Publications

October 2002 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Dr. John's Products, Ltd.

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes an entrepreneur's attempts to invent, manufacture, and distribute an inexpensive electric toothbrush. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Product

December 1999
Case

Agrochemicals at Ciba-Geigy AG (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman, Wendy Smith and Daniel Radov

After spending five years to develop a revolutionary product, the director of Ciba-Geigy's fungicide research department is handed an unfavorable market study. The case details the R&D process for the new product, including information on corporate partnerships,... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Product Launch; Marketing Channels; Change Management; Product Development; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Corporate Accountability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Jun 2003
News

Books

the lengthy rehearsals leading up to a production of Tennessee Williams’s classic play A Streetcar Named Desire. Austin and Devin then draw parallels to the ways in which path-breaking companies, such as Sun Microsystems, promote View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Laura Singleton; Donald; Sull; Henry; Chesbrough; Rob; Austin; Leslie; Perlow; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

29 Nov 2004
Research & Ideas

Caves, Clusters, and Weak Ties: The Six Degrees World of Inventors

Six degrees of separation seems to work well for B-list actors—but does it have anything to say about innovation and business? HBS associate professor Lee Fleming believes it does, and his work looks specifically at how ideas and View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Publishing

13 Jan 2021
News

Silicon Valley’s “Detroit Moment”

Valley or Shenzhen. And so this innovation movement of automobile production internationalized—but so did best practice. Think of things like just-in-time manufacturing that emanated out of Japan and is now... View Details

April 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

XUMA

By: Andrew P. McAfee and Kerry Herman

XUMA is a Silicon Valley start-up that builds customized eBusiness software suites for its corporate clients. This market is crowded with large players, including the major consulting and systems integration companies. To date, building these suites has been a very... View Details

Keywords: Production; Software; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry; California

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16 Sep 2015
News

Built for Speed

front line of a turnaround. “It was a chance to contribute to my hometown company, which was in great need of young, innovative leaders,” and offered proximity to family as he and his wife, Kristi Jones MBA 2007, started a family. And... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; Machinery Manufacturing; Manufacturing

October 2009 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Tengion: Bringing Regenerative Medicine to Life

By: Elie Ofek and Polly Ross Ribatt

Tengion is a young biotech company that is at the frontier of regenerative medicine—a nascent field that seeks to promote the creation of new cells and tissue to repair or replace tissue or organ function lost due to age, disease, damage, or congenital defects. In late... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Product Development; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; United States

October 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Supplement

Extend Fertility: Conceiving the Market for Egg Preservation (B)

By: Debora L. Spar and Olivia Hull

Keywords: Strategy; Information Technology; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Science-Based Business; Marketing Strategy; Business Plan; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Mission and Purpose; Personal Development and Career; Social Issues; Integration; Health; Health Industry

06 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

How Small Wins Unleash Creativity

All good managers understand the importance of making sure that every member of a team feels personally motivated and necessary throughout the workday, lest their work should stagnate and suffer. But what's the key to igniting creativity, joy, trust, and View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

01 Mar 2014
News

Everything Old Is a New Opportunity

health and medical advances, says Johnston, "there are huge possibilities for new products and services [see sidebars], but business needs to change its mentality about aging. With innovation will come... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley; Health, Social Assistance; Personal Services

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