Publications

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December 2023 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Monsters in the Machine? Tackling the Challenge of Responsible AI

By: Paul M. Healy and Debora L. Spar

In November of 2022, the small tech company OpenAI released ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot which quickly captured the public’s imagination—becoming the world’s fastest-growing consumer application within months of its release. Though observers from across... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; AI and Machine Learning; Ethics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technology Adoption; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Technology Industry; United States; European Union; China

June 2012
Case

GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich and Ian McKown Cornell

Three years into a major public-private partnership between GlaxoSmithKline and Fiocuz, Brazil's principal health institute, the company assesses technology transfer and joint research under the agreement. GSK was selling its Synflorix vaccine (against pediatric... View Details

Keywords: Public-Private Partnerships; Business and Government Relations; Foreign Direct Investment; Health Care and Treatment; Globalized Firms and Management; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Brazil

24 Apr 2015
Video

RapidSOS Grand Prize winner of 2015 New Venture Competition business track

October 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Masdar City: Aiming for Sustainable and Profitable Real Estate

By: Boris Vallee and Fares Khrais

Masdar City broke ground in 2008 and was conceived by the Abu Dhabi government to be an international beacon of innovation in sustainable energy and real estate. It was also to be a profitable investment for the government. At first glance, the two goals pulled in... View Details

February 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Case

CommonAngels (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kaitlyn Simpson

Describes the motivations behind the founding of CommonAngels—a group of successful business owners who provide capital, connections, and expertise to entrepreneurs who are building new ventures. In 2005, the group is considering increasing its investment focus to... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Investment; Motivation and Incentives; Social and Collaborative Networks; Financial Services Industry

Article

Where Do Resources Come from? The Role of Idiosyncratic Situations

By: Gautam Ahuja and Riitta Katila

In this paper, we examine the emergence of resources. Our analysis of technological capability acquisition by global U.S.-based chemical firms shows that the emergence of resources is inherently evolutionary. We find that path-creating search that generates resource... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Resource Allocation

Find at Harvard

06 Jan 2015
News

Wanted: The IT-enabled Health Professional

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (A)

By: Willy Shih

This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Exploration; Dominant Design; Business Growth and Maturation; Business History; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan

April 2025
Case

Netflix in 2024

By: Jan Rivkin and David Allen

In 2024, Netflix appeared to emerge victorious from the “streaming wars” that it had waged in recent years with the likes of Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Apple, and Amazon. What had allowed Netflix not only to succeed in the streaming wars but also to thrive for... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Organizational Culture; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States

12 May 2020
News

The New-Market Conundrum

14 Apr 2020
News

Three Keys To Engaged, Productive Telework Teams

September 2024
Case

Google Quantum AI

By: David B. Yoffie, Michael A. Cusumano and Matt Higgins

Quantum computing may be the most important nascent computing technology of the 21st century. It has the potential to impact industries ranging from drug discovery to cybersecurity. Google's Quantum AI is one of the leaders in quantum research. This case explores the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Price; Technological Innovation; Resource Allocation; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry

September 2019
Case

Starling Trust Sciences: Measuring Trust in Organizations

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and James Weber

Stephen Scott needed to decide whether to keep his behavioral analytics startup in the people analytics sector or shift his company into the RegTech sector. Starling had develop technology that enabled its customers to anticipate and shape the behavior of their... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Analytics; Financial Institutions; Banks and Banking; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; United Kingdom

22 Apr 2015
Video

RapidSOS wins 2015 New Venture Competition business track

June 2016 (Revised November 2021)
Case

chotuKool: 'Little Cool,' Big Opportunity

By: Rory McDonald, Derek van Bever and Efosa Ojomo

In 2013, a team led by Gopalan Sunderraman, vice president of corporate development at Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.—one of the companies owned by Godrej Group, a large Indian conglomerate—was preparing to launch an innovative low-cost refrigerator. Developed expressly... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; India

2014
Teaching Note

Changhong: Journey to Shared Services (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Haiyan Zhang and Guo Jia

Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Mianyang - an emerging inland science and technology city in Sichuan Province, Changhong Electric Co., Ltd., started from the military industry. It then entered the color TV industry and subsequently expanded to a wide range of... View Details

Keywords: China; Appliances; Finance ＆ Insurance; China

September 2020
Case

Apple Bets on Augmented Reality

By: Rory McDonald, David Lane and Mel Martin

In 2020, augmented reality (AR) was still a nascent technology with blockbuster potential, one which Apple was actively developing as its iPhone franchise waned. But the emergence of AR was uneven, including the disappointing Google Glass and the unexpected viral... View Details

Keywords: Augmented Reality; Industry Structures; Product Development; Commercialization; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

May 2004
Supplement

Slingshot Technology, Inc. Supplement: Partnership Agreements

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Slingshot Technology Inc. (STI) is a privately held software start-up founded in 1995 focused on identifying emerging spaces in the IT services industry and partnering with vendors selling promising but unproven technologies in those spaces. The vendors used STI to... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Emerging Markets; Partners and Partnerships; Intellectual Property; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry