Publications

November 2004
Article

Globalization and Convergence in Corporate Governance: Evidence from Infosys and the Indian Software Industry

By: Tarun Khanna and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Globalization; Corporate Governance; Computer Industry; India

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2019
Working Paper

The Impact of Professionals' Contributions to Online Knowledge Communities on Their Workplace Knowledge Work

By: Hila Lifshitz - Assaf and Frank Nagle

Knowledge work is becoming increasingly challenging as pace of change in the knowledge frontier is increasing. Organizations have created multiple mechanisms to minimize knowledge gaps and increase learning such internal training, mentorship programs as well as... View Details

Keywords: Open Source; Future Of Work; Software Development; Knowledge Work; Online Community; Learning; Knowledge Sharing; Applications and Software; Open Source Distribution; Performance Productivity

01 May 1998
Conference Presentation

Rapid Learning and Adaptation in Product Development: An Empirical Study of the Internet Software Industry

By: Alan MacCormack, M. Iansiti and R Verganti

Keywords: Learning; Product Development; Software; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry

May 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Building the Digital Manufacturing Enterprise of the Future at Siemens

By: Willy Shih

This case describes the motivation for and the development of Siemens' digital manufacturing enterprise vision, which became the foundation for its implementation of Industrie 4.0. While the effort started with a purely defensive move by Anton Huber, head of the... View Details

December 2018 (Revised March 2021)
Background Note

Modern Automation (A): Artificial Intelligence

By: William R. Kerr and James Palano

This primer is meant to be a field guide to the late 2010s' surge in business use of "Artificial Intelligence" (AI), or enterprise software based in machine learning. First, it provides an overview of the key trends—digitization, connectivity, the continuation of... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Digitization; Connectivity; Computing; Future Of Work; Automation; AI and Machine Learning

April 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Microsoft, 1995

By: Tarun Khanna, David B. Yoffie and Israel Yellen Ganot

Explores Microsoft's core desktop computing software business and its newer endeavors in 1995. Designed to explore the sustainability of its phenomenal success, and to examine the logic behind its renewed emphasis on some areas, particularly the home computing software... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Software; Computer Industry

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July 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

San Francisco Bay Consulting

By: George P. Baker III and Karin B Monsler

San Francisco Bay Consulting leads the field of economic consulting and litigation support in the application of powerful computers and cutting edge software to manipulate and analyze large data sets. The transfer pricing system, used to facilitate the purchasing and... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Profit; Marketing; Fluctuation; Computer Industry; Computer Industry

02 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

The Secret of How Microsoft Stays on Top

the company has built over time, which is largely embedded in its software code libraries. This base is critical to internal innovation, as it makes product development more efficient and powerful. Additionally, it spawns external... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

The Simple Economics of Open Source

Why in the world would anyone take the time to write complicated software programs for free? It's a good question, one that has piqued the curiosity of a number of economists, who wonder what benefits, if any, lie behind the burgeoning... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

January 1975 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Optical Distortion, Inc. (A)

A new product, contact lenses for chickens, is to be introduced by a small firm formed to market the product. An entry strategy must be planned including price, sales force, size, and location. Allows data for computation of economic benefit to farmers. Includes... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Price; Geographic Location; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Sales

2012
Case

UFIDA (F)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Guo Jia

As an extension of UFIDA (A-E), UFIDA (F) using early 2012 as the time node, looks at UFIDA's major steps taken during 2010-2011, accomplishments, and major future opportunities and challenges. The case focuses on the new market development of Cloud Computing and the... View Details

Keywords: China; Strategy; China

2012
Teaching Note

UFIDA (F) (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Guo Jia

As an extension of UFIDA (A-E), UFIDA (F), using early 2012 as the time node, looks at UFIDA's major steps taken during 2010-2011, accomplishments, and major future opportunities and challenges. The case focuses on the new market development of Cloud Computing and... View Details

Keywords: China; Strategy; China

February 2021
Module Note

Intellectual Property Strategy

By: Andy Wu and Aticus Peterson

Managing intellectual property (IP) in information technology—digital technologies like software or computing hardware—requires a distinct strategic approach. This note summarizes the high-level strategic considerations for managers of information technology businesses... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Information Technology; Management; Strategy

July 1994
Case

Microsoft: Multimedia Publications (A)

By: Marco Iansiti and Ellen Stein

Microsoft Corp. has built a highly successful business around computer software (both applications and system software) using a particular organizational structure. Now that the company has chosen to enter the consumer market with a CD-ROM product, how should Microsoft... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Organizational Structure; Applications and Software; Design; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry; Information Technology Industry; Washington (state, US)

October 1986 (Revised January 1991)
Case

Manac Systems International Ltd.

Manac Systems International is confronting a decision about how best to market one of its computer software product lines to small law firms. In the past, Manac has focused on traditional personal selling approaches to market software products that ran on IBM... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communications; Marketing Channels; Software; Product Marketing; Information Technology Industry

February 1995 (Revised August 1995)
Case

Microsoft in the People's Republic of China, 1993

By: Tarun Khanna

Explores some of the economic and political tradeoffs that need to be negotiated by a firm seeking to influence industry structure. The setting is the nascent personal computer software industry in the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1993. Microsoft has to localize... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Product Marketing; Market Entry and Exit; Market Transactions; Industry Structures; Partners and Partnerships; Vertical Integration; Software; Information Technology Industry; China

February 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Artificial Intelligence and the Machine Learning Revolution in Finance: Cogent Labs and the Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

By: Lauren Cohen, Christopher Malloy and William Powley

This case examines the intersection of two firms (Cogent Labs—a machine learning software firm in Tokyo; and Google, the technology infrastructure giant) attempting to exploit the benefits of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the financial services... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Applications and Software; Infrastructure; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry

June 1996 (Revised January 1999)
Case

XcelleNet, Inc. (A)

By: Stephen P. Bradley, Richard L. Nolan and James Leonard

XcelleNet, a $35 million system software company based in Atlanta, was founded in 1986 to address the computing needs of a class of remote and mobile users and data that were rarely connected to a network. Though the clear first mover and leader in the remote... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Opportunities; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Technology Networks; Computer Industry; Atlanta

November 2017
Teaching Note

Amazon.com, 2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402. On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Market Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Competition; Internet; Corporate Strategy; Online Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Hardware; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Technology Networks; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Price; Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle