Publications

November 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Microsoft Office: Finding the Suite Spot

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Steven Sinofsky

Describes a key decision-making process within Microsoft's Office products division. At a time when the PC software business has a great deal of uncertainty, Microsoft's management has to make a key decision regarding the future of software suites. A strengthening of... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Applications and Software; Strategic Planning; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Development; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Goals and Objectives; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Management; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

01 Jun 2024
News

Case Study: Ready for an Upgrade

Illustration by Alvaro Dominguez The Los Angeles–based startup Stell was borne of a pain point almost as old as recorded history itself: paperwork. One of Stell’s cofounders, Malory McLemore (MBA 2022), had landed a job as an engineer at Airbus after earning a... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Computer Systems Design and Related Services; Professional Services

12 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 12

development of Kvadrat's retail sales operations, the implementation of new Human Resources practices, and the execution of a new organizational design. Was such an extensive growth, turnaround, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1992 (Revised November 1998)
Case

Bitstream

Focuses on the new CEO of a growing software firm, the culture he's tried to create, and the need to hire a manager to spearhead a new product division. Includes details on how the search was conducted and presents resumes of four candidates who are being considered... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Selection and Staffing; Recruitment; Cognition and Thinking; Applications and Software; Business Divisions; Information Technology Industry

May 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

BEA Systems, Inc.: Constant Reinvention to Cope with Market Waves

Developed in 1995 as a specialist software vendor, BEA Systems, Inc. had already transformed itself twice from a transaction processing product company to a server application provider. By July 2002, it had become the fastest company in history to reach $1 billion in... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Business Growth and Maturation; Management Practices and Processes; Applications and Software; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2024
Case

SnapTravel: Betting on 'Super.com'

By: Reza Satchu and Tom Quinn

This case explores SnapTravel, a travel startup offering discounted hotel rooms, and its founders’ desire to pivot to a “super app” that saved customers money across many different purchase types. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hussein Fazal and Henry Shi saw SnapTravel... View Details

18 Nov 2021
Op-Ed

5 Principles for Scaling Change from IBM’s High School Innovation

students are graduates of Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH), an innovative six-year public high school program spearheaded by IBM that has improved college completion rates among disadvantaged youth View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

25 May 2015
Blog Post

RapidSOS Wins the HBS New Venture Competition

directly into 911’s existing system. The technology is universally compatible with every dispatch center across the United States. The result is a system that dramatically increases the information... View Details

24 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 24, 2009

Working PapersLearn-how to Improve Collaboration and Performance Authors:Ingrid M. Nembhard, Anita L. Tucker, Richard M.J. Bohmer, Joseph H. Carpenter, and Jeffrey D. Horbar Abstract View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Feb 2015
HBS Case

HBS Cases: The Battle for San Francisco

home for restaurants, art, and culture at night. And more and more, tech businesses are locating here. “This is a place where the effects of inequality appear to be heightened... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

March 2023
Case

Azenta Life Sciences: The Road to Transformation

By: Gary P. Pisano and Catherine Piner

When the Board brought Steve Schwartz in as President of Brooks Automation in 2010, they gave him a clear mission: strengthen the company’s core semiconductor equipment business and find a new industry to enter. Over the course of the next decade, Schwartz and the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Market Entry and Exit; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Segmentation; Technology Industry