Publications

June 2015
Article

You Need an Innovation Strategy

By: Gary P. Pisano

Why is it so hard to build and maintain the capacity to innovate? The reason is not simply a failure to execute but a failure to articulate an innovation strategy that aligns innovation efforts with the overall business strategy. Without such a strategy, companies will... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy

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01 Jun 2024
News

Competing in the Age of AI

Dorothy and Michael Hintze Professor of Business Administration. He views AI in the same way—a widely available invention that enables people to go farther and faster, cognitively. “But when you are learning to ride a bike, it’s initially... View Details

Keywords: April White

June 2016 (Revised November 2021)
Case

chotuKool: 'Little Cool,' Big Opportunity

By: Rory McDonald, Derek van Bever and Efosa Ojomo

In 2013, a team led by Gopalan Sunderraman, vice president of corporate development at Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.—one of the companies owned by Godrej Group, a large Indian conglomerate—was preparing to launch an innovative low-cost refrigerator. Developed expressly... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; India

September 2011
Article

What Drives Innovation?

By: Tom Nicholas

The idea that innovation drives economic growth is incontrovertible, but the factors that, in turn, drive innovation are not fully understood. This paper surveys the recent literature, focusing on three main drivers: intellectual property rights institutions, the... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Economic Growth

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15 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

IT Job Wages Are No Longer 'Exceptional'

post-doctoral researcher, and Shane Greenstein, the Martin Marshall Professor of Business Administration. The dawn of digital careers Beginning with the invention of the personal computer in the 1980s, IT wages commanded a premium over... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology

12 Sep 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Can Remote Surgeries Digitally Transform Operating Rooms?

Keywords: Health

May 2011
Article

The Power of Small Wins

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer

What is the best way to motivate employees to do creative work? Help them take a step forward every day. In an analysis of knowledge workers' diaries, the authors found that nothing contributed more to a positive inner work life (the mix of emotions, motivations, and... View Details

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October 2022 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Driving Decarbonization at BMW

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel

The case describes BMW’s electrification and decarbonization strategy, and how the company measured carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of its vehicles and used tools like carbon abatement cost curves to evaluate decarbonization opportunities. In mid-2022,... View Details

Web

Polaroid: At The Intersection of Science & Art: Edwin H. Land and the Polaroid Corporation

invention and creativity within the culture of a small, science-based research and manufacturing company. He argued that the industrial process should be "dedicated to the discernment of deep human needs." 2 His philosophical insights... View Details

13 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

Science: The Unlikely Frontier for New Business Ideas

“Fail fast” has become the corporate innovation mantra, but new research suggests that inventions that build on science, with its systematic observation and methodical experiments, may deliver more value to companies. US patent filings... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

May 2012 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Apple Inc. in 2012

By: David B. Yoffie and Penelope Rossano

On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs tragically died of cancer. The recently retired CEO of Apple Inc. was a legend: he had changed Apple from a company near bankruptcy to one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world. Moreover, he had revolutionized several... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Market Positioning; Strategic Planning; Technology; Computer Industry; Strategy Implementation; Consumer Electronics; Telecommunications; Information Infrastructure; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Strategy; Leadership; Product Positioning; Telecommunications Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

26 Sep 2016
Book

Is Company Failure Inevitable?

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

August 2011 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Language and Globalization: 'Englishnization' at Rakuten (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Hiroshi Mikitani, the CEO of Rakuten, (Japan's largest online retailer), is at the helm of an organization that is rapidly expanding into global markets. In a critical stride toward becoming the world's No. 1 Internet services company, Mikitani announces... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Human Capital; Change Management; Transformation; Social Enterprise; Communication Strategy; Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Leadership; Global Strategy; Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Japan

October 2022 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Ginkgo Bioworks vs. Scorpion Capital: The Debate Over Related-Party Revenues

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese, Suraj Srinivasan and Annelena Lobb

Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic biology company based in Boston, Massachusetts, faced divergent views on its revenue possibilities and accounting practices. After a report emerged accusing it of fraudulent accounting and lack of innovation, its share price plunged. But... View Details

Keywords: Fraud Allegations; Revenue; Reports; Accounting Audits; Innovation and Management; Investment; Biotechnology Industry; Boston

01 Sep 2023
News

3-Minute Briefing: Frances Haugen: (MBA 2011)

I went to a Montessori preschool. My parents were very big on the idea that children are people and treated me with great seriousness. If they asked me to do something, I was allowed to ask why. Debate was a big part of my high school experience. Coaching debate... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; whistle blower; Facebook; leadership; social media

September 2019
Case

Netflix: A Creative Approach to Culture and Agility

By: Ranjay Gulati, Allison Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga

By 2018, Netflix had been credited for revolutionizing how viewers consumed entertainment—shifting from ad-fueled linear network programming to a highly personalized, on-demand, all-you-can-consume, ad-free model. The company was riding a long wave of revenue and... View Details

Keywords: Digital Technologies; Streaming; Video On Demand; International Expansion; Leadership; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Leadership Style; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Entertainment; Media; Change Management; Expansion; Technology Industry; United States

01 Dec 2023
News

Educating Leaders for Today and Tomorrow

Illustration by Stephanie Dalton Cowan HBS is constantly taking steps, both small and large, to refine and improve the way it prepares its students and program participants to lead—both in today’s world and in a future we can’t yet imagine. By being creative, nimble,... View Details

April 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

IBM: Design Thinking

By: Srikant M. Datar, Amram Migdal and Paul Hamilton

This case describes the 2012-2020 effort at IBM to implement design thinking throughout the company and hire thousands of designers to serve on every product team alongside technical engineers and developers and product managers. IBM’s design transformation is told... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Divisions; Business Units; Business Organization; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Competency and Skills; Talent and Talent Management; Design; Human Resources; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Jobs and Positions; Job Design and Levels; Leading Change; Management; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Operations; Product; Product Design; Product Development; Organizations; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Strategy; Adaptation; Adoption; Technological Innovation; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States