Publications

January 1984
Background Note

Note on the Textile Industry in the 1980s

By: Kim B. Clark

Presents major developments in textile production technology during the 1970s and early 1980s. Outlines the specific innovations as well as the company and country of origin. View Details

Keywords: Goods and Commodities; Innovation and Invention; Production; Manufacturing Industry

August 2017
Case

RoboTech: Storming into the U.S. Market

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Rachel Gordon and John J. Lafkas

This case describes the challenges facing the CEO of a small, Singapore-based industrial robotics company that decides to diversify away from its core industrial robot business by leveraging its expertise into the medical-devices industry. It launches an innovative... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Diversification; Product Launch; Competitive Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Singapore; United States

15 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Find Your Pragmatic Path through Radical Uncertainty

the future. Process planning and scenario planning make more sense than fixed projections because they focus on answerable questions. What is required to remain solvent per month? What startup costs will be... View Details

Keywords: by Howard Stevenson, Eugene B. Kogan, and Shirley Spence

September 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Compilation

Time Distribution and Interaction Patterns for PEARL Project Team: Work Patterns at Ditto (D)

By: Leslie A. Perlow

Provides data to enable students to analyze how software engineers spend their time. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Time Management; Work-Life Balance; Information Technology Industry

May 1980
Case

Kendall-Vetmat

Discusses the role of market research in a product manager's decision process. Traces the development of market research information for the introduction of a new product, and presents a manager's dilemma of receiving market data that are inconsistent with expectations... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Product Launch; Product Development

Article

What Evolution Can Teach Us About Innovation

By: Noubar Afeyan and Gary P. Pisano

Many people believe that the process for achieving breakthrough innovations is chaotic, random, and unmanageable. But that view is flawed, the authors argue. Breakthroughs can be systematically generated using a process modeled on the principles that drive evolution in... View Details

Keywords: Breakthrough Innovation; Variance Generation; Selection Pressure; Emergent Discovery; Innovation and Invention; Value Creation; Innovation Leadership

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Winter 2013
Article

How to Identify the Best Customers for Your Business

By: Frank V. Cespedes, James P. Dougherty and Ben S. Skinner III

How can businesses achieve profitable growth so that their costs don’t grow faster than sales? This article focuses on scaling a venture’s sales process and provides a methodology for identifying core customers and some implications for governance criteria and... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Growth Management; Sales

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05 Sep 2024
Blog Post

District Heating in Denmark: How Fjernvarme Fyn fuels an integrated and sustainable future

Fyn can adjust their production to help stabilize utility pricing for their customers. For instance, if electricity prices are low, the company will produce heat and store it within their storage ponds for... View Details

19 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 19

the firm's predictions. Students develop programs to reduce churn post hoc and then reengineer the company's marketing, selling, and customer relationship management View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2012
Case

Polar Sports, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester and Wei Wang

Polar Sports, Inc. is a fashion skiwear manufacturing company in Littleton, Colorado. The company has a unique design for skiwear using a special synthetic material that improves insulation and durability. The ski apparel industry is highly competitive and the best way... View Details

Keywords: Production; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Finance; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Colorado

Monique Burns Thompson is an accomplished social entrepreneur who returns to HBS (class of 1993) and brings her twenty years of successful start-up and organizational leadership experience to her research and teaching at HBS. She has led as a co-founder, President,... View Details

January 2011
Case

Serious Materials

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Elizabeth A. Kind

Serious Materials is a start up who is moving into clean tech markets. The company's first product, QuietRock, originated the sound proofing drywall category and created a steady stream of revenue. It was now considering how to expand its product line to compete in the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Green Technology Industry

December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Dragon's Teeth Vineyards

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Marius Leibold, Sven Voelpel and Kerry Herman

Dragon's Teeth Vineyards (DTV) is a South African wine producer that is considering whether to use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its wine-making process. GMOs promise to lower the costs of wine production significantly through increased yields and reduced... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Genetics; Transition; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Product Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technology Adoption; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; South Africa

14 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Ethics Bots and Other Ways to Move Your Code of Business Conduct Beyond Puffery

travel and expense policies for a large consumer products company. Apps aren’t the only alternative Even if not ready to develop or deploy such technologically advanced... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Omar Olivarez

Omar Olivarez is a doctoral candidate in the Technology & Operations Management unit. His interests lie at the intersection of automation, labor, innovation, and managerial views of the firm. Omar received his BBA in Management Information Systems from The... View Details

March 1982 (Revised September 1985)
Case

Sealed Air Corporation

By: Robert J. Dolan

Market leadership and technological innovation have marked Sealed Air's participation in the U.S. protective packaging market. Several small regional producers have introduced products which are less effective than Sealed Air's but similar in appearance and cheaper.... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product; Technological Innovation; Supply and Industry; Competitive Advantage; Consumer Products Industry; United States