Publications

04 Feb 2022
Book

Beyond the Cold War: Reinventing Socialism in 5 Countries

Although many view socialism through the rigid lens of Soviet orthodoxy, it has always been a work in progress and an evolving and adaptable ideology on a global scale, says Harvard Business School Marvin Bower Associate Professor Jeremy Friedman. In his new book, Ripe... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Web

McCollum Center | About

The McCollum Center has been updated over the years, most recently in 2008, when it received technology upgrades, architectural finish enhancements, new furniture, improved HVAC systems, and access/egress improvements. The recent changes... View Details

2025
Working Paper

Better Keep the Twenty Dollars: Incentivizing Innovation in Open Source

By: Annamaria Conti, Vansh Gupta, Jorge Guzman and Maria P. Roche

Open source is key to innovation yet is assumed to be done largely through intrinsic motivation. How can we incentivize it? In this paper, we examine the impact of a program providing monetary incentives to motivate innovators to contribute to open source. The Sponsors... View Details

Keywords: Open Source; Innovation; Incentives; Financial Rewards; Crowding Out; Open Source Distribution; Innovation and Invention; Motivation and Incentives; Technology Industry

Read Now

March 2022
Case

Skills-First Hiring at IBM

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah Mehta

This case reviews IBM’s efforts to widen its hiring funnel and broaden its talent pool. View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Employees; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Jobs and Positions; Job Design and Levels; Job Interviews; Society; Social Issues; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

December 2020 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Komatsu and Smart Construction

By: Rajiv Lal, David J. Collis and Akiko Saito

Komatsu, Japan's leading construction equipment manufacturer, is considering investing in a digital platform "Smart Construction" that will digitise the entire work process on a construction site, allowing for substantial reductions in cost and time while improving... View Details

Keywords: Platform; Digital Business; Construction; Business Model; Strategy; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Construction Industry; Japan

August 2023
Case

Reimagining Hindustan Unilever (A)

By: Sunil Gupta and Rachna Tahilyani

In the fall of 2019, the CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm, is wondering what to do about their experiments to digitize distribution. Despite three years of intense efforts, their apps to empower retailers... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Leading Change; Distribution; Decisions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Consumer Behavior; E-commerce; Competition; Performance; Business Strategy; Marketing; Transformation; Consumer Products Industry; Asia; India

March 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

IBM Corporation Turnaround

By: Robert D. Austin and Richard L. Nolan

Describes the details of IBM's dramatic corporate turnaround in the early 1990s led by CEO Louis V. Gerstner. Accounts of events are from interviews with IBM executives. Covers the factors that led to the company's decline and actions taken to recover. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Restructuring; Management Teams; Management Practices and Processes; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

August 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Gogoro: From Electric Scooter to Energy Platform

By: Tarun Khanna and Billy Chan

The founder of Gogoro had always wanted to revolutionize the energy market from day one since he started the electric scooter business that featured an innovative battery swapping technology. Over the course of five years, he had developed a premium line of electric... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Energy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Taiwan

15 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

The New Global Business Manager

roll it out in Asia, then Europe. Functional managers with worldwide responsibilities really have to know their specialty—whether it's technology, R&D, or people. They must know where best practice is and how to leverage it. "What's this View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

Web

What You Can Support - Alumni

and should be a force for good and is developing new insights and tools to address key societal challenges. Digital Innovation HBS is harnessing the latest technology to educate students, conduct real-world research, and provide lifelong... View Details

June 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

The Fox Islands Wind Project (A)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, James Thomas Corcoran, Max Gazor, Dylan Hogarty and Alexander H. Somers, Jr.

The market for electricity on the Fox Islands of North Haven and Vinalhaven, Maine is unique and costly for residents. Historically, electricity prices on the islands had been three times the national average because of the high cost of importing electricity via an... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Cost; Financing and Loans; Projects; Business and Community Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology Industry; Maine

November 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

KhataBook

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Allison H. Mnookin and James Barnett

In January 2020, India-based KhataBook, a digital ledger app for small businesses, is led by CEO Ravish Naresh, as his team faces a series of dilemmas regarding where to focus next. View Details

Keywords: Monetization; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Marketing; Measurement and Metrics; Technology Industry; India; Bangalore; Mumbai; Southeast Asia

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Jumia's Path to Profitability

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in September 2019 as Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, co-founders and co-CEOs of Jumia, the leading Pan-African e-commerce platform, are contemplating the company’s path to profitability in the aftermath of a fragile investor sentiment, as the company... View Details