Publications

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January 2001 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Rambus, Inc.: Commercializing the Billion Dollar Idea

Rambus, Inc. was founded to develop a new type of high-speed memory chip technology to enable DRAMs to keep up with ever-faster microprocessors. After developing the technology, Rambus chose an unusual licensing approach to commercialize it. This case focuses on the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Competition; Commercialization; Information Infrastructure; Cooperation; Technology Industry

July 2000 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Greeley Hard Copy, Portable Scanner Initiative (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman and Daniel Radov

Hewlett-Packard's Greeley Hard Copy Division is the market leader in the production of desktop flatbed scanners for personal computers. The division has been working to develop a portable scanner product for the past five years with mixed results. The new general... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Product Development; Organizational Structure; Hardware; Technology Industry

February 1997 (Revised April 1998)
Case

first direct (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Describes the operations and strategy of the world's largest, fastest growing branchless bank. Using a person-to-person interface over conventional phone lines, First Direct provides standard banking and related financial products to nearly 700,000 customers throughout... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Customer Satisfaction; Banks and Banking; Innovation and Invention; Banking Industry; United Kingdom

September 1995 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Managing Innovation at Nypro, Inc. (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Rebecca Voorheis

Nypro is the world's leading injection molder of precision plastic parts, operating a global network of 21 plants. Nypro's strategy is for each plant to offer identical capabilities, because its customers are global companies with worldwide sourcing needs. The case... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Innovation and Management; Operations; Performance Consistency; Manufacturing Industry

September 1998 (Revised September 2001)
Case

IBM's Reinventing Education (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Describes IBM's national innovation strategy to transform K-12 public education through new solutions developed by IBM engineers and consultants using information technology. Examples are: data warehousing in Broward County, FL schools, tracking software for the... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology; Education; Business and Community Relations; Information Technology Industry; Education Industry; San Jose; Philadelphia; Ohio; Florida

August 2002
Article

Creativity Under the Gun

By: Teresa Amabile, Constance N. Hadley and Steven J. Kramer

If you're like most managers, you've worked with people who swear they do their most creative work under tight deadlines. You may use pressure as a management technique, believing it will spur people on to great leaps of insight. You may even manage yourself this way.... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Innovation and Invention; Time Management; Working Conditions; Performance Evaluation

01 Nov 2021
News

Drive Innovation with Better Decision-Making

01 Dec 2020
News

Out of the Valley

Episode 1: The Camel and the Unicorn Why Silicon Valley is at risk of losing it startup dominance—and what that could mean for the future of innovation. Aldi Haryopratomo (MBA 2011) Aldi Haryopratomo (MBA 2011) Episode 2: A Creator in the Era of Disruption Lessons from... View Details

01 Dec 2020
News

Digital Health Care: Empowering Consumers

Regina Herzlinger, the Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration, has been studying the health care sector for nearly half a century. In that time, she has seen significant innovation in the field—and she has also seen the powerful sway of the status quo,... View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Mar 2019
News

Ask the Expert: Auto Pilot

When Mayfield Fund Managing Director Raj Kapoor (MBA 1996), the cofounder and former CEO of Snapfish and fitmob, joined Lyft as chief strategy officer in 2016, he was intent on finding ways to reduce human impact on climate change. The solution turned out to be so... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers; Retail Trade

01 Sep 2015
News

Is the Auction House of the Future Online?

“Balloon Dog (Blue), 2005” by Jeff Koons sold for an undisclosed amount as part of a May Paddle8 auction. (Photo courtesy of Paddle8) When the hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan decided to produce just one copy of their album Once Upon A Time in Shaolin as a work of... View Details

Keywords: April White; Wu-Tang Clan

01 Sep 2013
News

The Challengers

All due respect to the Red Sox, but we think some of Boston's best pitching in May occurred on Western Avenue, not Yawkey Way. As part of a trio of entrepreneurial challenges hosted by the i-lab, six HBS students and two soon-to-be alumni—representing five... View Details

Keywords: Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

17 Aug 2011
News

Breath of Life

Green: Participating in the stem-cell revolution. Courtesy David Green It was the kind of medical miracle that experts say will one day be commonplace. In June, an artificial trachea (windpipe), infused with a tracheal cancer patient’s own stem cells, was successfully... View Details

Keywords: stem cell research; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

15 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Five Questions for Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner

spurred cultural, economic, and regulatory changes that make continuing venture capital success in these markets likely. Q: Who is your target audience—who can benefit by reading The Money of Invention and why? A: Our book has three... View Details

Keywords: by Carol Elsen; Financial Services

April 2021
Background Note

HEAD vs. LEAD: Disruptions Originating at the High- vs. Low-End of the Market

By: Elie Ofek, Olivier Toubia and Didier Toubia

Twenty five years after it was initially proposed, Clay Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation continues to be a major reference for entrepreneurs, corporate innovators, and investors. However, the term “disruptive innovation” is often used in ways and contexts... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry; New Product Management; Targeting; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Product; Management; Innovation Strategy; Technology

November – December 2011
Article

Modeling a Paradigm Shift: From Producer Innovation to User and Open Collaborative Innovation

By: Carliss Baldwin and Eric von Hippel

In this paper, we assess the economic viability of innovation by producers relative to two increasingly important alternative models: innovations by single-user individuals or firms and open collaborative innovation. We analyze the design costs and architectures and... View Details

Keywords: Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Design; Cost; Communication; Competition; Economy; Research; Policy; Practice

April 1983
Supplement

Dansk Designs Ltd.: The Administration of Creativity, Video I

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Presents various members of the Dansk organization during conversations and meetings concerning issues arising in the design, production, and marketing of Dansk's product line. Focuses on the individual's role in the company, and on the interaction between marketing... View Details

Keywords: Independent Innovation and Invention; Leadership Development; Marketing; Production; Organizational Design; Creativity