Publications

2014
Case

Yonyou 2013

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming and Ziqian Zhao

The case describes how a leading Chinese management software provider Yonyou (formerly known as "UFIDA") disrupted its value chain-based business model to transform itself into a platform provider. The case describes Yonyou's past success, the market forces and... View Details

Keywords: Business Models; ERP; Platforms; Strategy; Transformations; China; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; China

09 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Come Fly with Me: A History of Airline Leadership

industry evolution has focused on disruptive external influences or technological breakthroughs. While disruptive forces can change the direction and potential for an industry,... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Air Transportation

November 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Teaching Plan

Gimlet Media: A Podcasting Startup

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

When digital distribution becomes an option for an analog industry, the effects on the incumbents can be devastating. Is podcasting the beginning of the end of radio? Can it do what streaming video did to television and websites did to print? Two former public radio... View Details

Keywords: Platforms And Ecosystems; Startup; Creative Industries; Digital Marketing; Podcasting; Business Startups; Media; Entertainment; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; United States

March 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Wendell Weeks at Corning Inc. (B): Valor Glass and the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Aldo Sesia

The (B) case offers a detailed account of Wendell Weeks’s innovation strategy at Corning, and how his approach played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic. It illustrates the company’s philosophy of making long-term investments in promising new technologies and... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Information Technology; Leadership; Health Pandemics; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

03 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 3

architecture, including business- and technology-related aspects. We apply our methodology to data gathered in a large pharmaceutical firm. We show that this methodology helps to identify layers in the firm's architecture associated with different View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Nov 2017
Research Event

Who is Responsible for the Future of Cities?

fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, where he studies how technological innovation can fuel growth in developing cities and nations. “You can’t regulate what you don’t yet... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

September 2012
Supplement

Intraoperative Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer (B)

By: Willy Shih

The intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) business at Carl Zeiss Meditec had struggled with growth since the time of the (A) case. Though the unit had grown revenues in excess of 50% and had exceeded its EBIT target, it faced several key strategic choices. Should it... View Details

Keywords: Radiotherapy; Breast Cancer; Brachytherapy; Therapeutic Radiation; Oncology; Oncology Treatment Systems; Elekta AB; Varian Medical Systems; Xoft; Electronic Brachytherapy; Intraoperative Radiotherapy; Disruptive Innovation; Health Care and Treatment; Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Germany

2023
Other Unpublished Work

Visions of Vision Pro

By: Randolph B. Cohen

Daily ups and downs of the market are often driven by changes in interest-rate expectations and investor risk aversion. But over the long run, it's often technological change that is the primary driver of value. A decade ago, Tyler Cowen argued in his book The Great... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Product Launch

Read Now

Teaching Interest

Overview

21st Century Energy — Dr Crawford teaches this EC course, which exposes students to business models and management diilemmas, all along the energy value chain — from oil sands and pipelines, to coal and natural gas, hydro and nuclear, wind and solar, to biofuels. The... View Details

06 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

The Determinants of Corporate Venture Capital Success

them—potentially, at least—a strategic edge that private funds lack. These differences—good and bad—are illustrated by the case of Xerox Technology Ventures (XTV). The case, write Gompers and Lerner, "highlights the fact... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Gompers & Josh Lerner

June 2016 (Revised November 2021)
Case

chotuKool: 'Little Cool,' Big Opportunity

By: Rory McDonald, Derek van Bever and Efosa Ojomo

In 2013, a team led by Gopalan Sunderraman, vice president of corporate development at Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.—one of the companies owned by Godrej Group, a large Indian conglomerate—was preparing to launch an innovative low-cost refrigerator. Developed expressly... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; India

27 Aug 2018
News

How Best Buy, The New York Times, And John Deere Have Become Digital Leaders

September 2015
Technical Note

The On-Demand Economy

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery, James Weber and Elizabeth Anne Watkins

This note describes the emerging on-demand economy, also referred to as the sharing economy. The note highlights several companies including Uber and Airbnb that exemplify this new mode of competition, a model that threatens to disrupt traditional firms. Uber provides... View Details

Keywords: Regulation; Reform; Disruption; Disruptive Innovation; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Labor; Employment; Working Conditions; Human Capital; Rights; Organizational Design; Social and Collaborative Networks; Service Industry

January 2017 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Sesame Workshop (A): Bringing Big Bird Back to Health

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli and Jonathan Cohen

Sesame Workshop was transforming in 2016. CEO Jeff Dunn had reorganized and shifted the iconic institution to respond to digital disruption and a consensus culture. This case examines his efforts to turn Sesame Workshop around. It notes Sesame's storied history and the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Information Technology; Education; Media; Strategy; Education Industry

08 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 8

level data set of 29 countries between 1985 and 2000, we find that the growth effects of FDI increase when we account for the quality of FDI. August 2013 Harvard Business Review Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption By: Christensen,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Growing Pains: Prescriptions for U.S. Health Care

has become adept at handling complex medical problems (the market's high-end need) but is no longer able to treat simple conditions (low-end need) with any semblance of cost-effectiveness. Enter managed care, a disruptive View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Health

September 1999 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Roadside Attractions LLC

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, John T. Gourville and Nicole Tempest

Eric d'Arbeloff, producer of independent films, must decide between two offers for distribution of his new movie, "Trick." The case tracks the assembly of resources and the effects of technological change in the film business. View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Distribution; Technological Innovation; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Film Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry