Publications

December 2006 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Infosys in India: Building a Software Giant in a Corrupt Environment

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Rafael M. Di Tella and Prabakar (PK) Kothandaraman

Shortly after Infosys was founded in 1981, its managers faced a major turning point when they made a decision to operate without giving in to the petty corruption rife in the Indian economy. Within just a few years, that decision had truly defined the company. Over the... View Details

Keywords: History; Management Style; Moral Sensibility; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Decisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Situation or Environment; Crime and Corruption; Business Strategy; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; India

01 Dec 1998
News

Year 2000 Computer Problem and You: Disaster for Some, Lessons for All

outsourcing, and integration services company that he founded in 1965. First in a Wall Street Journal ranking of one thousand companies listed according to best stock performance from 1987 to 1997, Keane Inc is considered among the nation's top consulting firms on the... View Details

November 2004
Article

Globalization and Convergence in Corporate Governance: Evidence from Infosys and the Indian Software Industry

By: Tarun Khanna and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Globalization; Corporate Governance; Computer Industry; India

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2019
Working Paper

The Impact of Professionals' Contributions to Online Knowledge Communities on Their Workplace Knowledge Work

By: Hila Lifshitz - Assaf and Frank Nagle

Knowledge work is becoming increasingly challenging as pace of change in the knowledge frontier is increasing. Organizations have created multiple mechanisms to minimize knowledge gaps and increase learning such internal training, mentorship programs as well as... View Details

Keywords: Open Source; Future Of Work; Software Development; Knowledge Work; Online Community; Learning; Knowledge Sharing; Applications and Software; Open Source Distribution; Performance Productivity

01 May 1998
Conference Presentation

Rapid Learning and Adaptation in Product Development: An Empirical Study of the Internet Software Industry

By: Alan MacCormack, M. Iansiti and R Verganti

Keywords: Learning; Product Development; Software; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry

May 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Building the Digital Manufacturing Enterprise of the Future at Siemens

By: Willy Shih

This case describes the motivation for and the development of Siemens' digital manufacturing enterprise vision, which became the foundation for its implementation of Industrie 4.0. While the effort started with a purely defensive move by Anton Huber, head of the... View Details

01 Jun 2024
News

Quantum Leap

“This is the first new kind of computer in 75 years,” says John Levy (MBA 1979), CEO of the quantum computing startup SEEQC. “And we’re building it on a chip!” Strolling through his company’s design and testing facility in Elmsford, New York, Levy looks less like a... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Chris Sorensen; quantum computing; innovation; leadership; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

December 2018 (Revised March 2021)
Background Note

Modern Automation (A): Artificial Intelligence

By: William R. Kerr and James Palano

This primer is meant to be a field guide to the late 2010s' surge in business use of "Artificial Intelligence" (AI), or enterprise software based in machine learning. First, it provides an overview of the key trends—digitization, connectivity, the continuation of... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Digitization; Connectivity; Computing; Future Of Work; Automation; AI and Machine Learning

April 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Microsoft, 1995

By: Tarun Khanna, David B. Yoffie and Israel Yellen Ganot

Explores Microsoft's core desktop computing software business and its newer endeavors in 1995. Designed to explore the sustainability of its phenomenal success, and to examine the logic behind its renewed emphasis on some areas, particularly the home computing software... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Software; Computer Industry

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July 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

San Francisco Bay Consulting

By: George P. Baker III and Karin B Monsler

San Francisco Bay Consulting leads the field of economic consulting and litigation support in the application of powerful computers and cutting edge software to manipulate and analyze large data sets. The transfer pricing system, used to facilitate the purchasing and... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Profit; Marketing; Fluctuation; Computer Industry; Computer Industry

02 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

The Secret of How Microsoft Stays on Top

the company has built over time, which is largely embedded in its software code libraries. This base is critical to internal innovation, as it makes product development more efficient and powerful. Additionally, it spawns external... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

24 Feb 2016
HBS Seminar

David Brumley of Carnegie Mellon University

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

The Simple Economics of Open Source

Why in the world would anyone take the time to write complicated software programs for free? It's a good question, one that has piqued the curiosity of a number of economists, who wonder what benefits, if any, lie behind the burgeoning... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

January 1975 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Optical Distortion, Inc. (A)

A new product, contact lenses for chickens, is to be introduced by a small firm formed to market the product. An entry strategy must be planned including price, sales force, size, and location. Allows data for computation of economic benefit to farmers. Includes... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Price; Geographic Location; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Sales

2012
Case

UFIDA (F)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Guo Jia

As an extension of UFIDA (A-E), UFIDA (F) using early 2012 as the time node, looks at UFIDA's major steps taken during 2010-2011, accomplishments, and major future opportunities and challenges. The case focuses on the new market development of Cloud Computing and the... View Details

Keywords: China; Strategy; China

15 Feb 2011
News

Digital effects

2012
Teaching Note

UFIDA (F) (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Guo Jia

As an extension of UFIDA (A-E), UFIDA (F), using early 2012 as the time node, looks at UFIDA's major steps taken during 2010-2011, accomplishments, and major future opportunities and challenges. The case focuses on the new market development of Cloud Computing and... View Details

Keywords: China; Strategy; China

February 2021
Module Note

Intellectual Property Strategy

By: Andy Wu and Aticus Peterson

Managing intellectual property (IP) in information technology—digital technologies like software or computing hardware—requires a distinct strategic approach. This note summarizes the high-level strategic considerations for managers of information technology businesses... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Information Technology; Management; Strategy

October 1986 (Revised January 1991)
Case

Manac Systems International Ltd.

Manac Systems International is confronting a decision about how best to market one of its computer software product lines to small law firms. In the past, Manac has focused on traditional personal selling approaches to market software products that ran on IBM... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communications; Marketing Channels; Software; Product Marketing; Information Technology Industry