Publications

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April 2012
Case

Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation

By: Willy Shih and Margaret Pierson

Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation (DNATF), a government agency, invests in public-private partnerships to stimulate commercialization of Danish scientific research within the country's industry. DNATF established a process for evaluating proposals, making... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Commercialization; Management Practices and Processes; Experience and Expertise; Innovation and Invention; Public Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Technology Industry; Denmark

September 2008
Case

Pfizer Inc: Building an Innovation Center

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

The case describes Pfizer's efforts to build and run an innovation center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As the center goes through different periods of leadership and strategic models, its relationship with the corporation and other research sites is explored. The case... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Research and Development; Pharmaceutical Industry; Cambridge

30 Oct 2020
HBS Seminar

Vincent Larivière, University of Montréal

19 Sep 2012
News

A hybrid innovation model that stays the course

November 2006 (Revised March 2008)
Case

The Harvard Stem Cell Institute

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes a set of issues confronting the leaders of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, an innovative cross-university effort to accelerate scientific discovery and translation in the domain of stem cells. Covers a wide range of topics, including understanding how... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Research and Development; Genetics; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

13 May 2019
HBS Seminar

Christian Catalini, MIT Sloan School of Management

08 Oct 2020
HBS Seminar

Ginger Jin, University of Maryland

February 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Marie Curie: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case describes the rise of Marie Curie from a poor family in Poland to the pinnacle of scientific fame. The case describes how Curie, as a young woman interested in science, found a way to earn a doctorate at the Sorbonne and perform pathbreaking research on... View Details

Keywords: Legacy; Impact; Science; Research; Personal Characteristics; Mission and Purpose; Success; Work-Life Balance; Higher Education; Personal Development and Career

07 Mar 2023
Video

Marie Curie: A Pioneer in Science

March 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Myelin Repair Foundation: Accelerating Drug Discovery Through Collaboration

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Paul R. Carlile

This case presents the Myelin Repair Foundation's accelerated research collaboration model for drug discovery. It highlights the challenges of building a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research collaboration that is attempting to create a treatment for... View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Intellectual Property; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategic Planning; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Health Disorders; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry

September 2024
Article

Standing on the Shoulders of Science

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Monika Schnitzer and Martin Watzinger

Today’s innovations rely on scientific discoveries of the past, yet only some corporate R&D builds directly on scientific output. In this paper, we analyze U.S. patents to investigate how firms generate value by building on prior art “closer” to science. We show... View Details

Keywords: Patent Novelty; Value Capture; Science; Patents; Valuation; Research and Development

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March 2006
Case

The Whitesides Lab

By: H. Kent Bowen and Francesca Gino

A significant part of the long-term economic growth in developed economies depends on the translation of scientific research into new products and processes. Focuses on the front end of this value creation stream. The laboratory of George Whitesides has a 30-year... View Details

Keywords: Research; Performance Productivity; Economic Growth; Infrastructure; Creativity; Groups and Teams; Value Creation; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Leadership; Resource Allocation

29 Oct 2014
HBS Seminar

Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University

20 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Open Source Science: A New Model for Innovation

scientific problem solving? Yes, and it comes from an unexpected and unrelated corner of the universe: open source software development. That's the view of Karim R. Lakhani, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School with an... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 2014
Case

Napalm: From Soldiers Field to Trang Bang

By: Tom Nicholas and Jonas Peter Akins

Napalm is one of the most destructive weapons ever to be invented. Yet, at its original inception it was nothing more than a technical challenge, and it was never intended to be used in indiscriminate antipersonnel warfare. The pathway of its development by a Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; War; Chemicals; Research and Development; Chemical Industry; Viet Nam; Cambridge; United States