Publications

SSRN

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October 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Background Note

Reverse Engineering, Learning, and Innovation

By: Willy C. Shih

This background reading looks at reverse engineering in the context of piracy and knock-offs in emerging markets like China. It first considers legal aspects of reverse engineering in strong property rights regimes like the United States as a way of unpacking the legal... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Learning; Engineering; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Emerging Markets; China; United States

March 2022
Teaching Note

Inclusive Innovation at Mass General Brigham

By: Katherine Coffman and Olivia Hull

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 921-006, “Inclusive Innovation at Mass General Brigham." This case invites students to explore the individual and structural factors that lead to an under-representation of women in male-dominated domains, and to think critically about... View Details

Keywords: Inclusion; Gender Gap; Gender Inclusivity; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

April 2011 (Revised April 2014)
Case

ASAHI Net: Bringing Innovation to Education

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi

ASAHI Net developed a cloud-based platform for higher education institutions to use in Japan and was wondering if that platform could be accepted in the U.S. as well. View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Information Management; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Technology Platform; Education Industry; Information Technology Industry; Japan; United States

07 Jul 2011
News

Innovation Depends on a Robust Manufacturing Sector

2015
Chapter

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Renewable Energy

By: Ramana Nanda, Ken Younge and Lee Fleming

We document three facts related to innovation and entrepreneurship in renewable energy. Using data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, we first show that patenting in renewable energy remains highly concentrated in a few large energy firms. In 2009, the top 20... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurial Management; Energy; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Energy Industry

July 2015
Background Note

The State of U.S. Public Health: Challenges and Trends

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Howard Koh and Pamela Yatsko

The World Health Organization defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity." For many Americans, the World Health Organization's definition of true health seems unattainable, given... View Details

Keywords: Public Health; Public Sector; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

June 2012
Case

Innovating at AT&T: Partnering to Lead the Broadband Revolution

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Phillip Andrews and Kerry Herman

In 2010, the U.S. retail market value for next-generation non-handset wirelessly-enabled devices was just over $1 billion. By 2011 it had grown 1,141% to $13.2 billion and was forecast to reach $24.7 billion in 2015. At the same time, user demand for data was surging... View Details

Keywords: Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Team Leadership; Emerging Technologies; Business Models; Business To Business; Corporate Vision; Growth Strategy; Corporate Culture; Innovation and Invention; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships; Leadership; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Model; Technology Industry; United States

11 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

U.S. Tops Business Competitiveness Index 2006

by the World Economic Forum. The U.S., ranked number one in four of the last six years, scored high on business environment, financial markets, and innovative capacity. Germany, number two, benefited from its orientation on exports, the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Creating ‘Smart’ Policy to Promote Entrepreneurship and Innovation

By: Karen Mills

Entrepreneurship is a key to unlocking innovation and fostering regional and national economic productivity. Extensive studies demonstrate that small and young firms contribute to innovation and employment growth. But which of the many types of small firms are... View Details

Teaching Interest

Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation

By: Brian L. Trelstad

Combining the tools of philanthropy, business and advocacy (or mission, margin and mandate), social entrepreneurs have tackled long-standing societal issues like teacher training, college access, global public health, renewable energy and sanitation. Social... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Organizations; Social Enterprise; Civil Society or Community; System

December 2019 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (A)

By: Christine Exley, John Beshears, Manuela Collis and Davis Heniford

In 2019, members of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (WNT) filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The case describes the history of the WNT's quest for equal pay leading up to this event. View Details

Keywords: Equal Pay; Negotiation; Compensation and Benefits; Equality and Inequality; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Negotiation Tactics; Corporate Governance; Lawsuits and Litigation; Sports; Sports Industry; United States

From Apple to Merck to Wikipedia, more and more organizations are turning to crowds for help in solving their most vexing innovation and research questions, but managers remain understandably cautious. It seems risky and even unnatural to push problems out to vast... View Details

April 2021
Teaching Note

GreenFire Energy, 2020: Geothermal Innovation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In June 2020, after ten years of effort, GreenFire Energy Inc. (GreenFire) demonstrated its new geothermal electricity generation technology, ECO2G™. While conventional geothermal electricity only supplied 0.5% of US demand, the new technology promised to increase this... View Details

Keywords: Green Energy; Geothermal; Entrepreneur; Renewables; Geothermal Electricity; Green Technology; Renewable Energy; Energy Generation; Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Commercialization

07 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Harvard Innovation Labs: Where Passion and Purpose Meet

The Harvard Innovation Labs ecosystem has been called a place of “structured serendipity” where innovation is fueled by connection and collaboration. The labs enable students and alumni from across Harvard’s... View Details

October 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Emotiv Systems Inc.: It's the Thoughts that Count

By: Elie Ofek, Jason Riis and Paul Hamilton

Emotiv is getting ready to launch its innovative brain-computer interfacing (BCI) technology. The company has developed a special headset, called EPOC, and highly sophisticated software that can translate a person's emotions, cognitive thoughts, and facial expressions... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Sales; Technological Innovation; Demand and Consumers; Marketing Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Launch; Business Startups; Technology Industry

25 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

How Disruptive Innovation is Remaking the University

competition, but because they are are cheaper and easier to use. In The Innovative University, Christensen and Henry J. Eyring take the idea of disruptive innovation to the field of higher education, where... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen & Henry J. Eyring; Education

19 Oct 2011
News

What's the Greenest Building? The Problem With Ranking Systems

2017
Working Paper

What Is a Patent Worth? Evidence from the U.S. Patent 'Lottery'

By: Joan Farre-Mensa, Deepak Hegde and Alexander Ljungqvist

We provide evidence on the value of patents to start-ups by leveraging the random assignment of applications to examiners with different propensities to grant patents. Using unique data on all first-time applications filed at the U.S. Patent Office since 2001, we find... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention

SSRN

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March 2023
Article

Attracting the Sharks: Corporate Innovation and Securities Class Action Lawsuits

By: Elisabeth Kempf and Oliver Spalt

This paper provides novel evidence suggesting that securities class action lawsuits, a central pillar of the U.S. litigation and corporate governance system, can constitute an obstacle to valuable corporate innovation. We first establish that valuable innovation output... View Details

Keywords: Class-action Litigation; Turnover; Lawsuits and Litigation; Innovation and Invention; Risk and Uncertainty