Problem Solving - Publications - Faculty & Research

29 May 2013
Research & Ideas

Faculty Symposium Showcases Breadth of Research

hosting contests to find solutions to problems ranging from automotive design to cleaning up oil spills. Karim R. Lakhani has spent the past five years working with NASA, Harvard Medical School, and TopCoder to determine the most... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

Summer 2020
Article

Accelerating Innovation Through a Network of Ecosystems: What Companies Can Learn from One of the World's Largest Networks of Accelerator Labs

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Frank Nagle

A United Nations agency with a sweeping mission and sprawling global presence may not appear to be the most likely place where companies can learn new techniques for accelerating innovation — but appearances can be deceiving. The United Nations Development Programme... View Details

Keywords: Accelerator Labs; Business Ecosystems; Networks; Innovation and Invention

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2009
Working Paper

Informed and Interconnected: A Manifesto for Smarter Cities

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Stanley S. Litow

The need for a fresh approach to U.S. communities is more urgent than ever because of the biggest global economic crisis since the Great Depression. Through examination of the barriers to solving urban problems (and the ways they reinforce each other), this paper... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Investment; Urban Scope; Leadership; Safety; Civil Society or Community; Technology Networks; United States

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27 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Employee-Suggestion Programs That Work

its resources. The analysis approach holds that by identifying lots of issues, a high-value problem will turn up, which if solved will yield a disproportionately high benefit. However, the researchers were... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Guttry

22 Jan 2021
News

An entrepreneurial approach to ‘possibility government’

Research Summary

Optimal Contracting with Reciprocal Agents

(with Florian Englmaier) (Job Market Paper)

Abstract: Empirically, compensation systems often seem to generate substantial effort despite weak incentives. We consider reciprocal motivations as a source of incentives. We solve for the optimal... View Details

02 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

A Rare Find in Health Care: A Simple Solution to Racial Inequity

of subpar hospitals could take years, but solving these prospective problems could improve care for Black patients immediately. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could require ambulances to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

11 May 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Creating an R&D Strategy

Keywords: by Gary P. Pisano

December 2012
Course Overview Note

Making a Success of your EC Independent Project: Good Practices for Students

By: Ian W. Mackenzie

Independent project (IP) work in the EC poses challenges over and above those encountered in the project components of RC FIELD. Based on the belief that the success of IPs can be greatly influenced by how well students select and scope their projects and then go about... View Details

Keywords: Independent Projects; BEST Practices; Learning By Doing; Practical Project Work; Teamwork; Project Management; Stakeholder Management; Stakeholder Engagement; Projects; Groups and Teams

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October 2011
Supplement

Jack Hughes, Founder and Chairman of TopCoder, In-class comments 4/8/11

By: David A. Garvin

TopCoder's crowdsourcing-based business model, in which software is developed through online tournaments, is presented. The case highlights how TopCoder has created a unique two-sided innovation platform consisting of a global community of over 225,000 developers who... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development; Technological Innovation; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; Competition; Online Technology; Information Technology Industry

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October 2011
Supplement

An Interview with Jack Hughes, Founder and Chairman of TopCoder

By: David A. Garvin

TopCoder's crowdsourcing-based business model, in which software is developed through online tournaments, is presented. The case highlights how TopCoder has created a unique two-sided innovation platform consisting of a global community of over 225,0000 developers who... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Technological Innovation; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; Competition; Online Technology; Information Technology Industry

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03 Mar 2022
HBS Seminar

Daniela Saban, Stanford

World Reimagined: The Power of Connection with Dr. Vivek Murthy and Tsedal Neeley

In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda is joined by President Biden's nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, and Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and award-winning author, Tsedal Neeley to discuss how humans will thrive in... View Details

Teaching Interest

Field Course: Social Innovation Lab

By: Brian L. Trelstad

Co-taugh with Prof. John Kim

This course provides students an opportunity to use the discipline of entrepreneurial... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Social Enterprise

09 Jun 2020
News

Accelerating Innovation Through a Network of Ecosystems

October 2009
Case

Low-k Dielectrics at IBM

By: Willy C. Shih and Giovanni Carraro

Innovations at the frontiers of technology carry enormous risk of making wrong choices. This case examines a decision made by IBM in its semiconductor process technology strategy: a material to use as a dielectric insulator in its leading edge silicon chip technology.... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Product Development; Science; Creativity; Semiconductor Industry; United States

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Research Summary

Research Overview

Globalization and innovation are two key forces that will shape individual and business success in the 21st century. To thrive, individuals and organizations must collaborate effectively across cultural lines to solve pressing business problems and develop new products... View Details

September 2022
Case

HPP: Tapping the Netherlands’ Potential

By: Brian Trelstad and Idelès Kaandorp

Stichting Het Potentieel Pakken (HPP) was launched to solve a systemic problem in the Dutch Labor Market: gender inequity that was leading to a large number of women to work part-time in fields that were in desperately short supply of labor, like health care, child... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Grants; Scaling And Growth; Nonprofit Organizations; Opportunities; Gender; Income; Employment; Health Care and Treatment; Human Capital; Mission and Purpose; Motivation and Incentives; Growth and Development Strategy; Employment Industry; Health Industry; Education Industry; Consulting Industry; Europe; Netherlands

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March 2017
Exercise

Designing Transformational Customer Experiences

By: Stefan Thomke

Anyone who has recently travelled, gone shopping, or tried to have a problem solved may have little recollection of the experience. Worse yet, some are frustrated by the lack of responsiveness or empathy that they encountered. The reality is that most customer... View Details

Keywords: Customer Experience; Exercise; Learning By Doing; LEGO; Storytelling; Customer Satisfaction; Design; Innovation and Management; Transformation; Service Delivery

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September–October 2012
Article

Relational Contracts and Organizational Capabilities

By: Robert Gibbons and Rebecca Henderson

A large literature identifies unique organizational capabilities as a potent source of competitive advantage, yet our knowledge of why capabilities fail to diffuse more rapidly—particularly in situations in which competitors apparently have strong incentives to adopt... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Organizations