Publications

28 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Manufacturing Matters

After decades of destructive outsourcing, America's ability to innovate and create high-tech products essential for future prosperity is on the decline, argue professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih. They won the prestigious McKinsey Award... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Manufacturing

19 Sep 2013
Working Paper Summaries

U.S. High-Skilled Immigration, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship: Empirical Approaches and Evidence

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

January 2018
Case

Trian Partners' Proxy Contest at Procter & Gamble

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

In July 2017, activist hedge fund Trian Partners announced that it was launching a proxy fight at U.S. consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble. P&G would be the largest company ever subjected to a proxy fight, as Trian sought to have its CEO, Nelson Peltz, elected to the... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

October 2022 (Revised July 2025)
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

12 Dec 2006
First Look

First Look: December 12, 2006

Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=407057 Factors That Influence Cross-Border Equity Investment Harvard Business School Note 107-020 Purchase this note:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Feb 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Developing Novel Drugs

Keywords: by Joshua Krieger, Danielle Li, and Dimitris Papanikolaou; Pharmaceutical

November 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

By: Rory McDonald, Samir Junnarkar and David Lane

Five years on from the 2008 financial crisis, Goldman Sachs remained wounded. Revenues at the global investment bank had stagnated below pre-crisis levels, and the firm had yet to rebound from a substantial decline in securities-trading revenues. Marcus by Goldman... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Banks and Banking; Innovation Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

October 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Background Note

Note on Funding Deep Tech Startups

By: Karim Lakhani, Peter Barrett and Noubar Afeyan

This Background Note provides essential information on funding deep technologies—those technologies that were inherently capital intensive, time consuming, risky, and potentially disruptive. Both dilutive and non-dilutive sources of investment are highlighted, along... View Details

May 2001 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Cisco Systems: Building Leading Internet Capabilities

By: Richard L. Nolan and Christina L. Darwall

Cisco has invested in building a leading IT, Internet-based infrastructure. This case describes Cisco's latest efforts to broaden Internet capabilities in the company from 30% to 60% penetration. The strategy is intended to sustain Cisco's double-digit revenue growth... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Revenue; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry

October 2019
Case

Regtech at HSBC

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and James Weber

Mark Cooke, Global Head of Operational Risk, needed to decide between a traditional regulatory control system and a new regtech system to manage non-financial risks. Non-financial risks failures such as money laundering and tax evasion had cost HSBC billions of... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Banks and Banking; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Banking Industry; Information Technology Industry; United Kingdom; United States

2023
Working Paper

Coordinated R&D Programs and the Creation of New Industries

By: Daniel P. Gross and Maria P. Roche

Complex systems technologies—including “deep tech”—are prone to numerous frictions that stymie commercial development. Yet technologies with these features underpin some of the most valuable industries of the past century. We examine how large, mission-oriented... View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

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25 Sep 2000
Research & Ideas

More Than the Sum of Its Parts: The Impact of Modularity on the Computer Industry

modularity does not happen by accident; it has to be designed into the system. You have to invest in the architecture and interfaces among modules and test performance at the modular level. The whole system has to work, as do the... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Computer; Consumer Products; Technology

06 Nov 2017
Research Event

Who is Responsible for the Future of Cities?

Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Panelist Efosa Ojomo clearly believed that the path to urban growth and improvement has long been spearheaded by innovations in the private sector, rather than by municipal governments.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

July–August 2018
Article

When Technology Gets Ahead of Society

By: Tarun Khanna

New technologies can be unsettling for industry incumbents, regulators, and consumers, because norms and institutions for dealing with them don’t yet exist. Interestingly, businesspeople in emerging economies face similar challenges: The rules are unclear and... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Society; Situation or Environment; Infrastructure; Entrepreneurship; Performance Effectiveness; Cooperation

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January 2024
Case

Fusion Industry Association: Igniting the Future of Clean Energy

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Kyle R. Myers and Henry Tao

Fusion energy is evolving from a scientific idea to a commercial possibility, drawing large investments and regulatory discussions; how should the FIA navigate this evolution?

The Fusion Industry Association (FIA) is at the forefront of transforming fusion... View Details

Keywords: Science-Based Business; Engineering; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Government Legislation; Industry Clusters; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Technological Innovation; Energy Industry; United States

April 2012
Article

Retail Doesn't Cross Borders: Here's Why and What to Do about It

By: Marcel Corstjens and Rajiv Lal

Most companies assume that the easiest way to grow is by investing overseas and that the developing world offers the best opportunities for boosting revenues and profits today. However, success abroad varies widely, and research shows that it's often tough to... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Growth and Development Strategy; Globalization; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Local Range; Retail Industry