Publications

July 2020
Technical Note

Digital Natives Growing Without a Sales Force

By: Das Narayandas, Michael Norris and Amram Migdal

This brief case describes the rise of so-called digital natives (also called born-in-digital) in the 2000s and 2010s that successfully grew without a sales force. The case highlights the emergence of business-to-business Internet and cloud-based companies and their... View Details

December 2004 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Intel Research: Exploring the Future

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

It is 2004 and David Tennenhouse, the director of Intel Research, is reviewing the organization he has built since 2000. Intel Research was charged with exploring new and disruptive technologies that lay off the "silicon roadmap" that drove most of Intel's R&D efforts.... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Research and Development; Performance Evaluation; Venture Capital; Technology Networks; Semiconductor Industry; United States

2025
Working Paper

Computed Tomography (CT)--Beyond Traditional X-Rays: Case Histories of Transformational Advances

By: Amar Bhidé, Srikant M. Datar and Katherine Stebbins

This case history describes how Computed Tomography (CT) scanners - that combine Xrays and computers to image soft tissues of the brain and other organs -- have become a widely used diagnostic tool. Specifically, we chronicle the 1) initial development of CT... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Technology Adoption; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Invention; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

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19 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Digital Technology’s Profound Game Change for Marketers

technology's impact on their business, the entire customer experience, and leading innovation within their enterprises, not simply following a course set by their IT department. "Madison Avenue meets... View Details

Keywords: by Jeffrey Bussgang; Advertising; Technology

February 2018
Supplement

OXXO's Turf War Against Extra: Reflections on the Case: Eduardo Padilla

By: Tatiana Sandino, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Kyle Thomas

OXXO Executive Eduardo Padilla reflects on topics from the case including collaboration and managing innovation. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Retail Industry; Mexico

20 Aug 2024
Book

Why Competing With Tech Giants Requires Finding Your Own Edge

The following is an excerpt that was adapted and lightly edited from chapter nine of Smart Rivals: How Innovative Companies Play Games That Tech Giants Can't Win, written by Feng Zhu View Details

Keywords: by Feng Zhu; Technology; Information Technology

17 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

The Business Case for Diabetes Disease Management

HealthPartners, an independent nonprofit that is one of three health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in the Minneapolis market. HealthPartners has an enrollment of about 675,000 people, and its network... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

2024
Working Paper

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting—Impossible to Routine: Case Histories of Transformational Advances

By: Amar Bhidé, Srikant M. Datar and Fabio Villa

We describe how Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG, or more popularly, “bypass”) operations revolutionized the treatment of coronary disease (that can produce fatal heart attacks and debilitating angina). Specifically, we chronicle the: 1) development of the... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Technology Adoption; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Invention; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

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September 2003 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Photovoltaic Breakthrough

Illustrates the technological and organizational challenges of breakthrough innovation. Students discuss the benefits, disadvantages, and management of various approaches to technological breakthroughs. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management

Research Summary

Overview

When information is digitized, it can be aggregated and shared nearly instantly. I am interested in how this acceleration in the aggregation and availability of information, via digitization, affects firms and firm strategy. Platforms have emerged as marketplaces for... View Details

Keywords: Market Platforms; Social Media; Information Disclosure; Platform Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Intellectual Property; Information; Technology Platform; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Web Services Industry

September 2013 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?

By: Willy Shih

Jon Flint came up with the idea of a science-based beauty company while talking with his hairdresser about the problems with typical hair and skin care products. Together with a small team that included Professor Robert Langer of MIT, he committed to assemble a team... View Details

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

How Technological Disruption Changes Everything

who are focused on their existing and most profitable markets and don't see the threat coming from below. Exhibit A: The death of Digital Equipment Corp., which, along with a string of other minicomputer... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health

03 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Facebook’s Future

Editor's note: Now 10 years old, Facebook's growth is starting to slow. That's one reason it purchased What'sApp last month in a jaw-dropping deal valued at $19 billion. What might the next decade be like? Harvard Business School Associate Professor Mikolaj Piskorski,... View Details

Keywords: by Mikolaj Piskorski

March 2020
Article

A Revolution in Economics? It's Just Getting Started...

By: Shawn A. Cole, William Pariente and Anja Sautmann

We have each experienced thrills and pain while supporting the mission of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, which facilitated many of the experiments described in the 2019 Nobel Prize citation. J-PAL in many ways seeks to fulfill what Angrist and Pischke... View Details

Keywords: Randomized Control Trials; Economics; Research; Innovation and Invention

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March 1992 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Introduction of FM Radio (A): Finally, A ""Staticless"" Radio

Describes the evolution of radio technology and business from the initial days of wireless telegraphy to the advent, growth, and establishment of amplitude-modulated (AM) radio manufacturing and broadcasting. Begins and ends with a description of a decision the Radio... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Product Design; Product Development; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

August 2023
Case

Augmenix: Space to Think Differently

By: Satish Tadikonda and Sidhant Jena

Amar Sawhney, a serial medtech entrepreneur, had founded Augmenix to develop and commercialize a hydrogel-based medical device called SpaceOAR as an adjunctive technology to core radiation therapy. This technology was used to protect organs at risk (OAR) during... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Technology Adoption; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Product Development; Commercialization; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

September 2016 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Pebble: Wearables Pioneer

By: David Yoffie and Allison Ciechanover

In the summer of 2016, wearables “wunderkind” and Pebble founder and CEO, Eric Migicovsky, was pleased with the young startup’s success in the five years since its founding. The Silicon Valley–based company had recently shipped its two millionth smartwatch; held the... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Product; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Technology Industry; United States; California

February 2014
Teaching Note

The Slingshot: Improving Water Access

By: John A. Quelch

Entrepreneur Dean Kamen has inked a multimillion dollar partnership with Coca-Cola (CC) to mass produce and distribute the Slingshot, a low energy device that can convert raw sewage into potable water for poor people and communities in developing economies. View Details

Keywords: DEKA; Dean Kamen; Coca-Cola; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Commercialization; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; North Africa; South Africa; Asia; South America