Publications

02 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Disruptors Sell What Customers Want and Let Competitors Sell What They Don’t

Despite this upheaval, it seemed some businesses were immune to the digital onslaught—companies whose products and services couldn't be easily turned into 1's and 0's and put online. "A television set can't be digitized. A telephone can't... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

June 1983 (Revised November 2001)
Case

EMI and the CT Scanner (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the development of the first CT Scanner by EMI, a company new to the medical industry, and EMI's entry into the U.S. market. The company's early success is threatened by the entry of a dozen competitors (some very large and experienced), by government... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Structures; Product Development; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

23 Apr 2016
News

Tipping His Cap to Open Source

As COO at Delta Airlines, Jim Whitehurst (MBA 1994) helped bring the legacy carrier back from the brink of bankruptcy in 2006 while fending off a takeover bid by US Airways. That feat accomplished, he moved on to lead Red Hat, which builds open-source software View Details

December 2005 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Polaroid Entering Digital Imaging

Focuses on Polaroid's attempt to respond to the changes to its competitive environment that are entailed by the rise of digital imaging. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technological Innovation; Competition; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

September 1994
Case

American Airlines: Object Oriented Flight Dispatching Systems

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Espen Andersen

American Airlines Describes has organized and developed their Systems Operation Control (SOC) center in Dallas, from which the day-to-day running of the airline takes place. This case details the decision support system used by the flight dispatchers, and the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Product Development; Programs; Complexity; Technology Adoption; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

01 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Crowdfunding a Poor Investment?

web-based service or app that once might have cost millions to launch can see the light of day for a little over $100,000. Because of that, an influx of new investors through crowdfunding could potentially allow innovative startups to put... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

March 2016 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Lotus F1 Team

By: Stefan Thomke, Nikolaos Trichakis, Jérôme Lenhardt and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Describes the detailed inner workings of a high performance Formula One (F1) racing team. It shows how Lotus F1 Team has been able to battle bigger rivals in a very fast-moving, highly regulated, and ultra-competitive environment, where winning races can come down to... View Details

Keywords: Formula One; Motor Sport; Racing Cars; Car Development; Supply Chain; Logistics; Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Product Design; Research and Development; Auto Industry; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

01 Aug 2013
News

A Cure for Cold Storage

Tufts biomedical engineering professor who had discovered a way to employ silk to create stable vaccine storage. Schrader, with a mechanical engineering background and experience in product development, was intrigued, and joined up with... View Details

Keywords: Morrell, Daniel; vaccines; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

21 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

What Happens in Vegas Could Shape the Metaverse

useful in areas where content production is expensive. And the most expensive content production is 3D animated graphics.” Today, the metaverse is still a dream. But so was Las Vegas at one point—and it came... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Nover; Computer; Information Technology

June 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

E Ink in 2005

By: David B. Yoffie and Barbara Mack

Explores the challenges of commercializing a bleeding-edge technology. After seven years, E Ink has spent more than $100 million to commercialize electronic ink. With business momentum picking up, but resources running out, the case examines the key trade-offs in... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Mathematical Methods; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

01 Jun 2017
News

Streamlining the Supermarket

remake the traditional grocery store model. TakeOff’s micro fulfillment centers won’t host customers, so a supermarket-sized selection can be squeezed into a 90 percent smaller building footprint. And since mobile robots will retrieve View Details

Keywords: Francis Storrs

25 Feb 2020
News

How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Business

Administration. “The traditional model has been turned upside down. Having the data to innovate at scale is now the main thing.” Lakhani and Marco Iansiti, the David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration, are frequent... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

May 2008 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Palm (A): The Debate on Licensing Palm's OS (1997)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Kevin Boudreau and Jordan Mitchell

This case series looks at three important inflection points in Palm's history that relate to decisions about its platform: when the company was debating whether to open its operating system (OS) for licensing to third-party hardware manufacturers; 2001, when the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Debates; Decisions; Innovation and Invention; Product Launch; Production; Competition; Value Creation; Information Technology Industry

December 2019
Case

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)

By: Willy Shih

This case describes the efforts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lower the cost of producing vaccines to prevent polio infections. It is an abridged version of HBS Case No. 620-021 with less emphasis on comparison between traditional and the new compact... View Details

Keywords: Vaccine; Manufacturing; Barriers To Entry; Production; Cost; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Pharmaceutical Industry