Publications

03 Jul 2018
What Do You Think?

Should CEO Satya Nadella Cancel Microsoft’s Contract with ICE?

it was doing for ICE in a January blog post. Microsoft’s Azure Government software allows organizations to move operations and processing to the cloud. Employees: Use technology for good On June 19, an open letter was posted on... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer; Technology

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

How Technological Disruption Changes Everything

to do the work of the US Department of Justice. Already the software powerhouse's dominant position is being eaten away by thousands of companies who are faster, more responsive, and offer a level of customization that Bill Gates' crew... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health

02 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 2, 2019

source software (OSS) over proprietary software in an attempt to reduce costs creating an unexpected demand shock for OSS. Analysis using the rest of the EU as controls via difference-in-differences and... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

June 2000 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Microsoft Office 2000

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Describes the history of Microsoft's Office product suite. Discusses evolution of the Office 2000 project. Set at the end of the project when Steven Sinofsky, Office vice president, must decide upon the direction for the next version of Office, as well as make changes... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Product Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Innovation and Management; Information Technology Industry

September 1998 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Walnut Venture Associates (B): RBS Due Diligence--Customers

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business Plan; Research; Entrepreneurship; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (D): Making Transitions

By: Ashish Nanda

Microsoft has acquired Vermeer, and Vermeer executives are both excited and concerned as they prepare to move to Redmond. Even though the acquisition has been financially rewarding, the Vermeer engineers worry how well they will adapt to their new home. Meanwhile,... View Details

Keywords: Horizontal Integration; Value Creation; Applications and Software; Acquisition; Product Development; Information Technology Industry

May 2024
Article

The Health Risks of Generative AI-Based Wellness Apps

By: Julian De Freitas and G. Cohen

Artifcial intelligence (AI)-enabled chatbots are increasingly being used to help people manage their mental health. Chatbots for mental health and particularly ‘wellness’ applications currently exist in a regulatory ‘gray area’. Indeed, most generative AI-powered... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Well-being; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Applications and Software

Read Now

March 2017 (Revised February 2018)
Case

VMware and the Public Cloud

By: Raffaella Sadun and Christine Snively

In 2015, VMware, a pioneer in server and network virtualization and a member of parent company EMC’s “federation” of companies, had set its sights on becoming a leading public cloud provider. Two years prior, VMware first entered the public cloud market with its vCloud... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Computer Industry; Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

23 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 23

Developing Software through Crowdsourcing Karim R. Lakhani, David A. Garvin, and Eric LonsteinHarvard Business School Case 610-032 TopCoder's crowdsourcing-based business model, in which software is... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

03 May 2016
First Look

First Look, May 3, 2016

ambitious goal of creating a showcase high-tech city from scratch. The collaboration brought together software entrepreneurs, real estate developers, city government officials, architects, builders, and technology corporations. Taking a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Feb 2012
Research & Ideas

Kodak: A Parable of American Competitiveness

Nearly all notebook computers, cell phones, and other handheld devices are now designed in Asia. The domestic software industry, which initially outsourced only simple code-writing projects to Indian firms, has more recently signed on... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Manufacturing

14 May 2007
Research & Ideas

The Key to Managing Stars? Think Team

bankers, programmers, creatives, and general managers often leave with a team of colleagues to join a competitor. This phenomenon is called a lift out. It is observed in industries as diverse as medicine, advertising, software... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

17 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 17, 2009

for-profit software companies. Linux is open source (all code is made available for redistribution by anyone) and harnesses the collective power of thousands of programmers-both independent and employees of major View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 17, 2006

abroad in a cost-effective manner. India's software companies, for instance, recognized the possibility of providing services to overseas customers at least a decade before Western companies even considered hiring Indian View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2020
Technical Note

Digital Natives Growing Without a Sales Force

By: Das Narayandas, Michael Norris and Amram Migdal

This brief case describes the rise of so-called digital natives (also called born-in-digital) in the 2000s and 2010s that successfully grew without a sales force. The case highlights the emergence of business-to-business Internet and cloud-based companies and their... View Details

June 2020 (Revised January 2024)
Case

TraceTogether

By: Mitchell B. Weiss and Sarah Mehta

By April 7, 2020, over 1.4 million people worldwide had contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Governments raced to curb the spread of COVID-19 by scaling up testing, quarantining those infected, and tracing their possible contacts. It had taken Singapore’s... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Contact Tracing; Government Administration; Crisis Management; Health; Health Pandemics; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Social Issues; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Health Industry; Public Administration Industry; Singapore

07 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Innovation in Asia

Although Asian countries have been able to use cost advantages and software coding prowess to attract outsource business from around the world, the region is quickly moving up the value chain to challenge America's leadership in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

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