Publications

2008
Working Paper

The Ethnic Composition of U.S. Inventors

By: William R. Kerr

The ethnic composition of US scientists and engineers is undergoing a significant transformation. This study applies an ethnic-name database to individual patent records granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to document these trends with greater... View Details

Keywords: Inventors; Scientists; Engineers; Information Technology; Patents; Ethnicity; Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; Immigration; China; United States; India

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March 1982 (Revised September 1985)
Case

Sealed Air Corporation

By: Robert J. Dolan

Market leadership and technological innovation have marked Sealed Air's participation in the U.S. protective packaging market. Several small regional producers have introduced products which are less effective than Sealed Air's but similar in appearance and cheaper.... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product; Technological Innovation; Supply and Industry; Competitive Advantage; Consumer Products Industry; United States

July 1995 (Revised April 1996)
Case

Cambridge Technology Partners (A)

By: Teresa M. Amabile, George P. Baker III and Michael Beer

Cambridge Technology Partners uses a highly innovative product strategy, supported by a human resources strategy, that has been very successful. However, high growth rates jeopardize product quality while tension about relative compensation levels between sales and... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Compensation and Benefits; Organizational Culture; Quality; Human Resources; Relationships; Innovation and Invention; Consulting Industry; Massachusetts

16 Feb 2023
News

Clearing the Air

Animation by Richard Borge Aaron Sabin (MS/MBA Candidate) HBS senior lecturer Jim Matheson Aaron Sabin (MS/MBA Candidate) HBS senior lecturer Jim Matheson Can We Really Engineer a Climate Fix? The opportunity—and necessity—of carbon capture Photo credits: Aaron Sabin;... View Details

04 Sep 2019
News

Impact: Where Science and Business Intersect

The creation, commercialization, and scaling of science-based enterprises will be a crucial segment of the global economy in the decades to come. Harvard Business School—through its educational programs, the research of its faculty members, and activities and resources... View Details

01 Mar 2018
News

Can a Digital Platform Open Up the Opaque Metals Industry?

image by Edmon de Haro image by Edmon de Haro Boris Eykher (MBA 2009) and Ilya Chernilovskiy (MBA 2013) watched the 2015 global price slump in commodities with horror. Prices for commodities fell to their lowest levels since the financial crisis, sending mining... View Details

Keywords: Nicole Torres

01 Mar 2016
News

A Club for the Cosmos

In May, as Khaled Al-Hashmi (GMP 11, 2011) was introducing the UAE Space Agency at the Global Space and Satellite Forum in Abu Dhabi, another launch was taking place inside the confines of the larger conference. The Harvard Business School Aerospace Alumni Group, the... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley

10 Feb 2016
News

Investing in Sustainability

Nicholas Tiller (MBA 1998) grew up in a farming community, but it was his experience in hedge-fund management in the food and energy sectors that led him to establish Sustainable America, a nonprofit with the aim of reducing US oil consumption while increasing the... View Details

01 Jun 2015
News

The End of Cows?

Price is a market barrier for lab-grown beef, with production costs currently exceeding 250,000 euros per burger. (Photo courtesy of Cultured Beef) Price is a market barrier for lab-grown beef, with production costs currently exceeding 250,000 euros per burger. (Photo... View Details

Keywords: Jason Feifer; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade; Scientific Research and Development Services

08 Dec 2014
News

Democratic Capitalism Needs Design Thinking

Keywords: design process; public policy; government innovation; government legislation; education; infrastructure; healthcare; Government

01 Sep 2005
News

Taking Flight

IN HIS ELEMENT: Peter Thayer has spotted nearly 3,500 species of birds...and counting. Peter Thayer (MBA ’73) didn’t recognize the little bird hopping about in his backyard outside Cincinnati. His parents had given him a field guide for his 11th birthday, but he hadn’t... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Finance; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores; Retail Trade

September 2002 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Siebel Systems: Organizing for the Customer

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Davila

Siebel Systems is one of the fastest growing companies in America. Tom Siebel, the company's founder, has organized the business to accommodate growth and focus on the customer. Innovative information technology systems and clear accountability prove to be essential to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Applications and Software; Business Growth and Maturation; Information Technology; Performance Evaluation; Performance Expectations; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Management Teams; Information Technology Industry; North and Central America

July 2023
Case

Moderna: Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

By: Satish Tadikonda, Shikhar Ghosh and William Marks

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moderna was riding the successes of developing a vaccine in record time and helping stem the tide of the crisis. However, the company had grown at an incredible rate, more than doubled its number of employees, and had to put on hold... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Selection and Staffing; Growth Management; Management Succession; Retirement; Technological Innovation; Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry

January 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

STRIVR: Changing the Game in Virtual Reality

By: Rajiv Lal, Matt Denison, Robert Higgins and Scott Johnson

The CEO of a growing virtual reality company that trains athletes must decide whether or not to stay in sports or expand into other areas. View Details

2015
Book

MOVE: Putting America's Infrastructure Back in the Lead

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Americans are stuck. We live with travel delays on congested roads; shipping delays on clogged railways; and delays on repairs, project approvals, and funding due to gridlocked leadership. These delays affect us all, whether you are a daily commuter, a frequent flyer,... View Details

September 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Building Watson: Not So Elementary, My Dear!

By: Willy Shih

This case is set inside IBM Research's efforts to build a computer that can successfully take on human challengers playing the game show Jeopardy! It opens with the machine named Watson offering the incorrect answer "Toronto" to a seemingly simple question during the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Standards; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mathematical Methods; Research and Development; Information Technology

2011
Working Paper

Embracing Paradox

By: Michael Tushman, Wendy K. Smith and Andy Binns

Trying to resolve the paradox between innovation and the core business only weakens the CEO and dooms the company. Exceptional leaders embrace tensions associated with exploiting prior strategies even as they explore into the future. View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Management Teams; Resource Allocation; Conflict of Interests; Business Strategy

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August 2010 (Revised November 2011)
Case

MindTree: A Community of Communities

By: David A. Garvin and Rachna Tahilyani

MindTree is a mid-sized Indian IT services company known for its knowledge management practices, its collaborative communities, and its strong culture and values. The CEO has set a goal of becoming a $1 billion company by 2014; to reach that goal, employees must create... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Employee Relationship Management; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Management; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Social and Collaborative Networks; Information Technology Industry; India

January 2009 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Sydney IVF: Stem Cell Research

By: Robert L. Simons, Kathryn Rosenberg and Natalie Kindred

This case examines the strategy implementation and risk management decisions at Sydney IVF, a research-based in vitro fertilization and stem cell company based in Australia. Drs. Robert Jansen and Jock Anderson, who co-founded Sydney IVF in 1986, developed novel... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Genetics; Commercialization; Health Industry; Australia