Publications

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15 Mar 2024
HBS Case

Let's Talk: Why It's Time to Stop Avoiding Taboo Topics at Work

conversation. She has also outlined prescriptions for important topics that she says people should discuss but often avoid (think: job-hunting while pregnant). And when a conversation goes off the rails, she suggests ways to bring both parties back to the table to... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

March 2017
Case

CIC: Catalyzing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (A)

By: William R. Kerr, Sari Kerr and Alexis Brownell

CIC creates "entrepreneurial ecosystems," renting out office and co-working space to start-ups and related companies and providing basic business needs like Wi-Fi and legal advice. Founder Tim Rowe refers to the CIC as "innovation infrastructure," bringing together... View Details

Keywords: Start-ups; Boston; Cambridge; St. Louis; CIC; Cambridge Innovation Center; Co-working Space; Entrepreneurial Ecosystems; Innovation Ecosystems; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Business Offices; Innovation and Invention

19 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Codeacademy’s Delicate Work of Adding Monetization Without Crushing Mission

in the MBA program's elective curriculum. Bussgang recently published a case study on Codecademy's success to date, as well as the challenges it faces relative to future growth. He discusses that case and the startup space more broadly... View Details

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey J. Bussgang; Technology

2019
Working Paper

Using Technology to Augment Professionals, Instead of Replacing Them, for Innovative Problem Solving

By: Hila Lifshitz - Assaf, Felicia Ng, Aniket Kittur and Robert Kraut

While in some technological and scientific areas innovation is flourishing, in others it is stalling, leaving important problems unsolved for decades. One explanation is professionals’ limitations as problem solvers, as accumulating depth of knowledge enhances one’s... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Expertise; Future Of Work; Crowdsourcing; Artificial Intelligence; Problem Solving; Professionalism; Experience and Expertise; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Problems and Challenges; Research and Development

June 2021
Case

Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not... View Details

Keywords: Agility; Ecosystem; Innovation Ecosystems; Crowdsourcing; Open Innovation; Partnership; Government; Collaboration; Co-creation; Purpose; Impact; Social Impact; Movement; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Ambidexterity; Ambidexterity; Culture; Culture Change; Global Teams; Experimentation; Space; Airline Industry; Start-up; Platform Business; Platform Strategy; Platform; Digital; Robotics; Robots; Mobility; Strategy; COVID-19; Intrapreneurship; Public-private Partnership; XPRIZE; Space Industry; Avatar; Telepresence; Innovation Lab; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Alignment; Leadership; Leading Change; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transportation Industry; Aerospace Industry; Japan

May 2014 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Houston We Have A Problem: NASA and Open Innovation (A)

By: Michael Tushman, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf and Kerry Herman

Jeff Davis, director of Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) at NASA, has been working for several years to raise awareness amongst scientists and researchers in his organizations of the benefits of open innovation as a successful and efficient way to collaborate on... View Details

June 2021
Case

Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not... View Details

Keywords: Agility; Ecosystem; Innovation Ecosystems; Innovation; Crowdsourcing; XPRIZE; Open Innovation; Partnership; Government; Collaboration; Co-creation; Purpose; Impact; Social Impact; Movement; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Ambidexterity; Ambidexterity; Culture; Culture Change; Global Teams; Experimentation; Space; Space Industry; Airline Industry; Start-up; Platform Business; Platform Strategy; Platform; Digital; Robotics; Robots; Avatar; Telepresence; Innovation Lab; Mobility; COVID-19; Intrapreneurship; Public-private Partnership; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Alignment; Leadership; Leading Change; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transportation Industry; Aerospace Industry; Japan

Article

Space, the Final Economic Frontier

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl

After decades of centralized control of economic activity in space, NASA and U.S. policymakers have begun to cede the direction of human activities in space to commercial companies. NASA garnered more than 0.7% of GDP in the mid-1960s but is only around 0.1% of GDP... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Economics; Private Sector; Aerospace Industry

Read Now

Research Summary

Overview

Elizabeth uses a humanistic lens to research people's emotions, relationships, and narrative dynamics at work. Through her scholarship, she aims to help people and organizations create space for, and better understand, inherently human experiences at work such as... View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Emotions; Qualitative Methods; Culture; Psychodynamics

17 Feb 2022
Book

When Employees Feel a Sense of Purpose, Companies Succeed

compartmentalize their work as separate from the rest of their lives. And so, it is incumbent upon leaders to find ways to create a positive work context in which employees not only feel inspired but also... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

31 May 2016
HBS Case

Who Owns Space?

sights on a mission to Mars and innovative technologies for deep space exploration. CCDev offers a clear example of how the public and private sectors can work together to pursue commercial goals and public... View Details

Keywords: Re: Matthew C. Weinzierl; Aerospace

January 1995
Case

Oticon A/S: Project 330

Describes the conceptualization and implementation of a totally new organization structure built around projects, knowledge, and personal development. The organization is fluid with almost no formal controls. Physical work space is fundamentally changed and almost all... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure

29 Mar 2016
First Look

March 29, 2016

transparency—that is, the extent to which citizens can see the often-hidden work that government performs. Across three studies using laboratory and field data, increasing operational transparency improves citizens’ views of and increases... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

P&G Canada: Old Company, New Tricks

By: Brian J. Hall, Tiffany Y. Chang and Theresa Morin Hall

P&G Canada faces ongoing global pressure to increase productivity and reduce spending. Thom Lachman, president of P&G Canada, is seemingly out of options that will make a large enough impact without harming the business, until the idea of a radical space reduction... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Human Resources; Change Management; Transition; Consumer Products Industry; Canada

May 2014 (Revised November 2014)
Supplement

Houston We Have A Solution: NASA and Open Innovation (B)

By: Michael Tushman, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf and Kerry Herman

Jeff Davis, director of Space Life Sciences Directorate at NASA, has been working for several years to raise awareness amongst scientists and researchers in his organizations of the benefits of open innovation as a successful and efficient way to collaborate on... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Aerospace Industry

01 Mar 2004
Lessons from the Classroom

Mission to Mars: It Really Is Rocket Science

employ to successfully return to the Red Planet. The case, "Mission to Mars," looks at changes the space agency has made not only recently but also over several decades as it followed a faster, simpler approach to program... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

15 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 15, 2018

economic activity in space, NASA and U.S. policymakers have begun to cede the direction of human activities in space to commercial companies. NASA garnered more than 0.7% of GDP in the mid-1960s but is only around 0.1% of GDP today.... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Issa Baluch and the African Agribusiness Knowledge and Innovation Leadership Initiative (AKILI)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Renee Vuillaume

A veteran of the freight forwarding industry, Issa Baluch wanted to transform the education space in Africa by introducing hands-on practical teaching in agriculture and agribusiness. In the summer of 2015 his vision of a practical learning institute for African... View Details