Publications

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November 2015 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Nestle's Creating Shared Value Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer, Kerry Herman and Sarah McAra

This case considers Nestlé’s creating shared value (CSV) strategy, which focused on the three categories of nutrition, water, and rural development. In the packaged food and beverage industry, pressure had mounted since the 1990s to improve supply chain sustainability... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Health And Wellness; Nutrition; Health; Labor; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Operations; Food and Beverage Industry; Switzerland; Europe; Africa; Latin America; North America; Asia

2021
Working Paper

Enabling Mission Impact: Funding Strategies for High-Risk High-Reward Innovation

By: Carolyn J. Fu, Lars Frolund and Fiona Murray

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Research and Development

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November–December 2017
Article

Innovation Streams and Executive Leadership

By: Michael Tushman

Incumbent firms face steep challenges in dealing with technological change and associated innovation streams. The firm's senior leadership team, and especially R&D leadership, plays a central role in shaping a firm's ability to both exploit existing capabilities and... View Details

Keywords: Ambidexterity; Exploit Vs. Explore; Dynamic Capabilities; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technology Adoption; Innovation Leadership

03 Jun 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Inducement Prizes and Innovation

Keywords: by Liam Brunt, Josh Lerner & Tom Nicholas

April 2006
Background Note

Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World: Module 1: Innovation and Uncertainty

By: Alan D. MacCormack

Describes the first module of a Harvard Business School 30-session elective course called Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome these challenges. The... View Details

Keywords: Design; Curriculum and Courses; Innovation and Management; Projects; Opportunities; Perspective

February 2014
Case

Diageo: Innovating for Africa

By: David E. Bell, Damien P. McLoughlin and Mary L. Shelman

Diageo, the world's leading premium drinks business, had a long history in Africa starting from its beer brand, Guinness, first exported to Sierra Leone in 1827. By 2013, 13% of Diageo's global revenues were from Africa, up from 9% in 2007. Diageo Africa President Nick... View Details

Keywords: Africa; Emerging Market; Innovation; Agribusiness; Beverage Industry; Emerging Markets; Innovation Strategy; Marketing; Food and Beverage Industry; Africa

May–June 2025
Article

Balancing Digital Safety and Innovation

By: Tomomichi Amano and Tomomi Tanaka

Designers of consumer-facing digital products have tended to focus on novelty and speed (“move fast and break things”). They’ve spent more effort on innovating than on anticipating how customers—and bad actors—might engage with products. But as digital products become... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Cybersecurity; Demand and Consumers; Safety

11 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Strategy Execution and the Balanced Scorecard

services, others deliver complete solutions to their customer, and still others innovate with high-technology products. About the only common element all these diverse successful View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Editorial

International Entrepreneurship at the Crossroads Between Innovation and Internationalization

By: Birgit Hagen, Stefano Denicolai and Antonella Zucchella

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Innovation; International Business; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Innovation and Invention

14 Dec 2017
Working Paper Summaries

The Real Exchange Rate, Innovation and Productivity

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro, Alejandro Cuñat, Harald Fadinger, and Yanping Liu; Manufacturing

21 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

Strategy and Execution for Emerging Markets

financial crises, and weak intellectual property rights. HBS professors Tarun Khanna and Krishna G. Palepu, authors of the new book Winning in Emerging Markets: A Road Map for View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

1993
Book

Logistics and Strategy

By: C. Ferrozi, J. H. Hammond and R. D. Shapiro

Keywords: Logistics; Strategy

Article

Innovation Contests for High-Tech Procurement

By: Jin Hyun Paik, Martin Scholl, Rinat A. Sergeev, Steven Randazzo and Karim R. Lakhani

Innovation managers rarely use crowdsourcing as an innovative instrument despite extensive academic and theoretical research. The lack of tools available to compare and measure crowdsourcing, specifically contests, against traditional methods of procuring goods and... View Details

Keywords: Open Innovation; Contests; Crowdsourcing; Nasa; Evaluation; Acquisition; Information Technology; Innovation and Invention; Performance Evaluation; Framework

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Article

Small Worlds and Regional Innovation

Small-world networks have attracted much theoretical attention and are widely thought to enhance creativity. Yet empirical studies of their evolution and evidence of their benefits remain scarce. We develop and exploit a novel database on patent coauthorship to... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Patents; Performance Productivity; Creativity; Social and Collaborative Networks

Teaching Interest

Strategy and Technology (Elective Curriculum)

By: David B. Yoffie

This course explores the unique aspects of creating effective management and investment strategies for technology-intensive businesses. What strategies can win in markets with strong network effects? How can firms leverage technology to build multi-sided platforms?... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Information Technology; Technology Platform; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Electronics Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; China; Israel; Taiwan

07 Nov 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Investment Cycles and Startup Innovation

Keywords: by Ramana Nanda & Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

March 2023
Case

Innovation at Google Ads: The Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL) (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2018, Ana Owczarzak was appointed to lead Google Ads' new innovation and accelerator team - the Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL). The purpose of SAIL was to offer testing and incubation services for individuals within Google Ads who were developing new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Design; Technology Industry; Advertising Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Vineet Nayar and Sampark Foundation: Frugal Innovation at Scale (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2005, Vineet Nayar, the former CEO and Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies, and his wife, Anupama Nayar, committed $100 million of their personal wealth to found Sampark Foundation—a grant-making philanthropy with a mission to transform learning outcomes for 20... View Details