Publications

July 2018
Article

Reimagining Health Data Exchange: An Application Programming Interface-Enabled Roadmap for India

By: Satchit Balsari, Alexander Fortenko MD, MPH, Joaquin A. Blaya PhD, Adrian Gropper MD, Malavika Jayaram LLM, Rahul Matthan LLM, Ram Sahasranam, Mark Shankar MD, Suptendra N. Sarbadhikari PhD, Barbara Bierer, Kenneth D. Mandl MD, Sanjay Mehendale MD, MPH and Tarun Khanna

In February 2018, the Government of India announced a massive public health insurance scheme extending coverage to 500 million citizens, in effect making it the world’s largest insurance program. To meet this target, the government will rely on technology to... View Details

Keywords: Health Information Exchange; India; Health APIs; Health Care and Treatment; Information; Analytics and Data Science; Information Technology; Health Industry; India

February 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Sekisui House and the In-Home Early Detection Platform

By: John D. Macomber and Akiko Kanno

To address an aging population and sales declines, a major Japanese homebuilder considers pivoting to provide and support an in-home health detection platform, in competition with tech companies. This case considers the point of view of major builders regarding how... View Details

Keywords: Voice Assistants; Architecture; Smart Home; Aging Society; Digitalization; Real Estate; Home Automation; Sensors; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Health Care and Treatment; Housing; Age; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; Health Industry; Japan

July 1988 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Du Pont's Artificial Intelligence Implementation Strategy

Describes Du Pont's attempt to follow a "small is beautiful" type approach toward implementing expert systems technology. Intended to illustrate that there is no "one right way" to implement expert systems and that the small systems approach can be a viable strategy... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Business Strategy

July 1986 (Revised August 1986)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: Funding for Information Systems

Frito-Lay, Inc., a large snack foods company, has adopted a new method for allocating information systems resources. The method and its rationale are described in detail, along with user reactions. The new scheme is simple, but is it an improvement? Will it be... View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Information Technology; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

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February 2024
Module Note

Data-Driven Marketing in Retail Markets

By: Ayelet Israeli

This note describes an eight-class sessions module on data-driven marketing in retail markets. The module aims to familiarize students with core concepts of data-driven marketing in retail, including exploring the opportunities and challenges, adopting best practices,... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Tamoxifen—Reducing Breast Cancer Risks: Case Histories of Transformational Advances

By: Amar Bhidé, Srikant Datar and Katherine Stebbins

We describe the development of tamoxifen, considered a “gold standard” treatment for millions of breast cancer patients. Specifically, we describe breast cancer treatments before tamoxifen’s development; the initial development of tamoxifen from 1960 to 1973;... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Technology Adoption; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

SSRN

August 2019 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Rand Fishkin at Moz (A)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

In 2016, senior management at Moz, a venture capital–backed startup providing software tools for digital marketing professionals, must decide how to address a looming cash flow crisis precipitated by failed efforts to broaden its product line. Seattle-based Moz had... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Business Startups; Diversification; Growth Management; Technology Industry

22 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Humans vs. Machines: Untangling the Tasks AI Can (and Can't) Handle

consultants using AI were 19 percentage points less likely to produce the right answer. “Organizations need an experimental mindset where they implement a methodical test-and-learn approach.” How to tell which tasks fall on which side of that “jagged View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology; Information Technology

27 Apr 2020
News

The pandemic is liberating firms to experiment with radical new ideas

Article

Technology, Identity, and Inertia: Through the Lens of 'The Digital Photography Company'

By: Mary Tripsas

Organizations often experience difficulty when pursuing new technology. Large bodies of research have examined the behavioral, social, and cognitive forces that underlie this phenomenon; however, the role of an organization's identity remains relatively unexplored.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Culture; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking; Identity; Perception; Technology Adoption

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11 Dec 2020
News

How To Successfully Lead Teams Through Work-From-Home To Work-From-Anywhere

07 Sep 2016
What Do You Think?

How Can the Threat of Networks Be Reduced?

SUMMING UP Are Computers and Tech-Driven Networks In Their Twilight Years? Issues raised by the ascendancy of network technology are many and varied, judging from responses to this month’s column based on Joshua Cooper Ramo’s book, The... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

17 Sep 2021
News

AI Can Help Address Inequity — If Companies Earn Users’ Trust

2017
Chapter

Platforms, Open/User Innovation, and Ecosystems: A Strategic Leadership Perspective

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Michael Tushman

Platform, open/user innovation, and ecosystem strategies embrace and enable interactions with external entities. Firms pursuing these approaches conduct business and interact with environments differently than those pursuing traditional closed strategies. This chapter... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Open/user Innovation; Ecosystems; Crowdsourcing; Strategic Leadership; Top Management Teams; CEO Role; Business Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Digital Platforms

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17 Apr 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Digital Innovation with High Costs of Entry: Evidence from Software-Driven Medical Devices

Keywords: by Cirrus Foroughi and Ariel Dora Stern; Medical Devices & Supplies; Health

06 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Cheers to the American Consumer

litany of reasons why America spawns so many entrepreneurs. There is barely an acknowledgment of what Amar Bhide (HBS MBA '79) has appealingly termed "the venturesome consumer." Yet this willingness to adopt new products, new... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

November 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Oracle vs. PeopleSoft (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Guhan Subramanian and David Millstone

Focuses on the hotly contested takeover battle between software rivals Oracle and PeopleSoft in 2003 and 2004. Raises novel issues of takeover law under Delaware corporate law as well as issues of fair competition under California law. A central issue is whether the... View Details

Keywords: Takeover; Fiduciary Duty; Mergers and Acquisitions; Applications and Software; Ethics; Law; Governing and Advisory Boards; Customer Focus and Relationships; Competition; Strategy; Information Technology Industry; United States

25 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

Will Machine Learning Make You a Better Manager?

the firm will all rely on data science capabilities.” In short, to be competitive next decade, most companies should be thinking today about investing in data-driven technologies such as data analytics, machine learning, and Internet of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Information Technology

December 2022
Case

Taylor Farms: Adding Value to Fresh Produce

By: José B. Alvarez, Forest L. Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Pedro Levindo

In October 2022, Bruce Taylor (HBS MBA, 1981), Chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms, the leading producer of salads and healthy fresh foods in the United States, wondered whether this was the right time for Taylor Farms to venture into the Controlled Environment... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Cost vs Benefits; Logistics; Environmental Sustainability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry