Publications

December 2012
Case

Delwarca Software Remote Support Unit

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Paul E. Morrison

Delwarca Software provides business software to large corporate clients around the world. The firm serves customers who prefer to assemble corporate solutions using a combination of software programs from various suppliers rather than implementing a single enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Service Delivery; Mathematical Methods; Applications and Software; Problems and Challenges; Customer Satisfaction; Information Technology Industry

October 2000 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Software Associates

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The president of a small consulting firm has just seen his second-quarter profit and loss statement, showing an increase in revenues but a substantial decline in profits. He asks his chief financial officer to explain the results. The CFO works hard to accumulate... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Cost; Financial Statements; Production; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry

July 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Novell: Open Source Software Strategy

Describes Novell's open source software strategy and the business environment in which it has arisen. Introduces open source software and strategies based on open source and offers opportunities to discuss IT strategy, IT management, and organizational change. One key... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Value Creation; Strategy; Open Source Distribution; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Intellectual Property; Information Technology Industry

August 2001 (Revised June 2002)
Case

IBM Software Solutions (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman, Charles A. O'Reilly III and Robert Chapman Wood

Executives and managers of key IBM software units struggle to make IBM a top player in the post-mainframe era. When one software unit introduces a visionary product with potential to create a new leadership position for the firm, the result is an epic conflict in the... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Conflict Management; Information Technology Industry

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10 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

Professors Introduce Valuation Software

Originally designed for HBS classroom use, the BAV software was recently made available to the public for purchase for $69 through Harvard Business School Publishing. We asked Healy to discuss the BAV in an e-mail interview. Sean... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

January 1998 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Timberjack Parts: Packaged Software Selection Project

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Mark Keil and Darryl S. Romanow

This case provides a realistic, current, and detailed view of software procurement in an international business environment where the competition in enterprise-wide software solutions is growing. Focuses on the selection of packaged software to serve multiple sites... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Information Technology; Analytics and Data Science; Multinational Firms and Management; Operations; Management Practices and Processes; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

April 2004 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Precise Software

By: Paul A. Gompers and Sara Bergson

Yossi Sela, general partner at Gemini Venture capital, considers a new investment in Precise Software. The firm is at a crisis point, and Sela needs to decide whether he will fire the firm's chief executive officer. Conflicts between the American CEO and the Israeli... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Resignation and Termination; Crisis Management; Managerial Roles; Conflict and Resolution; Israel; United States

2021
Working Paper

Measuring Employment Impact: Applications and Cases

By: Katie Panella and George Serafeim

Applying the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative’s employment impact methodology on eight leading companies, we document wide variability in employment impacts as a percentage of salaries paid, ranging between 59 and 80 percent. We identify opportunities for... View Details

Keywords: Impact Measurement; Employee Compensation; Accounting; Employees; Labor; Well-being; Diversity; Wages; Compensation and Benefits

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25 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

How Software Platforms Revolutionize Business

independent developers to build new features. The cell phone has become a lucrative platform for more than handset makers—also in on the party are makers of digital cameras, music services, and organizer software. Not only are existing... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Video Game; Web Services

05 Jul 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Designing an Agile Software Portfolio Architecture: The Impact of Coupling on Performance

Keywords: by Alan MacCormack, Robert Lagerström, Martin Mocker, and Carliss Y. Baldwin; Tourism

March 2009
Article

Applicant and Examiner Citations in U.S. Patents: An Overview and Analysis

By: Juan Alcacer, Michelle Gittelman and Bhaven Sampat

Prior art patent citations have become a popular measure of patent quality and knowledge flow between firms. Interpreting these measurements is complicated, in some cases, because prior art citations are added by patent examiners as well as by patent applicants. The... View Details

Keywords: Citations; Patents; Knowledge Sharing; Measurement and Metrics; Quality; United States

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Research Summary

Health-care Applications

Active postmarketing drug surveillance. There is substantial interest within the U.S. health community and among health policymakers in developing a surveillance system that scans public health databases in order to proactively detect potential drug safety... View Details

15 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

The Business of Free Software

"For IBM, Linux is the razor, and WebSphere software and its related services are the razor blade," he says. "The question of how you invest View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer

1985
Book

Marketing Management: Principles, Analysis and Applications

By: B. P. Shapiro, R. J. Dolan and J. Quelch

Keywords: Marketing; Management; Theory

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August 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Background Note

Note on Comparative Treatment of Business Method and Software Patents in the United States and European Union

By: Robert C. Pozen and Felicia Ellsworth

This note analyses and compares the legal definitions and practical applications of Business Method and Software Patents in the United States and European Union. View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Patents; Business Processes; United States; European Union

30 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Why Evolutionary Software Development Works

The approach contrasts with traditional models of software development and their more sequential processes. Although the evolutionary model has been around for several years, this is the first time the... View Details

Keywords: by Alan MacCormack; Technology

2008
Working Paper

Applicant and Examiner Citations in U.S. Patents: An Overview and Analysis

By: Juan Alcacer, Michelle Gittelman and Bhaven Sampat

Researchers studying innovation increasingly use indicators based on patent citations. However, it is well known that not all citations originate from applicants—patent examiners contribute to citations listed in issued patents—and that this could complicate... View Details

Keywords: Citations; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Research; United States

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July 1999 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Harley-Davidson Motor Company: Enterprise Software Selection

Describes Harley-Davidson's decision process for defining and selecting an enterprise-wide procurement software package and the institutional changes introduced as part of this process. Tells the story of Harley-Davidson's approach in developing integrated business... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Groups and Teams; Software; Motorcycle Industry