Publications

October 1998 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Spotfire: Managing a Multinational Start-Up

Spotfire, a software start-up, must address the question of dividing its effort between Sweden and the United States in addition to raising venture capital, obtaining new customers, and managing early-stage growth. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry; United States; Sweden

November 1992 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Deere & Co. (A): The Computer Aided Manufacturing Services Division - A Window to the World (Abridged)

By: Robert H. Hayes

The Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) Services Division of John Deere has just received approval to sell their software and computer systems to external customers. These tools, initially developed for internal use, have been widely used throughout Deere. Still,... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Machinery and Machining; Technological Innovation; Markets; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Outcome or Result; Computer Industry; Manufacturing Industry

September 1998 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Adventurous Computer Games, Inc. (Abridged)

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A new company that manufactures computer games must begin to capitalize computer software development costs. Issues that must be addressed include the effects of capitalization and decisions about how to match costs with future revenues. View Details

Keywords: Cost; Applications and Software; Accounting; Revenue

Yuval is a doctoral student in Organizational Behavior and Sociology at HBS. He studies why are similar organizations dissimilarly diverse, especially focusing on extra-organizational dimensions that shape labor market racial and gender segregation. Yuval uses... View Details

June 2004 (Revised November 2005)
Case

PalmSource, Inc.

By: David B. Yoffie, Pai-Ling Yin and Christina L. Darwall

PalmSource CEO David Nagel had grand ambitions. In this newly spun-off company, he wanted to create the next leading software platform for hand-held devices. Explores the strategic challenges of building a platform business. View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry

October 2011
Supplement

Jack Hughes, Founder and Chairman of TopCoder, In-class comments 4/8/11

By: David A. Garvin

TopCoder's crowdsourcing-based business model, in which software is developed through online tournaments, is presented. The case highlights how TopCoder has created a unique two-sided innovation platform consisting of a global community of over 225,000 developers who... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development; Technological Innovation; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; Competition; Online Technology; Information Technology Industry

October 2011
Supplement

An Interview with Jack Hughes, Founder and Chairman of TopCoder

By: David A. Garvin

TopCoder's crowdsourcing-based business model, in which software is developed through online tournaments, is presented. The case highlights how TopCoder has created a unique two-sided innovation platform consisting of a global community of over 225,0000 developers who... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Technological Innovation; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; Competition; Online Technology; Information Technology Industry

January 1998 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Staples (C)

By: Myra M. Hart, Marco Iansiti and Barbara Feinberg

The search for appropriate hardware and software to support the launch of a new large-scale retail operation forces the management team to define their goals at a very detailed level and to make all underlying assumptions explicit. View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Management Teams; Retail Industry

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (C): Negotiating the Future

By: Ashish Nanda

The success of the Vermeer software offering suddenly transforms the start-up into a sought after company. After arduous negotiations, Vermeer management is faced with the choice of continuing as an independent company or being acquired by Microsoft or Netscape. View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Applications and Software; Decision Making; Acquisition; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (B): Realizing the Dream

By: Ashish Nanda

The Vermeer team works day and night to develop its software offering, unforeseen difficulties and internal tensions notwithstanding. In less than a year, the product is ready. The Vermeer team waits anxiously for the market to pronounce its verdict. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Product Development; Information Technology Industry

December 1999 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives

By: Lynn S. Paine

Presents the perspectives of two Russian software developers working for Cimetrics in Moscow. A central issue from the Russian perspective is whether a more structured and formal arrangement is needed for managing the Russian team. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Applications and Software; Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Labor and Management Relations; Product Development; Performance Evaluation; Information Technology Industry; Russia; Canada; United States

January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Commercial Sales Transformation at Microsoft

By: Doug J. Chung

Industry leaders should adapt to changes in the business context and consider different ways to grow. Advances in technology had shifted software demand to the cloud. As a result, Microsoft announced a strategic shift in direction from its existing ‘Windows first’... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Strategy; Transformation

November 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Epicentric

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes a set of decisions confronting the management of a software company that sells portal management tools to large companies. Management must raise additional funds under difficult circumstances. View Details

Keywords: Finance; Investment Funds; Business or Company Management; Product Marketing; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Information Technology Industry

Video

Badreddine Ouali

Badreddine Ouali, Founder and Co-CEO of Vermeg, details critical moments in his career which led him to start a banking software company in Tunisia. View Details

April 2009
Case

Symbian, Google & Apple in the Mobile Space (A)

By: Fernando Suarez, Benjamin Edelman and Arati Srinivasan

Symbian, maker of a leading mobile smartphone operating system, faces new competition from Google and Apple. Symbian evaluates changes to its software and its relationships with distributors in order to meet these competitors. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Distribution; Competitive Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software

July 2004 (Revised March 2006)
Case

RosettaNet and ebXML: Betting on the Right eBusiness Standard

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Veronika Belokhvostova

A major enterprise software company must select which technologies to support, based on their long-term and short-term viability and benefits. The protagonist is involved in the release of the B2B integration component of major enterprise software whose purpose is to... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Customer Focus and Relationships; Markets; Standards; Science-Based Business; Situation or Environment; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry

February 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Tata Consultancy Services: High Technology in a Low-Income Country

Explores the development of the software services industry in India and the challenges facing the market leader as domestic competition intensifies and new countries attempt to replicate India's success. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Software; Information Technology Industry; India