Publications

August 2000 (Revised September 2002)
Exercise

Working with Your Shadow Partner in Analyzing IT Strategic Partnering

By: Richard L. Nolan

A team-based exercise allowing students to conduct a strategy analysis of the leading companies in the IT business. Involves searching on the web for both public information sources and company information sources. The teams work together to analyze the information and... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

2015
Introduction

Globalization

By: Linda A. Hill

Keywords: Innovation; Globalization; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

01 Dec 2020
News

Two Truths and a Lie About 5G

Here, alumni and faculty experts weigh in on some of the assumptions about a hyper-connected world. The upgrade to 5G will be revolutionary for consumers. The arrival of 3G, which delivered the iPhone to the world and made it mainstream, was the stuff of real View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

26 Sep 2024
News

If a Car Can Drive Itself, Can It Make Life-or-Death Decisions?

January 2004
Case

Nokia and MIT's Project Oxygen (Abridged)

By: David B. Yoffie and Rebecca Henderson

Looks at how Nokia should respond to a future vision of computing and communications that was developed at MIT's Project Oxygen. View Details

Keywords: Mobile and Wireless Technology; Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

May 2020
Case

Numenta in 2020: The Future of AI

By: David B. Yoffie, Cameron Armstrong, Mei Tao and Marta Zwierz

In 2020, Numenta’s co-founder, Jeff Hawkins, completed his pathbreaking research on artificial intelligence. His co-founder and CEO, Donna Dubinsky, had to find a business model to monetize the technology. This case explores the challenges of building a business... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Monetization; Information Technology; Strategy; Intellectual Property; Business Model; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry

November 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Collibra

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Jeffrey F. Rayport and Julia Kelley

Founded in 2008 at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Collibra was a data intelligence company that found product-market fit in the years after the global financial crisis when many companies were under pressure from consumers and governments to improve their data management... View Details

01 Apr 2002
News

Dot Vertigo

In Dot Vertigo: Doing Business in a Permeable World, HBS professor Richard Nolan shows how the next shift in Internet technology - the I-Net - is helping both bricks-and-mortar and first-generation Web companies stave off the competition... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

October 2016 (Revised January 2020)
Case

All Traffic Solutions

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott F. Johnson

All Traffic Solutions traditionally sold traffic signs that collected vehicle data to cities. In recent years, the firm connected their signs to the internet and began selling software that enabled cities to operate their signs remotely and collect data in a more... View Details

Keywords: IoT; Internet Of Things; Smart Connected Products; All Traffic Solutions; Traffic; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Digital Platforms; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Transportation; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States

11 Feb 2019
Blog Post

John Bracaglia, MBA 2020: “I Want to Find the Machine Learning Strategy That Avoids the Pitfalls While Fulfilling the Promise.”

machine learning tool to help small businesses identify promising business opportunities. “Google has useful information on foot-traffic patterns, plus satellite imagery and other data that can help entrepreneurs select the most promising placements.” Today, the View Details

Keywords: Technology; Technology

18 Nov 2013
Op-Ed

Twitter IPO: Overvalued or the Start of Something Big?

Twitter soared high on its first day of trading on Nov. 7, with its shares closing the day at $45 for a value of $25 billion. Even though TWTR has yet to make money, investors flocked to the stock in droves, eager to own a part of the company that has revolutionized... View Details

Keywords: by Chet Huber; Technology

15 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of New-Market Disruption

In the early 1990s, both Teradyne and Hewlett-Packard identified new technologies that had enormous potential to cause new-market disruptions. As with most disruptive innovations, these technologies offered... View Details

Keywords: by Clark Gilbert; Technology

September 1995 (Revised September 1996)
Case

Symantec: Redefining the Information Infrastructure

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Keywords: Information Management; Infrastructure; Information Technology Industry

September 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

CyberArk: Fearlessly Forward in a Digital World

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniela Beyersdorfer

CyberArk was a leader in privileged access management and was an emerging leader in security identity. This case explores strategies in cybersecurity and whether big bets are needed to become a global leader. View Details

Keywords: Cybersecurity; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry

June 2017
Teaching Note

Google to Alphabet: Two Job Opportunities

By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard

This is the teaching note for "Google to Alphabet: Two Job Opportunities" HBS No.116-046 The case describes two job postings for positions at Google. The first job posting is for a Software Engineer in the Google Maps unit and the second job posting is for an Account... View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Span Of Control; Span Of Accountability; Span Of Support; Management Control Systems; Entrepreneurial Gap; Motivation; Job Design; Strategy; Information Technology; Organizational Design; Jobs and Positions; Technology Industry

January 1996 (Revised September 2001)
Teaching Note

General Dynamics and Computer Sciences Corporation: Outsourcing the IS Function Series TN

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Teaching Note for (9-193-144), (9-193-145), and (9-193-178). View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology; Technology Industry

June 2004 (Revised November 2005)
Case

PalmSource, Inc.

By: David B. Yoffie, Pai-Ling Yin and Christina L. Darwall

PalmSource CEO David Nagel had grand ambitions. In this newly spun-off company, he wanted to create the next leading software platform for hand-held devices. Explores the strategic challenges of building a platform business. View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry