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2012
Chapter

The Confederacy of Heterogeneous Software Organizations and Heterogeneous Developers: Field Experimental Evidence on Sorting and Worker Effort

By: Kevin J. Boudreau and Karim R. Lakhani

Software development occurs in a patchwork or "confederacy" of different types of institutions (universities, small start-ups, multinational enterprises, government agencies, etc.) utilizing varied work approaches. Here we speculate on one possible explanation for this... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Applications and Software; Product Development; Organizations; Employees; Behavior; Competition; Cooperation; Creativity; Information Technology Industry

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25 Jan 2021
Book

In a Nutshell, Why American Capitalism Succeeded

business in the United States. The book introduces readers to innovative business leaders, like Francis Cabot Lowell, who helped bring textile manufacturing, and the Industrial Revolution, to New England; Lydia Pinkham, who pioneered... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing

October 2022
Supplement

The SAH Group: The Time is Right, Instructor Spreadsheet

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019, it expanded... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Decisions; Growth Management; Vertical Integration; Distribution; Competition; Strategy; Supply Chain; Presentations; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Consumer Products Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Health Industry; Tunisia

July 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Beohemija's Duel

By: Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

Vladimir Joksic, Director of Marketing for Serbia's Beohemija, along with his marketing team has managed to grow Duel, the firm's soap powder offering from single digits to almost 40% of the Serbian market in just a few short years. He has used innovative and... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Growth and Development; Innovation Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing; Product Launch; Competition; Consumer Products Industry

10 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 10, 2017

change framework to a more expansive, causal theory of innovation and competitive response. The assessment reveals that while the phenomenon of disruption has not changed, our understanding has as the theory... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2014
Case

Netflix in 2011

By: Willy Shih and Stephen Kaufman

Reed Hastings founded Netflix to provide a home movie service that would do a better job satisfying customers than the traditional retail rental model. But as it encountered challenges it underwent several major strategy shifts, ultimately developing a business model... View Details

22 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 22, 2006

case, SFUSD Chief Academic Officer Christine Hiroshima contemplates her team's understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the district's efforts to address underperforming schools, called the "Students and Teachers Achieving Results," or STAR... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Rumie: Bringing Digital Education to the Underserved

By: John J-H Kim and Amram Migdal

In fall of 2015, the Toronto, Canada–based education technology nonprofit Rumie had distributed thousands of computer tablets preloaded with collections of thousands of pieces of curated educational content to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in some of the most... View Details

Keywords: Edtech; Education Technology; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit; Education Startup; Technological Innovation; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Business Startups; Education Industry; Canada; Africa

23 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 23

Incumbents Fare in the Face of Increased Service Competition? Authors:Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell, and Frances X. Frei Abstract We explore the conditions under which service competition leads to customer defection from an incumbent and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

When It Comes to Climate Regulation, Energy Companies Take a More Nuanced View

Common wisdom holds that oil and gas companies, electric utilities, and other industries known for their large carbon emissions generally oppose clean energy policies. Now, a study of corporate advocacy spanning 30 years reveals that many companies are more flexible... View Details

Keywords: by Desmond Dodd; Energy; Utilities

March 1991 (Revised April 1995)
Case

IBP and the U.S. Meat Industry

By: David J. Collis and Nancy Donohue

IBP, the largest U.S. beef and pork processor, is facing deteriorating earnings and undertakes a fundamental strategic review in 1990. Having grown from its founding in 1961 to its current position as a low cost, innovative producer of boxed beef, and more recently... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Product; Competition; Business Earnings; Geography; Vertical Integration; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

22 May 2024
HBS Case

Banned or Not, TikTok Is a Force Companies Can’t Afford to Ignore

billion in 2021, according to the case. At the time of the case study in December 2023, TikTok commanded $2.6 million for an ad to run for one day at the top of its TopView feature, which displays when people open the app. To compare, a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

03 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 3

innovative product could both radically disrupt the existing beef production and supply chain and provide an animal welfare and environmentally friendly food that had far less of an environmental impact than traditional beef products.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 2, 2007

innovation. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, we show that more IP protection and building stronger barriers around innovation are not always the best path to capturing value. Paradoxically, innovators can... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Nov 2021
HBS Case

How a Company Made Employees So Miserable, They Killed Themselves

have deeply downsized their staffs. “There’s a lot that happened in the situation that should sound alarm bells for others,” Montgomery says. “The cases point to risks that can arise when firms facing severe competitive threats adopt a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 May 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 1, 2018

The bedrock of this system is the "patent," a legal document that allows its holder exclusive commercialization rights of a part of the "idea space" granted through the patent. Strong legal protection of IP has made the U.S. a destination of great... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2000
Background Note

Industry Transformation

By: Michael E. Porter and Jan W. Rivkin

One of the steepest challenges a strategist faces is to navigate his or her company through a period of industry transformation--an era of rapid and wholesale changes in industry structure. This note considers how periods of transformation typically unfold. It then... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Consulting Industry; Service Industry

15 Sep 2015
First Look

September 15, 2015

an associated 90% confidence interval of (2.3%, 17.8%). Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49523 2015 The Changing Frontier: Rethinking Science and Innovation Policy Information Technology and the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2019 (Revised October 2020)
Case

GENTERA: Facing the Digital Age

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

After long dominating Mexican microfinance, Compartamos Banco faces the emergence of fintech, just as for the first time its loan portfolio and clients have declined. Enrique Majós, CEO of GENTERA, the bank´s parent company, is keenly aware of the profound changes... View Details

Keywords: Micro Finance; Base Of The Pyramid; Fintech; Microfinance; Disruption; Innovation and Management; Competitive Strategy; North America; Mexico