Publications

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

How Technological Disruption Changes Everything

disrupted. At a plenary session at the HBS Global Alumni Conference 2001, Christensen expanded on the work highlighted in his 1997 book, The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Disruptive View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health

January 1996 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Linking Strategy and Innovation: Materials Technology Corporation

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Materials Technology Corp. (MTC), a high-tech materials company, is struggling in its development portfolio and to achieve a better record of delivering new products on time. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Innovation and Invention; Business Strategy; Time Management; Product; Production; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States

18 Jul 2023
Interview

Jeffrey Rayport on Product Market Fit, Profit Market Fit and Whiplash, and More

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Doug Levin

This episode of "Lessons from Startup Life" podcast features Jeffrey Rayport, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. Jeffrey specializes in teaching and researching growth-stage technology ventures and their scalability. Prior to... View Details

Keywords: Scaling And Growth; Start-up; Diversity; Equity; Inclusion; Technology; Business Startups; Product Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation

August 2021
Article

Information Seeding and Knowledge Production in Online Communities: Evidence from OpenStreetMap

By: Abhishek Nagaraj

The wild success of a few online communities (like Wikipedia) has obscured the fact that most attempts at forming such communities fail. This study evaluates information seeding, an early-stage intervention to bootstrap online communities that enables contributors to... View Details

Keywords: Online Communities; Knowledge Production; Crowdsourcing; Innovation; Digitization; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Social and Collaborative Networks; Analytics and Data Science; Knowledge Dissemination

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05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Information Technology Ecosystem Health and Performance

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Gregory L. Richards; Technology

Teaching Interest

Technology and Operations Management

This course enables students to develop the skills and concepts needed to ensure the ongoing contribution of a firm's operations to its competitive position. It helps them to understand the complex processes underlying the development and manufacture of products as... View Details

March–April 2025
Article

Getting Value from Digital Technologies

By: Frank Cespedes and Georg Krentzel

Companies need digital technologies in an omni-channel buying world where online and in-person interactions are complements, not either/or substitutes. Multi-channel hybrid sales solutions are required, but what are the key requirements for using the available... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Technology Adoption; Competitive Advantage

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18 Nov 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Financial Development and Technology Diffusion

Keywords: by Diego Comin & Ramana Nanda

January 2017 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Sales Razor Technologies

By: Paul Gompers and Noam Wasserman

Describes the issues facing a founder-CEO regarding building a board of directors, assembling an executive team, managing tension between co-founders, and outsourcing system development work. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Conflict Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Employees; Management Teams; Product Development; Technology Industry

28 Jul 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Technology Reemergence: Creating New Value for Old Technologies in Swiss Mechanical Watchmaking, 1970–2008

Keywords: by Ryan Raffaelli; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

2003
Case

Corning Microarray Technologies

By: Vijay Govindarajan, Chris Trimble and Gautam Bellur

In mid-2000, the scientific community reached a momentous milestone—the complete mapping of the human genome. Researchers in the field of genomics were anxious to dig into a tremendous array of newly possible scientific inquiries, and needed efficient experimental... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Genetics; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

February 2018
Case

Vodafone: Managing Advanced Technologies and Artificial Intelligence

By: William R. Kerr and Emer Moloney

Vodafone was operating in the fast-moving telecommunications market where innovation and scale were key. Faced with an onslaught of technological advances—big data, automation, and artificial intelligence—CEO Vittorio Colao reflected on how he should change the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Opportunities; Telecommunications Industry

December 2023
Case

Santa Elena: Table Grape Production in Chile’s Water-Challenged Regions

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In the fiscal year ending in September 2022, Santa Elena, Chile’s fifth-ranking table grape exporter, a grape producer and exporter since 1980, had exported around 3.5 million boxes (18-pound each). But, due to a 13-year-long drought that plagued table grape-growing... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Natural Resources; Food; Environmental Law; Problems and Challenges; Weather; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chile; South America; Latin America

January 2018
Case

Environmental Technology Fund Partners and E-Leather

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Aldo Sesia

It is 2014 and Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF) Partners, a UK-based venture capital firm, has an opportunity to invest in a privately held UK company that manufactured engineered composition leather extracted from waste leather using an environmentally friendly... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Venture Capital; Investment Strategy; Investment; Strategy; Ownership; Valuation; Energy Conservation; Equity; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Performance Efficiency; Manufacturing Industry; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

30 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

How Technology Adoption Affects Global Economies

nation's wealth. After all, new tools—from the telegraph to the PC—enable expedited production of goods and services, eventually facilitating economic growth. Technological tools also improve a country's... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

September 1976 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Texas Instruments: Time Products Division

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Outlines the components of Texas Instruments' low-cost digital watch. Focus is on getting the assembly line running smoothly and efficiently in order to meet production cost and delivery requirements. View Details

Keywords: Cost; Production; Service Delivery; Performance Efficiency; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

March 1992 (Revised June 1992)
Background Note

Strategic Industry Model: Emergent Technologies

By: Robert J. Dolan

Describes computer model and output from conjoint analysis and perceptual mapping for product line planning. View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Product Marketing

November 1998 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Explo Leisure Products

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Tim Trowac and Dave Rahall, two former investment bankers, skillfully execute the leveraged buyout of a golf ball recycling company after working intensely on their due diligence, writing a business and financial plan, and developing the investment memorandum. Six... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Leveraged Buyouts; Business Plan; Performance; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Financial Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry

January 2011
Case

Clean Edge Razor: Splitting Hairs in Product Positioning

By: John A. Quelch and Heather Beckham

After three years of development, Paramount Health and Beauty Company is preparing to launch a new technologically advanced vibrating razor called Clean Edge. The innovative new design of Clean Edge provides superior performance by stimulating the hair follicles to... View Details

Keywords: Project Management; Interdepartmental Relations; Organizational Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Conflict Management; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Relationships; Product Development; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry