Publications

23 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

Strategy for Small Fish

departments easily embracing the Web. In the software industry, for example, we have witnessed how the emergence of loosely coupled interfaces has enabled the majority of application companies to leverage... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Roy Levien

January 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

STRIVR: Changing the Game in Virtual Reality

By: Rajiv Lal, Matt Denison, Robert Higgins and Scott Johnson

The CEO of a growing virtual reality company that trains athletes must decide whether or not to stay in sports or expand into other areas. View Details

November 2021 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Kermit PPI

By: Kyle Myers, Matt Grennan and Sarah Mehta

Launched in 2011, Kermit PPI helped hospitals save money on expensive orthopedic implants and devices by enabling them to renegotiate their contracts with device manufacturers and better monitor compliance. In 2021, as they look to grow, they are entertaining two... View Details

Keywords: Health; Health Care and Treatment; Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Contracts; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States; Maryland

July 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Game Time Decision for AppDirect

By: Andrei Hagiu, Laura Arjona and Emily Zhang

AppDirect is a start-up that offers small businesses software-as-a-service solutions through a business app marketplace and portal. Daniel Saks, co-founder and co-CEO, is faced with the key question of deciding distribution strategy: should AppDirect find channel... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Distribution; Applications and Software; Innovation Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry; United States

December 1996 (Revised June 1998)
Case

Midnight Networks, Inc.

By: H. Kent Bowen and Marilyn Matis

Midnight Networks, Inc., is a small computer network validation company. This case describes how the five founders built their business from operations earnings and how they established "best practices" operational processes to run their firm successfully. Operational... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Operations; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Information Technology Industry; Massachusetts

Web

RCS Policies - Research Computing Services

compute, storage, and software support HRCI Level 3 and higher, certain standard computing practices normally allowed on desktops and laptop are not allowed on the compute grid. Those will be outlined below. Note that RCS maintains... View Details

07 Jul 2022
Blog Post

Pathlight: Reimagining the Developer Onboarding Experience

me graduating with a specialization in computing. In my senior year, I picked up a job at a small business selling open source services. This combination of baseline coding skills and open source knowledge got me to my first job at Red Hat as a View Details

25 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 25

Network Methods to Map Product Architecture By: Baldwin, Carliss Y., Alan MacCormack, and John Rusnak Abstract—In this paper, we describe an operational methodology for characterising the architecture of technical systems and demonstrate its View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

01 Sep 2006
News

Notebook

Amazon.com of telecom, but we hadn’t raised enough money to build such a big brand. We decided instead to license our software applications — made to process digital-service transactions — to retailers like... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Telecommunications; Information

March 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Microsoft.NET

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Set in the summer of 2000, following the unveiling of Microsoft's .NET initiative to the public. Three of the key figures in .NET's development are considering the next steps they would have to take to keep the initiative moving forward. Specifically, the challenges... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Policy; Business Model; Computer Industry; Web Services Industry

Find at Harvard

21 Nov 2013
News

Case Study: BlackBerry and Thorsten Heins

of BlackBerry’s problems were sown well before Heins took on the CEO role. BlackBerry’s system had its roots in a mobile data architecture that came out of paging networks. By developing complimentary software that connected to email... View Details

Keywords: Telecommunications; Information; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

March 2015 (Revised April 2015)
Case

The Heat Is On: Emerging Ecosystems in the Thermostat Industry

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

Beth Wozniak, President of Honeywell Environmental and Combustion Controls (ECC) at Honeywell International Inc., spun around in her office chair, reflecting about how the classic, mature thermostat industry was rapidly evolving. In February 2014, Google paid $3.2... View Details

28 Nov 2023
Blog Post

Hiring at HBS: How Summer Interns Make an Impact at Duolingo

way up a traditional Product Management route and others who come from a variety of different functions and industries, including software engineering, consulting, and business development. The interns mirror that diversity of experience.... View Details

Keywords: Technology

Web

Peek into Business | MBA

a software engineer designing solutions to a content creator building their brand. What Do Jobs in Business Look Like? Discover the diverse range of careers in business, from entry level positions to dream roles. What Skills Are... View Details

March 2020
Case

Sizmek Chapter 11: Surviving Walled Gardens in Their Ad Tech Empire

By: Ayelet Israeli, Danilo Tauro and Sarah Gulick

This case provides a post-mortem of the advertising technology (adtech) company Sizmek. Sizmek grew via multiple acquisitions, with the vision of becoming an integrated adtech company that could leverage AI to buy digital media, while creating and serving display and... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Competition; Marketing; Advertising Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Europe