Publications

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2012
Teaching Note

Beyondsoft Co., Ltd. (B) (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Hong Zhang

The case "Beyondsoft Co., Ltd. (A)" completed in early 2010 described the strategic path of Beyondsoft over its history of more than 10 years since its foundation in 1995, containing its major business lines and the relations with the major customers at that time, the... View Details

Keywords: Computer Software; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Outsourcing; Strategy; China; Applications and Software; China

2023
Working Paper

The Complexity of Economic Decisions

By: Xavier Gabaix and Thomas Graeber

We propose a theory of the complexity of economic decisions. Leveraging a macroeconomic framework of production functions, we conceptualize the mind as a cognitive economy, where a task’s complexity is determined by its composition of cognitive operations. Complexity... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Complexity; Perception; Consumer Behavior; Production

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March 2023
Teaching Note

VideaHealth: Building the AI Factory

By: Karim R. Lakhani

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 621-021. The case “VideaHealth: Building the AI Factory” examines the creation of dental startup VideaHealth (Videa) and the development of its artificial intelligence (AI)-led business strategy through the eyes of founder and CEO Florian... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Product Development; Health Industry; Technology Industry

November 2017
Case

The 'Wonder Drug' That Killed Babies

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Tom Nicholas and Matthew Preble

In the early 1960s, a popular drug taken by patients worldwide for a range of maladies was found to cause severe birth defects and other health problems in babies born to mothers who had taken it during a certain stage of fetal development. As many as 10,000 children... View Details

Keywords: Regulation; Business and Government Relations; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Product Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business History; Health; Government Legislation; Corporate Accountability; Ethics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Pharmaceutical Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States; United Kingdom; Australia; Germany; Europe

February 2011 (Revised December 2014)
Case

RentJuice

By: Thomas Eisenmann and Liz Kind

RentJuice, founded in mid-2008, provided a subscription software service—sold via phone and live online webinars—that allowed real estate professionals like brokers and agents to manage and market rental listings, communicate with clients, and complete transaction... View Details

Keywords: Renting or Rental; Product Launch; Applications and Software; Property; Business Startups; Salesforce Management; Product Marketing; Real Estate Industry; Information Technology Industry

08 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 8, 2010

adult decision maker. Finally, we list a set of open questions that could be profitably addressed by future research. Social Preferences and Strategic Uncertainty: An Experiment on Markets and Contracts Authors:Marco Piovesan, Antonio... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Veeva Systems: The Next Frontier

By: Satish Tadikonda and William Marks

Born out of a desire to bring technological advances in enterprise software into the healthcare vertical, Peter Gassner and Matt Wallach founded Veeva to bring life sciences companies into the digital age for data management in both the commercial and R&D sectors. Over... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Governance Compliance; Applications and Software; Growth Management; Expansion; Technology Industry

Web

Africa - Global

Kigali, and Nairobi In May 2025, the ARC concluded the Creating Emerging Markets and FIELD Global Capstone project by engaging with four visionary African business leaders across Accra, Kigali, and Nairobi. These conversations offered a... View Details

March 2013
Article

For Mobile Devices, Think Apps, Not Ads

By: Sunil Gupta

Many companies envision mobile ads becoming an integral part of their communications strategies. But there's a growing consensus that ads don't work on mobile devices; consumers just don't like them. Instead of creating tiny banner ads, smart marketers will turn to... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Advertising; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Invention

27 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know

Workplace, using two high-profile cases of religious discrimination that were argued before the US Supreme Court in recent years: one about a young Muslim woman who battled Abercrombie & Fitch for rejecting her job application because... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage; Apparel & Accessories

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

excitement and the growing enthusiasm, at times even the frenzy, about these new phenomena, on the grounds of the pressing demands on managers to deal with the new reality and on academics to understand these phenomena. “Existing strategy frameworks developed for... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

July 1997 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Aladdin Knowledge Systems

By: John A. Quelch

The founder, president, and CEO of a leading software security company has just announced the $5.1 million cash acquisition of a key competitor. As a result, his company becomes the market share leader in Europe and number two in the United States. But now, he and the... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Marketing; Applications and Software; Globalization; Acquisition; Sales; Information Technology Industry; United States; Europe

October 2024
Teaching Plan

Teamworks: Tackling a Forecasting Fumble

By: Lou Shipley and Stacy Straaberg

In late March 2018, Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides learned Q1 2018 sales were at risk for a large forecasting miss. Founded in 2004, Teamworks’s software application assisted support staff in messaging, scheduling, and sharing documents with collegiate and professional... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication Strategy; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Technological Innovation; Sports; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; United States; North Carolina