Publications

SSRN

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

GolfLogix: Measuring the Game of Golf

By: John T. Gourville and Professor Jerry N. Conover

GolfLogix has developed a small, GPS-based device to help golfers track their play. They must decide how best to distribute these devices: 1) sell them directly to golfers through traditional retail channels; 2) sell them to courses, which would then provide them to... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Innovation and Invention; Measurement and Metrics

September 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Burn the Gondolas? Venice, the Ghetto, and the Seasons of Capitalism

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Charlotte Robertson and Robert Fredona

This case uses the history of Venice—from the driving of the first pylons in the lagoon to the abdication of the city’s last doge, across the ages of Marco Polo and Vivaldi—to explore the invention and global diffusion of capitalism, as well as the cyclical rise and... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; History; Power and Influence; Prejudice and Bias; Economic Systems; Italy

2022
Working Paper

Category Kings or Commoners? Marketing Shaping and Its Consequences in Nascent Categories

By: Rory McDonald

For a new market category to materialize, someone must actively bring it into existence. Yet it remains a mystery how entrepreneurs, whose resources are stretched thin, can accomplish this task. Prior research emphasizes the importance of market-shaping... View Details

Keywords: Nascent Markets; New Categories; Innovation; Qualitative Methods; Emerging Markets; Strategy; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention

30 Nov 2019
News

CIOs concerned IT not providing enough of a competitive edge

01 Jun 2024
News

Quantum Leap

“Computationally, it’s like our generation’s discovery of fire,” says Carolyn Fu, an assistant professor of business administration who studies innovation strategy at HBS.... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Chris Sorensen; quantum computing; innovation; leadership; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

30 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Amager Bakke: A Look into the Future of Waste Incineration

In January 2023, Professors Willy Shih and Mike Toffel led more than 40 HBS MBA students on site visits to witness the energy transition and innovative sustainable production activities throughout Denmark and the Netherlands, in their new... View Details

January 2019
Supplement

Understanding the Brand Equity of Nestlé Crunch Bar (B): Data Analysis

By: Jill Avery and Gerald Zaltman

In early 2018, Nestlé announced the sale of its U.S. candy-making division and a select collection of 20 of its confectionery brands, including the Nestlé Crunch Bar, to Ferrero SpA for $2.8 billion. Luckily, an old consumer research study on the Nestlé Crunch Bar... View Details

01 Dec 2009
News

The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle

Business Plan Contest winner in 2008. With plenty of war stories (literally) and powerful personalities to draw on, Senor and Singer craft an engaging study on the rise of one View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; National Security and International Affairs; Government

March 1990
Article

Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms

By: R. Henderson and K. B. Clark

Keywords: Design; Innovation and Invention; Failure; Information Technology; Product

Find at Harvard

20 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

The 5 Strategy Rules of Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs

If there were a Mount Rushmore for technological innovation, Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs would be the faces looking outward. The longtime CEOs of Microsoft, Intel, and Apple have done more than anyone to popularize the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Computer

March 2022 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Pittsburgh: A Successful City?

By: Karen Mills, Caroline Elkins, Vikram Gandhi, Gabriella Elanbeck and Zeke Gillman

Pittsburgh, PA, was once the crown jewel of American heavy industry. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the city was an undisputed leader in steel production, boasting some of the largest companies and wealthiest individuals in the world. Its abundance of... View Details

Keywords: Economic And Social Disparities; Economic Development; Local Economic Development; Contextual Intelligence; Contextual Knowledge; Context; City Growth; City Innovation; City Leadership; Pittsburgh; Local Government; Local Stakeholders; Business And Community; Business And Community Relations; Community Engagement; Community Relations; Cross-sector Collaboration; Innovation; Innovation Economy; Innovation Clusters; Innovation Ecosystems; Shared Prosperity; Equality Of Opportunity; Equity; Inclusion; Business And Government; Business ＆ Government Relations; Business And Government Relations; Business And Society; Neighborhoods; Race And Ethnicity; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Diversity; Ethnicity; Race; Household; Income; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economics; Local Range; Urban Development; Urban Scope; City; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Government and Politics; Government Administration; Growth and Development; History; Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Society; Civil Society or Community; Culture; Human Needs; Public Opinion; Public Sector; Social Issues; Poverty; Equality and Inequality; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; Education Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Pittsburgh; Pennsylvania

Fall 2024
Article

The Three Traps That Stymie Reinvention: Organizational Identity, Architecture, and Collaboration Can Be Either Assets or Liabilities to Pursuing Growth in New Sectors

By: Ryan Raffaelli

In more than a decade of researching innovation, I have observed how organizations respond to new opportunities, technological changes, or unexpected market shifts that threaten to upend their current business model. This process, which I call reinvention, may occur... View Details

Keywords: Innovation And Strategy; Change Leadership; Collaboration; Architecture; Transformation; Disruption; Leading Change; Innovation Strategy; Identity; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure

Article

The Magic That Makes Customer Experiences Stick

By: Stefan Thomke

Why do some customer experiences have that magical "wow" factor, making them all destined for success, while others get few, if any, enthusiastic customer responses? How would we "design" a great customer experience? These are some of the questions that the article... View Details

Keywords: Customer Experience; Emotion; Innovation; Experimentation; Storytelling; Customer Satisfaction; Emotions; Design; Innovation and Invention

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

27 Nov 2021
News

The Bright New Age of Venture Capital

July 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Revenue Recognition at Stride Funding: Making Sense of Revenues for a Fintech Startup

By: Paul M. Healy and Jung Koo Kang

The case explores the challenges of revenue recognition and financial reporting for Stride Funding (Stride), a fintech startup that has disrupted the student loan market. Stride leveraged proprietary machine learning and financial models to underwrite alternative... View Details

Keywords: Revenue Recognition; Financial Reporting; Entrepreneurial Finance; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Governance Compliance; Accrual Accounting; Financial Services Industry; United States

25 Feb 2020
News

Impact: The Changing Nature of Work

Through annual giving to the HBS Fund, donors support the School’s efforts to help leaders navigate the dilemmas and opportunities they will face in the decades to come, from determining the pace of View Details

03 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

The Competitive Advantage of Global Finance

macroeconomics) and enliven them in a managerial setting. The materials in the last three modules are innovative as they provide a platform for exploring some of the lessons that have emerged from recent... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

2022
White Paper

Census II of Free and Open Source Software - Application Libraries

By: Frank Nagle, James Dana, Jennifer Hoffman, Steven Randazzo and Yanuo Zhou

Produced in partnership with Harvard Laboratory for Innovation Science (LISH) and the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), Census II is the second investigation into the widespread use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). The Census II effort utilizes data... View Details

Keywords: Open Source Software; Applications and Software; Cybersecurity; Open Source Distribution