Publications

June 2010
Teaching Note

Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple (TN)

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Teaching Note for 609066. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Strategy; Product Design; Innovation and Management; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry

December 2010
Article

An Exploration of Technology Diffusion

By: Diego Comin and Bart Hobijn

We develop a model that, at the aggregate level, is similar to the one sector neoclassical growth model, while, at the disaggregate level, has implications for the path of observable measures of technology adoption. We estimate our model using data on the diffusion of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Income; Technology Adoption; Macroeconomics; Innovation and Invention

Read Now

January 2001 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Rambus, Inc.: Commercializing the Billion Dollar Idea

Rambus, Inc. was founded to develop a new type of high-speed memory chip technology to enable DRAMs to keep up with ever-faster microprocessors. After developing the technology, Rambus chose an unusual licensing approach to commercialize it. This case focuses on the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Competition; Commercialization; Information Infrastructure; Cooperation; Technology Industry

July 2000 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Greeley Hard Copy, Portable Scanner Initiative (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman and Daniel Radov

Hewlett-Packard's Greeley Hard Copy Division is the market leader in the production of desktop flatbed scanners for personal computers. The division has been working to develop a portable scanner product for the past five years with mixed results. The new general... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Product Development; Organizational Structure; Hardware; Technology Industry

Educators

February 1997 (Revised April 1998)
Case

first direct (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Describes the operations and strategy of the world's largest, fastest growing branchless bank. Using a person-to-person interface over conventional phone lines, First Direct provides standard banking and related financial products to nearly 700,000 customers throughout... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Customer Satisfaction; Banks and Banking; Innovation and Invention; Banking Industry; United Kingdom

Educators

September 1995 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Managing Innovation at Nypro, Inc. (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Rebecca Voorheis

Nypro is the world's leading injection molder of precision plastic parts, operating a global network of 21 plants. Nypro's strategy is for each plant to offer identical capabilities, because its customers are global companies with worldwide sourcing needs. The case... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Innovation and Management; Operations; Performance Consistency; Manufacturing Industry

Educators

September 1998 (Revised September 2001)
Case

IBM's Reinventing Education (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Describes IBM's national innovation strategy to transform K-12 public education through new solutions developed by IBM engineers and consultants using information technology. Examples are: data warehousing in Broward County, FL schools, tracking software for the... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology; Education; Business and Community Relations; Information Technology Industry; Education Industry; San Jose; Philadelphia; Ohio; Florida

August 2002
Article

Creativity Under the Gun

By: Teresa Amabile, Constance N. Hadley and Steven J. Kramer

If you're like most managers, you've worked with people who swear they do their most creative work under tight deadlines. You may use pressure as a management technique, believing it will spur people on to great leaps of insight. You may even manage yourself this way.... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Innovation and Invention; Time Management; Working Conditions; Performance Evaluation

01 Nov 2021
News

Drive Innovation with Better Decision-Making

01 Dec 2020
News

Out of the Valley

Episode 1: The Camel and the Unicorn Why Silicon Valley is at risk of losing it startup dominance—and what that could mean for the future of innovation. Aldi Haryopratomo (MBA 2011) Aldi Haryopratomo (MBA 2011) Episode 2: A Creator in the Era of Disruption Lessons from... View Details

01 Dec 2020
News

Digital Health Care: Empowering Consumers

Regina Herzlinger, the Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration, has been studying the health care sector for nearly half a century. In that time, she has seen significant innovation in the field—and she has also seen the powerful sway of the status quo,... View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Mar 2019
News

Ask the Expert: Auto Pilot

When Mayfield Fund Managing Director Raj Kapoor (MBA 1996), the cofounder and former CEO of Snapfish and fitmob, joined Lyft as chief strategy officer in 2016, he was intent on finding ways to reduce human impact on climate change. The solution turned out to be so... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers; Retail Trade

01 Sep 2015
News

Is the Auction House of the Future Online?

“Balloon Dog (Blue), 2005” by Jeff Koons sold for an undisclosed amount as part of a May Paddle8 auction. (Photo courtesy of Paddle8) When the hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan decided to produce just one copy of their album Once Upon A Time in Shaolin as a work of... View Details

Keywords: April White; Wu-Tang Clan

01 Sep 2013
News

The Challengers

All due respect to the Red Sox, but we think some of Boston's best pitching in May occurred on Western Avenue, not Yawkey Way. As part of a trio of entrepreneurial challenges hosted by the i-lab, six HBS students and two soon-to-be alumni—representing five... View Details

Keywords: Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

17 Aug 2011
News

Breath of Life

Green: Participating in the stem-cell revolution. Courtesy David Green It was the kind of medical miracle that experts say will one day be commonplace. In June, an artificial trachea (windpipe), infused with a tracheal cancer patient’s own stem cells, was successfully... View Details

Keywords: stem cell research; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

April 2025
Supplement

Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion PowerPoint Supplement

By: Michael W. Toffel, Ken Pucker and Stacy Straaberg

The Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) case introduces Allbirds as a footwear startup not only focused on simple design, comfort, and sustainable natural materials but on decarbonizing the wider fashion industry. Background material highlights the growing... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Impact; Environmental Strategy; Innovation; Product Design; Supply Chain Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Climate Change; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; California