Publications

1994
Book

The Perpetual Enterprise Machine: Seven Keys to Corporate Renewal through Successful Product and Process Development

By: H. K. Bowen, K. B. Clark, C. H. Holloway and S. C. Wheelwright

Keywords: Business Processes; Innovation and Invention; Product Development

Web

Engineering Meets Advocacy: Driving Innovation in Women’s Health - Blog: Health Supplement

Practitioners Topics Topics Biotech/pharma Care Delivery Clinical Trials Digital Health Global Health Health Care Entrepreneurship Health Care Innovation Health Care Investment Health Care at HBS Insurance/payor Medical... View Details

August 2021 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kenneth P. Pucker and Eren Kuzucu

The Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) case introduces Allbirds as a footwear startup not only focused on simple design, comfort, and sustainable natural materials but on decarbonizing the wider fashion industry. Background material highlights the growing... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Impact; Environmental Strategy; Innovation; Product Design; Supply Chain Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Climate Change; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; California

07 Jul 2023
News

Jobs Will Be Transformed by AI Through Productivity Boost, Says Harvard Professor Tsedal Neeley

1989
Chapter

Collaborative Product Development and the Market for Know-How: Strategies and Structures in the Biotechnology Industry

By: Gary P. Pisano and Paul Mang

Keywords: Product Development; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Management; Industry Structures; Biotechnology Industry

April 30, 2012
Article

Innovators, Are You Applying the Wrong Lessons from Manufacturing?

By: Don Reinertsen and Stefan Thomke

Product developers can learn much from manufacturing, but many have gone too far in applying ideas that work in manufacturing to their realm. That’s because they have ignored some fundamental differences between the two disciplines. View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Manufacturing; Innovation and Invention; Product Development

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October 2013 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Chobani: Growing a Live and Active Culture (Abridged)

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Matthew Preble

Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO of the Greek yogurt company Chobani, Inc., was reflecting on what explained his young company's meteoric rise. The company held over half of the U.S. Greek yogurt market and nearly 20% of the total yogurt market. The company's innovative approach to... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Culture; Growth Strategy; Growth Management; Yogurt; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy; Agribusiness; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Canada; Australia

2025
Book

The World Is Your Office: How Work from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity, and Innovation

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury

A research-based look at a growing phenomenon—companies allowing their employees to work from anywhere in the world—and how those who adopt this model can boost talent, innovation, and productivity.
In recent years, companies in a wide range of industries have... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Telecommuting; Employees; Business Offices; Organizational Culture; Retention; Recruitment; Policy; Competitive Advantage

10 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Creating Emerging Markets Sustainability Series - Innovations to Address the Global Water Crisis

saves water.” Innovations such as drip irrigation present an opportunity for significant water conservation, especially when one considers the fact that agricultural production will need to increase (by at... View Details

December 2006
Article

How User Innovations Become Commercial Products: A Theoretical Investigation and a Case Study

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Christoph Hienerth and Eric von Hippel

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product; Theory; Information

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April 2010
Teaching Note

Carrot or Stick? Getting Paid for Innovation at Tessera Technologies (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for 610085. View Details

Keywords: Patents; Production; Situation or Environment; Law Enforcement; Lawsuits and Litigation; Information Technology; Growth and Development; Innovation and Invention; Technology Industry; Semiconductor Industry

2020
Working Paper

The Evolutionary Nature of Breakthrough Innovation: Re-Evaluating the Exploration vs. Exploitation Dichotomy

By: Dominika K. Sarnecka and Gary P. Pisano

Over the past few decades, a consensus has emerged that breakthrough innovations emerge from exploration of novel terrain while more routine innovations are the product of exploitation. In this paper, we revisit this explore versus exploit dichotomy with an analysis... View Details

Keywords: Breakthrough Innovation; Exploration And Exploitation; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation

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Research Summary

Reinvention and “Frame Flexibility”

By: Ryan L. Raffaelli

Adopting a radical innovation creates pressure for leaders to reframe their mental models while they also sustain their organization's existing capabilities and product category variants. Yet at key junctures in a product class and during technological change, a... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Change; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Diffusion Processes; Technology Adoption; Cognition and Thinking; Identity; Emotions

April 2018
Case

Ferrari

By: Stefan Thomke, Elena Corsi and Ashok Nimgade

Ferrari is among the world’s most powerful brands, but how the company operates has remained mysterious. The case reveals the inner workings of the company—the Ferrari Way—from the way it designs, produces, and markets its cars, to how its leadership team is driving... View Details

Keywords: Growth; Innovation; Technology Adoption; Product Design; Business Strategy; Technological Innovation; Operations; Management; Growth and Development; Auto Industry

February 2022 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Aleph Farms: A New Culture of Meat

By: Elie Ofek and Jeff Huizinga

Aleph Farms, an Israeli food-tech start-up, was hoping to play a major role in disrupting the conventional meat sector. Compared to intensive agricultural practices, Aleph’s cultured (or lab-grown) meat solution held the promise of considerably reducing greenhouse gas... View Details

Article

Medicine's Continuous Improvement Imperative

By: Robert S. Huckman and Ananth Raman

Maintaining quality and spurring innovation have long been central objectives of the US health care system. Like other health care professionals, physicians are challenged to minimize the likelihood of errors that could harm patients while simultaneously making efforts... View Details

Keywords: Medicine; Continuous Improvement; Toyota Production System; Alcoa; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Improvement; Health Industry

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March 2013 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Omar Ishrak: Building Medtronic Globally

By: Bill George and Natalie Kindred

Omar Ishrak, Medtronic's first non-American CEO, aims to reinvigorate the medical device maker's growth by focusing on emerging markets, therapy innovation, and creative business models. In 2012, budget constraints in mature economies, the lack of new medical therapies... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Medical Devices; Medtronic; Globalization; Innovation; Reverse Innovation; Leadership; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Management Teams; Business Model; Emerging Markets; Global Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Acquisition; Innovation and Invention; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; China

August 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

EnerNOC: DemandSMART

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice

EnerNOC is an energy company with an innovative business model: it serves as an intermediary between electric utilities and electricity users. It contracts with electricity users willing to reduce demand during periods of peak energy demand, and sells this as excess... View Details

Keywords: Production Planning; Productivity; Environmental Protection; Energy; Environment; Business Government Relations; Laws And Regulation; Business Model; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Supply Chain Management; Production; Energy Conservation; Energy Industry