Publications

July/August 2001
Journal Article

Giving it Away

By: James E. Austin

January 2004
Background Note

Leading companies are employing a radical new approach to IT--an approach that points the way to a new model of software architecture and deployment. These companies' successes seem to indicate that the problems IT critics have correctly identified are not, in fact,... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Business Processes; Change

17 Dec 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Integrity: Without It Nothing Works

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

2018
Case

Keep It Cool

By: A. Saxena, N. McFarland and Y. Grushka-Cockayne

July 2012
Case

Shut It Down?

By: Clayton Rose

Meredith, the head of a major division of a financial firm, must confront an unexpected response and challenge from a senior colleague when she proposes shutting down an underperforming unit. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Collaboration; Business Units; Business Exit or Shutdown; Leadership; Strategy; Financial Services Industry

April 1987 (Revised October 1987)
Case

IT Corp. (B)

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

June–July 2019
Article

A Methodology for Operationalizing Enterprise IT Architecture and Evaluating Its Modifiability

By: Robert Lagerström, Alan MacCormack, David Dreyfus and Carliss Y. Baldwin

Recent contributions to information systems theory suggest that the primary role of a firm’s information technology (IT) architecture is to facilitate, and therefore ensure the continued alignment of a firm’s IT investments with a constantly changing business... View Details

Keywords: Enterprise Architecture; Modularity; Information Systems; Modifiability; Design Structure Matrix

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30 Dec 2010
News

Shrink It, Cure It

2009
Working Paper

Integrity: Without It Nothing Works

By: Michael C. Jensen

There is confusion between integrity, morality and ethics. In our much longer paper on the topic (see "Integrity: A Positive Model that Incorporates the Normative Phenomena of Morality, Ethics and Legality" (available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=920625)) my co-authors,... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Moral Sensibility; Legal Liability; Behavior

1997
Working Paper

Competitive Advantage: Whence It Came, and Where It Went

By: Clayton M. Christensen

06 Jul 2023
News

HBS Announces Its 2023-2024 Blavatnik Fellows

14 Jun 2022
News

HBS Announces Its 2022-2023 Blavatnik Fellows

29 May 2020
News

G.E., Which Traces Its Roots to Thomas Edison, Sells Its Lighting Business

September 16, 2022
Article

Bored at Work? Learn to Manage It by Putting It to Work

By: Katherine Connolly Baden, Boris Groysberg and Heather Poco

Do you often feel bored at work or in life? Do you want to feel less bored? If so, what can you do to make that happen? Boredom has a bad rap, but is it really so bad? View Details

Keywords: Time Management; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Jobs and Positions

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2009
Book

The Adventures of an IT Leader

By: Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan and Shannon O'Donnell

Becoming an effective IT manager presents a host of challenges-from anticipating emerging technology to managing relationships with vendors, employees, and other managers. Ultimately, a good IT manager must be a strong business leader, not just a technical... View Details

Keywords: Books; Leadership; Crisis Management; Personal Development and Career; Relationships; Safety; Information Technology

September 2004 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Enterprise IT at Cisco (2004)

By: Andrew P. McAfee, F. Warren McFarlan and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Illustrates the challenges associated with centralizing IT decisions at Cisco after a decade of decentralized planning and project funding. When Brad Boston became Cisco's new CIO in 2001, he found that managers were starting to get frustrated with the results of their... View Details

Keywords: Management; Resource Allocation; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Business Ventures; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Projects; Planning; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry

January 1993 (Revised September 1993)
Background Note

Managing Information: The IT Architecture

Information is a critical resource in the information economy and Information Technology (IT) enables information to be managed as a strategic resource. However, IT is extremely complex and fast-changing. As a result, the general manager cannot leave IT decisions... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Information Technology