Publications

2009
Working Paper

Principles that Matter: Sustaining Software Innovation from the Client to the Web

By: Marco Iansiti

Economic analysis often reviews the role of principles—such as respect for intellectual property rights—in driving innovation. Given the interdependent nature of innovation in information technology, three core principles have emerged that work together to ensure that... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Intellectual Property; Partners and Partnerships; Competition; Information Technology; Internet and the Web

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Article

Households' Willingness to Pay for 'Green' Goods: Evidence from Patagonia's Introduction of Organic Cotton Sportswear

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Michael Crooke, Forest L. Reinhardt and Vishal Vasishth

To shed light on individuals' willingness to pay for "green" goods (i.e., goods that are supposed to have lower adverse environmental impacts either in production or in use), we study data from the introduction by Patagonia, Inc., of organic cotton sportswear in the... View Details

Keywords: Spending; Consumer Behavior; Environmental Sustainability; Consumer Products Industry

November 2000 (Revised October 2005)
Case

TiVo

TiVo is a digital video recorder that allows viewers to watch what they want, when they want to watch it. Fourteen months into the launch, sales are very disappointing. Brodie Keast, VP of marketing and sales, wants to combine a catchy communications campaign, product... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communications; Product Launch; Television Entertainment; Innovation and Invention; Electronics Industry

September 2010 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Assembling Smartphones: Takt Time ≠ Cycle Time?

By: Willy Shih and Ethan Bernstein

The case was prepared to be used as part of a process review in the first year Technology and Operations Management course at HBS. It offers students an opportunity to discuss the context of a manufacturing process choice, and then examine actual production numbers... View Details

Keywords: Cognition and Thinking; Research and Development; Design; Six Sigma; Measurement and Metrics; Production

April, 2023
Article

Reducing Information Barriers to Solar Adoption: Experimental Evidence from India

By: Meera Mahadevan, Robyn C. Meeks and Takashi Yamano

Off-grid solar technologies hold promise for unelectrified and low-quality electricity settings; however, their adoption remains low. Important barriers to adoption, such as incomplete information remain relatively unexplored in developing countries. In collaboration... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Renewable Energy; Knowledge Sharing; Developing Countries and Economies; India

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August 2020
Article

Strategies for Managing the Privacy Landscape

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Andres Hervas-Drane

Firms use consumer personal information to improve their products and services. Personal information is open to misuse, however, and when exploited for undesired or unexpected purposes reduces consumer’s trust in the firm and their willingness to provide personal... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Privacy; Privacy Threats; Strategy Framework; Strategy Interactions; Customers; Information; Management; Strategy; Technology Industry

October 2006
Article

Location Choices across the Value Chain: How Activity and Capability Influence Collocation

By: Juan Alcacer

There has been a recent revival of interest in the geographic component of firm strategy. Recent research suggests that two opposing forces—competition costs and agglomeration benefits—determine whether firms collocate in a given geographic market. Unexplored is (1)... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Sales; Research and Development; Cost Accounting; Cost Management; Markets; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Distribution; Cost vs Benefits; SWOT Analysis; Telecommunications Industry

Every company's ability to innovate depends on a process of experimentation whereby new products and services are created and existing ones improved. But the cost of experimentation is limiting. New technologies—including computer modeling and simulation—promise to... View Details

Dorothy A. Leonard

Dorothy Leonard*, the William J. Abernathy Professor of Business Administration Emerita, joined the Harvard faculty in 1983 after teaching for three years at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has taught MBA courses in... View Details

Keywords: computer; consulting; education industry; electronics; federal government; high technology; information technology industry; software; venture capital industry

2011
Working Paper

Do U.S. Market Interactions Affect CEO Pay? Evidence from UK Companies

By: Joseph J. Gerakos, Joseph D. Piotroski and Suraj Srinivasan

This paper examines the extent that interactions with U.S. markets impact the compensation practices of non-U.S. firms. Using a sample of large U.K. companies, we find that the total compensation of U.K. CEOs is positively related to the extent of the firm's... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Corporate Governance; Executive Compensation; Management Practices and Processes; Motivation and Incentives; United Kingdom; United States

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December 2013 (Revised July 2015)
Case

VP Group: Vegpro Grows Beyond Kenya

By: Jose Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

In 2013, Kenyan horticulture producer and exporter VP Group is weighing potential expansion opportunities against the growing risks in its production and export markets. With $121 million in 2012 revenues, VP Group has grown rapidly in recent years by expanding its... View Details

09 Oct 2020
HBS Seminar

Jeffrey L. Furman, BU, Questrom Sch of Business

1994
Book

Adding Value: Brands and Marketing in Food and Drink

By: Geoffrey Jones and Nicholas J. Morgan

Branding is one of the most prominent topics in business today. This volume explores both the impact it has had on major products and the business strategies which have shaped the success, or failure, of these brands. Focusing on the history of marketing in the food... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product; Business Strategy; Value; Food and Beverage Industry

16 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Has COVID-19 Broken the Global Value Chain?

The coronavirus pandemic has not only disrupted lives and businesses, it has illuminated underlying fragilities in the global value chain (GVC) that drives economies around the world. The smartphone you use many times daily is a product... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

21 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Incentives versus Reciprocity: Insights from a Field Experiment

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung & Das Narayandas

February 2021 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Sarah Breedlove: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case describes the rise of Sarah Breedlove, who later called herself Madam C.J. Walker, from the cotton fields of Louisiana to the head of a successful, nationwide beauty company providing opportunity and hair care products to Black women. The case describes how... View Details

Keywords: Brands; African-american Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Personal Characteristics; Success; Work-Life Balance; Business Startups; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Personal Development and Career; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

May 1999 (Revised December 2003)
Case

European Monetary Union

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Sabina M. Ciminero

On January 1, 1999, 11 European countries unified their currencies--48 years after their first integrative efforts. This marks a huge development in the structure of Europe and the world's economy. This case examines the integrative process, the Single Europe Act and... View Details

Keywords: Money; Currency; Globalized Economies and Regions; Markets; International Relations; Alliances; System; Integration; Macroeconomics; Business and Government Relations; European Union