Publications

March 1996
Case

New Product Development at Canon: The Contact Sensor Project

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Partington

Canon is one of the leading innovators in the world. This case describes the processes by which Canon manages the flow of ideas from basic science to new products, and how it harnesses product innovation to a strategy of diversification. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Strategic Planning; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Diversification; Success; Consumer Products Industry

January 2011
Case

AIC Netbooks: Optimizing Product Assembly

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Sunru Yong

AIC Systems, located in Taichung, Taiwan, is a manufacturer of printed circuit boards, primarily for motherboards and video cards for personal computers. The firm is considered an original design manufacturer (ODM) and takes an active role in innovating and designing... View Details

Keywords: Performance Management; Quantitative Analysis; Manufacturing; Production Planning; Production Management; Diversification; Production; Performance Efficiency; Product Design; Performance Improvement; Mobile Technology; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Taiwan

2022
Working Paper

Responding Strategically to Competitors' Failures: Evidence from Medical Device Recalls & New Product Submissions

By: George P. Ball, Jeffrey T. Macher and Ariel Dora Stern

Medical device firms operate at the frontiers of innovation. When functioning properly, innovative medical devices can prolong and improve lives; when malfunctioning, the same devices may harm patients and lead to product recalls. Product recalls create significant... View Details

Keywords: New Product Development; Recalls; Product Failures; Medical Devices; FDA; Health Care; Product Development; Product; Failure; Competition; Opportunities; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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April 1997
Article

New Product Development Structures and Time to Market

By: S. Datar, C. Jordan, S. Kekre, S. Rajiv and K. Srinivasan

Keywords: Product Development

November 2011 (Revised December 2011)
Case

PerkinElmer Developing Products in China for China

By: Vicki Sato, Christoph Jaeker and Kareem Reda

Keywords: Product Development; Developing Countries and Economies; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; China

July 1988 (Revised July 1990)
Case

Xerox Corp.: Information Technology Support of Product Development

By: James I. Cash Jr. and Donna B. Stoddard

Keywords: Product Development; Information Technology

1994
Article

Accelerating the Design-build-test Cycle for Effective Product Development

By: S. C. Wheelwright and K. B. Clark

Keywords: Design; Product; Research and Development

2004
Working Paper

Inter-firm Modularity and the Implications for Product Development

October 2009
Teaching Note

Medisys Corp.: The IntensCare Product Development Team (Brief Case)

By: Anne Donnellon and Joshua D. Margolis

Teaching Note for 094059 View Details

Keywords: Project Management; Conflict Management; Interdepartmental Relations; Organizational Change And Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management; Leadership; Organizational Structure; Projects; Conflict and Resolution; Product Development

January 1997 (Revised September 1997)
Case

Improving the Product Development Process at Kirkham Instruments Corp.

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Describes the efforts of a manufacturer of scientific instruments to implement new methods of managing new product development, which its executives had learned in a Harvard Business School seminar. The executives left the seminar excited to implement a new way of... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Product Launch; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; United States

December 2022
Article

I Don't 'Recall': The Decision to Delay Innovation Launch to Avoid Costly Product Failure

By: Byungyeon Kim, Oded Koenigsberg and Elie Ofek

Innovations embody novel features or cutting-edge components aimed at delivering desired customer benefits. Oftentimes, however, we observe the need to recall new products shortly after their introduction. Indeed, a firm may rush an innovation to market in an attempt... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Management; Innovation And Strategy; Product Development Strategy; Product Introduction; Quality Control; Product Recalls; Game Theory; Market Timing; Innovation Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development

January 2001
Article

Developing Products on 'Internet Time': The Anatomy of a Flexible Development Process

By: Alan MacCormack, Roberto Verganti and Marco Iansiti

Keywords: Product; Online Technology

5 May 1999
Conference Presentation

A Comparative Study of Product Development Process Design

By: Alan MacCormack

Keywords: Product Development; Production; Design

December 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Background Note

The Business Development Manager

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Sarah Dillard, Katharine Nevins and Puja Ramani

Describes the role of business development (BD) managers in technology companies, detailing: 1) BD managers' key responsibilities at each step in the process of creating a partnership agreement; 2) how the nature of the BD function evolves as a technology startup... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Partnerships; High Technology Products; Information Technology; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Management Skills; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry

1994
Article

A Multi-Project Management Framework for New Product Development

By: Roberto Verganti

March 1996 (Revised April 1996)
Case

State Street Bank and Trust Company: New Product Development

By: Gary P. Pisano and Maryam Golnaraghi

Portrays the dilemma faced by Marsh Carter, CEO and chairman of the board of State Street Bank, in May 1995. For the past decade, the bank earned continually expanding earnings through its rapidly growing custody business. Now, as that business matures and custodial... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Finance; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Strategy; Banking Industry

Summer 2021
Article

The Origin and Development of Firm Management

By: Michela Giorcelli

This paper examines the historical origin and diffusion of management practices. Despite their centrality in the modern world, the concepts of ‘management’ developed fairly recently. Only with the Industrial Revolution, due to the increased firm size, owners needed a... View Details

Keywords: Productivity; Kaizen; Management; Management Practices and Processes; History; Performance Productivity; Technology