Publications

Article

Thinking About Technology: Applying a Cognitive Lens to Technical Change

We apply a cognitive lens to understanding technology trajectories across the life cycle by developing a co-evolutionary model of technological frames and technology. Applying that model to each stage of the technology life cycle, we identify conditions under which a... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Transformation; Outcome or Result; Economics; Cognition and Thinking; Business Model; Forecasting and Prediction

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06 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: February 6, 2018

management of the pace of technological substitution by providing insights on complementarities between technologies and horizontally differentiated human capital Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53855 View Details

04 May 2021
Cold Call Podcast

Reversing Brain Drain: Moving Talent to Middle America

Keywords: Re: Prithwiraj Choudhury

November 2010 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Washout: The Founders' Tale and the Investors' Tale

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Chad M. Carr

The competing narratives of the founders of Alantec, Inc. and the venture capitalists who funded the company are explored in the context of Kalashian v. Advent VI Ltd. a California Superior Court case. The founders of the company, which produced switches for computer... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Managerial Roles; Ownership Stake; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Technology Industry

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Faculty & Research

transformed the who, what, where, and how of negotiation. Today, traditional negotiating tactics, while still effective, need to be tailored to vastly different situations and circumstances. In Negotiation: The Game Has Changed, legendary Harvard View Details

March 2008 (Revised June 2009)
Case

Actis: January 2008

By: Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Paul Feltcher, the CEO of Actis, a leading private equity investor in emerging markets, is preparing for an executive retreat at which the management team will consider how best to position the firm for the future. Actis could move in a number of different directions... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Private Equity; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Emerging Markets; Organizational Change and Adaptation

June 2023
Teaching Note

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited: Global Leadership in Chipmaking

By: William C. Kirby and Noah B. Truwit

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 321-126. The general purpose of this case is to explore the evolving nature of business relations across the Taiwan strait, focusing on the prominence of Taiwan's high-tech industry. After the legendary founder of Taiwan Semiconductor... View Details

Keywords: Geopolitical Units; Government and Politics; Competition; Production; Disruption; Semiconductor Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Taiwan; Taiwan Strait; China

2020
Working Paper

Social Networks, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship

By: William R. Kerr and Martin Mandorff

We study the relationship between ethnicity, occupational choice, and entrepreneurship. Immigrant groups in the United States cluster in specific business sectors. For example, Koreans are 34 times more concentrated in self-employment for dry cleaning than other... View Details

Keywords: Self-employed; Occupation; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Industry Clusters; Ethnicity; Immigration; Networks; United States

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Research Summary

Overview

Professor McDonald studies how firms successfully navigate new markets. He examines how widely accepted strategic prescriptions can actually undermine managers’ attempts to develop a viable business model or stake out a defining new market position, and considers the... View Details

August 2018
Article

Creative Sparks or Paralysis Traps? The Effects of Contradictions on Creative Processing and Creative Products

By: Goran Calic and Sébastien Hélie

Paradoxes are an unavoidable part of work life. The unusualness of attempting to simultaneously satisfy contradictory imperatives can result in creative outcomes that simultaneously satisfy both imperatives by inducing search for, and selection of, novel and useful... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Cognition and Thinking; Business or Company Management; Performance

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May 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Case

The Powers That Be (Internet Edition): Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Julia Kelley and Nathaniel Schwalb

As of early 2018, five U.S. technology companies—Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft—were among the largest companies in the world. Similarly, three Chinese technology firms—Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, or BAT—had emerged as global players due in part to the... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Business Ventures; Customers; Analytics and Data Science; Safety; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

New Research Explores Multi-Sided Markets

for interaction between these producers and consumers. This is not just an academic exercise: The distinction is quite important as the two models (merchant versus two-sided platform) are associated with different View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

Article

Matching Firms, Managers, and Incentives

By: Oriana Bandiera, Luigi Guiso, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

We combine unique administrative and survey data to study the match between firms and managers. The data include manager characteristics, firm characteristics, detailed measures of managerial practices, and outcomes for the firm and the manager. A parsimonious model of... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Talent and Talent Management; Organizations; Management Teams

January 2008 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Cognizant Technology Solutions

By: Robert G. Eccles, David Lane and Prabakar 'PK' Kothandaraman

In the highly competitive information technology outsourcing industry, Cognizant Technology Solutions has developed a strategy to differentiate itself by emphasizing building very close client relationships through its "Two-in-a-box" (TIB) model. This model is based on... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Knowledge Sharing; Resource Allocation; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

March 2014
Teaching Note

Tesla Motors

By: Eric Van den Steen

In mid-2013, Tesla Motors was riding a wave of success: It had launched its first really mass-produced car—the model S—to rave reviews, had recently raised first-year production targets, and had started taking orders for its next car, the Model X. Tesla seemed to be on... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Production; Product Launch; Business Strategy; Auto Industry; United States

March 1991 (Revised April 1995)
Case

IBP and the U.S. Meat Industry

By: David J. Collis and Nancy Donohue

IBP, the largest U.S. beef and pork processor, is facing deteriorating earnings and undertakes a fundamental strategic review in 1990. Having grown from its founding in 1961 to its current position as a low cost, innovative producer of boxed beef, and more recently... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Product; Competition; Business Earnings; Geography; Vertical Integration; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

28 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 28

they cannot spend on marketing the way their competitors do. The case invites students to explore an unusual business model in both concept and execution. Purchase this case:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 1999 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Avon Products China (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Jennifer Gui

In April 1998, when the Chinese central government bans all forms of direct selling in China in April 1998, executives at Avon China must decide how to respond. The first direct sales company to enter China after its opening to outsiders, Avon sparked widespread... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Sales; Trade; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Market Participation; China