Publications

December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Blockbuster Inc. & Technological Substitution (C): The Internet Changes the Game

Investigates how the rise of the Internet as a vehicle for renting and buying movies has disrupted the video rental industry and how market leader Blockbuster Inc. can and should respond to these developments. Explores how the emergence of e-commerce affects the degree... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk and Uncertainty; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Competition; Change Management; Service Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

Educators

January 2021
Article

'Mobile'izing Agricultural Advice: Technology Adoption, Diffusion and Sustainability

By: Shawn A. Cole and A. Nilesh Fernando

We examine the role of management in agricultural productivity by evaluating a mobile-phone based agricultural advice service provided to farmers in India. Demand for advice is high, and advice changes practices, increasing yields in cumin (28%) and cotton (8.6% for a... View Details

Keywords: Agricultural Extension; Informational Inefficiencies; Technology Adoption; Agribusiness; Information; Mobile Technology; India

February 1996 (Revised May 2002)
Teaching Note

Xerox: Outsourcing Global Information Technology Resources TN

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Teaching Note for (9-195-158). View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology; Global Range; Resource Allocation; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

April 2003
Article

Exploitation, Exploration, and Process Management: The Productivity Dilemma Revisited

By: Mary J. Benner and Michael L. Tushman

We develop a contingency view of process management's influence on both technological innovation and organizational adaptation. We argue that while process management activities are beneficial for organizations in stable contexts, they are fundamentally inconsistent... View Details

Keywords: Management; Problems and Challenges

21 Jun 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Information Technology and Boundary of the Firm: Evidence from Plant-Level Data

Keywords: by Chris Forman & Kristina McElheran

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A2): Network Visions: Mike Clary on the Product that Hid in HR

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

Chief scientist Bill Joy of Sun Microsystems, Inc. had a vision for a new product called "Jini": a network computing piece of infrastructure that would reinforce Sun's leadership role in the industry for helping define how the Internet and networking technology... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Media; Product Development; Communication; Innovation and Management; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

Educators

1997
Book

The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

By: Clayton M. Christensen

His work is cited by the world's best known thought leaders, from Steve Jobs to Malcolm Gladwell. In this classic bestseller, innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Leadership

2014
Working Paper

Cleaning House: The Impact of Information Technology on Employee Corruption and Performance

By: Lamar Pierce, Daniel Snow and Andrew McAfee

This paper examines how firm investments in technology-based employee monitoring impact both misconduct and productivity. We use unique and detailed theft and sales data from 392 restaurant locations from five firms that adopt a theft monitoring information technology... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Information Technology; Ethics; Performance Productivity; Employees

SSRN

30 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

Commuting Hurts Productivity and Your Best Talent Suffers Most

School Assistant Professor of Business Administration Andy Wu to conduct a study that asked: Does the daily commute affect innovation and productivity for tens of millions of workers? And if so, what are the implications for companies... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

Article

Divide and Conquer: Competing with Free Technology under Network Effects

By: Deishin Lee and Haim Mendelson

We study how a commercial firm competes with a free open source product. The market consists of two customer segments with different preferences and is characterized by positive network effects. The commercial firm makes product and pricing decisions to maximize its... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Product Launch; Network Effects; Open Source Distribution; Adoption; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage

August 1995
Case

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: IT Organization and Architecture Challenges

By: Richard L. Nolan

Presents the outcome of Air Products ICON decentralization projects. New issues are explored, including the challenges of having a decentralized MIS staff, global network, client/server architecture, new data center issues, outsourcing, a new highly strategic customer... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Organizational Design; Problems and Challenges

Educators

2019
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 8 Rationalizing Flow Processes

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the value structure of flow production processes and to explain why it is necessary to rationalize flow processes using the tools of systematic management. I first explain the problems facing managers of multi-step flow... View Details

Keywords: Flow Processes; Bottlenecks; Systematic Management; Production; Management; Problems and Challenges

Read Now

22 Nov 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Carbon Tariffs: Impacts on Technology Choice, Regional Competitiveness, and Global Emissions

Keywords: by David F. Drake; Manufacturing

27 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Gen AI Marketing: How Some 'Gibberish' Code Can Give Products an Edge

It’s the new way of comparison shopping in the age of large language models (LLM): Tapping into AI-driven search engines for research and advice on which products to buy. But can consumers trust the recommendations to be impartial? New... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology

August 2003
Case

Mercury Computer Systems: The Evolution from Integrated Technology to Open Standard

By: Rebecca Henderson and Nancy Confrey

For 20 years, Mercury Computer Systems has thrived, providing products and services that support ultrafast processing of real time data. Now Jay Bertelli, the CEO, faces a critical question: How can the firm compete once the standards on which its products are based... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Open Source Distribution; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry