Publications

March 2018
Case

IBM: Watson and the Internet of Things

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

IBM has recently launched a business unit devoted to the Internet of Things. The group's leadership team needs to figure out the best way to quickly scale its business in a fragmented and nascent market. View Details

Keywords: IBM; Internet Of Things; Watson; Artificial Intelligence; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry

Awards

Ray Watson Doctoral Fellowship

Recipient of a Ray Watson Doctoral Fellowship in 2011. View Details

June 2017
Teaching Note

IBM Transforming, 2012–2016: Ginni Rometty Steers Watson

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

Ginni Rometty, who became IBM CEO in 2012, led efforts to transform the company around cognitive computing and the AI platform Watson. This Teaching Note helps instructors understand and teach the Harvard Business School case “IBM Transforming, 2012–2016: Ginni Rometty... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Technological Change; Artificial Intelligence; Data; IBM; Watson; Internet Of Things; Innovation and Invention; Management; Sales; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Transformation; AI and Machine Learning

01 Oct 2002
News

Steven C. Watson

Two years ago, if you bet me five bucks that I was going to be a school-teacher, I would have taken that bet in a heartbeat.” When his students question the relevance of precalculus to their future lives, entrepreneur turned high-school math teacher Steve View Details

Portrait Project

Margaret Watson

A dark hospital waiting room was not how I imagined spending my night. I was about to start the second week of my internship and instead of getting a good night’s sleep, I was waiting for my boyfriend to get out of emergency surgery. I thought my summer internship... View Details

Watson H. Vanderploeg

Vanderploeg continued Kellogg’s impressive growth. Under his leadership, he grew sales six-fold from $34 million to over $200 million and quadrupled earnings. He was devoted to international expansion (opening new plants in Australia and Great Britain) and was... View Details

Keywords: Food & Tobacco

25 Aug 2016
Cold Call Podcast

Behind IBM's High-Risk Decision to Put Watson on 'Jeopardy'

Keywords: Re: Willy C. Shih

August 2021
Teaching Note

IBM Watson at MD Anderson Cancer Center

By: Shane Greenstein and Mel Martin

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 621-022. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Operations; Failure; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Health Care and Treatment; Product Development; Health Industry; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Houston; Texas

December 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

IBM Watson at MD Anderson Cancer Center

By: Shane Greenstein, Mel Martin and Sarkis Agaian

After discovering that their cancer diagnostic tool, designed to leverage the cloud computing power of IBM Watson, needed greater integration into the clinical processes at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the development team had difficult choices to make. The Oncology... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Operations; Failure; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Health Care and Treatment; Product Development; Health Industry; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Houston; Texas

26 Apr 2024
News

Why IBM's Dazzling Watson Supercomputer Was a Lousy Tutor

August 1996 (Revised January 1998)
Teaching Note

IBM and the Two Thomas J. Watsons TN

Keywords: Computer Industry; Manufacturing Industry

2003
Book

The Watson Dynasty: The Fiery Reign and Troubled Legacy of IBM's Founding Father and Son

By: R. S. Tedlow

Keywords: Information Technology; Business Ventures; Computer Industry

Find at Harvard

11 Jan 2007
Working Paper Summaries

A Perceptions Framework for Categorizing Inventory Policies in Single-stage Inventory Systems

Keywords: by Noel Watson

28 Jun 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Alignment in Cross-Functional and Cross-Firm Supply Chain Planning

Keywords: by Santiago Kraiselburd & Noel Watson

02 Nov 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Managing Functional Biases in Organizational Forecasts: A Case Study of Consensus Forecasting in Supply Chain Planning

Keywords: by Rogelio Oliva & Noel H. Watson

06 Sep 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Cross Functional Alignment in Supply Chain Planning: A Case Study of Sales & Operations Planning

Keywords: by Rogelio Oliva & Noel Watson

24 May 2004
Research & Ideas

The Watsons: IBM’s Troubled Legacy

humor in the idea of the man they labeled "a dirty Talmud Jew," lodged a protest with the State Department, and refused to participate in the festivities. The IBM is not merely an organization of men; it is an institution that will go on forever.— Thomas... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow

07 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

What Drives Supply Chain Behavior?

To err is human, but most research on supply chain management doesn't take psychological, functional, incentive-related, and other biases into account. HBS professors Rogelio Oliva and Noel Watson have devised their latest research to... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston

June 2007 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Thomas J. Watson, IBM and Nazi Germany

By: Geoffrey Jones, Grace Ballor and Adrian Brown

Considers the strategy of U.S.-owned IBM, then a manufacturer of punch cards, in Nazi Germany before 1937. Opens with IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson meeting Adolf Hitler in his capacity as President of the International Chamber of Commerce. IBM had acquired a German company... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Values and Beliefs; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Business and Government Relations; Germany; United States