Publications

May 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Vaxess Technologies, Inc.

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In February 2014, Michael Schrader, chief executive of Vaxess Technologies, Inc., was assessing the startup health care company's 2014 marketing plan. On December 31st, 2013, Vaxess had obtained an exclusive license to a series of patents for a silk protein technology... View Details

Keywords: Vaccine; Cold Chain; Antigen; Temperature Controlled; Developing Markets; Immunization; Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Global Strategy; Supply Chain; Health; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

October 2013 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Myomo: Getting Sales in Motion

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Shikhar Ghosh and Matthew Preble

In late 2012, the management team of Myomo, a startup which had designed a unique myoelectric arm brace for patients with dysfunctional arms, was deciding which of the three sales models the company had tested to pursue as its sales strategy going forward. Each model... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Care and Treatment; Business Startups; Sales; Growth and Development Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

May 1991
Teaching Note

American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region, Teaching Note

By: Robert L. Simons

Teaching Note for (9-190-078). View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; North and Central America

October 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Kinetic Concepts, Inc.

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Dwight B. Crane and Ashley Robertson

Raises issues about how the nature and function of a board changes as a company moves from ownership by its employees, including the founder, to ownership by a private equity firm, Fremont Partners, culminating in a highly successful IPO. Gives students the opportunity... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Initial Public Offering; Behavior; Organizations; Employee Ownership; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

August 2003
Teaching Note

Pharmacyclics: Financing Research and Development (TN)

By: Malcolm P. Baker and Richard S. Ruback

Teaching Note for (9-201-056). View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

June 1994 (Revised March 1998)
Teaching Note

Molding the Impossible: the NYPRO/Vistakon Disposable Contact Lens Project TN

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Teaching Note for (9-694-062). View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

September 1993
Supplement

Manufacturing at ALZA: The Right Prescription? (B)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

ALZA, a drug delivery company, must decide what and for whom to manufacture. In the past, it has licensed to pharmaceutical companies its patented system for the slow release of drugs into the human system. Therefore the company has little experience in choice of drug... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Decision Choices and Conditions; Patents; Production; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Find at Harvard

21 Jul 2015
First Look

First Look: July 21, 2015

counterweights, encouraging the preservation of some valued elements of the old institutional order alongside new elements that allow for change and survival. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49377 Innovation under Regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Nov 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Public R&D Investments and Private-sector Patenting: Evidence from NIH Funding Rules

Keywords: by Danielle Li; Medical Devices & Supplies; Medical Devices & Supplies; Medical Devices & Supplies; Medical Devices & Supplies

March 2015 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Philips Healthcare Latin America

By: Sunil Gupta

On a beautiful sunny afternoon in October 2013, Daniel Mazon (GMP 15), decided to take some time out of his busy schedule of the General Management Program (GMP) at the Harvard Business School to reflect on his company's situation. Mazon was the Vice President and... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Latin America; Organizational Structure; Salesforce Management; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Latin America

January 1990 (Revised March 1991)
Case

American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region

By: Robert L. Simons

Recounts the financial difficulties and management changes experienced by American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region (NER) during the 1980s. After summarizing industry-wide changes in the collection, testing, and distribution of blood and blood products, the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Management; Restructuring; Health; SWOT Analysis; Social Enterprise; Marketplace Matching; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; North and Central America

September 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

PolyMedica Corporation (B)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

November 1993 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Molding the Impossible: the NYPRO/Vistakon Disposable Contact Lens Project

By: Clayton M. Christensen

NYPRO, Inc., one of the world's leading manufacturers of plastic injection-molded products, is asked by the Vistakon Division of Johnson & Johnson to manufacture molds that Vistakon will use to produce disposable contact lenses. The required dimensional tolerances for... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Engineering; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Production; Groups and Teams; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

31 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

A Scholarly Crowd Explores Crowdsourcing

actually might be detrimental to innovation," said HBS Assistant Professor Rory McDonald, presenting the paper Exposed: Venture Capital, Competitor Ties, and Entrepreneurial Innovation. The issues became clear when the research group studied VCs participating in a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

08 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Clayton Christensen on Disrupting Health Care

insurance, drug, retail, and medical device companies; deans of medical schools; and employers, who pay the bulk of health-care costs. All these parties interact in an... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Health

January 2001 (Revised July 2003)
Case

Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development

By: Malcolm P. Baker, Richard S. Ruback and Aldo Sesia

Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: PCYC), a pharmaceutical company that manufactures products that will improve existing therapeutic treatments for cancer, arteriosclerosis, and retinal disease, was considering a $60 million private placement in February 2000. The company had more... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Cash Flow; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Financial Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry