Publications

Lou Shipley is a Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at the Harvard Business School. Lou is a three-time technology CEO, most recently at Black Duck Software.

Lou teaches four sales courses at HBS. He specializes in tech entrepreneurship,... View Details

February 2005 (Revised November 2006)
Background Note

Using Data Desk for Statistical Analysis

By: Frances X. Frei and Dennis Campbell

Describes how to use the Data Desk software package to perform statistical analysis. View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods

29 Sep 2014
News

The Bash Bug Is a Wake-Up Call

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

Research Summary

Optimal Decision Making Under Uncertainty

Inventory control problems in supply chains. In this stream of theoretical research, Professor Goh has investigated how inventory should be optimally managed in supply chains. Specifically, he has studied how supply chains can make decisions to operate... View Details

January 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Hewlett-Packard: The Flight of the Kittyhawk (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Hewlett-Packard decided that, to grow more rapidly, it needed to design a revolutionary disk drive product that would create an entirely new market or application for magnetic recording technology. The company followed most of the "rules" good managers follow in such... View Details

Keywords: Management; Information Infrastructure; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Computer Industry; United States

September 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Documentum, Inc

By: Rajiv Lal and Sean Lanagan

Describes Jeff Miller's attempt to implement Geoffrey Moore's crossing the chasm ideas at enterprise software vendor, Documentum. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Segmentation; Software

February 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Online Marketing at Big Skinny

By: Benjamin Edelman and Scott Duke Kominers

Describes a wallet maker's application of seven Internet marketing technologies: display ads, algorithmic search, sponsored search, social media, interactive content, online distributors, and A/B testing. Provides concise introductions to the key features of each... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Digital Marketing; Resource Allocation; Marketing Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Internet and the Web; Retail Industry

October 2020 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Epic Games: Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite

By: Andy Wu, Miaomiao Zhang and Christopher Zhang

In the midst of intensifying public and political attention towards the market power of big technology, Epic Games in 2020 challenged the status quo that has existed for years in the Apple iOS and Google Android mobile application marketplaces and payment systems.... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Platforms; Mobile App Industry; Mobile Payment Systems; Antitrust; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Lawsuits and Litigation; Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy; Digital Platforms; United States

September 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

QuickBase

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Mark Szigety

Describes the challenge that engineers and marketing executives at Intuit Corp. faced when finding markets and applications for their QuickBase product. The breakthrough occurred when they abandoned their conventional modes of market segmentation, and instead strove to... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Engineering; Product Marketing; Segmentation; Jobs and Positions; Consumer Behavior; Information Technology Industry

24 May 2018
Blog Post

3 Ways to Get to Know HBS

online resources that you’re not aware of: Webinars: We have recorded webinars for your perusal on our site. They are categorized by industry, geographic region, affinity group, and interest. Additionally, we have more general webinars... View Details

July 1990 (Revised August 1995)
Case

Symantec--1982-90

By: Nitin Nohria

As Symantec grew from a small, upstart software development company to a major player in the software development industry, the channels of information flow and the internal communication needs of the company became more complex. The geographically-dispersed structure... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Communication Technology; Communication; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employee Relationship Management; Growth and Development; Knowledge Dissemination; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Management; Information Technology Industry; United States

March 1993 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Chemical Bank: Technology Support for Cooperative Work

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Donna B. Stoddard

Describes the organization and IT environment that Bruce Hasenyager found when he arrived at Chemical Bank. Goes on to explain his decision for implementing Lotus Notes as an "indispensable" management tool. Software is available: Order No. 9-196-701 (Windows version)... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Decision Making; Decisions; Management Style; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Applications and Software; Information Technology; Information; Information Management; Technology Industry

Video

Nicolás Jodal

Nicolás Jodal, Co-Founder and CEO of GeneXus, explains how he and his business partner Breogán Gonda built up their software development company in the late 1980s. View Details

05 Jan 2017
Blog Post

Crossing the River: The HBS/HKS Joint Degree Program

rigor it deserved. The more time I spent in the social sector, the more I recognized that robust applications of strategy, financial analysis, and enterprise management were underrepresented in the field. ... View Details

April 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

XUMA

By: Andrew P. McAfee and Kerry Herman

XUMA is a Silicon Valley start-up that builds customized eBusiness software suites for its corporate clients. This market is crowded with large players, including the major consulting and systems integration companies. To date, building these suites has been a very... View Details

Keywords: Production; Software; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry; California

Find at Harvard

Alan MacCormack is the MBA Class of 1949 Adjunct Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, a member of The Digital, Data, and Design (D^3) Institute at Harvard, and a core faculty member... View Details

Keywords: software; software; software; software; software; software; software; software; software; software; software; software

September 1999
Background Note

Learning from Projects: Note on Conducting a Postmortem Analysis

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Steven Sinofsky

Describes how firms can learn from projects through postmortem analysis. Focuses on the step-by-step process of preparing and running a postmortem meeting as it is done at Microsoft and other software developers. View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Projects; Software; Information Technology Industry