Publications

February 2018
Article

Patent Publication and the Market for Ideas

By: Deepak Hegde and Hong Luo

In this paper, we study the effect of invention disclosure through patent publication on the market for ideas. We do so by analyzing the effects of the American Inventor's Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA)—which required U.S. patent applications to be published 18 months... View Details

Keywords: Licensing; Patent Publication; Invention Disclosure; Patents; Information Publishing; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Dissemination

01 Jun 2008
News

Grad’s “Claw” Goes to Market

Moeller and Forest competed last summer on the ABC reality show American Inventor; although they weren’t among the finalists, their product is the first from the show to be officially brought to market by a major corporation. (Gladiator... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

01 Jun 2009
News

The Maestro and the Market

learn about marketing from a business owner who says he doesn’t care whether or not customers like his product? HBS assistant professor Michael Norton’s interest in what motivates seemingly irrational consumer behavior has found a perfect... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality

January 2012 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA)'s Entry into the Retirement Market

By: Lauren Cohen and Christopher Malloy

This case examines Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA)'s decision to enter the retirement market with their new "Dimensional Managed DC" product, a complete retirement solution that aimed to provide investors with what they really wanted: the same standard of living in... View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Asset Management

June 2010 (Revised September 2010)
Case

athenahealth: Innovating in Response to a Crisis in Healthcare

When Jonathan Bush and his partner, Todd Park, realized that their revolutionary approach to delivering clinical care was being stymied by the inefficiencies in the healthcare system and insurance red tape, they turned their proprietary technology, athenaNet, to a new... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Information Management; Innovation and Invention; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Health Industry; United States

August 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Unilever's Butter-Beater: Innovation for Global Diversity

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Jorg Zobel

Unilever, one of the world's largest food product manufacturers, has achieved impressive growth in Europe, primarily by acquiring local food companies. Initially Unilever allowed each acquired company to manage its own product development in a way that was tailored to... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Mergers and Acquisitions; Local Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Innovation and Management; Food; Conflict Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Europe

02 Dec 2014
Blog Post

Building a Consumer-Centric Strategy: Highlights from the Marketing & CPG Club’s Conference

On November 16th, 2014, the Marketing & CPG Club hosted the 2014 Marketing Innovation Conference at Harvard Business School. This year’s theme was “Building a... View Details

February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Henry Heinz: Making Markets for Processed Foods

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Outlines many of the supply-side innovations, such as improved transportation, communication, and technological developments, that greatly expanded the productive capacity of the United States in the late 19th century. Explores a range of demand-side shifts, including... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Supply and Industry; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

Web

Online Entrepreneurship & Innovation Courses | HBS Online

Disruptive Strategy Professors Rory McDonald & Clayton Christensen Strengthen your capacity to create winning strategies and bring innovations to market by discovering customer jobs to be done and aligning... View Details

06 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Technology Re-Emergence: Creating New Value for Old Innovations

the country was producing only 10 percent of the world's watches. Yet Switzerland has reemerged as the global leader of watch exports (by export value), due to a newfound market demand for old-style mechanical watches. This curious... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Apparel & Accessories; Technology; Consumer Products

26 Jan 2004
Research & Ideas

What Developing-World Companies Teach Us About Innovation

spends approximately one-third of its net income on R&D and employs nearly 3,000 researchers. At Natura, an innovation cycle starts with a monthly meeting among the company's three presidents, its View Details

Keywords: by Donald N. Sull, Alejandro Ruelas-Gossi & Martin Escobari

February 2022 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Aleph Farms: A New Culture of Meat

By: Elie Ofek and Jeff Huizinga

Aleph Farms, an Israeli food-tech start-up, was hoping to play a major role in disrupting the conventional meat sector. Compared to intensive agricultural practices, Aleph’s cultured (or lab-grown) meat solution held the promise of considerably reducing greenhouse gas... View Details

2009
Working Paper

Don't Just Survive - Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad

By: Lynda M. Applegate and J. Bruce Harreld

Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current global financial crisis provides a mandate for restructuring. But survival is not the end goal. In fact, cost cutting and restructuring are simply... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk Management; Leading Change; Innovation and Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy

Read Now

June 2018
Case

Relax (Boston): Innovating and Growing an Entrepreneurial Business

By: Paul Marshall and Carole Carlson

The Relax case traces the history of a massage services company from its founding in 2007 to mid-2017, when it is considering the best strategy for growth and an acquisition. The company's owner and top managers wonder how the firm should reorganize to cope with the... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Acquisition; Brands and Branding; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Design

December 2024
Case

Core Innovation Capital: Investing in Fintech for Good

By: Ray Kluender, Natalia Rigol, Benjamin Roth and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, Arjan Schütte, founder of Core Innovation Capital, faced a decision on whether to invest in Hugo Insurance, an auto insurance startup. Core, an early-stage social impact VC firm, focused on “fintech for good,” by investing in financial services for low- to... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Venture Capital; Social Entrepreneurship; Insurance; Measurement and Metrics; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Product Positioning; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

08 Aug 2022
HBS Case

Building an 'ARMY' of Fans: Marketing Lessons from K-Pop Sensation BTS

part of a successful business strategy is not to get complacent but to always challenge oneself and innovate to stay relevant with market trends. He points to the example of photo company Eastman Kodak, back... View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta; Media & Broadcasting; Music

Web

Fostering Innovation in Life Sciences - Health Care

Impact Fostering Innovation in Life Sciences Gaining Ground on ALS Re: Rob Blum (MBA 1991) Health Minute: How Can Technology Improve 21st Century Health Care Health Minute: How Can Companies Bring "Missing Drugs" to Market? More “Life... View Details

15 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Business IT Innovation is so Difficult

innovation portrayed in the census data differed from what she had read in the press. "It was clear that firms were actually doing far less of it than you would think if you read the newspaper." The e-business that was being done among... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

August 2020 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Beyond Beer: Brewing Innovation at Molson Coors

By: Derek C. M. van Bever, Stephen P. Kaufman, James Barnett and Shaye Roseman

In March 2019, Molson Coors CEO Mark Hunter considered a request to pull forward $65 million CAD in anticipated future funding for Truss Beverages, a Toronto-based cannabis beverage company that Molson Coors created in a joint venture with a Canadian cannabis... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Joint Ventures; Ethics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Canada; Colorado