Publications

May 2017
Case

ATH Technologies: Making the Numbers

By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard

An exercise that takes students through five stages of growth in an entrepreneurial start-up in the medical devices industry: 1) founding, 2) growth, 3) push to profitability, 4) relocation process, and 5) takeover by new management. At each stage, students must... View Details

Keywords: Balancing Innovation And Control; Performance Evaluation; Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Profit; Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Innovation and Invention; Management Succession; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

May 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Cotopaxi: Managing Growth for Good

By: Andy Wu and Laura Huang

Cotopaxi, an innovative outdoor gear business targeting millennials, focuses on profit and social impact. This registered benefit corporation was formed by Davis Smith who coalesced his experiences as a Wharton MBA student along with professional knowledge from an... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Social Venture; Benefit Corporation; B-Corp; Retail; Consumer Products; Apparel; Social Impact; Social Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Product Positioning; Social Enterprise; Mission and Purpose; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry

May 2017
Teaching Note

Hilti Fleet Management (A) and (B)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Oliver Gassmann and Roman Sauer

These notes are meant to accompany Hilti Fleet Management (A): Turning a Successful Business Model on Its Head (717-427) and Hilti Fleet Management (B): Towards a New Business Model (717-465).
This case explores the introduction of fleet management in the... View Details

May 2017 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Hilti Fleet Management (A): Turning a Successful Business Model on Its Head

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Oliver Gassmann and Roman Sauer

This case explores the introduction of fleet management in the construction industry by the premium power tools manufacturer Hilti in 2000. Following its customers’ needs, Hilti moved from selling power tools to leasing them as a service. The introduction of the new... View Details

May 2017 (Revised September 2018)
Supplement

Hilti Fleet Management (B): Towards a New Business Model

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Oliver Gassmann and Roman Sauer

The (B) case tackles the implementation and scaling process of fleet management over the years. Finally, the case explores current challenges facing the BMI. View Details

2017
Chapter

Entrepreneurship in Larger Companies

By: William R. Kerr

Entrepreneurship in large and established companies is vital for their long-term success. Incumbent firms face many challenges ranging from global competition to digitization. In times past, being caught flat-footed might have set a company back several years, but it... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship

Article

Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage

By: Robert D. Austin and Gary P. Pisano

Many people with neurological conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia have extraordinary skills, including those in pattern recognition, memory, and mathematics. Yet they often struggle to fit the profiles sought by employers. A growing number of... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Diversity; Competency and Skills

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

April 2017
Supplement

CIC: Catalyzing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (B)

By: William R. Kerr, Sari Kerr and Alexis Brownell

CIC engages in "guerrilla warfare," offering free or highly discounted rates in order to get its empty offices filled before the opening day of its St. Louis branch. Opening day is a huge success, and CIC St. Louis grows rapidly, even opening a second building. In the... View Details

Keywords: Start-ups; Boston; Cambridge; St. Louis; CIC; Cambridge Innovation Center; Co-working Space; Entrepreneurial Ecosystems; Innovation Ecosystems; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Boston; Cambridge; St. Louis

April 2017
Teaching Note

Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health (Abridged)

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone and Jonathan Cohen

Sesame Workshop was in the middle of a turnaround in 2016. CEO Jeff Dunn had reorganized and shifted the iconic institution to respond to digital disruption and a consensus culture. This Teaching Note helps instructors teach the abridged and full-length versions of... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; NGO; Non-profit; Organization Alignment; Managing Change; Philanthropy; Media; Television; Reorganization; Talent; Innovation; Risk Aversion; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Restructuring; Identity; Transformation; Education Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

April 2017 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Korea Telecom: Building a GiGAtopia (A)

By: Shane Greenstein, Feng Zhu and Kerry Herman

Korea Telecom (KT) has committed $4 billion in investments and R&D to build a GiGAtopia, essentially ushering in the next generation of mobile (5G) and wired infrastructure. CEO Dr. Chang-Gyu Hwang, and his team are considering which areas to prioritize in terms of new... View Details

Keywords: Mobile and Wireless Technology; Technological Innovation; Infrastructure; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Telecommunications Industry

April 2017
Supplement

Imprimis (D)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Marc Appel

This case is a supplement to Imprimis (A, B, & C). It describes Imprimis’s 2015 decision to develop a $1 per pill compounded alternative to Daraprim, the branded drug that had recently undergone an extreme price hike, raising its price to $750 per pill. Imprimis also... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

March 2017 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Edwin Land: The Art and Science of Innovation

By: Tom Nicholas, Christopher T. Stanton and Matthew G. Preble

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Polaroid first invented—and then continuously reinvented—the field of instant photography. Under the leadership of its mercurial founder Edwin Land, the company regularly released new instant cameras and films, often... View Details

Keywords: Instant Photography; Company History; Change Management; Disruption; Forecasting and Prediction; Entrepreneurship; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Intellectual Property; Patents; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Development; Chemical Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

March 2017
Case

A. Lange & Söhne

By: Stefan Thomke and Daniela Beyersdorfer

The case describes how A. Lange & Söhne became one of world's leading watch companies. Its obsession with quality and innovation were behind its initial rise in the 19th century and, after a 40-year involuntary hiatus under the East German regime, again at the end of... View Details

Keywords: Watches; Operational Excellence; Brand ＆ Product Management; Product Development; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Brands and Branding; Management; Operations; Production; Innovation and Invention; Price; Business History; Germany

March 2017
Exercise

Designing Transformational Customer Experiences

By: Stefan Thomke

Anyone who has recently travelled, gone shopping, or tried to have a problem solved may have little recollection of the experience. Worse yet, some are frustrated by the lack of responsiveness or empathy that they encountered. The reality is that most customer... View Details

Keywords: Customer Experience; Exercise; Learning By Doing; LEGO; Storytelling; Customer Satisfaction; Design; Innovation and Management; Transformation; Service Delivery

2017
Case

Uncommon Schools (A): A Network of Networks

By: John J-H Kim and Sarah McAra

In 2013, Brett Peiser, CEO of the charter school management organization (CMO) Uncommon Schools, is reassessing the nonprofit’s strategy. For nearly 10 years, Uncommon had fulfilled its mission to bring high-quality education to students in low-income, urban areas... View Details

Keywords: Charter Schools; Nonprofit Organizations; Teaching; Talent Management; Innovation; Organization Structure; Education; Early Childhood Education; Middle School Education; Organizational Structure; Performance Consistency; Strategy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Education Industry

Read Now

2017
Supplement

Uncommon Schools (B): Seeking Excellence at Scale through Standardized Practice

By: John J-H Kim and Sarah McAra

The (B) case provides an update to the (A) case by illustrating how charter school management organization Uncommon Schools responded to the disparity in its students’ 2013 standardized test results. In 2015, CEO Brett Peiser and his management team decided to align... View Details

Keywords: Charter Schools; Nonprofit Organizations; Strategy; Teaching; Talent And Talent Management; Innovation; Education; Early Childhood Education; Middle School Education; Organizational Structure; Performance Consistency; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Education Industry

Read Now

February 2017 (Revised December 2018)
Case

From Start-Up to Grown-Up Nation: The Future of the Israeli Innovation Ecosystem (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek and Margot Eiran

In June 2016, Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, wrestled with how to sustain Israel’s strong innovation track record and the country’s reputation as the “start-up nation.” Despite the economic miracle the country had wrought since its founding, he... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Government and Politics; Economy; Equality and Inequality; Israel

2017
Working Paper

Platforms, Open/User Innovation, and Ecosystems: A Strategic Leadership Perspective

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Michael L. Tushman

Platform, open/user innovation, and ecosystem strategies embrace and enable interactions with external entities. Firms pursuing these approaches conduct business and interact with environments differently than those pursuing traditional closed strategies. This paper... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Open/user Innovation; Ecosystems; Crowdsourcing; Institutional Logics; Strategic Leadership; Top Management Teams; CEO Role; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Design; Strategy; Managerial Roles

SSRN

Read Now

February 2017
Case

GE Digital

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

Known for manufacturing industrial equipment, GE has decided to invest in software and analytics capabilities to become a digital industrial company. They have also created a software platform that they hope will power the Industrial Internet. GE executives forecasted... View Details

Keywords: GE; General Electric; Manufacturing; Industrial Internet; Wind Power; Digital Manufacturing; Renewable Energy; Energy; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Transformation; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; North America