Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,052)
- Faculty Publications (375)
- November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
Marv Tseu at Active Reasoning
By: William A. Sahlman and Christina Darwall
Describes a set of decisions confronting the management team of an early-stage software company. The company has made considerable progress in developing its software but will need additional capital to move forward. Unfortunately, conditions in the capital market are... View Details
- November/December 2003
- Article
Software Development Worldwide: The State of the Practice
By: Michael A. Cusumano, Alan David MacCormack, Chris Kemerer and Bill Crandall
- September 2003 (Revised December 2003)
- Case
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
By: F. Warren McFarlan and Valerie Massoni
Focuses on the current IT applications portfolio and plans for the world's second largest cruise line. An IT-intensive organization, it forces students to think through how IT resources should be allocated in this dynamic environment and what kind of management system... View Details
- Article
Trade-offs between Productivity and Quality in Selecting Software Development Practices
By: Alan MacCormack, Chris F. Kemerer, Michael A. Cusumano and Bill Crandall
- 2003
- Working Paper
Dynamic Mixed Duopoly: A Model Motivated by Linux vs. Windows
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pankaj Ghemawat
This paper analyzes a dynamic mixed duopoly in which a profit-maximizing competitor interacts with a competitor that prices at zero (or marginal cost), with the cumulation of output affecting their relative positions over time. The modeling effort is motivated by... View Details
- July 2003
- Article
Community, Joining, and Specialization in Open Source Software Innovation: A Case Study
By: Georg von Krogh, Sebastian Spaeth and Karim R. Lakhani
- 25 Jun 2003 - 28 Jun 2003
- Conference Presentation
Agile Software Development: Evidence from the Field
By: Alan MacCormack
- June 2003
- Article
How Open Source Software Works: "Free" User-to-User Assistance
By: Karim R. Lakhani and Eric von Hippel
- October 2002 (Revised May 2004)
- Case
Intuit's New CEO: Steve Bennett
By: William A. Sahlman and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Describes the transition to a new CEO at Intuit, a successful software and financial services firm in California. The new CEO must decide what to change and how fast. He must also navigate within a culture everyone believes to be successful but he envisions can be... View Details
- September 2002 (Revised January 2013)
- Case
Siebel Systems: Organizing for the Customer
By: Robert Simons and Antonio Davila
Siebel Systems is one of the fastest growing companies in America. Tom Siebel, the company's founder, has organized the business to accommodate growth and focus on the customer. Innovative information technology systems and clear accountability prove to be essential to... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Structure; Applications and Software; Business Growth and Maturation; Information Technology; Performance Evaluation; Performance Expectations; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Management Teams; Information Technology Industry; North and Central America
- August 2002 (Revised January 2003)
- Case
Siebel Systems: Anatomy of a Sale, Part 1
By: John A. Deighton and Das Narayandas
How does a $2 million software sale happen? This case traces efforts by Siebel Systems to sell lead management software to discount broker Quick & Reilly. The buying process is mapped out over four years. Covers in detail the last six months—from Siebel's initial... View Details
- August 2002 (Revised February 2003)
- Case
Siebel Systems: Anatomy of a Sale, Part 2
By: John A. Deighton and Das Narayandas
How does a $2 million software sale happen? This case traces efforts by Siebel Systems to sell lead management software to discount broker Quick & Reilly. The buying process is mapped out over four years. Covers in detail the last six months--from Siebel's initial... View Details
- June 2002
- Article
Who's Helping Whom: A Comparison of Helping Behavior among American and Indian Software Engineers
By: Leslie Perlow and John Weeks
- March 2002 (Revised August 2002)
- Case
Microsoft.NET
By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman
Set in the summer of 2000, following the unveiling of Microsoft's .NET initiative to the public. Three of the key figures in .NET's development are considering the next steps they would have to take to keep the initiative moving forward. Specifically, the challenges... View Details
- March 2002 (Revised January 2003)
- Case
Microsoft: Positioning the Tablet PC
By: Youngme E. Moon and Christina L. Darwall
Microsoft is preparing for the launch of the Tablet PC, which allows users to use a pen (stylus) to run Windows and Windows applications, annotate documents, and create handwritten documents for later reference or even conversion to text. Microsoft's original equipment... View Details
- February 2002 (Revised April 2002)
- Case
Chengwei Ventures and the hdt* Investment
By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
Bo Feng, cofounder and principal in Chengwei Ventures, one of the first sovereign venture capital firms in China, is trying to decide on the proper business model for hdt, the product of a merger between two portfolio companies. This case discusses the best way for the... View Details
- January 2002 (Revised May 2003)
- Case
ProfitLogic
By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Michael J. Roberts and Taslim Pirmohamed
Describes an "application software" company that has been through several evolutions--from consulting firm to applications service provider (ASP). The firm has received significant venture funding to pursue the ASP model but this has not worked, at least at the time... View Details
- January 2002 (Revised February 2002)
- Case
Postgirot Bank and Provment AB: Managing the Cost of IT Operations
By: F. Warren McFarlan and Nancy Bartlett
Describes a specific approach for measuring the efficiency of the groups of computers inside an organization and suggests ways this tool may be used to reduce the company's computing investment while maintaining service. It is a software-enabled industrial engineering... View Details
- December 2001
- Case
SinoSecurities.com
By: F. Warren McFarlan and Fred Young
Describes a complex software project that has run into difficulties. Students must decide whether to press forward, stop the project, or reconfigure it. Illustrates many of the similarities to challenges facing U.S. and Chinese companies in this difficult arena. View Details