Publications

11 Jun 2020
In Practice

Are Digital Organizations Better at Overcoming COVID?

chains and people analytics to artificial intelligence-based models and automated biotechnology research, organizations further along the digital curve are responding differently than those still wondering how to evolve. The View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

November 2021
Article

Corporate Strategy and the Theory of the Firm in the Digital Age

By: Markus Menz, Sven Kunisch, Julian Birkinshaw, David J. Collis, Nicolai J. Foss, Robert E. Hoskisson and John Prescott

The purpose of this article is to reinvigorate research in the intersection of corporate strategy and the theory of the firm in light of the rapid advancement of digital technologies. Using the theory of the firm as an interpretive lens, we focus our analysis on the... View Details

Keywords: Digitalization; Multi-business Firm; Scale And Scope; Theory Of The Firm; Corporate Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Design; Theory; Research; Digital Transformation

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09 Jun 2015
News

Facing digital disruption

Research Summary

Overview

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Rayport focuses his teaching and research on launching and scaling technology ventures, with emphasis on digital media, e-commerce, and multi-channel retail. View Details

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Summit Explores the New Economy

Harvard Business School's Digital Initiative recently gathered students, scholars, and leaders from practice at the 2015 Digital Initiative Summit to "explore the digital... View Details

January 2021 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Tech with a Side of Pizza: How Domino's Rose to the Top

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott and Susan Seligson

After hitting an all-time low in 2008, Domino’s Pizza underwent a vigorous rebranding, product development, and embraced innovative technologies to become the world’s leading international fast-food retailer. Domino’s considered itself as much a tech company as it was... View Details

The ubiquity of digital technology and internet connectivity is driving both new and old players across all industries to invest in new capabilities, define new business models, and compete in new ways. From software to automobiles, from healthcare to financial... View Details

2024
Working Paper

The New Digital Divide

By: Mayana Pereira, Shane Greenstein, Raffaella Sadun, Prasanna Tambe, Lucia Ronchi Darre, Tammy Glazer, Allen Kim, Rahul Dodhia and Juan Lavista Ferres

We build and analyze new metrics of digital usage that leverage telemetry data collected by Microsoft during operating system updates across forty million Windows devices in U.S. households. These measures of US household digital usage are much more comprehensive than... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Measurement and Metrics; Geographic Location; Behavior; Technology Adoption; Demographics

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January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Huawei: A Global Tech Giant in the Crossfire of a Digital Cold War

By: William C. Kirby, Billy Chan and John P. McHugh

By 2020, Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei, had transformed the small telephone switch manufacturer he founded in 1987 into a $120 billion telecommunications company poised to lead the lucrative rollout of fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks. However, an emerging... View Details

Keywords: International Strategy; Government And Business; Digital Infrastructure; Political Risk; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Information Infrastructure; Technology Industry; China; United States

08 Jun 2022
News

Embracing a Digital Approach

January 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Digital Transformation at Tata Steel

By: Krishna Palepu, Das Narayandas, Radhika Kak and Rachna Tahilyani

T.V. Narendran, CEO of Tata Steel, India’s oldest steel manufacturing firm, had taken concrete business and cultural transformation steps to future-ready the firm since taking over in 2013. He had deleveraged and instilled financial discipline, acquired new businesses,... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Change Management; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Steel Industry; Asia; India

October 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

The NFL's Digital Media Strategy

By: Anita Elberse, C. Kelsey Calhoun and Daven Johnson

In late 2009, Brian Rolapp, senior vice president of media strategy and digital media for the NFL, was faced with the challenge of determining the league's strategic approach to the wireless market—and presenting his views to NFL team owners. What was the league's best... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Media; Distribution Channels; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Sports Industry

Person Page

Educational Technology

Streamlined Real-Time Slide Generation and Editing

Lets an instructor build slides during class, based on class discussion -- "the chalkboard alternative." Student view offers a clean display with no distracting details (no menus, toolbars, or the... View Details

November 2017
Case

The Digital Factory – Siemens: Electronic Works Amberg

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott F. Johnson

The Electronic Works Amberg (EWA) was Siemens' most advanced factory. The plant built industrial automation equipment using state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. Siemens was considering creating a consulting business for its manufacturing clients. Given the EWA's... View Details

Keywords: Siemens; Internet Of Things; Industrie 4.0; Manufacturing; Consulting; Digital Factory; Ewa; Amberg; Electronic Works Amberg; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Production; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Germany

31 Jul 2018
News

Driving digital strategy and reimagining business: Q&A

June 2000 (Revised March 2003)
Case

IBM Technology Group

By: Andrew P. McAfee and Kerry Herman

Explores two main issues: how the IBM Technology Group was able to build a robust, scalable, and functional IT platform using packaged enterprise resource planning (ERP) software from SAP, and how the division should best leverage this capability going forward. View Details

Keywords: Management; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Projects; Information Technology Industry

December 2007
Background Note

The Music Recording Industry: Digital Rocks

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

Digital and mobile technologies profoundly and forever changed the long-held value proposition for the recorded music industry--the 12-song physical CD selling at $15. By 2007, it was apparent that the music recording business had become a digital business, and... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Disruption; Music Entertainment; Distribution; Practice; Technology Adoption; Value; Music Industry

March 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Michelin: Building a Digital Service Platform

By: Sunil Gupta and Christian Godwin

Michelin, a tire company with over a century of experience, attempts to develop a digital service platform for its fleet and dealer customers. The case focuses on the challenges of bringing a large, well-established company into the digital age. Concerned about the... View Details

Keywords: Change; Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Making; Leading Change; Growth and Development; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Auto Industry; Travel Industry; Transportation Industry; United States; France