerra (A)

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

In April 2020, Katerra executives struggled with a series of decisions that would determine the fate of one of the best-funded construction startups in history. Katerra was founded in 2015 by technology-industry executive Michael Marks and commercial real estate... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Construction; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States

Aptiv's board must decide whether a joint venture with an auto maker is the right next step in the company's efforts to develop and commercialize a production-ready autonomous driving system. While many commentators believed that Aptiv's self-driving technologies... View Details

January 2024
Case

Fusion Industry Association: Igniting the Future of Clean Energy

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Kyle R. Myers and Henry Tao

Fusion energy is evolving from a scientific idea to a commercial possibility, drawing large investments and regulatory discussions; how should the FIA navigate this evolution?

The Fusion Industry Association (FIA) is at the forefront of transforming fusion... View Details

Keywords: Science-Based Business; Engineering; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Government Legislation; Industry Clusters; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Technological Innovation; Energy Industry; United States

Article

Space, the Final Economic Frontier

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl

After decades of centralized control of economic activity in space, NASA and U.S. policymakers have begun to cede the direction of human activities in space to commercial companies. NASA garnered more than 0.7% of GDP in the mid-1960s but is only around 0.1% of GDP... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Economics; Private Sector; Aerospace Industry