Publications

2021
Working Paper

Time Dependency, Data Flow, and Competitive Advantage

By: Ehsan Valavi, Joel Hestness, Marco Iansiti, Newsha Ardalani, Feng Zhu and Karim R. Lakhani

Data is fundamental to machine learning-based products and services and is considered strategic due to its externalities for businesses, governments, non-profits, and more generally for society. It is renowned that the value of organizations (businesses, government... View Details

Keywords: Economics Of AI; Value Of Data; Perishability; Time Dependency; Flow Of Data; Data Strategy; Analytics and Data Science; Value; Strategy; Competitive Advantage

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18 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

Hazard Warning: The Unacceptable Cost of Toxic Workers

Toxic workers aren’t just a pain in the rear; they’re also a pain in the bottom line, according to a new Harvard Business School working paper. Dylan Minor, visiting assistant professor of business... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

August 2017 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Busbud: Building a Data Company

By: Srikant M. Datar, Alistair Croll and Caitlin N. Bowler

The case features the work of LP Maurice (HBS '08) as he decides to take on the fragmented bus travel industry and launch an online business that aggregates and shares bus schedules for routes around the world. His first challenge: finding that the data he needs is... View Details

Keywords: Data Science; Analytics and Data Science; Business Startups; Knowledge Acquisition; Customers; Measurement and Metrics; Transportation Industry

April 2023
Technical Note

An Art & A Science: How to Apply Design Thinking to Data Science Challenges

By: Michael Parzen, Eddie Lin, Douglas Ng and Jessie Li

We hear it all the time as managers: “what is the data that backs up your decisions?” Even local mom-and-pop shops now have access to complex point-of-sale systems that can closely track sales and customer data. Social media influencers have turned into seven-figure... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Framework; Analytics and Data Science

02 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

George C. Lodge

In 1961, at the invitation of Dean Stanley F. Teele, George Lodge came to Harvard Business School to complete his first book, Spearheads of Democracy: Labor in the Developing Countries. He didn't have a master's or a Ph.D. and never... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

16 Apr 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

Chris Christensen: Legend of the Classroom

major effort to reorganize the Business Policy course around the concept of corporate strategy, which offered an analytical framework for examining decision-making within organizations. The redesigned course... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Education

30 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 30

These findings challenge previous recommendations for optimal advice-seeking behavior. Harvard Business School Case 617-059 Flashion: Art vs. Science in Fashion Retailing Kate Wilson, retail analytics... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Feb 2016
First Look

February 2, 2016

international equity markets, with a highly significant average slope coefficient of 1.05. In sharp contrast, standard factor-model-based proxies fail to exhibit predictive power internationally. We show analytically and empirically that... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 1992 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Asea Brown Boveri: The ABACUS System

By: Robert L. Simons

Describes the computer-based information system (ABACUS) used to monitor and control business operations in a complex, global company. Describes the technical attributes of the database system, financial reporting requirements, target setting and profit calculations on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Profit; Business Growth and Maturation; Analytics and Data Science; Design; Accounting Audits; Growth and Development; Globalized Firms and Management; Complexity; Technology Industry

20 Aug 2001
Research & Ideas

Making an Ally of Uncle Sam

Goals for influencing government should flow directly from the analytic frameworks that companies use to develop business strategies. As Michael Porter noted in Competitive Strategy, "No structural... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins, Mickey Edwards & Usha Thakrar

07 Jan 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Culture Changers: Managing High-Impact Entrepreneurs

does business management mean in this context? For some MBA students, the answers are something of an awakening. The ways that they have traditionally added value—by implementing top-notch business... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

04 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Smart Cities are Complicated and Costly: Here's How to Build Them

Chombosan Much promotion of smart cities assumes that municipalities will take a proactive, top-down, technology-first approach to urban progress. Thus far, these initiatives look for some forward-thinking city official (or immensely deep-pocketed private investor) to... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Green Technology

30 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 31, 2006

accounting, improve price and volatility discovery, and expand international risk intermediation activities. Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-026.pdf Cases & Course MaterialsC. R. Smith and the Birth of American Airlines Harvard View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Jul 2016
First Look

July 19, 2016

complicated—and instructive. Kodak suffered from a technology transition in which it lost the benefits of a learning curve to a general-purpose technology platform where there were no entry barriers. It also suffered from difficulty in scaling down its traditional... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

C3.ai—Driven to Succeed

By: Robert Simons and George Gonzalez

CEO Tom Siebel navigates his artificial intelligence (ai) startup through a series of pivots, market expansions, and even an elephant attack to become a leading platform ad service provider. The case describes his unusual management approach emphasizing employee... View Details

November 2018
Case

Sportradar (A): From Data to Storytelling

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Oliver Gassmann

In 2013, the Swiss sports data company Sportradar debated whether to expand from its core business of data provision to bookmakers into sports media products. Sports data was becoming a commodity, and in the future, sports leagues might reduce their dependence on... View Details