Disruptive Innovations - Publications - Faculty & Research

April 2025
Teaching Note

ZEISS: Commercializing Science

By: Maria P. Roche

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 725-359. View Details

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July 2024
Case

ZEISS: Commercializing Science

By: Maria P. Roche, Carlota Moniz and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Karl Lamprecht, President and CEO of the ZEISS AG Group, mused on how far ZEISS had come in 175 years of being a pioneer in optics, and how the course he had charted since taking the helm of the company could keep it on track. In his role, he oversaw the four core... View Details

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November 2022
Case

Para: Pay Transparency and Gig Drivers' Rights

By: Christopher Stanton and George Gonzalez

The case presents the founding vision and early days of a young startup that seeks to empower delivery drivers with tools and transparency. The company's flagship mobile app has been taken up by tens of thousands of delivery drivers across major U.S. cities who use it... View Details

Keywords: Gig Workers; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Applications and Software; Disruptive Innovation; Compensation and Benefits; Technology Industry; San Francisco

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November 2000
Case

Wit Capital: Evolution of the Online Investment Bank (B)

Describes the evolution of Wit Capital from its origins as a small brewery to an online investment bank advising both small technology-based companies seeking to raise capital and large companies seeking to acquire Internet companies, as well as offering retail... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Service Delivery; Investment Banking; Entrepreneurship

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21 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 21

infringement and support small inventors. However, the model also shows that as NPEs become effective at bringing frivolous lawsuits, the resulting defense costs inefficiently crowd out firms that, absent NPEs, would produce welfare-enhancing View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

31 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 31, 2018

literature on co-located clusters and clusters' linkages, we focus on the impact of lead firms’ strategies on the competitiveness of a pair of “twin” clusters located in Northeast Italy. Our findings suggest that production remains “sticky” when leading firms pursue... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

February 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

eReading: Amazon's Kindle

By: Bharat N. Anand, Peter W. Olson Esq. and Mary Tripsas

In November 2007, Amazon introduced the Kindle, the first electronic reader with wireless functionality. The case describes the launch of the Kindle and provides information on representative players in the industry (or broader ecosystem) who are likely to be affected... View Details

Keywords: Books; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Industry Structures; Standards; Distribution Channels; Competitive Strategy; Publishing Industry

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04 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 4

are incompatible mediated the relationship between ambient cultural disharmony and creativity. Alternative mechanisms such as negative affect and cognitive disruption were not viable mediators. Although ambient cultural disharmony View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

07 Nov 2005
What Do You Think?

Is Less Becoming More?

without endangering its competitive position? Or does the answer lie in increasing levels of disruptive competition, the strategy of providing less for much less? What do you think? Original Article The issue of whether less is more, both... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Consumer Products

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Bright Ideas: The Creative Power of Groups

individuals willingly succumbing to "group think," waving through a lukewarm idea rather than disrupting the comfort of the status quo. "Questioning long-held beliefs and traditional ways of doing things is a painful but... View Details

Keywords: by Laurie Joan Aron

22 Apr 2020
Research Event

How Investors Are Sizing Up Climate Change’s Risks—and Opportunities

Until a few years ago, climate change’s potential impact seemed abstract for many investors. Now, as sea levels rise, hurricanes intensify, and droughts threaten food supplies, many investors are confronting its financial realities. But it’s not a simple calculation.... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

September 2011
Case

Driving Profitable Growth at US Auto Parts

USAP faces extraordinary opportunities to change the way that automobiles are serviced in the US by selling parts at fair prices though online channels. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Business Model; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Machinery and Machining; Cost Management; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States

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17 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 17

Working PapersUser, and Open Collaborative Innovation: Ascendent Economic Models Authors:Carliss Y. Baldwin and Eric von Hippel Abstract In this paper we assess the economic viability of innovation by producers relative to two... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 18

consistency between instrument, research question, and context. Paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1838538 Working PapersGrowth through Heterogeneous Innovations Authors:Akcigit, Ufuk, and William R. Kerr Abstract We study how exploration... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

07 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 7

Publications October 2014 Management Science Looking Across and Looking Beyond the Knowledge Frontier: Intellectual Distance and Resource Allocation in Science By: Boudreau, Kevin J., Eva Guinan, Karim Lakhani, and Christoph Riedl Abstract—Selecting among alternative... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: February 7

unavailable at this time. Read the paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gsj.28/abstract Modeling a Paradigm Shift: From Producer Innovation to User and Open Collaborative Innovation... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Supplement

MoviePass: The 'Get Big Fast' Strategy

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

In August 2017, MoviePass dramatically lowered its subscription price from $50 per month to just $10 for up to one movie per day. The idea was to rapidly scale the business to the point where they could generate incremental revenue streams form related businesses... View Details

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February 2003
Teaching Note

Bush Boake Allen (TN)

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Teaching Note for (9-601-061). View Details

Keywords: Integration; Marketing Reference Programs; Disruptive Innovation; Management Teams; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Customer Relationship Management; Management Practices and Processes; Consumer Products Industry

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22 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

Online Banks Fill Funding Needs for Small Business

scale, these alternative players have the potential to fundamentally change the way in which small businesses access capital, creating greater competition, price transparency, and a better customer experience. Emerging online players are pushing View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Banking; Financial Services

February 2024
Case

Horizon Quantum Computing

By: Paul A. Gompers and Billy Chan

In 2023, the Singapore-based startup company Horizon Quantum Computing was on the cusp of fast expansion and the founder faced the challenge to decide where to open the second office outside Singapore. To make a choice from the list of 10 countries, the founder had to... View Details