Publications

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Confronting the Challenges that Face Bricks-and-Mortar Stores

day long and would often shut off the monitors. When a Boston-area bank first tried out videoconferencing kiosks to sell financial services, customers refused to use them. The systems were located in closed booths that granted privacy but... View Details

Keywords: by Raymond Burke; Retail

March 2023
Teaching Note

Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline Company

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 123-069. On the morning of May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline Company became aware that the company had been the victim of a malicious ransomware attack that had stolen and locked up company data. The extortionists demanded 75 bitcoins (worth... View Details

Web

Lifelong Learning - Alumni

2024 HBS Alumni Bulletin Leading Businesses in a Web3 World How will the next generation of the internet empower users, disrupt industries, and enable ownership of digital assets? 377 01 Mar 2024 HBS Alumni Bulletin On the Radar An early warning View Details

22 Aug 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Investors as Stewards of the Commons?

Keywords: by George Serafeim

April 1998
Case

Jim Lyons and GenRad

Lyons, currently CEO of Harry Gray Associates, a consulting and investment firm, had just been approached by an executive recruiter representing GenRad, a 78-year-old electronics company headquartered in Concord, MA. The company, which manufactured integrated software... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Management Succession; Personal Development and Career; Consulting Industry; Massachusetts

2023
Working Paper

Local Shocks and Internal Migration: The Disparate Effects of Robots and Chinese Imports in the U.S.

By: Marius Faber, Andres Sarto and Marco Tabellini

Do local labor markets adjust to economic shocks through migration? In this paper, we study this question by focusing on two of the most important shocks that hit U.S. manufacturing since the 1990s: Chinese import competition and the introduction of industrial robots.... View Details

Keywords: Migration; Employment; Information Technology; Trade; System Shocks; United States

December 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Monsanto: Realizing Biotech Value in Brazil

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

In 2003, Monsanto's patented "Roundup Ready" technology was used illegally on 70-80% of the soybean area in southern Brazil. Under pressure from U.S. soybean growers, who were paying to license the technology, the firm implemented an innovative delivery-based... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Patents; Lawfulness; Emerging Markets; Product Development; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Brazil

September 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Suntech Power

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Suntech, a Chinese manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and solar panels, is the third largest solar company in the world. About 90 percent of its sales have been in Europe—especially Germany and Spain. But with its new "pluto" technology, and with new governmental... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Strategy; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; China

October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Maxwell Appliance Controls

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Management Teams; Quality; Performance Improvement; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Production; Manufacturing Industry

2010
Working Paper

When Open Architecture Beats Closed: The Entrepreneurial Use of Architectural Knowledge

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This paper describes how entrepreneurial firms can use superior architectural knowledge to open up a technical system to gain strategic advantage. The strategy involves, first, identifying "bottlenecks" in the existing system, and then creating a new open architecture... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investment Return; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Design; Organizational Design; Competitive Advantage; Technology Industry

Keywords: information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry; information technology industry

Read Now

Karim R. Lakhani is the Dorothy & Michael Hintze Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He specializes in technology management, innovation, digital transformation and artificial... View Details

January 2024
Article

A Cost Model for a Low Threshold Clinic Treating Opioid Use Disorder

By: Sarah E. Wakeman, Elizabeth Powell, Syed Shehab, Grace Herman, Laura Kehoe and Robert S. Kaplan

The US fee-for-service payment system under-reimburses clinics offering access to comprehensive treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD). The funding shortfall limits a clinic’s ability to expand and improve access, especially for socially marginalized patients with... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Equality and Inequality; Health Industry

Research Summary

Social Determinants of Health

By: Susanna Gallani

Healthcare provider organizations are becoming progressively more involved in ways to improve health equity and address social determinants of health (SDOH). In this line of work, Prof. Gallani studies organizational factors interacting with the implementation of SODH... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare Organizations; Performance Management; Accountability; Health Industry

Web

Business & Environment

reduction targets. Yet California is ahead of Germany in electrifying transportation by several metrics, including the number of public charging stations. We show that variation in the politics of coordination in California and Germany explains the different outcomes.... View Details

August 2014 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Husk Power

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Sid Misra

In late 2013, Husk Power Systems found itself falling further and further behind plan. The founding CEO had decided to resign. His co-founder is faced with the decision of quitting his corporate job in the US to head to India and help form a new management team. Husk... View Details

December 2005 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A)

CVS's retail pharmacy operations are functioning poorly and dissatisfying customers. Many customers are defecting as a result. A pharmacy service improvement team has documented the current prescription fulfillment process, its exception rates, and the problems... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Performance Improvement; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

Web

Women’s health is more than female anatomy and our reproductive system—it’s about unraveling centuries of inequities due to living in a patriarchal healthcare system. - Blog: Health Supplement

to uncover and rectify the impact of centuries of navigating a healthcare system that wasn’t built for us. Regardless of what we call it, moving forward, our industry needs to be mindful and inclusive as we... View Details

December 1994 (Revised June 1995)
Case

State Street Boston Corporation: Leading with Information Technology

A financial institution, State Street Boston Corp., is transformed from regional bank to global custodian and money manager. The corresponding evolution of the company's information systems is illustrated, focusing on the role attributed to information technology in a... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Information Technology; Business Strategy; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; United States

April 1993 (Revised May 1993)
Case

Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal

By: Robert J. Dolan

The business products division has developed a business proposal asking for $50 million to fund the creation of a new telephone system for the small business market. The company's last entry into this marketplace lost $70 million. The new product would face 100... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Communication Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Product Development; Telecommunications Industry; Canada