Publications

May 2003
Module Note

Product Development Process Design and Improvement

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Describes the conceptual foundations and pedagogy for a module on the design and improvement of processes for the development of products and services. Can also be used as part of a more general course on Managing Technology and Innovation. Central to Managing Product... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Design; Performance Improvement; Innovation and Management; Information Technology; Customers; Information Management; Business Processes; Learning; Transformation; Service Operations

January 2011
Teaching Note

AIC Netbooks: Optimizing Product Assembly (Brief Case)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Sunru Yong

Teaching Note for 4245. View Details

Keywords: Performance Management; Quantitative Analysis; Manufacturing; Production Planning; Production Management; Production; Mathematical Methods; Performance Evaluation; Planning; Manufacturing Industry

July 2024
Article

AI, ROI, and Sales Productivity

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now a loose term for many different things and at the peak of its hype curve. So managers hitch-their-pitch to the term in arguing for resources. But like any technology, its business value depends upon actionable use cases embraced by... View Details

Keywords: ROI; AI and Machine Learning; Sales; Investment Return

2016
Book

Innovation Equity: Assessing and Managing the Monetary Value of New Products and Services

By: Elie Ofek, Eitan Muller and Barak Libai

This book bridges the gap between what academics know, and what innovation stakeholders—from managers, to investors, to analysts, to consumers—need to know about how new products and services are expected to perform in the marketplace. The book develops a compelling... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Technology Diffusion; New Products; Customer Lifetime Value; Monetization Strategy; Social Influence; Innovation Adoption; Forecasting Demand; Commercialization; Marketing Strategy; Practice; Customer Value and Value Chain; Research; Innovation and Management; Technology Adoption; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Development

Research Summary

Building and Managing Product Centric Organizations

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Building and Managing Product Centric Organizations View Details

1965
Book

Product Innovation and Organization

By: J. W. Lorsch

Keywords: Product; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Structure

January 1992 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Quantum Corp.: Business and Product Teams

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Clayton M. Christensen

Describes the adoption and evolution of product development teams and business teams at Quantum. Emphasizes integration of team capabilities with product development and competitive advantage in a rapidly changing environment. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Groups and Teams; Situation or Environment; Competitive Strategy; Integration; Consumer Products Industry

September 2022
Article

Find and Replace: R&D Investment Following the Erosion of Existing Products

By: Joshua L. Krieger, Xuelin Li and Richard T. Thakor

How do innovative firms react when existing products experience negative shocks? We explore this question with detailed project-level data from drug development firms. Using FDA Public Health Advisories as idiosyncratic negative shocks to approved drugs, we first... View Details

Keywords: R＆D Investments; Drug Development; Product Shocks; M＆A; Biopharmaceutical Industry; FDA; System Shocks; Research and Development; Investment; Decision Making; Pharmaceutical Industry

October 2023
Article

Laboratory Safety and Research Productivity

By: Alberto Galasso, Hong Luo and Brooklynn Zhu

Are laboratory safety practices a tax on scientific productivity? We examine this question by exploiting the substantial increase in safety regulations at the University of California following the shocking accidental death of a research assistant in 2008.... View Details

Keywords: Economics Of Science; Risk Perception; Safety Regulations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Working Conditions; Safety; Performance Productivity

November 1987
Background Note

The Magic Matrix: Products and Accounts

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Describes an interfunctional approach to product mix management and account selection. The approach uses a matrix of products and accounts. Also describes the concepts and implementation of the approach. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Customers

March 2019
Article

Open Source Software and Firm Productivity

By: Frank Nagle

As open source software (OSS) is increasingly used as a key input by firms, understanding its impact on productivity becomes critical. This study measures the firm-level productivity impact of nonpecuniary (free) OSS and finds a positive and significant value-added... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Open Source Distribution; Performance Productivity; Information Technology; Strategy

Article

Quantifying the Use of Connected Digital Products in Clinical Research

By: Caroline Marra, Jacqueline L. Chen, Andrea Coravos and Ariel D. Stern

Over recent years, the adoption of connected technologies has grown dramatically, with potential for improving health care delivery, research, and patient experience. Yet, little has been documented about the prevalence and use of connected digital products (e.g.,... View Details

Keywords: Connected Digital Products; Clinical Trials; Health Testing and Trials; Information Technology; Research

August 2021
Article

Information Seeding and Knowledge Production in Online Communities: Evidence from OpenStreetMap

By: Abhishek Nagaraj

The wild success of a few online communities (like Wikipedia) has obscured the fact that most attempts at forming such communities fail. This study evaluates information seeding, an early-stage intervention to bootstrap online communities that enables contributors to... View Details

Keywords: Online Communities; Knowledge Production; Crowdsourcing; Innovation; Digitization; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Social and Collaborative Networks; Analytics and Data Science; Knowledge Dissemination

Research Summary

Selection, Reallocation, and Spillover: Identifying the Sources of Gains from Multinational Production (with Maggie Chen)

By: Laura Alfaro

Quantifying the gains from multinational production has been a vital topic of economic research. Positive productivity gains are often attributed to knowledge spillover from multinational to domestic firms. An alternative, less stressed explanation is firm selection... View Details

Keywords: Gains From Multinational Production; Firm Selection; Knowledge Spillover

19 Dec 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Find and Replace: R&D Investment Following the Erosion of Existing Products

Keywords: by Joshua Krieger, Xuelin Li, and Richard T. Thakor

18 Jul 2023
Interview

Jeffrey Rayport on Product Market Fit, Profit Market Fit and Whiplash, and More

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Doug Levin

This episode of "Lessons from Startup Life" podcast features Jeffrey Rayport, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. Jeffrey specializes in teaching and researching growth-stage technology ventures and their scalability. Prior to... View Details

Keywords: Scaling And Growth; Start-up; Diversity; Equity; Inclusion; Technology; Business Startups; Product Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation

2022
Article

Gender Inequality in Research Productivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Ruomeng Cui, Hao Ding and Feng Zhu

We study the disproportionate impact of the lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak on female and male academics' research productivity in social science. The lockdown has caused substantial disruptions to academic activities, requiring people to work from home.... View Details

Keywords: Gender Inequality; Research Productivity; Telecommuting; COVID-19 Pandemic; Research; Performance Productivity; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Health Pandemics

April 2010 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Soren Chemical: Why Is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking?

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sunru Yong

Topics include distribution channels, pricing, and new product marketing. Jen Moritz, the marketing manager for Soren Chemical Co. is struggling with the poor sales performance of Coracle, a new clarifier for residential swimming pools. The performance is puzzling... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Mix; New Product Marketing; Pricing; Branding; Price; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Communication Strategy; Chemical Industry

December 2018
Case

Soybean Production in Argentina: The Duhau Group

By: José B. Alvarez and Mariana Cal

Crop-planning was affected by macroeconomic factors including international disputes, commodity prices, local tax, and agricultural policies, etc. Enrique and Alejandro Duhau, co-owners of the Duhau Group, analyzed these factors, as well as technical and financial... View Details

Keywords: Trade Negotiations; Soybeans; Production; Trading; Agribusiness; Decision Making; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Economics; Macroeconomics; Goods and Commodities; Government and Politics; International Relations; Trade; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; South America; Argentina