Publications

28 Oct 2013
News

ObamaCare a management problem, not a technology problem?

January 2012 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Journey to the East: Natcore Technology in China

By: Regina M. Abrami, Matthew Shaffer and Weiqi Zhang

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Joint Ventures; China

2020
Article

Making Economics More Useful: How Technological Eclecticism Could Help

By: Amar Bhidé

Keynes thought it would be ‘splendid’ if economists became more like dentists. Disciplinary economics has instead become more like physics in focusing on concise, universal propositions verified through decisive tests. This focus, I argue, limits the practical utility... View Details

Keywords: Economic Methodology; Simulations; Banking; Regulation; Judgment; Economics; Policy

Find at Harvard

2012
Other Unpublished Work

Environmental corporate strategy and advancements in enhanced oil recovery technology among U.S. firms

By: Shon R. Hiatt

This study seeks to address how collective actors can affect technology development and adoption among organizations by creating regulatory uncertainty. Empirically, this paper focuses on the influence of environmental organizations concerned about climate change on... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Technology Adoption; Natural Environment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Corporate Strategy; United States

08 Mar 2015
News

Fixing the T: Technology can help balance cost equation

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System

By: Ranjay Gulati

In response to the 2001 market downturn, Cisco Systems implemented a major restructuring that transformed the company from a decentralized to centralized organization. While recognizing that a centralized, functional structure was necessary to avoid product and... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Customer Focus and Relationships; Governing and Advisory Boards; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Technology Industry

Research Summary

Overview

By: Debora L. Spar

My work focuses generally on the intersection between technological change and societal structures, and on the many areas in which business both shapes and is shaped by societal norms. View Details

Keywords: Technological And Scientific Innovation; Technological Change: Choices And Consequences; Business ＆ Government Relations; Business And Community; Capitalism; Reproduction; Technological Innovation; Government and Politics; Gender; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Education Industry; United States; Europe; Africa; Asia

Web

Business, Government & the International Economy Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Business, Government & the International Economy Overview Faculty Curriculum Seminars & Conferences Awards & Honors Doctoral Students 2025 Rawi E. Abdelal : Received the 2025 HBS Student Association Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching.... View Details

2020
Article

Inconvenient Truths: Interpreting the Origins of the Internet

By: Shane Greenstein

A conventional economic narrative provides intellectual underpinnings for governments to subsidize research and development ("R&D") that coordinates risky research to benefit many in society. This essay compares this narrative with the origins and invention of the... View Details

Keywords: Lead Users; Technology Transfer; Internet and the Web; History; Analysis; Research and Development; Governance; Information Technology; Policy

August 2022
Case

Air Wars: Deregulating the U.S. Airline Industry

By: Tom Nicholas and James Weber

In the early decades of the twentieth century, the U.S. government assisted in the development of an airline industry by subsidizing the delivery of mail and allowing mail carriers to also fly passengers. Because the government awarded mail routes to the lowest... View Details

2019
Working Paper

Biometric Monitoring, Service Delivery and Misreporting: Evidence from Healthcare in India

By: Thomas Bossuroy, Clara Delavallade and Vincent Pons

Developing countries increasingly use biometric identification technology in hopes of improving the reliability of administrative information and delivering social services more efficiently. This paper exploits the random placement of biometric tracking devices in... View Details

Keywords: Biometric Technology; Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Analytics and Data Science; Quality; Performance Improvement; India

10 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Making Economics More Useful: How Technological Eclecticism Could Help

Keywords: by Amar Bhidé

2020
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 3 Transaction Free Zones

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

In Chapter 2 we saw that the most economical locations for transactions in a task network are the so-called thin crossing points—places where transfers are easy to define, count and pay for. However, in many places in the task network, transfers of material, energy,... View Details

Keywords: Modularity; Information Technology; Organizations

SSRN

08 Nov 2017
News

The democracy of data: how Venezuelans can stand up to government lies

Web

Technology & Operations Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Technology & Operations Management Overview Faculty Curriculum Seminars & Conferences Awards & Honors Doctoral Students 2025 Himabindu Lakkaraju : Recipient of a 2025 Sloan Research Fellowship in Computer Science. 2024 Ryan W. Buell :... View Details

01 Dec 2000
News

Everything Old Is New Again: The History of Technological Frontiers

apocalyptic pronouncements of pundits who declare the Internet an unprecedented development heralding the collapse of national authority. "They assert that in cyberspace, governments wither away, that they no longer have any moral right... View Details

Keywords: Laura Singleton; Microsoft; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Broadcasting (except Internet); Information

Article

Moving Beyond Schumpeter: Management Research on the Determinants of Technological Innovation

By: Gautam Ahuja, Curba Morris Lampert and Vivek Tandon

Schumpeter's conjecture that large monopolistic firms were the key source of innovation in modern industrial economies has been the underpinning for much work on the topic of innovation. In this review paper we consciously move beyond the Schumpeterian tradition of... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Management; Strategy

February 2022
Case

Agora (A)

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

Agora was a civic technology (civic tech) startup founded by Elsa Sze, who wanted to enhance the connection between political officials and their constituents by facilitating virtual “town halls,” making underrepresented voices heard and benefiting elected and... View Details

Keywords: Civic Technology; Government Administration; Conferences; Business Startups; Business Strategy

February 2022
Supplement

Agora (B)

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

This is the conclusion to Agora (A), where founder Elsa Sze decides if she wants to continue investing energy in her civic technology startup.
Agora was a civic technology (civic tech) startup founded by Elsa Sze, who wanted to enhance the connection between... View Details

Keywords: Civic Technology; Government Administration; Conferences; Business Startups; Business Strategy