Publications

Find at Harvard

October 2023
Case

Managing Innovation at Atrium Health: 'Never Let a Good Crisis Go To Waste' (Abridged)

By: Derek van Bever, Rory McDonald and Anibha Singh

March 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Barnes & Noble: Managing the E-Book Revolution

By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Kimball Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer

The case describes competition in the market for E-Books, and Barnes & Noble's Strategy in this industry. As a traditional retailer, B&N was challenged by the introduction of digital technologies that allow books to be published, distributed and sold to consumers... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Technology Strategy; Platform Competition; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology; Product Development; Digital Platforms; Standards; Disruptive Innovation; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry; North America

30 Oct 2014
News

Collective Genius: The Key to Leading Innovation

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Lynda M. Applegate

I currently teach a module in the HBS Owner President Management (OPM) program that is entitled Innovation @Work. The module is designed to provide a general manager perspective on how to lead innovation and transform organizations, industries, and society. The role... View Details

09 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

Managers today have a problem. They know their companies must grow. But growth is hard, especially given today's economic environment where investment capital is difficult to come by and firms are reluctant to take risks. View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor & Scott D. Anthony

October 2001 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Herman Miller(B): Creating Innovation Streams

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

In 1997, Mike Volkema faced the difficulty of attempting to revitalize a once dynamic organization. Volkema wondered how he could incorporate advances made within subsidiaries, such as Miller SQA's business model innovation, into the company as a whole while also... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Product Design; Product Development; Product; Supply Chain Management; Business Model; Service Delivery; Customer Value and Value Chain; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry

01 Jun 2009
Lessons from the Classroom

The Challenges of Investing in Science-Based Innovation

In economic downtimes, businesses are apt to cut R&D projects that don't promise a speedy return on investment. But take a cue from smart science-based businesses, which view the recession as an opportunity to stoke up research and View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Auto; Pharmaceutical

05 May 2020
News

Innovation Through Experimentation

01 Jun 2022
News

'Rooted' In Innovation

in 2019 that is already creating jobs and expanding economic opportunities in his home country of Cameroon. In May, CassVita was honored with a Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge Award funded by the Bertarelli Foundation. Cassava is... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

9 AM – 10 AM EST, 28 Feb 2017
Webinars: Trending@HBS

A Strategy for Leading Innovation

Creating a new business and optimizing an existing one are two fundamentally different management challenges. How can leaders meet the performance requirements of an existing business--one that is still thriving--while dramatically reinventing it? Govindarajan expands... View Details

20 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Five Discovery Skills that Distinguish Great Innovators

In their new book, The Innovator's DNA, authors Jeff Dyer, Hal Gergersen, and Clayton M. Christensen build on the idea of disruptive innovation to explain how and why the Steve Jobses and Jeff Bezoses of the world are so successful. This... View Details

Keywords: by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gergersen & Clayton M. Christensen

October 2010
Article

Organizational Designs and Innovation Streams

By: Michael Tushman, Wendy K. Smith, Robert Chapman Wood, George Westerman and Charles A. O'Reilly III

This article empirically explores the relations between alternative organizational designs and a firm's ability to explore as well as exploit. We operationalize exploitation and exploration in terms of innovation streams—incremental innovation in existing products as... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Innovation and Invention; Management Teams; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Outcome or Result; Performance Improvement

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

Managing Processes

David A. Garvin is examining the nature and use of managerial and organizational processes—the means by which work is accomplished—including strategic processes that chart corporate direction, resource allocation processes that distribute funds,... View Details

November 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Managing Xerox's Multinational Development Center

Describes a manager's role in developing a staff group responsible for enhancing the efficiency of Xerox's worldwide logistics and inventory management systems. Illustrates a range of management strategies for upward and lateral influence in a complex organizational... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management

October 2016 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Innovating Beyond Ochsner

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Olivia Hull

The Ochsner Health System has developed a proprietary software tool designed to treat hypertension. Built into the system’s electronic medical records, the Hypertension Digital Medicine program allows patients to record their blood pressure at home and share readings... View Details

The nature of work is changing. As companies grapple with forces—such as rapid technological change, shifting global product and labor markets, evolving regulatory regimes, outsourcing, and the fast emergence of the gig economy—they must overcome challenges and... View Details

September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Bill Connors and The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)

By: Linda A. Hill and Eric Mankin

In 2017, Bill Connors, the President of Comcast’s Central Division, launched a startup accelerator in Comcast’s new Atlanta Regional headquarters. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business bundling television... View Details

July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Vineet Nayar and Sampark Foundation: Frugal Innovation at Scale (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2005, Vineet Nayar, the former CEO and Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies, and his wife, Anupama Nayar, committed $100 million of their personal wealth to found Sampark Foundation—a grant-making philanthropy with a mission to transform learning outcomes for 20... View Details

April 2013
Article

Using the Crowd as an Innovation Partner

By: Kevin J. Boudreau and Karim R. Lakhani

More and more organizations are turning to crowds for help in solving their most vexing innovation and research questions, but managers remain understandably cautious. It seems risky and even unnatural to push problems out to vast groups of strangers distributed around... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Research and Development