Publications

18 May 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Organization Design for Distributed Innovation

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin

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

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Research Summary

Environmental Policy and Competitiveness

By: Michael E. Porter

Michael E. Porter has been exploring (with Claas van der Linde of St. Gallen University, Switzerland) the relationship between environmental regulation, industry competition, and international competitiveness. He finds that many forms of environmental pollution... View Details

22 Mar 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Competition under Asymmetric Information

Keywords: by Hanna Halaburda & Yaron Yehezkel; Technology

May 1998
Article

Market Structure, Innovation and Vertical Product Differentiation

By: Shane Greenstein and Garey Ramey

We reassess Arrow's (1962) [Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources for Invention, in NBER, The Rate and Direction of Innovative Activity (Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ)] results concerning the effect of market structure on the returns from process... View Details

Keywords: Product; Market Design; Innovation and Invention; Monopoly; Competition

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Fall 2012
Article

Innovation Strategy and Entry Deterrence

By: Ozge Turut and Elie Ofek

We model an incumbent's decision to pursue radical or incremental innovation when facing a rival entrant. The radical innovation may yield lucrative financial returns but entails significant technological and market-related uncertainties. It is also particularly... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Innovation Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Markets; Mathematical Methods

July 2003 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Singapore Airlines: Customer Service Innovation

By: Rohit Deshpande and Hal Hogan

The members of Singapore Airlines' (SIA) management committee needs to decide whether to cancel the implementation of the new lie-flat seats in business class after the effects of the global recession on the travel industry in September 2001. SIA was considered the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Air Transportation Industry; Travel Industry; Singapore

Educators

November – December 2011
Article

Modeling a Paradigm Shift: From Producer Innovation to User and Open Collaborative Innovation

By: Carliss Baldwin and Eric von Hippel

In this paper, we assess the economic viability of innovation by producers relative to two increasingly important alternative models: innovations by single-user individuals or firms and open collaborative innovation. We analyze the design costs and architectures and... View Details

Keywords: Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Design; Cost; Communication; Competition; Economy; Research; Policy; Practice

09 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

A Diagnostic for Disruptive Innovation

Would-be innovators know that one of their biggest challenges is systematically identifying the innovations with the greatest likelihood of creating disruptive growth. Pick the wrong one, and squander a year... View Details

Keywords: by Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson & Matt Eyring

2001
Other Unpublished Work

Clusters of Innovation: Regional Foundations of U.S. Competitiveness

By: Michael E. Porter

Competitiveness has tended to be seen primarily from a federal perspective, and national policies and circumstances surely affect the prosperity of our economy. However, the Clusters of Innovation Initiative was undertaken with the realization that the real work of... View Details

Keywords: Clusters; Economics; Industry Clusters; Economy; Growth and Development; United States

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11 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

U.S. Tops Business Competitiveness Index 2006

by the World Economic Forum. The U.S., ranked number one in four of the last six years, scored high on business environment, financial markets, and innovative capacity. Germany, number two, benefited from its orientation on exports, the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Teaching Interest

Strategy - Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage

By: Jan W. Rivkin

With the accelerating pace of competition, cutting-edge companies are defined by innovative strategies. In this Executive Education program, we explore how to develop groundbreaking stratgies and action plans for execution, forecast industry evolution, and analyze... View Details

01 Jun 2009
Lessons from the Classroom

The Challenges of Investing in Science-Based Innovation

In economic downtimes, businesses are apt to cut R&D projects that don't promise a speedy return on investment. But take a cue from smart science-based businesses, which view the recession as an opportunity to stoke up research and View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Auto; Pharmaceutical

March 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Fraunhofer: Innovation in Germany

By: Diego A. Comin, J. Gunnar Trumbull and Kerry Yang

Fraunhofer is one of the largest applied research organizations in the world. With 17,000 employees and a 1.6 billion euros budget, Fraunhofer has 60 institutes in Germany that cover most fields of science. The case examines the consequences that Fraunhofer has for the... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Entrepreneurship; Financial Markets; Government and Politics; Labor; Markets; Outcome or Result; Research and Development; Competitive Strategy; Germany

Educators

2008
Simulation

Strategic Innovation Simulation: Back Bay Battery

By: Willy C. Shih and Clayton Christensen

This online simulation allows students to play the role of a business unit manager at Back Bay Battery Company who faces the dilemma of balancing a portfolio of investment strategies across products in the rechargeable battery space. Players have to manage R&D... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Investment; Product Development; Research and Development; Battery Industry

2010
Book

Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd

By: Youngme Moon

Every few years a book-through a combination of the author's unique voice, storytelling ability, spirit, and insight-simply breaks the mold. Youngme Moon's DIFFERENT is that kind of book, a book for "people who don't read business books...," a book that feels like an... View Details

Keywords: Communication Intention and Meaning; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Creativity; Competition

05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Understanding the Process of Innovation

prostituted into something lackluster, or by which the wrong idea gets put forward." Break the innovative process down and analyze each component, Christensen recommends. That will help you understand "where the View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gray

14 Nov 2006
Other Presentation

Competitiveness and Economic Development: Where Does Texas Stand?

By: Michael E. Porter

This presentation draws on ideas from Professor Porter's articles and books, in articular, The Competitive Advantage of Nations (The Free Press, 1990), "Clusters and the New Competitive Agenda for Companies and Governments" in On Competition (Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Growth and Development; United States