Publications

2010
Working Paper

Performance Tradeoffs in Team Knowledge Sourcing

By: Bradley R. Staats, Melissa Valentine and Amy C. Edmondson

This research examines how teams organize knowledge sourcing (obtaining access to others' knowledge or expertise) and investigates the performance trade-offs involved in two approaches to knowledge sourcing in teams. One approach a team can take is to specialize, such... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Performance Efficiency; Performance Productivity; Quality; Groups and Teams; Information Technology Industry; India

Read Now

01 Feb 2001
News

Books

as by the innovative technology that makes them possible. Companies must learn to build and foster these relationship networks because they engender speedy and seamless interaction, encourage creativity and collaboration, and release the... View Details

Keywords: books; research; Information; Information

01 Sep 2003
News

Alumni Bookshelf

Authentic Leadership by William W. (“Bill”) George (MBA ’66) (Jossey-Bass) Drawing from a decade of experience as CEO and chairman of medical technology company Medtronic, George analyzes the causes of the current crisis in corporate... View Details

Keywords: Information; Information

01 Apr 1997
News

Critical Information: MIS Monitors the Ever-Changing World of IT

The following article is the ninth in a series on the activities and research taking place in each academic unit at HBS. The information technology (IT) industry, for which rapid change has been a constant... View Details

Keywords: Elaine Gottlieb

November 2017
Case

iRobot: Moving Beyond the Roomba

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

The makers of the Roomba, a robotic vacuum cleaner, connected the latest version of their product to the Internet. This new feature opened up a wealth of new opportunities and challenges for the company. View Details

Keywords: Irobot; Smart Home; Connected Home; Roomba; Vacuum; Mapping; Internet Of Things; Connected Products; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States

September 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

MyTime

By: Juliane Begenau and Robin Greenwood

Ethan Anderson, the CEO of San Francisco–based e-commerce company MyTime, must decide on the company's growth strategy. MyTime’s first product was a website and mobile app that offered consumers a convenient way to book appointments with local merchants throughout the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Valuation; Discounted Cash Flow; Software; Valuation Methodologies; Subscriber Models; Financial Management; Corporate Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry; North and Central America

May 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Data.gov

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Robert D. Austin and Yumi Yi

This case presents the logic and execution underlying the launch of Data.gov, an instantiation of President Obama's initiative for transparency and open government. The process used by Vivek Kundra, the federal CIO, and his team to rapidly develop the website and to... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Rights; Analytics and Data Science; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Cost vs Benefits; Innovation and Management; Information Management; Information Industry; Information Industry; United States

01 Dec 2012
News

Alumni Book Briefs

military, legal, and humanitarian strategies. Brain Gain: Technology and the Quest for Digital Wisdom by Marc Prensky (MBA 1980) (Palgrave Macmillan) Both the human brain and technology have strengths:... View Details

Keywords: Information; Information

01 Mar 2010
News

Noted & Quoted

“Unfortunately, the technology for growing flu viruses to make vaccines is fifty years old — it’s chicken eggs.” — HBS Professor of Management Practice and former Merck CEO Raymond Gilmartin, at a November HBS panel discussion on drug... View Details

Keywords: Information; Information

1997
Chapter

Frontiers of Online Financial Services

By: R. Kalakota and F. Frei

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Finance; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

June 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Netonomy

A new software product enables wireless telcos to offer a self-service customer service solution, lowering costs and improving service levels. Discusses the definition of good self-service. Examines how the company should prioritize its growth opportunities and what... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Applications and Software; Globalization; Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Sep 2009
News

Professor, Historian, and Storyteller

evocative word. Can you elaborate? We are living in an age in which we are simply much more tired! laughter It’s the white-hot speed of the information revolution. It’s the technology that’s brought an... View Details

Keywords: Information; Information

01 Feb 1997
News

New Releases

in the world of digital communications will lie not in knowing how to engineer big technological breakthroughs but in how to develop products and services by creatively combining new and existing View Details

August 2000 (Revised September 2000)
Case

Extraprise

By: Srikant M. Datar, Krishna G. Palepu and Sarah S. Khetani

In the three years since it was founded, the Boston-based Internet strategy consulting firm, Extraprise, has changed its strategy three times. Jennifer Gabler, the CFO, considers what kinds of control systems she can put in place to ensure the company can continue to... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Mathematical Methods; Information Technology; Outcome or Result; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Boston

January 2019
Case

Data.gov (Abridged)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Robert D. Austin and Yumi Yi

This case presents the logic and execution underlying the launch of Data.gov, an instantiation of President Obama's initiative for transparency and open government. The process used by Vivek Kundra, the federal CIO, and his team to rapidly develop the website and to... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Rights; Analytics and Data Science; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Cost vs Benefits; Innovation and Management; Information Management; Information Industry; Information Industry; United States

March 1999 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Network Associates: Securing the Internet

By: Debora L. Spar

Follows one company's path through the uncharted terrain of government regulation and the Internet. In March 1998, Network Associates announced it would begin selling powerful encryption software from its Dutch subsidiary. Such a move looked to the U.S. government like... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Why IT Matters in Midsized Firms

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti, George Favaloro, James Utzschneider & Greg Richards; Technology; Technology

October 2011
Case

CSN Stores

By: William A. Sahlman and Neil Tolaney

In March 2011, CSN Stores is a collection of nearly 200 Internet retail websites, including Cookware.com, Strollers.com, and Luggage.com. Co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine were considering making a major investment to build brand equity at the corporate level. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Distribution Channels; Investment; Brands and Branding; Equity; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry