Publications

Stefan Thomke (sthomke@hbs.edu), an authority on the management of innovation, is the William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He has worked with firms on product, process, and... View Details

June 2008 (Revised November 2010)
Supplement

Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B)

By: Anita L. Tucker and Jillian Alexandra Berry

The B Case is an email from the ED Director. He clarifies where the process deviations occurred. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Health Care and Treatment; Service Operations; Business Processes; Performance Productivity; Conflict and Resolution; Health Industry; Massachusetts

30 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 30

organizational domain. In sum, we provide a theoretical and methodological roadmap as well as a call for action for understanding the role of implicit affective processes in organizational behavior. The Descent of Finance Author:Niall... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 1989
Background Note

What Is Marketing?

An introductory note for MBA students on the nature of marketing and topics encountered in its study. Defines the topic then breaks marketing into two major conceptual pieces--the tools, tasks and variables of the marketer, and the marketing process. In the tools... View Details

Keywords: Marketing

April 2001 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Zaplet, Inc.

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey

Start-up Zaplet, Inc., has radical software, prestigious venture capital funding, and a multitude of business opportunities. New CEO Alan Baratz must select a strategy and redesign the organization to deliver. This case describes the roles and philosophies of the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Information Technology; Organizational Design; Venture Capital; Valuation; Business Strategy; Restructuring; Expansion; Product Development; Innovation Strategy; Human Resources; Information Technology Industry; California

July 1994 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Pacific Bell: Centrex Reengineering

Describes the redesign and rollout of the new order-fulfillment process for a flagship product at Pacific Bell. Pacific Bell is one of the Regional Bell Operating Companies comprised of seven regional business units. Rather than implement the new process, roles, and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Information Technology; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Telecommunications Industry

18 Apr 2016
News

Simulated smells and other tricks to make training stick

Richard L. Nolan

Professor Nolan earned his B.A. from the University of Washington in Production and Operations Research in 1962, and his M.B.A and Ph.D. in 1963 and 1966, respectively. Upon graduation in 1966, he joined Boeing Commercial Airplane Company as an Information... View Details

Keywords: aerospace; information technology industry; internet

James I. Cash

Professor Cash received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Texas Christian University; a Master of Science in Computer Science from Purdue University's Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Management Information... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; computer; e-commerce industry; financial services; health care; information technology industry; software

September 2006 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Bang & Olufsen: Design Driven Innovation

By: Robert D. Austin and Daniela Beyersdorfer

A successful company, recognized worldwide for exquisite design of consumer electronics products, strives to better integrate software design into its traditional physical product design processes to meet the demands of a post-iPod world. Details the Bang & Olufsen... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Production; Applications and Software; Product Design; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Electronics Industry

April 2020
Supplement

Open Innovation at Fujitsu (C)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

This follow-on case study provides a multi-year update on the achievements of the Open Innovation Gateway (OIG). Over time, OIG honed a process that enabled open innovation. It developed three streams of activities, namely co-creation projects with major customers and... View Details

Keywords: Open Innovation; Inter-organizational Relationships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Change Management; Relationships; Leadership Development

11 Mar 2018
News

SoftBank Looks to Invade Wall Street’s Turf

January 1992
Case

Metreke Cards

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Used to introduce the assembly line process to first-year MBA students. Three different variations of an assembly line process for packing greeting cards are presented for analysis. To choose among the three, the students must address issues of time standards,... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Operations; Production; Product; Publishing Industry

October 2019
Case

Kaspi.kz IPO

By: Victoria Ivashina and Esel Çekin

This case follows Kaspi.kz, a private equity (Baring Vostok) co-owned retail bank in Central Asia that evolved into a fintech, payments and e-commerce company. It provides insights into private equity financing, portfolio company management, and initial public offering... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Private Equity; Initial Public Offering; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Central Asia

October 2012
Case

Microsoft Office 2007 (Abridged)

By: Marco Iansiti and Bianca Buccitelli

A discussion of the history and processes behind the development of Microsoft's Office 12 software. View Details

Keywords: History; Applications and Software; Research and Development; Business Processes; Product Development

February 2007 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Microsoft Office 2007

By: Marco Iansiti and Bianca Buccitelli

A discussion of the history and processes behind the development of Microsoft's Office 12 software. View Details

Keywords: History; Applications and Software; Research and Development; Business Processes; Product Development

Find at Harvard

24 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Rules: Multi-Sided Platforms as Regulators

Keywords: by Kevin J. Boudreau & Andrei Hagiu; Technology

November 1997 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Corn Products International, Inc.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

A firm that started in corn processing and moved up the value-added food chain decides to spin-off the original commodity part of the business. How does the new spin-off survive and how does it develop a strategy? Firms in the food system are separating out their... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Development; Service Delivery; Vertical Integration; Food and Beverage Industry