Publications

November 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Reinventing the Automobile: General Motors' AUTOnomy Project

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Describes the history of General Motor's attempts to develop a hydrogen fuel-cell powered car. As of 2003, GM developed several prototypes of such a vehicle to demonstrate the viability of the overall concept. Many uncertainties remained, however, with respect to the... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Management; Information Technology; Transition; Competency and Skills; Disruptive Innovation; Machinery and Machining; Auto Industry

Article

Hurry or Wait: The Pros and Cons of Going Fast or Slow on Climate Change

By: Eleanor Denny and Jurgen Weiss

Climate change risk will likely force the de-carbonization of our electricity sector and thus involve massive investments in long-lived assets using many new and emerging technologies. Since technological progress (independent or dependent on deployment) will likely... View Details

Keywords: Electricity Sector; Environmental Risks; Fat Tails; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Climate Change; Information Technology; Investment; Technological Innovation; Cost vs Benefits

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December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Blockbuster Inc. & Technological Substitution (D): The Threat of Direct Digital Distribution

Examines the emergence of technologies for delivering video content to consumer homes via direct digital distribution and investigates the strategic options facing video rental giant Blockbuster Inc. as it tries to respond to the new technological substitutes. Examines... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk and Uncertainty; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Competition; Change Management; Service Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Blockbuster Inc. & Technological Substitution (C): The Internet Changes the Game

Investigates how the rise of the Internet as a vehicle for renting and buying movies has disrupted the video rental industry and how market leader Blockbuster Inc. can and should respond to these developments. Explores how the emergence of e-commerce affects the degree... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk and Uncertainty; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Competition; Change Management; Service Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

March 2001 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Cisco Systems Architecture: ERP and Web-enabled IT

By: Richard L. Nolan, Kelley Porter and Christina Akers

In a seven-year process, Cisco built its strategic I-Net. Beginning in 1994, Cisco completely replaced its back-office legacy systems. At that time, the company standardized Internet protocols. In addition, the company shifted strategic focus from IT back-office... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Management Practices and Processes; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry

October 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

eLance.com: Building a Professional Services Marketplace

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kristin Kohler

Launched as an eBay for services, eLance promises to leverage the capabilities of the Internet to not only change the way services are bought and sold, but change the fundamental dynamics of the global economy. Building on theories posited in the HBR article by Tim... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Job Search; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Web Sites; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry

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Kellogg invented corn flakes and created a breakfast cereal empire. Practicing pioneering advertising techniques, he managed to change the American breakfast style. Today, the Kellogg Company carries on the tradition of View Details

Keywords: Food & Tobacco

September 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Supplement

Integrated Project Delivery at Autodesk, Inc. (B)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Faaiza Rashid

Describes Autodesk's engagement in Integrated Project Delivery—a new model of risk management, inter-firm teamwork, and multi-objective (aesthetic, cost, and sustainability) optimization in building projects. In 2008, Autodesk, Inc. the world's largest design software... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Groups and Teams; Goals and Objectives; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Integration; Construction Industry

24 Oct 2023
Blog Post

Alumni in Climate Networking Series: San Francisco

business and the environment. Email bei@hbs.edu to learn more about upcoming events. The Bay area has been known as a hub for innovation for decades, and this next wave of innovation is centering around... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Catalysts for Climate Solutions: Corporate Responses to Venture Capital Financing of Climate-tech Startups

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Simon Xu

We study whether incumbent firms increase their product focus on climate solutions in response to venture capital (VC) financing of climate-tech startups. Using large language models to measure a firm's focus on climate solutions, we find that incumbents in similar... View Details

Keywords: Climate Finance; Climate Change; Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Environmental Sustainability; Business Startups

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February 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Brainlab: Imaging a MedTech Future

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Gregory P. Licholai and Federica Gabrieli

Can Brainlab, a privately held firm, compete with giants like Medtronic and Amazon in delivering the Digital Operating Room of the future? The CEO is pondering solutions for secure exchange of medical information, pricing a new robotic imaging device, and reorganizing... View Details

01 Jun 2012
News

Wynton Marsalis, Entrepreneur

Jazz and classical trumpet player, composer, bandleader, historian, raconteur, and nine-time Grammy winner Wynton Marsalis appeared at the Harvard Innovation Lab in February, ably backed by a quartet of HBS professors. In a panel... View Details

Keywords: Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

01 Dec 2016
News

Takeaways

whatever you decide.” —Professor Joseph L. Badaracco (MBA 1978, DBA 1981), Managing in the Gray Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli photo by Allison Shelley (Getty) Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli photo by Allison Shelley (Getty) “The challenges to scaling are... View Details

01 Dec 1999
News

Class of 1942 Chair Honors Paul Lawrence, Promotes Leadership

and the management of R&D laboratories. At HBS, he teaches courses in managing organizations, innovation, and international competitiveness. He is a consultant and an instructor in corporate executive... View Details

03 Feb 2018
Op-Ed

How to Heed BlackRock's Call for Corporate Social Responsibility

Larry Fink recently created a shockwave. As cofounder, chairman, and CEO of BlackRock, one of the world’s largest global asset management firms, in an open letter to CEOs he caught the attention of financial markets and beyond by... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Battilana

Mar 2012
Article

How to Make Finance Work

has been mixed. The sector's growth has been beneficial for U.S. corporations, which enjoy ready access to the deepest capital markets in the world. Venture capital, for example, and the public equity markets that support it, has channeled money to View Details

August 2020
Case

24M Technologies

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2020, 24M Technologies (24M) announced that two of its strategic investors had commenced building plants to produce lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries based on 24M’s novel semi-solid electrode technology. This promised to halve the cost of conventional Li-ion... View Details

Keywords: Lithium-ion Batteries; Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy