Publications

07 May 2007
Research & Ideas

Rediscovering Schumpeter: The Power of Capitalism

it to evolution. The creative destruction can occur within a large innovative company (Toyota, GE, Microsoft), but it's much more likely to happen with start-ups, particularly since they now have so much access to venture capital.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education

January 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Hewlett-Packard: The Flight of the Kittyhawk (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Hewlett-Packard decided that, to grow more rapidly, it needed to design a revolutionary disk drive product that would create an entirely new market or application for magnetic recording technology. The company followed most of the "rules" good managers follow in such... View Details

Keywords: Management; Information Infrastructure; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Computer Industry; United States

18 Aug 2014
Research & Ideas

Have a Better Idea To Improve Health Care?

Several months ago, Harvard's Forum on Health Care Innovation surveyed industry executives, policy makers, academics, and doctors about the state of health care in the United States. Their report card was not encouraging. Only 14 percent... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

05 Dec 2006
First Look

First Look: December 5, 2006

Science Foundation. The developed platform offers an unprecedented view of the R&D-to-patenting innovation process and a close analysis of the strengths and limitations of the Industry R&D Survey. The files are linked through a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Derek C. M. van Bever

Derek van Bever is a Senior Lecturer in the General Management Unit of Harvard Business School. He teaches courses in both years of the MBA program (“Leadership and Corporate Accountability” in the first-year required curriculum and “Building and Sustaining a... View Details

July 2013 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Carl Zeiss and Free-Form Production: Can We See Clearly Yet?

By: Willy Shih

The prescription eyeglass lens industry was complicated and highly fragmented, and even though many of the tools and techniques employed have been relatively unchanged over the last century, there was still a surprising pace of innovation. An aging population around... View Details

Keywords: History; Demand and Consumers; Disruptive Innovation; Vertical Integration; Theory; Technology Adoption; Health Industry

January 2010
Article

Open vs. Closed Innovation: A Model of Discovery and Divergence

By: Esteve Almirall and Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

When is open innovation superior to closed innovation? Through a formal simulation model, we show that an open approach to innovation allows the firm to discover combinations of product features that would be hard to envision under integration. However, when partners... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Partners and Partnerships; Goals and Objectives; Cost vs Benefits; Integration; Product

Find at Harvard

05 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 5, 2006

across firm boundaries. Now, however, all firms need to learn how to manage innovation in a small world environment. This article offers them advice about how to do so. Global Integration Global... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

What makes some organizations more innovative than others? Innovation follows from strategy and structure. A good strategy allows individuals to impose their own imagination towards organizational goals in a coordinated way. Good structure adds incentives that... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Resource Allocation; Strategy; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Canada; United States; Europe; Croatia; Serbia and Montenegro

October 2023
Case

Vida Health: Transforming Chronic Disease Treatment

By: William Sahlman and Nicole Tempest Keller

San Francisco based Vida Health, founded by Stephanie Tilenius, former vice president of Commerce and Payments at Google, was a B2B digital health startup focused on the treatment of cardiometabolic conditions, such as diabetes and obesity. Its innovative digital... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Health Care and Treatment; Product Marketing; Risk and Uncertainty; Technological Innovation; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

April 2025
Case

Techint: Strategic Choices for Community Impact

By: Lauren Cohen, Virak Prum, Kenneth Charman, Pedro Levindo and Mariana Cal

In early 2024 Erika Bienek, Chief Community Relations Officer at Techint, had to decide whether to invest in a new company-owned and operated technical school in Veracruz, Mexico, or invest instead in strengthening the city’s public education system. Techint, a global... View Details

Keywords: Technical Institutes; Community Relations; Social Impact; Argentina; Mexico; Brazil; Conglomerate; Stakeholder Management; Government And Business; Community Impact; Philanthropy; Business Conglomerates; Business Subsidiaries; Business Headquarters; Family Business; Decision Making; Private Sector; Public Sector; Education; Curriculum and Courses; Middle School Education; Secondary Education; Teaching; Training; Learning; Energy; Engineering; Construction; Values and Beliefs; Geography; Global Range; Local Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Government Legislation; Recruitment; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Knowledge; Resource Allocation; Industry Clusters; Infrastructure; Family Ownership; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Creativity; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Poverty; Strategy; Construction Industry; Education Industry; Energy Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; Europe; Italy; Latin America; North and Central America; Mexico; North America; United States; South America; Argentina; Buenos Aires; Brazil

31 Oct 2013
News

HBS Professor Michael Tushman Receives Academy of Management’s Highest Award

September 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Module Note

Assessing Your Organization's Capabilities: Resources, Processes and Priorities

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Stephen P. Kaufman

Summarizes a model that helps managers determine what sorts of initiatives an organization is capable and incapable of managing successfully. The factors that affect what an organizational unit can and cannot accomplish can be grouped as resources, processes, and the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Experience and Expertise; Innovation and Management; Business Processes; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Mathematical Methods

March 2021 (Revised March 2024)
Case

M-KOPA: Empowering Lives

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Wale Lawal and Pippa Tubman Armerding

The Pay As You Go solar power company in East Africa had sales of $71 million in 2019. It wished to grow to $300 million by 2025. M-KOPA, founded by three entrepreneurs in 2011, had grown nicely in Kenya and Uganda to reach nearly 750,000 households with an innovative... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Payment; Go-to-market Strategy; Business At The Base Of The Pyramid; Business Growth; Social Entrepreneurship; Renewable Energy; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Marketing Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Kenya; Uganda; Nigeria

Sep 07 2016
Testimonial

Making an Impact on Your Organization

Joseph L. Bower

JOSEPH L. BOWER, Donald K. David Professor Emeritus, has been a leader in general management at Harvard Business School for 51 years. He also served on the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School during its first decade. He has served in many administrative roles... View Details

Keywords: banking; chemical; electronics; financial services; home appliances; hotels ＆ motels; information technology industry; insurance industry; private equity (LBO funds); retailing

June 2001 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Plum Creek Timber (B)

By: Max H. Bazerman, Jack Troast, Hannah Bowles and Nicole Nasser

Plum Creek Timber Co. decides to go ahead with negotiations for a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) on its Pacific Northwest properties. HCP represents a new form of public-private-sector collaboration and innovation to improve upon command-and-control environmental... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Participants; Environmental Sustainability; Business and Government Relations; Forest Products Industry; United States