Publications

March 1994
Case

Materials Technology Corp.

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Materials Technology Corp. (MTC) is an MIT-based start-up company that identified an initial product market for its advanced materials-processing technology using conventional market research techniques. While pursuing that market--advanced microelectronic... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Technology; Markets; Product Development; Innovation and Management; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry; United States

June 2000 (Revised March 2003)
Case

IBM Technology Group

By: Andrew P. McAfee and Kerry Herman

Explores two main issues: how the IBM Technology Group was able to build a robust, scalable, and functional IT platform using packaged enterprise resource planning (ERP) software from SAP, and how the division should best leverage this capability going forward. View Details

Keywords: Management; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Projects; Information Technology Industry

March 2025
Supplement

Wasabi Technologies (B)

By: Lou Shipley and Stacy Straaberg

Set in 2019, the “Wasabi Technologies (A)” case centers on Wasabi Technologies (Wasabi), a successful hot cloud storage company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founder and CEO David Friend is ready to scale the four-year-old venture rapidly. Wasabi had so far focused... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Sales; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry; United States; Massachusetts; Boston

Research Summary

Technology and Operations Strategy

By: Marco Iansiti

Marco Iansiti studies the evolving nature of strategy, innovation and operations in the modern enterprise. Over the past 20 years, he has researched the processes for technology adoption, development, and integration in hundreds of firms across a wide... View Details

December 2002
Article

Process Management and Technological Innovation: A Longitudinal Study of the Photography and Paint Industries

By: Mary J. Benner and Michael Tushman

Keywords: Management; Information Technology; Innovation and Invention; Arts

Find at Harvard

November 2011
Case

Celeritas, Inc.: Leadership Challenges in a Fast-Growth Industry

By: Michael Beer and Ingrid Vargas

In 2011, Celeritas is a leading data communications company in the crowded, highly competitive, and ever-evolving enterprise-network optimization market. Having experienced rapid growth since its founding in 2003, Celeritas has recently seen sales decline and has begun... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Morale; Conflict; Organizational Change; Team Building; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Leadership; Communication; Groups and Teams; Attitudes; Conflict and Resolution; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

2016
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Mahendra Bapna and Technology Education in India

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Pamela Yatsko

February 1992 (Revised September 1992)
Background Note

Global Computer Industry

Describes the evolution of international trade and global competition in computers. Focuses on the role of country factors, government policies, and firm strategies in shifting competitive advantage among regions of the world. Pays special attention to international... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Alliances; Trade; Policy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Computer Industry

June 1990 (Revised January 1994)
Case

Desktop Printer Industry in 1990

The desktop printer industry in 1990 is characterized by significant uncertainty about new technologies and about the types of features customers may demand in the next decade. The case looks at the positions of Hewlett-Packard, Canon, Kodak, Xerox, and IBM enabling... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Change Management; Competition; Hardware; Computer Industry

August 2022 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Wasabi Technologies (A)

By: N. Louis Shipley and Mel Martin

After launching a successful hot cloud storage company, Founder and CEO David Friend is ready to scale the venture rapidly. Wasabi Technologies had focused primarily on direct sales, but an opportunity to pivot to channel sales was on the horizon. The company’s major... View Details

Keywords: Direct Sales; Channel Sales; Information Management; Sales; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Divisions; Information Technology Industry; United States

February 2018 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Rise of the Drones: Identified Technologies

By: Andy Wu and George Gonzalez

The founder and CEO of Identified Technologies, a Pittsburgh-based drone software and services company, faces a dilemma when San Francisco–based DroneDeploy begins to disrupt the industry with its drone software platform. Identified Technologies needs to consider... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Disruption; Network Effects; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Pittsburgh; San Francisco

October 2005 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Pharmaceutical Industry in 2005, The

By: John R. Wells and Elizabeth Raabe

The entire pharmaceutical industry faced uncertain times in 2005. Many of the industry's most pressing issues—patent expirations, new drug pipeline development, price pressures, regulatory issues, and political pressures—were long standing. Fundamentally new... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Research and Development; Framework; Change; Competition; Technological Innovation; Pharmaceutical Industry

July 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Foxconn Technology Group (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim and Beiting Cheng

In 2010, Foxconn Technology Group, the largest and fastest growing multinational company in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) industry, came under public scrutiny after a string of employee suicides reached the international press. Although the company was... View Details

22 Apr 2008
Working Paper Summaries

An Exploration of Technology Diffusion

Keywords: by Diego A. Comin & Bart Hobijn

September 2011
Case

Vibco Industrial Vibrators

By: Das Narayandas, Kerry Herman and Matthew Preble

Karl Wadensten, president of Vibco Vibrators, was deciding whether to grow his small company through a marketing push for one of two technologies that he believed could launch his company to the next level of sales, or if he should continue to grow his company through... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Marketing; Product Launch; Customization and Personalization; Expansion; Manufacturing Industry

Research Summary

Formulating technology commercialization strategies

Even if young organizations succeed in acquiring the specialized talent necessary to further develop a recently-discovered technology, they may face an uncertain path in commercializing the original invention. Initial conceptions of what might constitute a useful... View Details

May 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Investment Technology Group

By: Clayton S. Rose and David Lane

Investment Technology Group (ITG) CEO Robert Gasser wondered if the financial crisis had permanently affected the firm's business model. A leader in trade analytics and execution for institutional equity investors, ITG had grown since its establishment in 1987 in step... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Financial Crisis; Investment; Resignation and Termination; Crisis Management; Product Positioning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

July 2010 (Revised March 2015)
Teaching Note

1366 Technologies

By: Ramana Nanda and Joseph B. Lassiter III

Teaching Note for 810005. View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Production; Supply and Industry; Corporate Strategy; Capital; Manufacturing Industry

September 2012 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Roxbury Technology Corporation

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Roxbury Technology is a Boston-based re-manufacturer of ink and toner cartridges. In early 2012 RTC was re-evaluating its approach to the company's two most important goals: reducing customer concentration and increasing profitability. RTC's largest customer accounted... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Financial Management; Customers; Diversification; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; Boston