Publications

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (E): New Beginning

By: Ashish Nanda

The Vermeer team is pleasantly surprised by the benefits and hospitality that their new surroundings offer. Their happiness is tempered, however, by discomfort with some elements of the "Microsoft Way." As the Vermeer engineers embark on a punishing schedule for the... View Details

Keywords: Performance Expectations; Horizontal Integration; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Product Development; Information Technology Industry

2016
Working Paper

Pivoting Isn't Enough: Principled Pragmatism and Strategic Reorientation in New Ventures

By: Rory McDonald and Cheng Gao

New technology ventures often experience deviations from their original plans that oblige them to reorient in pursuit of better fit between their evolving products and target customers. Yet research is largely silent on how entrepreneurs explain and justify their... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Reorientation; Technology Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Product Development Processes; Organizational Adaptation; Qualitative Methods (General); Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Communication; Entrepreneurship; Alignment; Innovation and Invention; Product Development

July 2008
Teaching Note

The Politics and Economics of Accounting for Goodwill at Cisco Systems (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Karthik Ramanna

Teaching Note for [109002] and [109003]. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

10 Feb 2020
In Practice

6 Ways That Emerging Technology Is Disrupting Business Strategy

involving artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and the Internet of Things are changing the way business leaders think about strategy. Here’s what they said: 1. Talent and data are more critical than... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

May 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Supplement

Marshall & Gordon: Designing an Effective Compensation System (B)

By: Heidi K. Gardner and Kerry Herman

CEO Kelly Browne wrestles with the design and roll-out of a new compensation system to promote the collaboration necessary for supporting her firm's new strategy. Marshall Gordon International, a global public relations (PR) firm, has recently expanded its service... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Executive Compensation; Management; Organizational Culture; Performance; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Corporate Strategy; System

15 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Apple Pay’s Technology Adoption Problem

Only about 10 percent of retailers use NFC readers, and at least one retailer—Best Buy—stopped using them because they were too expensive. Officials with both Best Buy and Walmart have said the retailers... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Technology; Technology

July 2005 (Revised February 2007)
Exercise

Family Business System Action Planning Worksheet

By: John A. Davis

Assist in thinking critically about facilitators and inhibitors to goals and preparing for change in a family business system. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Change Management; Goals and Objectives; Organizational Change and Adaptation

Organizational psychologists have long held that monitoring workers saps them of their autonomy and thereby reduces their effectiveness. Yet technology has intensified such surveillance in recent years: Managers now track everything from clinicians’ handwashing to... View Details

01 Oct 2000
News

Silent Killers: Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Learning

In their HBS working paper "Overcoming the 'Silent Killers' to Strategy Implementation and Organizational Learning," HBS professor Michael Beer and Russell A. Eisenstat,... View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

January 1999
Case

State Street Corporation: Leading with Information Technology (B)

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kelley Porter

With Multi-currency HORIZON, a real-time multi-currency accounting system that replaced the traditional batch-oriented single-currency accounting system, successfully launched, State Street Corp. (State Street) began to focus on growing the scope of its business... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Trends; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry

May 1993 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Vanity Fair Mills: Market Response System

Describes the "Quick Response" program developed by Vanity Fair Mills (VFM), a division of the VF Corp. Beginning in 1989, VFM reorganized its manufacturing systems, invested heavily in computer and telecommunications equipment, and formed "partnership" agreements with... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Logistics; Distribution Channels; Manufacturing Industry

Find at Harvard

March 1990 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Analog Devices, Inc.: The Half-Life System

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The company has committed to major improvements in quality, cost, and on-time delivery performance. Despite strong senior management support, however, the actual rate of improvement was disappointing until a new measurement philosophy was introduced. The new approach... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Performance Improvement; Earnings Management; Financial Reporting; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Productivity; Business or Company Management; Cost Management; Measurement and Metrics; Management Teams; Semiconductor Industry

Article

Moving Forward from COVID-19: Organizational Dimensions of Effective Hospital Emergency Management

By: Mariam Krikorian Atkinson, Nicholas Cagliuso, John Hick, Sara Singer, Elizabeth Bambury, Tuna Cem Hayirli, Masha Kuznetsova and Paul Biddinger

Federal investment in emergency preparedness has increased notably since the 9/11 attacks, yet it is unclear if and how U.S. hospital readiness has changed in the 20 years since then. In particular, understanding effective aspects of hospital emergency management... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Hospital Preparedness/response; Urban/rural Hospitals; Emergency Management; National Strategy; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management; Performance Effectiveness; Governance; Policy; United States

Find at Harvard

1999
Manual

Corporate Information Systems Management: Teaching Manual

By: Lynda M. Applegate, F. W. McFarlan and J. L. McKenney

Keywords: Information Management

01 Mar 2013
News

Health-Care Forum's Rx for US System

Experience," HBS professor Clay Christensen analogized that just as the computer industry evolved from massive mainframes to customer-friendly personal devices, "We need to bring technology to outpatient clinics View Details

Keywords: Health, Social Assistance

Web

5.1 Information Technology | MBA

5.1 Information Technology Access to HBS networks, applications, computers, and other electronic resources (“the Resources”) is a privilege. HBS reserves the right to revoke access at any time at its sole... View Details

Research Summary

The Role of Information Technology in the Provision of Services

By: James I. Cash

James I. Cash, Jr. is exploring the role of information technology in service management. Specifically, he is studying the implications of the ubiquity of information technology at three levels in service-providing organizations. (In the United States today, service... View Details

March 2000
Case

iXL, Inc. (B): Tessera Enterprise Systems

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Michelle Heskett

Keywords: Information Technology Industry