Publications

March 2017 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Reawakening the Magic: Bob Iger and the Walt Disney Company

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and Buzz Lightyear strolled down Main Street at the grand opening of Hong Kong Disney in the fall of 2005, pausing to snap selfies with enthusiastic children in Mickey Mouse ears. Bob Iger, newly appointed CEO of The Walt Disney Company,... View Details

Keywords: Franchise Management; Brand Management; Culture Change; Business Units; Acquisition Strategy; Technological Change; Disney; ESPN; Cord-cutting; Bob Iger; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Integration; Media; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Consumer Products Industry

10 Nov 2008
Research Event

Social Media Leads the Future of Technology

the Internet, to what extent they can capitalize on these transformations remains an open question. HBS professor David Yoffie moderated the session on "The Technology Revolution and its Implications for the Future," with... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

February 2015 (Revised March 2016)
Case

China Shenhua Energy Company

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, G. A. Donovan and Keith Chi-ho Wong

A leading Chinese energy firm, active in coal mining and electric power generation, analyzes coal-to-liquids technology in light of energy security and environmental concerns. View Details

Keywords: Environment; China; CO2; Coal Mining; Electricity; Sustainability; Energy; Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Energy Generation; Energy Sources; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; China; Asia

01 Apr 1996
News

Technology for Learning's Sake

IBM-based network built around Lotus Notes in the Advanced Management Program. These two initiatives led to enhanced faculty collaboration and the first use of interactive multimedia teaching tools for case discussion. Just as many View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; photo by David Zadig

20 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Are Company Founders Underpaid?

research with 1,200 executives at 500 companies concludes founder pay is on average $30,000 less than that of non-founder executives. (The pay discrepancy disappears as the business matures.) What's the reason for such founder discounts?... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Technology; Technology

July 1997 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Sun Microsystems: Realizing the Potential of Web Technologies

Describes how Web technology has been deployed at Sun--how it has evolved from being perceived as an inappropriate use of company resources to become the centerpiece of the company's business strategy. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Business Strategy; Web; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

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July 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Milcom: An External Partnership to Commercialize Military Technologies

Describes a promising start-up company that seeks partnerships with large military defense contractors to commercialize technology for civilian applications. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Commercialization; Partners and Partnerships

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2000
Working Paper

The Role of the Business Model in Capturing Value Innovation: Evidence from Xerox Corporation's Technology Spinoff Companies

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As technology platforms have created new markets and new ways of acquiring information, economists have come to play an increasingly central role in tech companies-tackling problems such as platform design, strategy, pricing, and policy. Over the past five years,... View Details

06 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Technology Re-Emergence: Creating New Value for Old Innovations

Behavior unit at Harvard Business School. "Successful companies may be able to reposition a 'dying' technology by redefining its identity and value for the customer." Raffaelli details his research... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Technology; Technology

September 2007 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Syndexa and Technology Transfer at Harvard University

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron

Gokhan Hotamisligil is a star researcher at Harvard School of Public Health who has made groundbreaking discoveries linking fat cells, inflammation, and diabetes. He now wants to form a company to commercialize these discoveries. At the same time, Isaac Kohlberg, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Rights; Agreements and Arrangements; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (C): Negotiating the Future

By: Ashish Nanda

The success of the Vermeer software offering suddenly transforms the start-up into a sought after company. After arduous negotiations, Vermeer management is faced with the choice of continuing as an independent company or being acquired by Microsoft or Netscape. View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Applications and Software; Decision Making; Acquisition; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

practices that act exactly as a new technology would, like advanced machinery might help companies increase output. Universal management practices can help increase a company’s productivity, just as View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

September 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Epic: The Future of Health Information Technology

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Brian L. Walker

How should the founder and leadership team of a health IT company with more than 45 years of market leadership prepare for the future, while navigating founder transitions and industry changes? Founded by Judy Faulkner in the late 1970s, Epic pioneered electronic... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Private Ownership; Customer Focus and Relationships; Information Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

Fall 2018
Article

What Problems Will You Solve with Blockchain?: Before Jumping on the Bandwagon, Companies Need to Carefully Consider how Ledger Technologies Fit into their Overall Strategy

By: Teppo Felin and Karim R. Lakhani

Distributed ledger technologies — collectively known as blockchain — have burst onto the business scene, accompanied by a significant amount of hype.They are widely expected to disrupt existing industries and lead to the creation of new types of companies. Some of the... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Technology Adoption; Strategy; Business Processes; Innovation Strategy

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September–October 2024
Article

Boards Need a New Approach to Technology

By: Tarun Khanna, Mary C. Beckerle and Nabil Y. Sakkab

The boards of too many publicly traded companies are downright timid when considering matters involving science and technology. More often than not, they focus on security and digitization—a defensive posture that fails to consider the bigger opportunities emerging... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Opportunities; Technology Adoption