Publications

Find at Harvard

25 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

Could a Business Model Help Big Pharma Save Lives and Profit?

markets. As an HBS marketing professor, he understands the mindset of the average pharmaceutical executive, who obsesses about protecting their organization’s inventions to drive profits. But as the world emerges from the coronavirus,... View Details

Keywords: by Esther Schrader; Pharmaceutical; Health

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

affects each of Porter's Five Forces as well as the resources and capabilities of the firm. The availability of patents may be key to deciding what barriers to entry exist. The enforceability of covenants not to compete and assignments of View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

22 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution

Business leaders can't develop and execute effective strategy without first gathering the right information, says Harvard Business School professor Robert Simons. In his new book, Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution, Simons explains how... View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

15 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Five Imperatives for Improving Health Care

Innovation in health care treatment seems to far outpace innovation in health care business management. Just ask President Obama—two weeks ago he delayed enactment of a key provision of the new health care law for fear its requirements would swamp small-business... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

11 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

Is Amazon a Retailer, a Tech Firm, or a Media Company? How AI Can Help Investors Decide

Traditional investing classifications consider Walmart a consumer staples retailer, but the company owns more than 6,000 retail and distribution properties around the world—the portfolio dwarfs those of many commercial real estate firms. “It was a major discovery to me... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Consumer Products; Real Estate; Financial Services; Retail

October 2014 (Revised January 2016)
Case

IDEO: Human-Centered Service Design

By: Ryan W. Buell and Andrew Otazo

The case describes IDEO, one of the world's leading design firms, and its human-centered innovation culture and processes. It is an example of what managers can do to make their own organizations more innovative. In reaction to a rapidly changing competitive landscape,... View Details

Keywords: Design Thinking; Innovation; Service Management; Service; Design; Service Delivery; Innovation and Management; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Peru

19 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

What Makes Employees Trust (vs. Second-Guess) AI?

When an algorithm recommends ways to improve business outcomes, do employees trust it? Conventional wisdom suggests that understanding the inner workings of artificial intelligence (AI) can raise confidence in such programs. Yet, new research finds the opposite holds... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

01 Dec 2023
News

Drop Everything, Read This

to believe that the democratic-capitalist system is still the best invention within the political economy; instead, he urges a restoration of integrity. Otherwise, “the two basic components of the democratic-capitalist system are at risk... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

2020
Book

Experimentation Works: The Surprising Power of Business Experiments

By: Stefan Thomke

Don’t fly blind. See how the power of experiments works for you. When it comes to improving customer experiences, trying out new business models, or developing new products, even the most experienced managers often get it wrong. They discover that intuition,... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Experiments; Market Research; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Customers; Research

Find at Harvard

27 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

How the FBI Reinvented Itself After 9/11

rendered them obsolete. Similarly, Gulati references Kodak (which failed to react quickly enough to the public demand for digital photography—even though its own researchers played a role in inventing the technology) and automakers like... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

12 Mar 2024
Cold Call Podcast

How to Bring Good Ideas to Life: The Paul English Story

Keywords: Re: Frances X. Frei

August 2014
Case

Netflix in 2011

By: Willy Shih and Stephen Kaufman

Reed Hastings founded Netflix to provide a home movie service that would do a better job satisfying customers than the traditional retail rental model. But as it encountered challenges it underwent several major strategy shifts, ultimately developing a business model... View Details

20 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Five Discovery Skills that Distinguish Great Innovators

In their new book, The Innovator's DNA, authors Jeff Dyer, Hal Gergersen, and Clayton M. Christensen build on the idea of disruptive innovation to explain how and why the Steve Jobses and Jeff Bezoses of the world are so successful. This excerpt from Chapter One... View Details

Keywords: by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gergersen & Clayton M. Christensen

April 2020 (Revised October 2021)
Case

SpaceX, Economies of Scale, and a Revolution in Space Access

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl, Kylie Lucas and Mehak Sarang

From the time he transformed the world of online banking, Elon Musk established himself as a bold innovator. After selling X.com to PayPal in 2002, he founded a series of revolutionary start-ups, starting with Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). Hoping to "make... View Details

Keywords: Space Tech; Space Access; Vision; Economies Of Scale; Technological Innovation; Emerging Markets; Commercialization; Finance; Aerospace Industry

21 Mar 2019
HBS Case

The Ferrari Way

“If you drive a Ferrari, you put premium petrol in the tank, you hit the motorway, and you step on the gas.” —Soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic That purring engine. The buttery soft leather. Those sleek curves. The essence of a Ferrari transcends any one particular design... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Auto

01 Jun 2023
News

Elevator Pitch: Block by Block

will begin in San Jose, California, at the end of 2023. Heard: “The rental apartment is a very disappointing product that the world has become accustomed to,” says Wong. “I wanted to see what would happen if Tesla and SpaceX engineers View Details

Keywords: entrepreneurship; construction; housing; design; Construction of Buildings; Construction

December 2006 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs

By: Anthony Mayo and Mark Benson

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, founders of Microsoft and Apple respectively, have revolutionized the relationship between the individual and computer technology. Once the exclusive domain of academia and research facilities, computers can now be found in every area of... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business History; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Technology Industry