Publications

April 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

AI Wars

By: Andy Wu, Matt Higgins, Miaomiao Zhang and Hang Jiang

In February 2024, the world was looking to Google to see what the search giant and long-time putative technical leader in artificial intelligence (AI) would do to compete in the massively hyped technology of generative AI. Over a year ago, OpenAI released ChatGPT, a... View Details

Keywords: AI; Artificial Intelligence; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation

05 Dec 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Heterogeneous Technology Diffusion and Ricardian Trade Patterns

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

Article

Innovation Contests for High-Tech Procurement

By: Jin Hyun Paik, Martin Scholl, Rinat A. Sergeev, Steven Randazzo and Karim R. Lakhani

Innovation managers rarely use crowdsourcing as an innovative instrument despite extensive academic and theoretical research. The lack of tools available to compare and measure crowdsourcing, specifically contests, against traditional methods of procuring goods and... View Details

Keywords: Open Innovation; Contests; Crowdsourcing; Nasa; Evaluation; Acquisition; Information Technology; Innovation and Invention; Performance Evaluation; Framework

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June 2013
Supplement

Elasto Therm: The Next Step (Video Supplement)

By: Jim Sharpe

This is the Video Supplement for Elasto Therm: The Next Step (HBS Case #813030). View Details

March 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Cognizant 2.0: Embedding Community and Knowledge Into Work Processes

By: Robert G. Eccles and Thomas H. Davenport

Knowledge management has been a high priority for Cognizant Technology Solutions since its inception since its global delivery model requires the global sharing of knowledge. Its first major tool was called the Knowledge Management Appliance but as Web 2.0 tools came... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Product Development; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Cooperation; Information Technology Industry

October 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Case

Mavens & Moguls: Creating a New Business Model

By: Myra M. Hart, Victoria Winston and Kristin Lieb

Mavens & Moguls is a "virtual" marketing-consulting firm of approximately 40 professionals. Examines the processes by which its founder, Paige Arnof-Fenn, learns the business, builds a power network of industry experts and potential customers, and uses this expertise... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Values and Beliefs; Work-Life Balance; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Operations; Networks; Business Model; Growth Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Consulting Industry

September 2011
Supplement

TopCoder (B)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Eric Lonstein and Stephanie Pokrywa

Metrology plays a key role in the manufacture of mechanical components. Traditionally it is used extensively in a pre-process stage where a manufacturer does process planning, design, and ramp-up, and in post-process off-line inspection to establish proof of quality.... View Details

Keywords: Industry Growth; Forecasting and Prediction; Change Management; Production; Machinery and Machining; Planning; Quality; Competition; Diversification; Technology Adoption; Measurement and Metrics; Product Design; Manufacturing Industry

2009
Working Paper

Don't Just Survive - Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad

By: Lynda M. Applegate and J. Bruce Harreld

Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current global financial crisis provides a mandate for restructuring. But survival is not the end goal. In fact, cost cutting and restructuring are simply... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk Management; Leading Change; Innovation and Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy

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February 2022
Case

CityScore: Big Data Comes to Boston

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2016, Martin “Marty” Walsh, the Mayor of Boston, introduced CityScore, a data dashboard that measured the city’s progress across a range of metrics. The dashboard was updated daily and publicly available. The mayor frequently discussed the CityScore targets in... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Government Administration; Leadership; Transformation; City; Measurement and Metrics; Public Administration Industry; Boston; United States

March 2017 (Revised November 2018)
Case

BYJU'S The Learning App

By: John Jong-Hyun Kim and Rachna Tahilyani

BYJU’S The Learning App (BYJU’s) is India’s largest K-12 education app with about 300,000 annual paid subscribers. The mobile app uses a mix of video lessons and interactive tools to personalize learning for every student. Although there is room to grow exponentially... View Details

Keywords: Education; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Learning; Customization and Personalization; Education Industry; India; United States

24 Jan 2011
News

Harvard Business School Introduces Program to Help Realize Opportunities in Emerging Markets

2017
Other Unpublished Work

Kicking Ash: Who (or What) Is Winning the War on Coal?

By: David F. Drake and Jeffrey York

Power generators throughout the U.S. have shed coal capacity at an unprecedented rate over the past few years. Multiple stakeholders have claimed credit - natural gas executives, policy makers, renewables advocates, and environmental NGOs. In this paper, we explore the... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; United States

August 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Polyphonic HMI: Mixing Music and Math

By: Anita Elberse, Jehoshua Eliashberg and Julian Villanueva

In 2003, Mike McCready, CEO of Barcelona-based Polyphonic HMI, was preparing to launch an artificial intelligence tool that could create significant value for music businesses. The technology, referred to as Hit Song Science (HSS), analyzed the mathematical... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Music Entertainment; Business History; Leadership; Marketing Strategy; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Mathematical Methods; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

14 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

and operational challenges. It provided employees with tools and equipment to set up their workstation at home. The company proactively managed uncertainty with clients. Instead of passively waiting for demand to change, it tried to... View Details

Keywords: by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Be an Angel Investor

seminars, learning an industry by working in it; these are all ways to develop expertise that will promote your success in investing. But in both entrepreneurship and angel investing, there is nothing like doing it. Nothing. The... View Details

Keywords: by David Amis & Howard Stevenson

Don't Just Survive - Thrive: Leading Innovations in Good Times and Bad

Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current global financial crisis provides a mandate for restructuring. But survival is not the end goal. In fact, cost cutting and restructuring are simply... View Details

November 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Technical Note

Rechargeable Batteries, 2017: Gigafactory Wars in the Offing?

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2017, the global market for rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries was 126 gigawatt-hours (GWh) valued at $37 billion, growing by $10 billion in two years. Once confined largely to consumer electronics and appliances, the rapid increase in demand was spurred by... View Details

29 Sep 2015
First Look

September 29, 2015

powerful commercial engine it is today. This book describes how many of the key innovations that made this possible came from entrepreneurs and iconoclasts who were outside the mainstream—and how the commercialization of the Internet was... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2008 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Kenny Kahn at Muzak (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Stecker

Founded in 1934, Muzak pioneered the industry of background music. Equipped with propriety technology and a vast music library, over the ensuing decades the Muzak franchise organization expanded geographically. Despite a history of innovation, by the late 1990s Muzak... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Design; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Franchise Ownership; Music Industry