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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,606)
- People (3)
- News (316)
- Research (980)
- Events (17)
- Multimedia (5)
- Faculty Publications (397)
- Web
Technical How-To’s & Notes - Research Computing Services
Help Help Technical How-To’s & Notes 49ms Archiving Your Research Files on the HBSGrid Change your Unix command prompt Changing permissions on the HBSGrid Monitoring CPU usage of your jobs on the HBSGrid HBSGrid Project directory space... View Details
- 2019
- Working Paper
Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 13 Platform Systems vs. Step Processes—The Value of Options and the Power of Modularity
This is the first chapter in Part 3. Its purpose is to contrast the value structure of platform systems with step processes from a technological perspective. I first review the basic technical architecture of computers and argue that every computer is inherently a... View Details
Keywords: Platform Systems; Step Processes; Computer Architecture; Modularity; Information Technology; Digital Platforms
Baldwin, Carliss Y. "Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 13 Platform Systems vs. Step Processes—The Value of Options and the Power of Modularity." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-073, January 2019.
- 1990
- Chapter
Cost of Product and Process Complexity
By: S. Datar, R. Banker, S. Kekre and T. Mukhopadhyay
Datar, S., R. Banker, S. Kekre, and T. Mukhopadhyay. "Cost of Product and Process Complexity." Chap. 9 in Measures for Manufacturing Excellence, edited by Robert S. Kaplan, 269–290. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1990.
- 2016
- Working Paper
The Mirroring Hypothesis: Theory, Evidence and Exceptions
By: Lyra J. Colfer and Carliss Y. Baldwin
The mirroring hypothesis predicts that organizational ties within a project, firm, or group of firms (e.g., communication, collocation, employment) will correspond to the technical patterns of dependency in the work being performed. A thorough understanding of the... View Details
Keywords: Modularity; Innovation; Product And Process Development; Organization Design; Design Structure; Organizational Ties; Mirroring Hypothesis; Industry Architecture; Product Architecture; Complex Technical Systems; Information Technology; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Relationships; Innovation and Invention; Product Development
Colfer, Lyra J., and Carliss Y. Baldwin. "The Mirroring Hypothesis: Theory, Evidence and Exceptions." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-124, April 2016. (Revised May 2016.)
- October 2014
- Article
Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture
By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and John Rusnak
In this paper, we describe an operational methodology for characterizing the architecture of complex technical systems and demonstrate its application to a large sample of software releases. Our methodology is based upon directed network graphs, which allows us to... View Details
Baldwin, Carliss Y., Alan MacCormack, and John Rusnak. "Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture." Research Policy 43, no. 8 (October 2014): 1381–1397.
- October 1990 (Revised November 1992)
- Case
Ceramics Process Systems Corp. (A)
By: Clayton M. Christensen
A small ceramics company started by a group of MIT professors struggles with some basic technology strategy issues. A plan to take "one commercializable step" at a time in order to get a foothold in the market goes awry because of incompatibility between the company's... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Technology; Problems and Challenges; Market Entry and Exit; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Research and Development; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Cambridge
Christensen, Clayton M. "Ceramics Process Systems Corp. (A)." Harvard Business School Case 691-028, October 1990. (Revised November 1992.)
- May 2018
- Case
Harvest City: The Intelligent Procurement System Project
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Ramiro Montealegre
The Harvest City case describes the implementation of a cloud- and IoT-based intelligent procurement system at a new convention complex in the U.S. Midwest. The decision to build a convention complex is a strategic initiative for this city and involves extensive use of... View Details
Keywords: Information Technology; Projects; Management; Decision Making; Business and Government Relations; Information Technology Industry
Applegate, Lynda M., and Ramiro Montealegre. "Harvest City: The Intelligent Procurement System Project." Harvard Business School Brief Case 918-507, May 2018.
- 5 Nov 2005 - 8 Nov 2005
- Conference Presentation
Exploring the Architecture of Complex Software Products
By: Alan MacCormack
- 2014
- Working Paper
Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture
By: Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and John Rusnak
In this paper, we describe an operational methodology for characterising the architecture of complex technical systems and demonstrate its application to a large sample of software releases. Our methodology is based upon directed network graphs, which allows us to... View Details
Baldwin, Carliss, Alan MacCormack, and John Rusnak. "Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-093, May 2013. (Revised April 2014.)
Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture
All complex systems can be described in terms of their architecture, that is, as a nested hierarchy of subsystems. In this paper, we use network methods to detect the core components of an architecture, to establish... View Details
- November 2006
- Background Note
Technical Game Theory Note #1: Solving Bi-matrix Games
By: Dennis A. Yao
Explains how to solve bi-matrix games and introduces the Nash Equilibrium concept. View Details
- Article
Look 'Outside the Building' for the Future of Leadership
The author discusses what she terms “outside the building” issues, such as climate change, pandemics, and racial/gender justice. These complex issues are “beyond the boundaries of single organizations.” As she writes, “I call this new leadership for the future... View Details
Keywords: Change Leadership; Advanced Leadership; Innovation; Complex Systems; Impact; Leadership; Change; Leading Change; Innovation Leadership
Kanter, Rosabeth M. "Look 'Outside the Building' for the Future of Leadership." Leader to Leader 100 (Spring 2021): 31–34.
- 15 Aug 2007
- Op-Ed
3 Steps to Reduce Financial System Risk
Regulatory authorities face 2 challenges that need to be addressed forcefully if they are to contain a new source of systemic risk in international finance. First, the increasing migration of complex market... View Details
- March 2010 (Revised August 2010)
- Case
Systems Infrastructure at Google (A)
By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Stecker
This case describes how a senior vice president of engineering at Google, Bill Coughran, leads a high-performing engineering organization. The case focuses specifically on Coughran's encouraging two teams of engineers to develop competing solutions for application... View Details
Keywords: Independent Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Leadership Development; Product Design; Groups and Teams; Creativity; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry; United States
Hill, Linda A., and Emily Stecker. "Systems Infrastructure at Google (A)." Harvard Business School Case 410-110, March 2010. (Revised August 2010.)
- January 2020
- Article
Compensation Consultants and the Level, Composition, and Complexity of CEO Pay
By: Kevin J. Murphy and Tatiana Sandino
We provide fresh evidence regarding the relation between compensation consultants and CEO pay. First, firms that employ consultants have higher-paid CEOs—this result is robust to firm fixed effects and matching on economic and governance variables. Second, while this... View Details
Keywords: Consultants; Benchmarking; Incentive Pay; Executive Compensation; Complexity; Motivation and Incentives; Governance
Murphy, Kevin J., and Tatiana Sandino. "Compensation Consultants and the Level, Composition, and Complexity of CEO Pay." Accounting Review 95, no. 1 (January 2020): 311–341.
- 2019
- Working Paper
Compensation Consultants and the Level, Composition, and Complexity of CEO Pay
By: Kevin J. Murphy and Tatiana Sandino
We provide fresh evidence regarding the relation between compensation consultants and CEO pay. First, firms that employ consultants have higher-paid CEOs—this result is robust to firm fixed effects and matching on economic and governance variables. Second, while this... View Details
Keywords: Consultants; Benchmarking; Incentive Pay; Executive Compensation; Complexity; Motivation and Incentives; Governance
Murphy, Kevin J., and Tatiana Sandino. "Compensation Consultants and the Level, Composition, and Complexity of CEO Pay." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-027, September 2017. (Revised March 2019. Accepted and forthcoming at The Accounting Review.)
- December 2020
- Article
The Parable of the Auctioneer: Complexity in Paul R. Milgrom's Discovering Prices
By: Scott Duke Kominers and Alexander Teytelboym
Designing marketplaces in complex settings requires both novel economic theory and real-world engineering, often drawing upon ideas from fields such as computer science and operations research. In Discovering Prices, Milgrom (2017) explains the theory and design... View Details
Kominers, Scott Duke, and Alexander Teytelboym. "The Parable of the Auctioneer: Complexity in Paul R. Milgrom's Discovering Prices." Journal of Economic Literature 58, no. 4 (December 2020): 1180–1196.
- 06 Dec 2021
- News
HBS Curricula Explore the Complexities of Innovation
Maren Hopkins (MBA 2019) Maren Hopkins (MBA 2019) Maren Hopkins (MBA 2019) already had a strong understanding of the technical side of the digital world when she signed up for the Digital Innovation and Transformation MBA Program course... View Details
Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie
- 2025
- Chapter
Leapfrog Leaders: Accelerating Systems Leadership Skills
By: Laura Cabrera, Derek Cabrera and Hise O. Gibson
We need leaders who can execute at the Strategic, Operational, and Tactical (SOT) levels. But, research shows it takes time for skills to develop at all three levels—too much time. Why does it take too much time? First, because expertise is borne of experience. An... View Details
Keywords: DSRP; VCML; Strategy; Operations; Leadership Development; Decision Making; Organizational Structure
Cabrera, Laura, Derek Cabrera, and Hise O. Gibson. "Leapfrog Leaders: Accelerating Systems Leadership Skills." In The Routledge Handbook of Systems Thinking, edited by Derek Cabrera, Laura Cabrera, and Gordon Midgley. London: Routledge, forthcoming.
- March 2021
- Article
Increasing the Level of Abstraction as a Strategy for Accelerating the Adoption of Complex Technologies
By: Willy C. Shih
Many new technologies are complex and embody high levels of technical sophistication, and applying them should require significant knowledge and experience. Yet, the rapid adoption and incorporation of these technologies into other innovations seems inconsistent with... View Details
Keywords: Abstraction; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Technological Progress; Diffusion Of Innovation; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Complexity; Information Technology; Strategy
Shih, Willy C. "Increasing the Level of Abstraction as a Strategy for Accelerating the Adoption of Complex Technologies." Strategy Science 6, no. 1 (March 2021): 54–61. (ISSN 2333-2050 (print), ISSN 2333-2077 (online))