Publications

2022
Working Paper

Responding Strategically to Competitors' Failures: Evidence from Medical Device Recalls & New Product Submissions

By: George P. Ball, Jeffrey T. Macher and Ariel Dora Stern

Medical device firms operate at the frontiers of innovation. When functioning properly, innovative medical devices can prolong and improve lives; when malfunctioning, the same devices may harm patients and lead to product recalls. Product recalls create significant... View Details

Keywords: New Product Development; Recalls; Product Failures; Medical Devices; FDA; Health Care; Product Development; Product; Failure; Competition; Opportunities; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Read Now

26 Sep 2016
Book

Is Company Failure Inevitable?

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

spring 1991
Article

Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett

Most managers recognize that good service is a direct result of having effective, productive people in customer contact positions. However, most service companies perpetuate a cycle of failure by tolerating high turnover and expecting employee dissatisfaction. This... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Service Delivery; Success; Failure; Management Skills; Service Industry

March 1990
Article

Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and The Failure of Established Firms

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Kim B. Clark

Keywords: Design; Innovation and Invention; Product; Information Technology; Failure; Business Ventures

Article

Don’t Let an AI Failure Harm Your Brand

By: Julian De Freitas

How companies market their AI systems affects the repercussions they face when their products fail. Marketers must promote their AI products with potential failure in mind. To do that, they must first understand consumers’ unique attitudes toward AI. Marketers who... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Attitudes

March 1990
Article

Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms

By: R. Henderson and K. B. Clark

Keywords: Design; Innovation and Invention; Failure; Information Technology; Product

07 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Dividends from Schumpeter’s Noble Failure

neglected classic, because the book is not a classic. Instead, Business Cycles is a noble failure that paid unexpected dividends both to the author and to scholarship. A link to the full version of this article from Business History... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas K. McCraw

HBS Working Knowledge: Is Company Failure Inevitable?

Book excerpt and author interview from Lead and Disrupt coauthor Michael L. Tushman, who discusses how companies must continue to invest in their core products while innovating in new areas. View Details

01 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

Sometimes Success Begins at Failure

commit often substantial resources to vetting new technologies through processes that aim to affirm their viability and marketability (or lack thereof). In doing so, firms reduce the chance that new products will falter in the marketplace... View Details

Keywords: by Henry Chesbrough; Health; Pharmaceutical

01 Oct 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Organizational Factors that Contribute to Operational Failures in Hospitals

Keywords: by Anita L. Tucker, W. Scott Heisler & Laura D. Janisse; Health

27 Feb 2019
News

The Hidden Cost of a Product Recall

22 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

The Hard Work of Failure Analysis

It hardly needs to be said that organizations cannot learn from failures if people do not discuss and analyze them. Yet this remains an important insight. The learning that is potentially available may not be realized unless thoughtful... View Details

Keywords: by Amy Edmondson & Mark D. Cannon

Six Myths of Product Development

Many companies approach product development as if it were manufacturing, trying to control costs and improve quality by applying zero-defect, efficiency-focused techniques. While this tactic can boost the performance of factories, it generally backfires with... View Details

September 1991 (Revised December 1991)
Case

G. Heileman Brewing Co. (A): Power Failure At PowerMaster

By: Stephen A. Greyser

In June 1991, Heileman announced plans to introduce a high-alcohol malt liquor under the name PowerMaster (PM). Although the company claimed PM would be positioned as an upscale product and marketed on the basis of its superior taste, minority advocates and alcohol... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Ethics; Lawfulness; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Demand and Consumers; Market Entry and Exit; Food and Beverage Industry

Educators

06 Dec 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Trials and Terminations: Learning from Competitors' R&D Failures

Keywords: by Joshua Lev Krieger

Research Summary

Managing Product Development in Rapidly Changing Environments

By: Alan D. MacCormack

A consistent finding in many studies of innovation is the repeated failure of established firms when faced with radical changes in their core markets or technologies. Professor MacCormack's research takes the view that many of these failures can be attributed to the... View Details

09 Apr 2013
News

Is failure good or bad? How you define it can depend on where you live

November 2012 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Gerry Pasciucco at AIG Financial Products

By: Gautam Mukunda and Thomas J. DeLong

Gerry Pasciucco was appointed to lead American International Group's Financial Products (AIGFP) group after the government bailout of AIG in 2008 and charged with the task of shutting down the division while minimizing the government's losses. AIGFP's failed trades had... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Ethics; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Management Teams; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry; United States

Educators