Publications

May 2010
Column

Block-by-Blockbuster Innovation

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Executives often find themselves debating the merits of incremental innovations versus game-changers, but that's a false dichotomy, says HBR columnist Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Even if a company is lucky enough to come up with the next Kindle, Swiffer, or smartphone,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Resource Allocation; Product; Business Processes; Risk and Uncertainty

2018
Working Paper

Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production

By: Daniel P. Gross

Though fundamental to innovation and essential to many industries and occupations, individual creativity has received limited attention as an economic behavior and has historically proven difficult to study. This paper studies the incentive effects of competition on... View Details

Keywords: Incentives; Tournaments; Radical Vs. Incremental Innovation; Motivation and Incentives; Competition; Creativity; Innovation and Invention

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Fall 2012
Article

Innovation Strategy and Entry Deterrence

By: Ozge Turut and Elie Ofek

We model an incumbent's decision to pursue radical or incremental innovation when facing a rival entrant. The radical innovation may yield lucrative financial returns but entails significant technological and market-related uncertainties. It is also particularly... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Innovation Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Markets; Mathematical Methods

Research Summary

Design Driven Innovation

By: Roberto Verganti

Firms, managers and scholars have often balanced between two approaches to innovation: user centered (where incremental innovation is pulled by the market) and technology push (where innovation comes from breakthrough development in technologies). However there is a... View Details

July–August 2024
Article

The Middle Path to Innovation

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Duke Rohlen, Ben Creo and Will Kynes

Too many companies are failing to innovate. One reason, say the authors, is the polarized approach companies take to innovation. At one end of the spectrum, corporate R&D efforts tend to focus on product refreshes and incremental line upgrades that generate modest... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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15 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Lessons Not Learned About Innovation

portfolio of promising mid-range ideas driven by designated teams. At the bottom of the pyramid are early-stage ideas or incremental innovations that permit continuous improvement. Influence flows from top... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2015
Chapter

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Renewable Energy

By: Ramana Nanda, Ken Younge and Lee Fleming

We document three facts related to innovation and entrepreneurship in renewable energy. Using data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, we first show that patenting in renewable energy remains highly concentrated in a few large energy firms. In 2009, the top 20... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurial Management; Energy; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Energy Industry

January 2012 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Dow Chemical: Innovating for Sustainability

Dow Chemical is one of the few major American industrial corporations that was founded in the late 19th century that is still in existence. From its origins producing bromine out of the brine underneath Midland, Michigan, the company has evolved from a diversified... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Optimization and Expansion at OpenTable

By: Benjamin Edelman and Karen Webster

OpenTable considers adjustments to increase its benefits to merchants, including a novel payments service that lets customers skip the multi-step process of using a credit card. View Details

Keywords: Payments; Pricing; Mobile; Rollout; Incrementality; Innovation Strategy; Credit Cards; Accommodations Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

05 Mar 2008
What Do You Think?

Where Will Management Innovation Take Us?

"anything that substantially alters the way in which the work of management is carried out," including organizational forms. He distinguishes it from operational, product/service, or strategic innovation. Although he maintains that only limited View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

December 2024
Case

Core Innovation Capital: Investing in Fintech for Good

By: Ray Kluender, Natalia Rigol, Benjamin Roth and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, Arjan Schütte, founder of Core Innovation Capital, faced a decision on whether to invest in Hugo Insurance, an auto insurance startup. Core, an early-stage social impact VC firm, focused on “fintech for good,” by investing in financial services for low- to... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Venture Capital; Social Entrepreneurship; Insurance; Measurement and Metrics; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Product Positioning; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How One Center of Innovation Lost its Spark

tacit knowledge flows. These knowledge flows, in turn, contribute to cumulative incremental innovations in both product and process technology among firms embedded in the cluster. I use the term 'active... View Details

Keywords: by Donald Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation; Auto

23 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Five Ways to Make Your Company More Innovative

and the DNA of innovators. What they have to say might surprise you. Clayton Christensen Can people learn to be more innovative? I don't want to overstate the case. I think about 40 percent of people just are not going to be good at View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons, Julia Hanna & Roger Thompson

24 Jun 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Don’t Just Survive—Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad

Keywords: by Lynda M. Applegate & J. Bruce Harreld

09 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

they can try to take on a competitor with disruptive innovations that either create new markets or take root among an incumbent's worst customers. Our research overwhelmingly suggests that companies should seek out growth based on... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor & Scott D. Anthony

26 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

A Clear Eye for Innovation

seeking to pioneer radical or disruptive innovations while pursuing incremental gains. A business does not have to escape its past, these cases show, to renew itself for the future. [...] A New Lens On... View Details

Keywords: by Charles A. O'Reilly III & Michael L. Tushman

2009
Working Paper

Don't Just Survive - Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad

By: Lynda M. Applegate and J. Bruce Harreld

Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current global financial crisis provides a mandate for restructuring. But survival is not the end goal. In fact, cost cutting and restructuring are simply... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk Management; Leading Change; Innovation and Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy

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February 2024
Case

Innovation Strategy at Stanley Black & Decker: Setting the Direction for Growth

By: David L. Ager and Antonio Manuel Oftelie

On July 1, 2022, Don Allan was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Stanley Black & Decker (SBD). Although Allan had been with the firm for 23 years, most recently serving as President and Chief Financial Officer, he recognized that he was stepping into his new role as... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Growth Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations