Innovation Teams - Publications - Faculty & Research

July 2018 (Revised December 2018)
Case

SOFWERX: Innovation at U.S. Special Operations Command

By: Herman Leonard, Mitchell Weiss, Jin Hyun Paik and Kerry Herman

James “Hondo” Geurts, the Acquisition Executive for U.S. Special Operations Command, was in the middle of his Senate confirmation hearing in 2017 to become Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. The questions had a common theme: how... View Details

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January 2016
Case

Haiti Hope: Innovating the Mango Value Chain

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

This case study examines a market-based approach to economic development through the eyes of NGO TechnoServe's project manager, implementing a US$9.5 million five-year public-private partnership between Coca-Cola, IDB, and USAID. The case ends at the beginning of the... View Details

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07 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

How Teams Work: Lessons from the Pandemic

interactions they needed to succeed. When managers understand the building blocks for team work, they can allocate time better and select the right communication tools, whether teams are dispersed or... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

Sep 2007 - 2007
Conference Presentation

Antecedents of Boundary Spanning in Cross-functional NPD Teams

By: James R. Dillon, Shikhar Sarin and Amy C. Edmondson

Boundary spanning has been shown in prior research to enhance innovativeness and performance of product development teams. In this study, we examine team conditions that foster boundary spanning behavior. We analyze survey data from 207 members of 54 cross-functional... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Performance Improvement; Boundaries; Leadership Style; Product; Complexity; Integration; Power and Influence

Citation

31 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Organizational Designs and Innovation Streams

Keywords: by Michael Tushman, Wendy K. Smith, Robert Chapman Wood, George Westerman & Charles O'Reilly

2015
Chapter

Leave No Slice of Genius Behind: Selecting and Developing Tomorrow's Leaders of Innovation

By: Linda A. Hill

More than ever, leaders of nearly every kind of organization view their human resources teams as essential to institutional well-being and long-term growth and sustainability. That's the central and animating theme of "The Rise of HR: Wisdom from 73 Thought Leaders," a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Talent Management; Talent Development And Retention; Innovation Leadership; Human Resources; Talent and Talent Management; Leadership; Leadership Development

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January 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Curriculum Associates: Turning the Page from Tradition to Innovation

By: John J-H Kim and Christine S. An

Set in Fall 2014, the traditional textbook publishing industry is being transformed by technological innovations and new student achievement standards. This case chronicles how Rob Waldron, CEO, and his team bring Curriculum Associates (CA), a traditional supplemental... View Details

Keywords: Education Technology; SaaS; Turnaround; Textbook Publishing; Innovation; Sales Cycle; HR Strategy; Privately-funded Businesses; Sustainable Growth; Product Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Publishing Industry

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31 Jan 2007
HBS Case

When Good Teams Go Bad

What could better symbolize high-level business performance than an eight-oared crew team rowing in perfect unison, their boat powered by a selfless collaboration of strength, skill, and shared purpose? It's no wonder that advertisers... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

June 2016
Article

Wicked Problem Solvers: Lessons from Successful Cross-industry Teams

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Companies today increasingly rely on teams that span many industries for radical innovation, especially to solve “wicked problems.” So leaders have to understand how to promote collaboration when roles are uncertain, goals are shifting, expertise and organizational... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Leadership Style; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

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November 2024
Case

Innovation at Master Kong Beverages

By: David E. Bell and Shu Lin

Hong-Chen Wei (HBS MBA 2014), Chairman of KSF Beverage Holding Co., Ltd. (KSFB), was steering the company toward the premium segment with the launch of “InheriTea,” a premium, sugar-free tea product. Traditionally, KSFB’s flagship brand, Master Kong, catered to the... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Trends; Behavior; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Product Launch; Product Development; Segmentation; Organizational Culture; Product Positioning; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Asia; China

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August 1998 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Innovation at 3M Corporation (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how 3M Corp. introduces and learns a new and innovative methodology called Lead User research to understand future customer and market needs. A team from 3M's Medical-Surgical Markets Division applies the Lead User methodology to the field of surgical... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Managerial Roles; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Market Timing; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Business Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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Research Summary

Overview

I study how people collaborate with each other as they define, change, and solve problems while working on creativity and innovation projects in organizations.

Conference Proceedings:
Cromwell, J. & Gardner, H. 2017. High-stakes innovation: When... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Startups; Decision Choice And Uncertainty; Teams; Team Process

October 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Worldwide Blood Collection Team

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Kathleen Scharf

Describes Becton Dickinson's evolving attempt to develop products and strategies to meet worldwide competitive and market needs. Traces the evolution of a classic parent company-led product-market strategy to truly transnational product and strategy development.... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Product Development; Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Multinational Firms and Management

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18 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Disruptive Innovation Changes Education

book, coauthored with Michael B. Horn (HBS MBA '06) and Curtis W. Johnson, shows how the theory of disruptive innovation-which in a nutshell explains why organizations experience difficulty with particular types of innovation and how they... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

26 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Best Practices of Global Innovators

related to the possession of deep individual technical skills in hundreds of diverse disciplines," the researchers conclude in their paper, Innovation through Global Collaboration: A New Source of Competitive Advantage. "Boeing's unique... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

23 Jul 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Innovation Is Magic. Really

authors also teamed to write The Magic of Innovation, published in the European Business Review earlier this year. A Magical Process Thomke maintains that innovative managers looking to create successful new... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products

Teaching Interest

Field Course: Social Innovation Lab

By: Brian L. Trelstad

Co-taugh with Prof. John Kim

This course provides students an opportunity to use the discipline of entrepreneurial... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Social Enterprise

April 2020
Case

Ment.io: Knowledge Analytics for Team Decision Making

By: Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Jeffrey T. Polzer, Susie L. Ma and Shlomi Pasternak

Ment.io was a software platform that used proprietary data analytics technology to help organizations make informed and transparent decisions based on team input. Ment was born out of founder Joab Rosenberg’s frustration that, while organizations collected ever... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Information Technology; Knowledge; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Management; Operations; Information Management; Product; Product Development; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Communications Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry; Middle East; Israel

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March 2008 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Corning: 156 Years of Innovation

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

The executive team at Corning has committed to double the rate of new business creation per decade, while at the same time growing the company's current businesses, including glass substrates for LCD displays. Their strategy, built on more than 150 years of successful... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Leadership; Resource Allocation; Product Development; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Industrial Products Industry

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June 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Eric Hawkins Leading Agile Teams @ Digitally-Born AppFolio (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley, Paul Leonardi and Michael Norris

Eric Hawkins, director of engineering at AppFolio—a digital technology firm that offered cloud-based business software to small and medium sized companies—was shocked by an unusual request from his senior leadership team. Could Hawkins and one of his agile teams build... View Details