Publications

September 2013 (Revised August 2015)
Background Note

Leadership and Teaming

By: Ethan Bernstein

Small differences in the leadership of teams can have large consequences for the success of their efforts. Many initiatives fail not because of a fatal error in judgment or insufficient ideas, knowledge, motivation, or capabilities to deliver a solution. They fail... View Details

March 2015
Case

BOLT: Seed Venture Capital Firm

By: William A. Sahlman and Robert F. White

BOLT is a different kind of seed venture capital firm built to serve the needs of early-stage startups at the intersection of hardware and software.

In the past decade, the cost of entrepreneurial experimentation has dropped dramatically, particularly in web... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Accelerator; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Venture Capital; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Strategy

10 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Do You Have Change Fatigue?

that Kanter calls IKIWISI (I'll know it when I see it). She compares it to improvisational theatre: you make the best judgment you can in the moment and remain prepared to adjust to whatever new conditions arise. "Personally, I hate... View Details

Keywords: by Nick Morgan

May 2004
Background Note

56K Modem Battle

By: David B. Yoffie and Deborah Freier

Examines the battle to set the standard for the 56K modem. Set in 1996, this case looks at how computers accessed the Internet via a telephone line, or dial-up connection, and a hardware modem. In 1995, there were 18.6 million total modem unit shipments, with market... View Details

Keywords: Announcements; Revenue; Patents; Product Launch; Network Effects; Standards; Competition; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Technology Industry; Illinois

Find at Harvard

25 Aug 2015
First Look

First Look Tuesday

Administration (FDA) and explore how this affects an operational decision-production tool choice-of interventional cardiologists deciding between two types of cardiac stents. Analyzing 147,000 choices over 6 years, we find that individuals do respond to negative View Details

October 2009 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Nettwerk: Digital Marketing in the Music Industry

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

How is music marketed in the digital era? Nettwerk Music Group built on its foundation as a social, grassroots marketer of music and artists and emerged as a leader in the Internet-enabled social media environment. For most of the past decade Nettwerk CEO Terry McBride... View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Network Effects; Sales; Social and Collaborative Networks; Online Technology; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Music Industry

20 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

Risky Business with Structured Finance

this product was so superior to other channels of financing. We also started hearing the phrase, 'These structures create yield out of thin air.' It implies magic, or a violation of a very standard notion in finance, a Modigliani-Miller... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

27 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on 2010’s Biggest Business Developments

Bill George, Professor of Management Practice Social networking is the most significant business development of 2010, topping the resurgence of the U.S. automobile industry. During the year social networking morphed from a personal communications tool for young people... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

08 Feb 2021
Book

How to Make the World Better, Not Perfect

one small way he could do his part, according to his new book Better, Not Perfect: A Realist’s Guide to Maximum Sustainable Goodness. In the book, Bazerman shares lessons from his own experiences and provides practical advice to help... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

13 Oct 2015
First Look

October 13, 2015

The new capabilities and vast quantities of data that smart, connected products offer are redefining the activities of the core functions of companies—sometimes radically. As software and cloud-based... View Details

21 Jul 2015
First Look

First Look: July 21, 2015

Case 515-033 Sustainability at IKEA Group By 2014, IKEA Group was the largest home furnishing company, with EUR28.5 billion of sales and a plan to reach EUR50 billion by 2020, mainly from emerging markets. At the same time, IKEA Group had View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Nov 2019
What Do You Think?

Should Non-Compete Clauses Be Abolished?

many risks, unknowns like they are in trouble financially, they are behind in product development, etc. particularly when there is no compensation other than employment for the present and nothing once the employment ends.” An argument... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2023
Case

Cleave Therapeutics: Taking a Risk on Oncology Drug Discovery

By: Regina Herzlinger and Brian Walker

What should a successful executive (HBS Baker Scholar) assess as her next move as the CEO of a firm with a promising and yet uncertain new drug? Amy Burroughs’ mandate to successfully commercialize Cleave Therapeutics’ drug for a cancer with no current successful... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Leadership; Health Testing and Trials; Research and Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Condition; Partners and Partnerships; Pharmaceutical Industry