Publications

08 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 8

level data set of 29 countries between 1985 and 2000, we find that the growth effects of FDI increase when we account for the quality of FDI. August 2013 Harvard Business Review Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption By: Christensen,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2023
Case

TikTok: The Algorithm Will See You Now

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

In a world where attention is a scarce commodity, this case explores the meteoric rise of TikTok—an app that transformed from a niche platform for teens into the most visited domain by 2021—surpassing even Google. Its algorithm was a sophisticated mechanism for... View Details

Keywords: Social Media; Applications and Software; Disruptive Innovation; Business and Government Relations; International Relations; Cybersecurity; Culture; Technology Industry; China; United States; India

September 1999 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Roadside Attractions LLC

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, John T. Gourville and Nicole Tempest

Eric d'Arbeloff, producer of independent films, must decide between two offers for distribution of his new movie, "Trick." The case tracks the assembly of resources and the effects of technological change in the film business. View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Distribution; Technological Innovation; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Film Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

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January 2025
Technical Note

Get Cool: Air Conditioning Industry Background

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

The “air conditioning paradox” is tied to climate change: the more the planet warms, the greater the need for cooling (due to the dangers of extreme heat as well as comfort within buildings), but the use of electricity-powered AC contributes to further warming. There... View Details

Keywords: Appliances; Global Warming; Energy Efficiency; Climate Change; Venture Capital; Demand and Consumers; Distribution Channels; Green Technology; United States; Asia

Teaching Interest

Overview

21st Century Energy — Dr Crawford teaches this EC course, which exposes students to business models and management diilemmas, all along the energy value chain — from oil sands and pipelines, to coal and natural gas, hydro and nuclear, wind and solar, to biofuels. The... View Details

March 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Wendell Weeks at Corning Inc. (B): Valor Glass and the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Aldo Sesia

The (B) case offers a detailed account of Wendell Weeks’s innovation strategy at Corning, and how his approach played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic. It illustrates the company’s philosophy of making long-term investments in promising new technologies and... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Information Technology; Leadership; Health Pandemics; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

12 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 12

Publication:Harvard Business Review 90, no. 6 (June 2012) Abstract Globalization and new technologies have sharply reduced the efficacy of command-and-control management and its accompanying forms of corporate communication. In the course... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Summer 2018
Book Review

Leslie Berlin, Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age

By: William A. Sahlman

Leslie Berlin's book Troublemakers, is an engaging and insightful people-first exploration of the roots of Silicon Valley, from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Berlin portrays seven individuals who played important roles at critical junctures in the... View Details

Keywords: Silicon Valley; Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; History; California

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06 Nov 2017
Research Event

Who is Responsible for the Future of Cities?

fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, where he studies how technological innovation can fuel growth in developing cities and nations. “You can’t regulate what you don’t yet... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

15 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Growing Pains: Prescriptions for U.S. Health Care

has become adept at handling complex medical problems (the market's high-end need) but is no longer able to treat simple conditions (low-end need) with any semblance of cost-effectiveness. Enter managed care, a disruptive View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Health

February 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Product Development at OPOWER

By: Thomas Eisenmann and Rob Go

OPOWER, a software startup that helps utilities engage their customers in ways that reduce energy consumption, is scaling rapidly. The company's new head of product management has designed a system to address a point of constant tension: whether to build custom... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Product Development; Sales; Customization and Personalization; Energy Conservation; Environmental Sustainability; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

21 Aug 2023
Book

You’re More Than Your Job: 3 Tips for a Healthier Work-Life Balance

multiplicity of skills, networks, industries, and irons in the fire—and that might also mean multiple income streams,” Wallace says. From a managerial point of view, diversification means being open to reallocating talent when there are disruptions, such as new View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

December 2018 (Revised May 2021)
Background Note

Making UK Energy Smarter

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

This case describes the history of the United Kingdom's domestic energy industry and the country's efforts to create a more competitive, greener, and distributed power sector. On July 24, 2017, the United Kingdom government and the industry regulator, the Office of Gas... View Details

August 2019
Case

The Allstate Corporation, 2019

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In July 2019, Allstate, the United States’ number-three property and casualty (P/C) insurer, released its second-quarter earnings, which reported first-half revenues of $22.1 billion, up 11.4% year-over-year. Shareholders cheered the top-line growth, but P/C premiums... View Details

Keywords: Insurance Companies; Strategic Analysis; Strategic Change; Insurance; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Insurance Industry; North America

Article

Unraveling the Process of Creative Destruction: Complementary Assets and Incumbent Survival in the Typesetter Industry

By: M. Tripsas

When radical technological change transforms an industry established firms sometimes fail drastically and are displaced by new entrants, yet other times survive and prosper. Drawing upon an unusually rich data set that covers the technological and competitive... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Transformation; Market Entry and Exit; Competition; History; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Business Processes; Competency and Skills; Assets; Perspective; Disruptive Innovation

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31 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Where Can Digital Transformation Take You? Insights from 1,700 Leaders

is not for the fainthearted. Most of us know how to drive—we have the basics—but we recognize we are ill-prepared to race against world-class competitors. While data and digital technologies were once enablers of efficiency and... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

November 2010
Case

Spudnik, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth A. Kind

This case describes the plan to finance a revolutionary new television set manufacturing business in late 2009. Yatin Mundkur, a venture capitalist at Artiman Ventures, has recruited a team of veteran eecutives from the optical disk drive business, to design large... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Venture Capital; Disruptive Innovation; Corporate Finance; Electronics Industry