Publications
Publications
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(119,459)
- Faculty Publications (133)
- Article
What Evolution Can Teach Us About Innovation
By: Noubar Afeyan and Gary P. Pisano
Many people believe that the process for achieving breakthrough innovations is chaotic, random, and unmanageable. But that view is flawed, the authors argue. Breakthroughs can be systematically generated using a process modeled on the principles that drive evolution in... 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
- February 2021
- Case
Digital Manufacturing at Amgen
By: Shane Greenstein, Kyle R. Myers and Sarah Mehta
This case discusses efforts made by biotechnology (biotech) company Amgen to introduce digital technologies into its manufacturing processes. Doing so is complicated by the fact that the process for manufacturing biologics—or therapeutics made from living cells—is... View Details
Keywords: Digital Technologies; Change; Change Management; Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Information; Analytics and Data Science; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Jobs and Positions; Knowledge; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Science; Strategy; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; California; Puerto Rico; Rhode Island
- 2021
- Book
We the Possibility: Harnessing Public Entrepreneurship to Solve Our Most Urgent Problems
By: Mitchell Weiss
The huge public challenges we face are daunting. At the same time, many of us have come to accept the notion that government can't do new things or solve tough challenges—it's too big and slow and bureaucratic. Not so. Entrepreneurial savvy in government is growing,... View Details
- Article
Making a Difference: Developing Actionable Knowledge for Practice and Theory
By: Michael Beer
There is a widely acknowledged gap between academic research and practice. While the field of organizational studies and development has had an impact on management practice in some organizations, it has had only a modest impact on widely accepted management practice... View Details
- October 2020 (Revised February 2025)
- Technical Note
Reinvention
By: Ryan Raffaelli
This note is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of leading innovation in established organizations. Reinvention is a process whereby organizations respond to changes in the environment that threaten their core business model, technologies,... View Details
- July 2020
- Technical Note
Digital Natives Growing Without a Sales Force
By: Das Narayandas, Michael Norris and Amram Migdal
This brief case describes the rise of so-called digital natives (also called born-in-digital) in the 2000s and 2010s that successfully grew without a sales force. The case highlights the emergence of business-to-business Internet and cloud-based companies and their... View Details
Keywords: Government Administration; Crisis Management; Health; Health Pandemics; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Social Issues; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry; Australia; North and Central America; United States; Illinois; Chicago; California; San Francisco
- July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Vineet Nayar and Sampark Foundation: Frugal Innovation at Scale (A)
By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards
In 2005, Vineet Nayar, the former CEO and Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies, and his wife, Anupama Nayar, committed $100 million of their personal wealth to found Sampark Foundation — a grant-making philanthropy with a mission to transform learning outcomes for 20... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Cultural Change; Digital; Innovation; Experimentation; Metrics; Education Reform; Non-profit; Frugal Innovation; Scale; Ecosystem; Government; Education; Social Enterprise; Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Innovation Leadership; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Digital Transformation; India
- July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Vineet Nayar and Sampark Foundation: Frugal Innovation at Scale (A) (Abridged)
By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards
In 2005, Vineet Nayar, the former CEO and Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies, and his wife, Anupama Nayar, committed $100 million of their personal wealth to found Sampark Foundation—a grant-making philanthropy with a mission to transform learning outcomes for 20... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Organizational Alignment; Culture Change; Digital; Innovation; Experimentation; Metrics; Education Reform; Non-profit; Frugal Innovation; Scale; Ecosystem; Government; Education; Social Enterprise; Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Alignment; Innovation Leadership; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Digital Transformation; India
- June 2020 (Revised January 2024)
- Case
TraceTogether
By: Mitchell B. Weiss and Sarah Mehta
By April 7, 2020, over 1.4 million people worldwide had contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Governments raced to curb the spread of COVID-19 by scaling up testing, quarantining those infected, and tracing their possible contacts. It had taken Singapore’s... View Details
Keywords: COVID-19; Contact Tracing; Government Administration; Crisis Management; Health; Health Pandemics; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Social Issues; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Health Industry; Public Administration Industry; Singapore
- April 2020
- Article
Technological Leadership (de)Concentration: Causes in Information and Communication Technology Equipment
By: Yasin Ozcan and Shane Greenstein
Using patent data from 1976 to 2010 as indicators of inventive activity, we determine the concentration level of where inventive ideas originate and then examine how and why those concentrations change over time. The analysis finds pervasive deconcentration in every... View Details
- March 2020
- Case
Voi Technology
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Olivia Hull
Voi Technology, a fast-growing start-up out of Sweden, is competing in the highly contested European e-scooter sharing market. With a presence in nearly 40 cities in Europe by February 2020, the firm is working hard to improve its unit economics to reach profitability.... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Technology Adoption; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Business Plan; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Energy Conservation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Globalized Economies and Regions; Innovation Leadership; Human Capital; Laws and Statutes; Growth Management; Operations; Logistics; Service Operations; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Information Infrastructure; Transportation; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; Europe
- January 2020
- Case
The Origins of Bell Labs
By: Tom Nicholas and John Masko
In 1947, scientists at Bell Labs invented the transistor—a tiny signal amplifier that would go on to become the fundamental building block of the digital age. But, confounding most traditional economic assumptions, it was not a vigorous startup that made this momentous... View Details
- 2020
- Book
Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time
Over a decade ago, renowned innovation expert Rosabeth Moss Kanter co-founded and then directed Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative. Her breakthrough work with hundreds of successful professionals and executives, as well as aspiring young entrepreneurs, identifies... View Details
Keywords: Leaders; Advanced Leadership; Advanced Leadership Initiative; Community; Change Leadership; Innovation; Problem Solving; Cross-sector Collaboration; Institutional Change; Leadership; Change; Leading Change; Communication; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Community Relations; Civil Society or Community
- November 2019
- Supplement
Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL
By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta
This multimedia supplement accompanies the case “Innovation at Uber: the Launch of Express POOL” (case no. 619-003). Set in March 2018, the case follows ride-sharing company Uber as it develops and launches a new product called Express POOL. This multimedia supplement... View Details
- November 2019 (Revised February 2022)
- Teaching Note
Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL
By: Chiara Farronato and Sarah Mehta
Teaching Note for HBS No. 619-003. Set in March 2018, the Case follows ride-sharing company Uber as it develops and launches a new product called Express POOL. The Teaching Note offers guidance for instructors who wish to use the case either with or without its dataset... View Details
- September 2019 (Revised September 2020)
- Case
SOFWERX: Innovation at U.S. Special Operations Command (Abridged)
By: Herman Leonard, Mitch 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. Overseeing acquisitions in one of the... View Details
- July 2019 (Revised August 2020)
- Case
Peabody Essex Museum: What Next?
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Jeffrey F. Rayport
The case describes the 25-year transformation of Peabody Essex Museum, which was created in 1993 by the merger of two sub-scale predecessor cultural institutions, operating since 1799, in Salem, Massachusetts. Dan Monroe, its founding CEO, began a process of building... View Details
- May–June 2019
- Article
Cross-Silo Leadership
By: Amy C. Edmondson, Tiziana Casciaro and Sujin Jang
Today the most promising innovation and business opportunities require collaboration among functions, offices, and organizations. To realize them, companies must break down silos and get people working together across boundaries. But that’s a challenge for many... View Details
- April 2019 (Revised February 2025)
- Case
Wendell Weeks at Corning Inc.: Extending a History of Life-Changing Innovations (A)
By: Ryan Raffaelli, David G. Fubini and Aldo Sesia
This case examines the leadership challenges associated with maintaining a culture of innovation in established organizations. It asks students to step into the shoes of a leader faced with making several tough decisions about when to invest (or to stop investing) in... View Details