Publications

2015
Chapter

Modularity and Organizations

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Modularity describes the degree to which a complex system can be broken apart into subunits (modules) that can be recombined in various ways. Modularity is important for organizations and the economy because the boundaries of organizational units and corporations are... View Details

Keywords: Complexity; Organizations

Web

Learn with Baker Library: Corporate Reports & Filings for Researchers | Baker Library

learning technology to deliver engaging, helpful modules on these wide variety of topics. Learn with Baker Library: Corporate Reports & Filings for Researchers focuses on ways of better understanding what... View Details

2012
Working Paper

Modularity and Organizations

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Modularity describes the degree to which a complex system can be broken apart into subunits (modules) that can be recombined in various ways. Modularity is important for organizations and the economy because the boundaries of organizational units and corporations are... View Details

Keywords: Complex Systems; Information Hiding; Loosely-coupled Systems; Mirroring; Mirroring Hypothesis; Modules; Modularity; Near-decomposable Systems; Product Architecture; Option Value; Organizational Design; Complexity

16 Dec 2002
Lessons from the Classroom

Marrying Distance and Classroom Education

In an interview with HBS Working Knowledge editor Sean Silverthorne, Harvard Business School professor Dorothy Leonard and research assistant Brian DeLacey discuss their View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

November 2012
Teaching Plan

The Langer Lab: Commercializing Science (TP)

By: Vicki L. Sato and Annelena Lobb

The Langer Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was a unique operation. Its head, Robert Langer, had always focused on selecting ideas to research that would have the greatest positive impact for humanity, and he encouraged an unusual... View Details

Keywords: Computers; Industry Evolution; Entrepreneurship; Intellectual Capital; R＆D; Technology Transfer; Patents; Research and Development; Massachusetts

Research Summary

Entrepreneurial Finance and International R&D Management

Walter Kuemmerle's research and teaching interests fall within the domain of knowledge and capital management in a global economy. His research focuses on international entrepreneurship and venture capital. He studies venture capital systems and entrepreneurship in... View Details

Fall 2024
Article

The Three Traps That Stymie Reinvention: Organizational Identity, Architecture, and Collaboration Can Be Either Assets or Liabilities to Pursuing Growth in New Sectors

By: Ryan Raffaelli

In more than a decade of researching innovation, I have observed how organizations respond to new opportunities, technological changes, or unexpected market shifts that threaten to upend their current business model. This process, which I call reinvention, may occur... View Details

Keywords: Innovation And Strategy; Change Leadership; Collaboration; Architecture; Transformation; Disruption; Leading Change; Innovation Strategy; Identity; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure

In the past decade, online controlled experimentation, or A/B testing, at scale has proved to be a significant driver of business innovation. The practice was first pioneered by the technology sector and, more recently, has been adopted by traditional companies... View Details

Article

Online Experimentation: Benefits, Operational and Methodological Challenges, and Scaling Guide

By: Iavor Bojinov and Somit Gupta

In the past decade, online controlled experimentation, or A/B testing, at scale has proved to be a significant driver of business innovation. The practice was first pioneered by the technology sector and, more recently, has been adopted by traditional companies... View Details

Keywords: A/B Testing; Experimentation; Data-driven Culture; Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Digital Transformation

May 2022
Case

Deborah Quazzo at GSV Ventures

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael D. Smith and Nicole Tempest Keller

As COVID-19 swept across the globe in 2020, the education sector faced unprecedented disruption. Schools and colleges worldwide shut down, forcing over a billion students and teachers to move to online learning. Investor interest in the EdTech space exploded as... View Details

Keywords: Edtech; Technology; Online Learning; COVID-19 Pandemic; Education; Information Technology; Venture Capital; Change Management; Strategy; Education Industry; Financial Services Industry; Chicago; California

Educators

Working Paper

The Composition and Dynamics of Technology-Enabled Entrepreneurship

By: Innessa Colaiacovo, Daniel P. Gross and Jorge Guzman

Using data on nearly all U.S. business registrations since the turn of the twentieth century, and a set of 386 major technologies invented over this period, we study the level, composition, and dynamics of entrepreneurial activity around new technology. We find a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Technology Industry

SSRN

Research Summary

Overview

By: Alexandra C. Feldberg

Allie's research focuses on diversity, gender, and knowledge within organizations. View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Transfer; Bias; Technology; Diversity; Gender; Demographics; Knowledge Dissemination; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Banking Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Financial Services Industry; Retail Industry; Travel Industry

Research Summary

The Unexpected Effects of Workplace Connectivity

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

While investigating how workplace transparency and privacy shape organizational behavior and performance, I wondered about the related effects of workplace connectivity. As new digital tools and organizational forms make it far easier for employees to communicate... View Details

Keywords: Human Behavior; Performance; Virtual Work; Hybrid Work; Office Space; Workplace Design; Organizations; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Networks; Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Communication

November 2021
Article

Corporate Strategy and the Theory of the Firm in the Digital Age

By: Markus Menz, Sven Kunisch, Julian Birkinshaw, David J. Collis, Nicolai J. Foss, Robert E. Hoskisson and John Prescott

The purpose of this article is to reinvigorate research in the intersection of corporate strategy and the theory of the firm in light of the rapid advancement of digital technologies. Using the theory of the firm as an interpretive lens, we focus our analysis on the... View Details

Keywords: Digitalization; Multi-business Firm; Scale And Scope; Theory Of The Firm; Corporate Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Design; Theory; Research; Digital Transformation

Find at Harvard

Web

Research & Development, Project Code SX-70 - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

Education Alumni Baker Library Historical Collections MORE EXHIBITS HOME RESEARCH LINKS POLAROID FILMS SITE CREDITS “The transfer from the field of polarized light to the field of photography was for us all a miraculous experience, as if... View Details

2012
Book

The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity Revisited

By: Josh Lerner and Scott Stern

While the importance of innovation to economic development is widely understood, the conditions conducive to it remain the focus of much attention. This volume offers new theoretical and empirical contributions to fundamental questions relating to the economics of... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Opportunities; Nonprofit Organizations; Resource Allocation; Economic Growth; Research and Development

Find at Harvard

March 2021
Article

Experimenting During the Shift to Virtual Team Work: Learnings from How Teams Adapted Their Activities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Ashley V. Whillans, Leslie Perlow and Aurora Turek

Past research has focused on understanding the characteristics of work that are fully virtual or fully collocated. The present study seeks to expand our understanding of team work by studying knowledge workers' experiences as they were suddenly forced to transition to... View Details

Keywords: Team Work; Activities; Virtual Work; Digital Technologies; Groups and Teams; Health Pandemics; Internet and the Web; Adaptation

November 2013
Article

Organizational Ambidexterity: Past, Present and Future

By: Charles A. O'Reilly III and Michael Tushman

Organizational ambidexterity refers to the ability of an organization to both explore and exploit—to compete in mature technologies and markets where efficiency, control, and incremental improvement are prized and to also compete in new technologies and markets where... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Ambidexterity; Organization Design; Innovation; Leadership; Organizational Design; Innovation and Invention

Find at Harvard