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

Read Now

Article

Timing is Everything: The Importance of Finding the Right Moment in Leading Teams

Great team leaders have superb timing. We explore in this article two different types of timing that leaders need to help their teams. First, they understand when teams are naturally open to help, and what kinds of help to give teams at predictable times in... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Groups and Teams; Leadership Style

May 2008 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Chi Mei Optoelectronics

By: Willy C. Shih, Chintay Shih, Jyun-Cheng Wang and Ho Howard Yu

Chi Mei is a Taiwanese industrial group that makes a major diversification into the technology intensive TFT-LCD flat panel display industry. Because the diversification is far away from its core competence in petrochemicals, it is an opportunity to examine how the... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Supply Chain; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Information Technology; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China; South Korea; Taiwan

2009
Chapter

Collaboration Across Knowledge Boundaries within Diverse Teams: Reciprocal Expertise Affirmation as an Enabling Condition

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Kate Roloff and Lucy H. MacPhail

We review research on expertise diversity, psychological safety, team collaboration, and role identity to propose a model in which reciprocal affirmations of expertise identity among team members—a feature of the team environment that we conceptualize as a dimension of... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Experience and Expertise; Learning; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Groups and Teams; Familiarity; Identity; Cooperation

June 2004 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Scientific-Atlantia (S-A), a leading manufacturer of cable TV equipment, is confronting strategic challenges in mid-2004. For decades, cable operators have faced high switching costs that have locked them into exclusive supply relationships with either S-A or its... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Competition; Industry Structures; Television Entertainment; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Manufacturing Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

April 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Background Note

Why Complex Systems Fail

Operationally excellent organizations create competitive opportunities for themselves that are not available to their peers. One view of the manager's competitive dilemma is to pick the right position for his organization, differentiating it, for example, as a... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Complexity

21 Aug 2018
News

The Business Shelf: Driving Digital Strategy

Glass Half Broken

Why the gender gap persists and how we can close it. For years women have made up the majority of college-educated workers in the United States. In 2019, the gap between the percentage of women and the percentage of men in the workforce was the smallest on... View Details

Eaton Corp.: Portfolio Transformation and the Cost of Capital

In 2000, Eaton Corporation was broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around “power management” and more recently on “intelligent power,” the use of digitally enabled products and services designed... View Details

13 Nov 2017
Blog Post

5 Worries I Had about Applying to HBS

through my section, industry interest groups like the Venture Capital and Private Equity Club, or on travel during FIELD Global Immersions. There are many opportunities to connect and build deep friendships with your classmates. And I... View Details

18 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

How New Managers Become Great Managers

factors when making decisions about which job opportunities to pursue: How good is the fit between who they are and the position (and the organization)? How good is the fit between who they are and who they want to be? That is, what types... View Details

Keywords: by Linda Hill

01 Dec 2022
News

Future Vision

significantly change the trajectory of their lives. I loved being part of that. You’ve talked about the pandemic as the gateway to the School’s future. What opportunities for HBS do you see ahead? I say this in the spirit of finding the... View Details

Keywords: Brian Kenny; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

16 Aug 2023

#HBSMixer: College Interns Connect with Harvard Business School

Want to connect with HBS in your internship city? Join us to meet current HBS students and Admissions staff to answer your questions and share more about the student experience at Harvard Business School. This event will give you the View Details

29 Nov 2017
Research & Ideas

How to Succeed in Business (According to a 15th Century Trade Merchant)

community and who you are as a person” “Sponsoring this event was an opportunity to highlight the extraordinary treasure trove we have here, as well as the larger return to studying early capitalism in a global context,” says HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

29 Oct 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Robots in the Boardroom

Advanced Technologies How telecom giant Vodafone incorporated big data, automation, and artificial intelligence to improve productivity while ensuring new opportunities for next-generation workers. Will Machine Learning Make You a Better... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

21 Nov 2014
Working Paper Summaries

The Decoupling Effect of Digital Disruptors

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira & Peter Jamieson

2015
Other Teaching and Training Material

Innovating in Healthcare

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Margo I. Seltzer and Kevin Schulman

With over 71,000 past enrollees, Innovating in Healthcare investigates the issues of health care spending, quality, and access that continue to plague America and global nations alike. With U.S. health care costs trending toward $4 trillion in 2020, the need to... View Details

Keywords: edX; Healthcare; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Business Model

October 2019
Case

Agility Africa

By: Juan Alcacer, Caroline M. Elkins and Esel Çekin

This case illustrates the challenge and opportunities that firms face when developing and executing new business models in high-risk, low-infrastructure, low-trust countries. It features a global logistics group, Agility, that aimed to become the leader in supplying... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Emerging Markets; Decision Choices and Conditions; Real Estate Industry; Distribution Industry; Africa