Publications

November 2012
Case

CSIRO: The Light Metals Flagship Decision

By: Willy Shih, Margaret P. Pierson and Dawn Lau

This case explores the challenge of investing in basic research as a public good. CSIRO was Australia's leading science and research agency, and it was chartered to enhance national prosperity through R&D. Its Flagships program was designed to align research interests... View Details

October 2001 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Herman Miller(B): Creating Innovation Streams

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

In 1997, Mike Volkema faced the difficulty of attempting to revitalize a once dynamic organization. Volkema wondered how he could incorporate advances made within subsidiaries, such as Miller SQA's business model innovation, into the company as a whole while also... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Product Design; Product Development; Product; Supply Chain Management; Business Model; Service Delivery; Customer Value and Value Chain; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry

April 2025
Supplement

Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics (B)

By: Linda A. Hill, James I. Cash and Lydia Begag

This case is a supplement to “Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics” (A) and is set against the backdrop of the 2024 NBA Finals. It describes the impact of Mazzulla’s decision to rally his team with an aggressive “go for the kill” mindset instead of choosing language... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Change Management; Communication; Values and Beliefs; Decision Making; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leading Change; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

17 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

innovate in batteries. In the process, Asia became the hub for innovation in the design and manufacturing of compact, high-capacity, rechargeable, lithium ion batteries, a technology that was invented in America. This explains why Asian... View Details

Keywords: by Gary P. Pisano & Willy C. Shih; Manufacturing

27 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 27

profit implications for the entrant of inventing a new business model and for the incumbent of responding with business model reconfigurations could be substantial. In particular, the value of business model innovation may be so... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

The Route of the Exhibition - The High Art of Photographic Advertising - Baker Library | Bloomberg Center

collections and to make them accessible to business school communities and scholars across disciplines. The NAAI collection has come to exemplify a dynamic synergy between photography and corporate culture, illustrating the inventive... View Details

21 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty Debate Financial Reform Legislation

the long-term lending most borrowers need—is now performed outside the channels most visible to the Federal Reserve or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. We should not blame anyone but ourselves for this. Almost 40 years ago, savers View Details

Keywords: by Staff

30 Mar 2017
News

Negotiating Peace in Canada's Largest Rainforest

whenever you're going to build something that has never been built before. It's one thing to know exactly how something can work and to build the tenth franchise, or the hundredth, or the thousandth franchise restaurant under a model. It's quite different to View Details

September 2024
Case

The Health Equity Accelerator at Boston Medical Center

By: Susanna Gallani, Mary Witkowski and Katie Sonnefeldt

This case describes how Boston Medical Center, a hospital and safety net organization, changed its strategic approach to health equity after realizing that previous efforts were not sufficient to address the health disparities among their patients. In 2021, the Health... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Decisions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Diversity; Race; Ethnicity; Urban Scope; Local Range; Equality and Inequality; Health Industry; Boston

01 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 1

IBM Authors: Timothy F. Bresnahan, Shane Greenstein, and Rebecca M. Henderson Publication: In The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity Revisited, edited by Josh Lerner and Scott Stern. Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press, 2012... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

27 Oct 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

Achieving Excellence in Nonprofits

"situational awareness"—a grasp of the key elements of their environment. Second, it means that they need to rethink their approaches—severing themselves from things that used to work, inventing things that will work now. Third,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

August 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Cisco Systems, Inc.: Acquisition Integration for Manufacturing (A)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright, Charles A. Holloway, Nicole Tempest and Christian G. Kasper

Describes the procedures and processes used by Cisco Systems in its acquisition of high-technology firms. Its goal is to retain key engineering talent and to leverage existing product development efforts, but to quickly merge acquired companies its own systems and... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Leveraged Buyouts; Acquisition; Integration; Mergers and Acquisitions; Production; Activity Based Costing and Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; England

23 Jul 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Innovation Is Magic. Really

When business executives create innovative products or services, they often look to impress their customers by delivering an experience more meaningful, more delightful, than possibly expected. A true "wow!" moment. And Harvard Business School Professor Stefan Thomke... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products

October 2023
Teaching Note

Metaverse Wars

By: Andy Wu and Matt Higgins

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 723-431. Metaverse Wars recaps the development of the metaverse concept and the attendant hype, bringing the narrative up to the summer of 2023 when Meta’s big pivot looked more like a costly misstep than a stroke of strategic genius. In... View Details

Keywords: Metaverse; Strategy; Social Media; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry

2022
Book

Productive Tensions: How Every Leader Can Tackle Innovation's Toughest Trade-Offs

By: Chris Bingham and Rory McDonald

Why is leading innovation in nascent business environments so distressingly hit-or-miss? More than 90% of high-potential ventures don’t reach their projected targets. Surveys show that 80% of executives consider innovation crucial to their growth strategy, but only 6%... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Organizational Culture; Leadership Style; Decision Making

November 2021
Article

Corporate Strategy and the Theory of the Firm in the Digital Age

By: Markus Menz, Sven Kunisch, Julian Birkinshaw, David J. Collis, Nicolai J. Foss, Robert E. Hoskisson and John Prescott

The purpose of this article is to reinvigorate research in the intersection of corporate strategy and the theory of the firm in light of the rapid advancement of digital technologies. Using the theory of the firm as an interpretive lens, we focus our analysis on the... View Details

Keywords: Digitalization; Multi-business Firm; Scale And Scope; Theory Of The Firm; Corporate Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Design; Theory; Research; Digital Transformation