Publications

October 17, 2022
Article

Relational Diversity in Social Portfolios Predicts Well-Being

By: Hanne K. Collins, Serena F. Hagerty, Jordi Quoidbach, Michael I. Norton and Alison Wood Brooks

We document a link between the relational diversity of one’s social portfolio—the richness and evenness of relationship types across one’s social interactions—and well-being. Across four distinct samples, respondents from the United States who completed a preregistered... View Details

Keywords: Social Interaction; Social Engagement; Well-being; Happiness; Social and Collaborative Networks; Family and Family Relationships

June 2024
Case

Arete Research on Unity Software

By: Joseph Pacelli and Tonia Labruyere

Richard Kramer, CEO of Arete Research, an independent research firm, reflects on his team's coverage of the stock of Unity Software, a U.S.-based mobile games software company. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Initial Public Offering; Analytics and Data Science; Applications and Software; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Valuation; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; Video Game Industry; United Kingdom; United States

December 2012
Case

Delwarca Software Remote Support Unit

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Paul E. Morrison

Delwarca Software provides business software to large corporate clients around the world. The firm serves customers who prefer to assemble corporate solutions using a combination of software programs from various suppliers rather than implementing a single enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Service Delivery; Mathematical Methods; Applications and Software; Problems and Challenges; Customer Satisfaction; Information Technology Industry

24 Feb 2020
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Vulnerabilities of Open Source Software

Commonly used free and open source software (FOSS) is one of the most significant technological trends of the decade. After all, 80-90 percent of a typical application contains FOSS components. And that... View Details

Keywords: by Frank Nagle and Jenny Hoffman; Computer

July 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Novell: Open Source Software Strategy

Describes Novell's open source software strategy and the business environment in which it has arisen. Introduces open source software and strategies based on open source and offers opportunities to discuss IT strategy, IT management, and organizational change. One key... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Value Creation; Strategy; Open Source Distribution; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Intellectual Property; Information Technology Industry

15 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

The Business of Free Software

proprietary software portfolios to invest in open source software (OSS) projects that can sometimes seem unrelated to their core business. "This new reality upends the... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer

February 2021
Article

Platform Diffusion at Temporary Gatherings: Social Coordination and Ecosystem Emergence

By: Tommy Pan Fang, Andy Wu and David R. Clough

Software platforms create value by cultivating an ecosystem of complementary products and services. Existing explanations for how a prospective complementor chooses platforms to join assume the complementor has rich information about the range of available platforms.... View Details

25 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

How Software Platforms Revolutionize Business

You can't see them, but we've all used "software platforms" over the last few decades, whether they are embedded in the Windows operating system, a cell phone, or game machine. In a new book, the authors term software platforms... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Video Game; Web Services

January 1998 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Timberjack Parts: Packaged Software Selection Project

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Mark Keil and Darryl S. Romanow

This case provides a realistic, current, and detailed view of software procurement in an international business environment where the competition in enterprise-wide software solutions is growing. Focuses on the selection of packaged software to serve multiple sites... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Information Technology; Analytics and Data Science; Multinational Firms and Management; Operations; Management Practices and Processes; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

May 2007
Teaching Note

Software Associates (TN)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Keywords: Applications and Software; Information Technology

January 1995 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Portfolio Planning at Ciba-Geigy and the Newport Investment Proposal

By: David J. Collis and Elizabeth Wynne Johnson

Covers the history of portfolio planning at CIBA-GEIGY, a leading Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical company, beginning with the introduction of the process in the mid-1980s. The discussion extends to the application of portfolio planning techniques to a specific... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Corporate Strategy; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Chemicals; Chemical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Switzerland

April 2021
Case

Transforming BlackBerry: From Smartphones to Software

By: Ranjay Gulati and Nicole Tempest Keller

On the verge of failure, BlackBerry brought in John Chen as CEO in 2013 to orchestrate a bold turnaround of the company. Once an iconic leader in the smartphone market, BlackBerry was best known for its tactile QWERTY keyboard, strong security, and a focus on business... View Details

Keywords: Pivot; Managing Change; Turnaround; Smartphone; Change Management; Leading Change; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Change; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Competitive Strategy; Cybersecurity; Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; Canada

June 2004 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Business Intelligence Software at SYSCO

The large food service company SYSCO has decided to purchase business intelligence (BI) software, a technology intended to provide superior monitoring and analysis capabilities. Twila Day, assistant vice president of technology and applications, is in charge of the BI... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Decision Making; Management Systems; Distribution Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

May 2007
Supplement

Software Associates Courseware

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Keywords: Education; Applications and Software; Information Technology

September 2023
Technical Note

Free and Open Source Software and Hardware

By: Frank Nagle

This technical note surveys the concepts of free and open source software and hardware. It introduces the concepts in general, providing a brief history of their development and numerous examples of how companies employ them in practice. Further, it identifies various... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Nonprofit Organizations; Competitive Strategy; Patents; Information Technology; Business Model; Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry

November – December 2011
Article

Competitive Strategy for Open Source Software

By: Vineet Kumar, Brett Gordon and Kannan Srinivasan

Commercial open source software (COSS) products-privately developed software based on publicly available source code-represent a rapidly growing, multibillion-dollar market. A unique aspect of competition in the COSS market is that many open source licenses require... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Competitive Strategy; Product Development; Growth and Development; Markets; Motivation and Incentives; Quality; Policy; Perspective; Profit; Open Source Distribution; Emerging Markets

November 2016 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Mark43

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Mitch Weiss and Halah AlQahtani

The founders of Mark43, an early-stage startup that provides software for law enforcement agencies, must decide whether to bid on a request for proposals (RFP) from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). On the one hand, LAPD would be a second large and influential... View Details

Keywords: Start-up; Software Applications; Government Markets; Rapid Growth Stage; Public Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurship; Public Sector; Business Startups; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; United States; New York (city, NY)

2024
Working Paper

The Value of Open Source Software

By: Manuel Hoffmann, Frank Nagle and Yanuo Zhou

The value of a non-pecuniary (free) product is inherently difficult to assess. A pervasive example is open source software (OSS), a global public good that plays a vital role in the economy and is foundational for most technology we use today. However, it is... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software

March 2019
Article

Open Source Software and Firm Productivity

By: Frank Nagle

As open source software (OSS) is increasingly used as a key input by firms, understanding its impact on productivity becomes critical. This study measures the firm-level productivity impact of nonpecuniary (free) OSS and finds a positive and significant value-added... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Open Source Distribution; Performance Productivity; Information Technology; Strategy