Technology Strategy - Publications - Faculty & Research

31 Jul 2023
News

Striving for Imperfection

that, Conn says, the rules of strategy that he learned in business school no longer apply. So how do we change the way we solve strategic business problems? In this episode of Skydeck, Conn talks with Associate Editor Jen Flint about his... View Details

Keywords: Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

September 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Supplement

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader, Jordan Mitchell and Karen Elterman

Slides to support the teaching of the On case, 723-430. On is a premium performance running shoe company founded in Switzerland in 2010. The company rapidly gained traction through its unique CloudTec cushioning technology, its innovative midsole plate called the... View Details

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Curriculum - Business & Environment

Telkes must assess the financial merits of the project, as well as understand the regulatory and technological risks associated with going forward or choosing to delay. Financial Reporting and Control Driving Decarbonization at BMW Key... View Details

September 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Supplement

Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea Teaching Note

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea Teaching Note 521-041. This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Algorithmic Data; Bias; Advertising; Race; Gender; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States

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September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
Exercise

Artea (D): Discrimination through Algorithmic Bias in Targeting

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Discrimination; Algorithmic Data; Bias; Advertising; Race; Gender; Marketing; Diversity; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States

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June 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Intel 2006: Rising to the Graphics Challenge

By: Willy C. Shih and Elie Ofek

Examines the evolution of the PC hardware industry over the span of two and a half decades. The open architecture design of the IBM Personal Computer followed by the rapid appearance of clones drove a high level of standardization and modularity in the industry, and... View Details

Keywords: History; Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Technology Industry

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November 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Reinventing the Automobile: General Motors' AUTOnomy Project

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Describes the history of General Motor's attempts to develop a hydrogen fuel-cell powered car. As of 2003, GM developed several prototypes of such a vehicle to demonstrate the viability of the overall concept. Many uncertainties remained, however, with respect to the... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Management; Information Technology; Transition; Competency and Skills; Disruptive Innovation; Machinery and Machining; Auto Industry

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December 2016 (Revised April 2017)
Case

BASF: Co-Creating Innovation (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In 2016, BASF's chief executive officer and chief technology officer reflected on the co-creation innovation program started almost 18 months ago as part of BASF's 150th anniversary celebration. Five hundred project ideas had been created, of which 100 had already... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Knowledge Sharing; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Chemicals; Environmental Sustainability; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

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Skydeck - Alumni

Innovations Chris Marinak (MBA 2008) , Chief Operations and Strategy Officer at Major League Baseball, on building and nurturing an organizational culture of innovation—and what his experience at MLB can teach any business leader.... View Details

March 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Cedar Environmental: Innovation vs. Corruption in Lebanon?

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Youssef Abdel Aal

The case follows Ziad Abi Chaker, founder and CEO of Cedar Environmental, as he weighs options for how to grow the company in the face of growing economic and political instability in Lebanon in 2019.

Founded after the Lebanese civil war, Cedar... View Details

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23 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 23, 2007

technologies and partners. Focuses on the partnership tensions between global firms and local family-dominated conglomerates. Addresses new venture financing in an asset-intensive business through the assembly of strategic contracts. More... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Profile

Soltan Bryce

came to HBS. They are my people!” While an MBA student, Soltan was on the founding team of the venture-backed startup, Plume, the first gender-affirming telehealth service that “provides access to gender-affirming care for the trans community, virtually.” The theme:... View Details

July–August 2018
Article

Learning by Contributing: Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Contribution to Crowdsourced Public Goods

By: Frank Nagle

As the economy becomes more information based, firms are increasingly using crowdsourced public goods as inputs for innovation and production. Counterintuitively, some firms pay their employees to contribute to the creation of these goods, which can be used freely by... View Details

Keywords: Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Competitive Strategy; Learning; Competitive Advantage

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August 2021
Supplement

Coats: Supply Chain Challenges: Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Willy C. Shih

Coats, the largest thread maker in the world, transformed its business to digital colour measurement so that it could respond better to customer demand in the garment industry for rapid product cycles and more fragmented colour choices. Its embrace of digital colour... View Details

Keywords: Inventory Management; Supply Chain; Inventory; Supply Chain Management; Operations; Growth and Development Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Demand and Consumers; Consolidation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia

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May 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Case

Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Acquiring the First Thousand Customers

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Morgan Brown

By 2016, two-sided online platforms (or marketplaces) were pervasive among the highest growing internet startups around. These marketplaces sought to match suppliers of assets for rent, physical products or services with customers demanding them. Among the most notable... View Details

Keywords: Airbnb; Etsy; Uber; Growth Hacking; Two-sided Market; Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Business Startups; Transportation Industry; Accommodations Industry

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October 2016
Supplement

24 Hour Fitness (B): Ownership Changes, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, 24 Hour Fitness was the number-two fitness chain in the United States, generating revenues of $1.4 billion from 441 clubs serving 3.8 million members. Based in San Ramon, California, 24 Hour Fitness operated clubs in 13 states. Having grown rapidly to become... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Age; Training; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Market Entry and Exit; Media; Organizational Design; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Welfare or Wellbeing; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Software; Web Sites; Value; Valuation; Health Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

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July 2023
Case

DayTwo: Going to Market with Gut Microbiome (Abridged)

By: Ayelet Israeli

DayTwo is a young Israeli startup that applies research on the gut microbiome and machine learning algorithms to deliver personalized nutritional recommendations to its users in order to minimize blood sugar spikes after meals. After a first year of trial rollout in... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Nutrition; Market Entry and Exit; Product Marketing; Distribution Channels

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June 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Supplement

CFM International (B): LEAPing Into the Future

By: Ranjay Gulati, Yves Doz and Kerry Herman

By 2017, after a long and highly successful run, the joint venture CFM’s and its parent firms’ leadership faces new challenges and must once again reconsider their commitment to the JV. CFM’s engines have come to dominate the narrow body aircraft market, but technology... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Technological Innovation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Manufacturing Industry

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20 Nov 2017
Research & Ideas

How Independent Bookstores Have Thrived in Spite of Amazon.com

stores to 2,227. This surprising resurgence piqued the interest of Ryan Raffaelli, an assistant professor in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School, who studies how mature organizations and industries faced with View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel (with video by Amelia Kunhardt); Retail

September 2023 (Revised May 2025)
Teaching Note

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader, Jordan Mitchell and Karen Elterman

Teaching Note for "On," HBS Case No. 723-430. On is a premium performance running shoe company founded in Switzerland in 2010. The company rapidly gained traction through its unique CloudTec cushioning technology, its innovative midsole plate called the Speedboard, and... View Details

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Striving for Imperfection

On

Curriculum - Business & Environment

Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea Teaching Note

Artea (D): Discrimination through Algorithmic Bias in Targeting

Intel 2006: Rising to the Graphics Challenge

Reinventing the Automobile: General Motors' AUTOnomy Project

BASF: Co-Creating Innovation (A)

Skydeck - Alumni

Cedar Environmental: Innovation vs. Corruption in Lebanon?

First Look: January 23, 2007

Soltan Bryce

Learning by Contributing: Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Contribution to Crowdsourced Public Goods

Coats: Supply Chain Challenges: Spreadsheet Supplement

Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Acquiring the First Thousand Customers

24 Hour Fitness (B): Ownership Changes, 2005–2016

DayTwo: Going to Market with Gut Microbiome (Abridged)

CFM International (B): LEAPing Into the Future

How Independent Bookstores Have Thrived in Spite of Amazon.com

On