Publications

17 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

A Litmus Test for Entrepreneurs

moment, and elbow their rivals aside. However tough the market or small the transaction, they know exactly what they must give up—and what they can get away with—while finalizing deals under pressure. N. R. Narayana Murthy, the man who cofounded the Indian View Details

Keywords: by Walter Kuemmerle

25 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

Lean Strategy Not Just for Start-Ups

Lean start-up strategies aren't just for start-ups anymore. That was the key message that Intuit cofounder Scott Cook (HBS MBA '76) shared in a small seminar with Harvard Business School faculty recently. Since its launch in 1983, the financial View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

08 Apr 2015
What Do You Think?

Are Technology Companies Ripe for Disruption?

can actually use." Paul Hamilton-Smith opined that software companies "mostly subsist from their renewal revenue stream. That stream is generated by 'new and improved' software versions." And... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer; Technology

Article

AI Companions Reduce Loneliness

By: Julian De Freitas, Zeliha Oğuz-Uğuralp, Ahmet K. Uğuralp and Stefano Puntoni

Chatbots are now able to engage in sophisticated conversations with consumers in the domain of relationships, providing a potential coping solution to widescale societal loneliness. Behavioral research provides little insight into whether these applications are... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Well-being; Emotions; Applications and Software

August 1995
Case

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: IT Organization and Architecture Challenges

By: Richard L. Nolan

Presents the outcome of Air Products ICON decentralization projects. New issues are explored, including the challenges of having a decentralized MIS staff, global network, client/server architecture, new data center issues, outsourcing, a new highly strategic customer... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Organizational Design; Problems and Challenges

September 2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details

June 2003
Case

Rise and Fall (?) of Palm Computing in Handheld Operating Systems,The

Describes the evolution of the handheld operating system market. Describes the rise to dominance of Palm's operating system and the significant challenge to that dominance posed by Microsoft's Windows CE. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Network Effects; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry

09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

The Benefits of “Not Invented Here”

invests significant resources in software such as Java and Linux that IBM does not own in order to integrate many companies' products and services for IBM's customers. Intel invests significant resources in university research (which it... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

July 2021
Case

A Close Shave at Squire

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Zoë B. Cullen, William R. Kerr, Benjamin N. Roth and Michael Norris

In 2020, just after closing a $34 million Series B financing round, Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon consider how to adjust their business, Squire Technologies, to the new realities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their barbershop technology, including tools to run a shop... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Pandemics; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Technology Industry; New York (city, NY); San Francisco

March 1999
Case

MySoftware Company (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Nicole Tempest

In 1997, Gregory Slayton took the position as CEO of MySoftware, which had been experiencing revenue and operating losses for the past two years. Within 90 days, he stabilized the company through a combination of cost cutting, financial discipline, and accountability... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Cost Management; Profit; Employees; Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Outcome or Result; Partners and Partnerships; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

November 2024
Supplement

Epic Games: Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite (B)

By: Andy Wu and Ronald Wang

In a significant ruling on April 24, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld portions of the district court’s decision against Epic Games back in September 2021. However, Apple’s anti-steering provisions, which restricted app developers from... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Market Transactions; Applications and Software; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry

February 2021
Tutorial

Getting Started in RStudio Cloud

By: Chiara Farronato and Caleb Kwon

This video provides an introduction to the free programming language R using an online cloud version of RStudio, which is the most popular editor and interface for writing and executing R code. The video begins by providing a brief background of R and RStudio and... View Details

Keywords: Data Analysis; Data Analytics; Experiment; Experimental Design; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis; Applications and Software

29 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

Get Off the Dime!

articles had been sent to the execs about the good and the bad aspects of the existing systems. A small team of people had focused carefully on the economic analysis, looking closely at our current software programs, in particular. At the... View Details

Keywords: by John P. Kotter & Dan S. Cohen

03 Dec 2001
What Do You Think?

What Happens When the Sumo Master Learns Judo?

small can outsmart the large. Exhibit A is the story of Intuit, the financial software provider. Intuit has continued to dominate Microsoft in its niche through intensifying focus, defining the competitive space, listening to customers... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

22 Jun 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Iterative Coordination and Innovation

Keywords: by Sourobh Ghosh and Andy Wu

November 2019
Supplement

Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL

By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta

This multimedia supplement accompanies the case “Innovation at Uber: the Launch of Express POOL” (case no. 619-003). Set in March 2018, the case follows ride-sharing company Uber as it develops and launches a new product called Express POOL. This multimedia supplement... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Technology Industry; California; San Francisco