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Technology & Innovation

Technology & Innovation

    • December 2014
    • Article

    The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization

    By: Nicholas Bloom, Luis Garicano, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

    Empirical studies on information communication technologies (ICT) typically aggregate the "information" and "communication" components together. We show theoretically and empirically that this is problematic. Information and communication technologies have very different effects on the decisions taken at each level of an organization. Better information access pushes decisions down, as it allows for superior decentralized decision making without an undue cognitive burden on those lower in the hierarchy. Better communication pushes decisions up, as it allows employees to rely on those above them in the hierarchy to make decisions. Using an original dataset of firms from the U.S. and seven European countries we study the impact of ICT on worker autonomy, plant manager autonomy, and span of control. Consistent with the theory, we find that better information technologies (Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP, for plant managers and CAD/CAM for production workers) are associated with more autonomy and a wider span of control. By contrast, communication technologies (like data networks) decrease autonomy for both workers and plant managers. Treating technology as endogenous using instrumental variables (distance from the birthplace of ERP and heterogeneous telecommunication costs arising from different regulatory regimes) strengthens our results.

    • December 2014
    • Article

    The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization

    By: Nicholas Bloom, Luis Garicano, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

    Empirical studies on information communication technologies (ICT) typically aggregate the "information" and "communication" components together. We show theoretically and empirically that this is problematic. Information and communication technologies have very different effects on the decisions taken at each level of an organization. Better...

    • 2014
    • Working Paper

    Bridging Science and Technology Through Academic-Industry Partnerships

    By: Sen Chai and Willy C. Shih

    Scientific research and its translation into commercialized technology is a driver of wealth creation and economic growth. Partnerships to foster the translational processes from public research organizations, such as universities and hospitals, to private firms are a policy tool that has attracted increased interest. Yet questions about the efficacy and the efficiency with which funds are used are subject to frequent debate. This paper examines empirical data from the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation (DNATF), an agency that funds partnerships between universities and private companies to develop technologies important to Danish industry. We assess the effect of a unique mediated funding scheme that combines project grants with active facilitation and conflict management on firm performance, comparing the likelihood of bankruptcy and employee count as well as patent count, publication count and their citations and collaborative nature between funded and unfunded firms. Because randomization of the sample was not feasible, we address endogeneity around selection bias using a sample of qualitatively similar firms based on a funding decision score. This allows us to observe the local effect of samples in which we drop the best recipients and the worst non-recipients. Our results suggest that while receiving the grant does bring an injection of funding that alleviates financing constraints, its core effect on the firm's innovative behavior is in fostering collaborations and translations between science and technology and encouraging riskier projects rather than purely increasing patenting.

    • 2014
    • Working Paper

    Bridging Science and Technology Through Academic-Industry Partnerships

    By: Sen Chai and Willy C. Shih

    Scientific research and its translation into commercialized technology is a driver of wealth creation and economic growth. Partnerships to foster the translational processes from public research organizations, such as universities and hospitals, to private firms are a policy tool that has attracted increased interest. Yet questions about the...

    • April 2014
    • Article

    Botsourcing and Outsourcing: Robot, British, Chinese, and German Workers Are for Thinking—Not Feeling—Jobs

    By: Adam Waytz and Michael I. Norton

    Technological innovations have produced robots capable of jobs that, until recently, only humans could perform. The present research explores the psychology of "botsourcing"—the replacement of human jobs by robots—while examining how understanding botsourcing can inform the psychology of outsourcing—the replacement of jobs in one country by humans from other countries. We test four related hypotheses across six experiments: (1) Given people's lay theories about the capacities for cognition and emotion for robots and humans, workers will express more discomfort with botsourcing when they consider losing jobs that require emotion versus cognition; (2) people will express more comfort with botsourcing when jobs are framed as requiring cognition versus emotion; (3) people will express more comfort with botsourcing for jobs that do require emotion if robots appear to convey more emotion; and (4) people prefer to outsource cognition-oriented versus emotion-oriented jobs to other humans who are perceived as more versus less robotic. These results have theoretical implications for understanding social cognition about both humans and nonhumans and practical implications for the increasingly botsourced and outsourced economy.

    • April 2014
    • Article

    Botsourcing and Outsourcing: Robot, British, Chinese, and German Workers Are for Thinking—Not Feeling—Jobs

    By: Adam Waytz and Michael I. Norton

    Technological innovations have produced robots capable of jobs that, until recently, only humans could perform. The present research explores the psychology of "botsourcing"—the replacement of human jobs by robots—while examining how understanding botsourcing can inform the psychology of outsourcing—the replacement of jobs in one country by humans...

    • Article

    Digital Ubiquity: How Connections, Sensors, and Data Are Revolutionizing Business

    By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

    When Google bought Nest, a maker of digital thermostats, for $3.2 billion just a few months ago, it was a clear indication that digital transformation and connection are spreading across even the most traditional industrial segments and creating a staggering array of business opportunities and threats. The digitization of tasks and processes has become essential to competition. General Electric, for example, was at risk of losing many of its top customers to nontraditional competitors—IBM and SAP on the one hand, big data start-ups on the other—offering data-intensive, analytics-based services that could connect to any industrial device. So GE launched a multibillion-dollar initiative focused on what it calls the industrial internet: adding digital sensors to its machines; connecting them to a common, cloud-based software platform; investing in software development capabilities; building advanced analytics capabilities; and embracing crowd-based product development. With all this, GE is evolving its business model. Now, for example, revenue from its jet engines is tied to reduced downtime and miles flown over the course of a year. After just three years, GE is generating more than $1.5 billion in incremental income with digitally enabled, outcomes-based business models. The company expects that number to double in 2014 and again in 2015.

    • Article

    Digital Ubiquity: How Connections, Sensors, and Data Are Revolutionizing Business

    By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

    When Google bought Nest, a maker of digital thermostats, for $3.2 billion just a few months ago, it was a clear indication that digital transformation and connection are spreading across even the most traditional industrial segments and creating a staggering array of business opportunities and threats. The digitization of tasks and processes has...

    • 2014
    • Working Paper

    The Decoupling Effect of Digital Disruptors

    By: Thales S. Teixeira and Peter Jamieson

    While the Internet's first wave of disruption was marked by the unbundling of digital content, the second wave, decoupling, promises to generate more casualties in an even broader array of industries. Digital start-ups are disrupting traditional businesses by inserting themselves at every juncture in the customer's consumption chain. By decoupling—the act of separating activities that people are used to co-consuming—new digital businesses are disrupting retailing, telecom and other industries. Decoupling allows consumers to benefit from the value created at a lower cost or effort compared to what is delivered by traditional businesses. For those companies, the only solutions are to either recouple activities or rebalance to create and capture value (i.e., revenues) from both activities separately. Here, digital technologies can be seen as an instrument that will both disrupt traditional business models and potentially preserve them.

    • 2014
    • Working Paper

    The Decoupling Effect of Digital Disruptors

    By: Thales S. Teixeira and Peter Jamieson

    While the Internet's first wave of disruption was marked by the unbundling of digital content, the second wave, decoupling, promises to generate more casualties in an even broader array of industries. Digital start-ups are disrupting traditional businesses by inserting themselves at every juncture in the customer's consumption chain. By...

The early works of William Abernathy on roadblocks to innovation and Richard Rosenbloom on technology and information transfers in the 1960's and 1970's started the Technology Strategy field and helped pave the path for our research today, which focuses on value creation of platforms and two-sided markets; use of open architecture and leverage of its collective value; development and execution of innovation strategies; innovative attributes of executives and firms; development of new markets through the creation of disruptive innovations that displace earlier technologies; development of innovations in sectors; and the impact of innovation on economic growth.

Recent Publications

Balancing Digital Safety and Innovation

By: Tomomichi Amano and Tomomi Tanaka
  • May–June 2025 |
  • Article |
  • Harvard Business Review
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 a primary way in which consumers connect with others, pay for things, and store private information, that view needs to change. The authors contend that companies must embed safeguards into the core of their digital products—starting during the earliest parts of the design process. They must also establish a road map for continued improvement and a dialogue with customers. The safety-by-design model can facilitate innovation rather than constrain it by providing a principled approach to product development.
Keywords: Technological Innovation; Cybersecurity; Demand and Consumers; Safety
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Amano, Tomomichi, and Tomomi Tanaka. "Balancing Digital Safety and Innovation." Harvard Business Review 103, no. 3 (May–June 2025): 120–127.

Lisa Su and AMD (A)

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Matthew Preble and Dave Habeeb
  • April 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This multimedia case study focuses on CEO Lisa Su’s turnaround and subsequent transformation of the technology company Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD). When Su accepted the top position in 2014, AMD was on the verge of collapse. Su focused the company’s culture, simplified its product roadmap, repaired relationships with key stakeholders, and placed a big bet on innovations in high performance computing and Artificial Intelligence to make AMD a tech powerhouse by late 2023. Lisa Su and AMD (A) and Lisa Su and AMD (B) are not standalone case studies. They are designed to be taught together. Lisa Su and AMD (A) explores AMD’s successes and challenges prior to Lisa Su becoming CEO. Lisa Su and AMD (B) helps students understand the key elements of the transformation, and how Su is positioning the company for the future.
Keywords: Turnaround; Artificial Intelligence; Semiconductors; Change Management; Transformation; Decision Making; Globalized Markets and Industries; Government and Politics; AI and Machine Learning; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Leadership; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Management; Product Design; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Strategic Planning; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Research and Development; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; Computer Industry; United States; California; Texas
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Margolis, Joshua D., Matthew Preble, and Dave Habeeb. "Lisa Su and AMD (A)." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Case 425-704, April 2025.

Hurtigruten: Sea Zero

By: Christian Kaps and Michael W. Toffel
  • March 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Hurtigruten was deciding whether the next ship they built should be fully electric. But such a vessel's battery, the size of electric cars, needed to be charged on the ship's multi-day voyage along the Norwegian coast. Before making such a $250 million investment, the company needed to understand where en route it needed charging infrastructure and how it could access sufficient power at ports. These considerations had to be balanced against the uncertainty around the government's emissions targets for Hurtigruten's fleet, and customers' desire for sustainable tourism.
Keywords: Energy Sources; Alternative Energy; Ship Transportation; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Management; Green Technology; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Shipping Industry; Tourism Industry; Transportation Industry; Travel Industry; Battery Industry; Norway; Europe
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Kaps, Christian, and Michael W. Toffel. "Hurtigruten: Sea Zero." Harvard Business School Case 625-100, March 2025.

The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI Reshaping Teamwork and Expertise

By: Fabrizio Dell'Acqua, Charles Ayoubi, Hila Lifshitz, Raffaella Sadun, Ethan Mollick, Lilach Mollick, Yi Han, Jeff Goldman, Hari Nair, Stew Taub and Karim R. Lakhani
  • 2025 |
  • Working Paper |
  • Faculty Research
We examine how artificial intelligence transforms the core pillars of collaboration— performance, expertise sharing, and social engagement—through a pre-registered field experiment with 776 professionals at Procter & Gamble, a global consumer packaged goods company. Working on real product innovation challenges, professionals were randomly assigned to work either with or without AI, and either individually or with another professional in new product development teams. Our findings reveal that AI significantly enhances performance: individuals with AI matched the performance of teams without AI, demonstrating that AI can effectively replicate certain benefits of human collaboration. Moreover, AI breaks down functional silos. Without AI, R&D professionals tended to suggest more technical solutions, while Commercial professionals leaned towards commerciallyoriented proposals. Professionals using AI produced balanced solutions, regardless of their professional background. Finally, AI’s language-based interface prompted more positive selfreported emotional responses among participants, suggesting it can fulfill part of the social and motivational role traditionally offered by human teammates. Our results suggest that AI adoption at scale in knowledge work reshapes not only performance but also how expertise and social connectivity manifest within teams, compelling organizations to rethink the very structure of collaborative work.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Teamwork; Human-machine Interaction; Productivity; Skills; Innovation; Field Experiment; AI and Machine Learning; Groups and Teams; Competency and Skills; Performance Productivity; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Product Development
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Dell'Acqua, Fabrizio, Charles Ayoubi, Hila Lifshitz, Raffaella Sadun, Ethan Mollick, Lilach Mollick, Yi Han, Jeff Goldman, Hari Nair, Stew Taub, and Karim R. Lakhani. "The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI Reshaping Teamwork and Expertise." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 25-043, March 2025.

Perplexity: Redefining Search

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Michelle Hu, Sriraghav Srinivasan and Radhika Kak
  • March 2025 (Revised April 2025) |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
By early 2025, Perplexity had rapidly evolved from a modest startup into a popular "answer engine" valued at $9 billion. The company had boldly positioned itself as the disruptor to Google aiming to redefine search for the AI age. Through novel AI orchestration—combining custom-built indexes, real-time retrieval systems, and language models—Perplexity delivered answers to complex queries, challenging Google's dominance in traditional search. The company differentiated itself by emphasizing user-centricity, speed, and quality, intentionally foregoing advertising-based monetization. Deep Research, Pro Search, and Comet (an AI-native web browser) had helped it make inroads into both consumer and enterprise segments globally. Yet, as Perplexity scaled, the company faced tough choices in preserving its ad-free, user-centric approach versus exploring monetization strategies, such as advertising. Maintaining user trust and platform simplicity was becoming increasingly complex in the fiercely competitive AI search market. Additionally, high execution velocity and expanding into enterprise markets required significant investment in security and infrastructure, intensifying the pressure to stay ahead of competitors like OpenAI and Google. The case illustrates the tension between maintaining a trusted, unbiased product experience and pursuing monetization strategies such as advertising. It emphasizes the importance of aligning revenue models with core brand promises to sustain long-term user trust and growth.
Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Venture Capital; Innovation Leadership; Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry; United States
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Srinivasan, Suraj, Michelle Hu, Sriraghav Srinivasan, and Radhika Kak. "Perplexity: Redefining Search." Harvard Business School Case 125-093, March 2025. (Revised April 2025.)

Xfund and Sam Altman: Finding Harvard’s Best Generative AI Founders

By: Suraj Srinivasan
  • March 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
On May 1, 2024, Xfund Managing Partners Patrick Chung and Brandon Farwell, hosted a high-stakes venture pitch session designed to select one startup for a minimum $100,000 investment. This “Xperiment Stake” competition, dedicated to startups in the Generative AI sector, was particularly significant. The founders would pitch to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. The competition attracted 270 total submissions, from which six promising founding teams were selected for the final one-on-one pitch session. Each of the six finalists presented their vision for applying Generative AI in diverse fields, including research, software development, and even military applications. With AI evolving rapidly, the challenge for Xfund was not just to evaluate the startups’ ideas, but also to identify the most innovative and adaptable founders—those capable of navigating and thriving in the fast-changing landscape. The stage was set for a tough decision: which startup should Altman and Xfund select as the standout candidate to secure the investment?
Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Venture Capital; Innovation Leadership; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry; United States
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Srinivasan, Suraj. "Xfund and Sam Altman: Finding Harvard’s Best Generative AI Founders." Harvard Business School Case 125-090, March 2025.

Transferability MATTRs: Towards Understanding Antecedents of Strategic Licensing

By: Dafna F. Bearson and Maria P. Roche
  • 2025 |
  • Working Paper |
  • Faculty Research
This paper examines the antecedents of firms’ decisions to license intellectual property (IP). We propose a conceptual framework emphasizing two critical factors: (1) transferability, which we define as the ease of moving knowledge embodied in inventions across firm boundaries, and (2) relevance, representing the invention’s importance to a firm’s value creation and capture processes. Leveraging a novel proxy for transferability—the moving-average type-token ratio (MATTR), which measures the lexical diversity of patent descriptions—we analyze licensing agreements for U.S. patents granted from 1980 to 2015, integrating this data with patent- and firm-level characteristics. The results reveal that higher MATTR is associated with a greater likelihood of licensing, suggesting that firms strategically enhance transferability for potential licensees as they apply for a patent. Moreover, the relationship between transferability and licensing is moderated by the invention’s economic and scientific value, and the degree of demand uncertainty in the industry. These findings contribute to the literature on innovation strategy and technology markets, highlighting the strategic selection of IP for licensing and the dynamic interplay of invention characteristics, firm strategy, and industry context in shaping licensing decisions.
Keywords: Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Intellectual Property; Value Creation
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Bearson, Dafna F., and Maria P. Roche. "Transferability MATTRs: Towards Understanding Antecedents of Strategic Licensing." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 25-042, March 2025.

Harvey: AI for Lawyers

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Charles Krumholz and Radhika Kak
  • March 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
In early 2025, Winston Weinberg and Gabe Pereyra, co-founders of Harvey AI, reflected on the company’s meteoric rise as a pioneer in AI-powered legal technology. Since its founding in 2022, Harvey had transformed how lawyers approached research, drafting, and document analysis, securing major law firms and corporate legal teams as clients. By early 2025, Harvey had surpassed $50 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), expanded its global footprint to 235 enterprise customers, and achieved a $3 billion valuation.

Despite its rapid growth, Harvey faced pivotal strategic questions. The legal technology industry was becoming increasingly competitive, with both legacy players integrating AI into their offerings and new startups emerging with specialized solutions. While Harvey had successfully focused on aggressive customer acquisition, retention was now the key challenge. Could it deepen engagement with existing clients through enhanced technology integration and workflow automation? Should it expand beyond its core offerings into new legal technology verticals? And how could it balance product innovation with scaling its enterprise customer base?

As Weinberg and Pereyra weighed their options, they remained committed to their ambitious vision: building an autonomous AI legal agent capable of handling end-to-end legal work. But as Harvey navigated the evolving landscape of AI-powered professional services, they had to ask—what was the best path forward to sustain growth, ensure defensibility, and cement Harvey’s leadership in the legal AI revolution?
Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Legal Services Industry; Technology Industry; New York (city, NY); San Francisco; London
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Srinivasan, Suraj, Charles Krumholz, and Radhika Kak. "Harvey: AI for Lawyers." Harvard Business School Case 125-087, March 2025.

Doing Business in Casablanca, Morocco

By: Karen G. Mills, Ahmed Dahawy and Choetsow Tenzin
  • February 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Morocco. The case explores the various historical, cultural, and social factors that impact the business environment. It also highlights Morocco’s unique economy where cash remains a dominant player in the market despite global advancements in digitalization. This is illustrated through Chari, a Moroccan based inventory procurement app, which hopes to navigate Morocco’s fintech landscape by utilizing the country’s dense network of small mom and pop shops.
Keywords: Business Model; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Distribution Industry; Financial Services Industry; Morocco
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Mills, Karen G., Ahmed Dahawy, and Choetsow Tenzin. "Doing Business in Casablanca, Morocco." Harvard Business School Case 325-105, February 2025.

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A) (Abridged)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag
  • February 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs). Within three years, he had turned the company around through his ambitious “Renaulution” strategy, which stabilized Renault’s finances, modernized its vehicle lineup, and began shifting the traditional automaker into a technology and mobility services company.

This case highlights innovative elements of de Meo’s approach to leading change within an incumbent firm, including pulling mid-level managers out of their day jobs to help implement strategy and leveraging different communication tactics to align and inspire employees. de Meo’s unique leadership style—an unusual blend of visionary decisiveness and collaborative engagement—is explored, along with the challenges of building the will and skill of top management teams facing industry and technological disruption.

Designed for MBA and executive education audiences, the case facilitates discussions on leading change amidst industry disruption, managing oneself as a leader, and navigating the dynamics of top management teams in times of transformation.
Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Transition; Interpersonal Communication; Forms of Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Making; Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Alternative Energy; Engineering; Global Strategy; Governance; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Technology Adoption; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leading Change; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; Transportation; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; France; Europe; China
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Truelove, Emily, Linda A. Hill, and Lydia Begag. "Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A) (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 425-067, February 2025.
More Publications

Faculty

Karim R. Lakhani
Willy C. Shih
David B. Yoffie
Lynda M. Applegate
Rosabeth M. Kanter
Marco Iansiti
Tom Nicholas
Josh Lerner
Michael L. Tushman
William R. Kerr
Alan D. MacCormack
Elie Ofek
→See All

Harvard Business Publishing

    • May–June 2025
    • Article

    Balancing Digital Safety and Innovation

    By: Tomomichi Amano and Tomomi Tanaka
    • April 2025
    • Case

    Lisa Su and AMD (A)

    By: Joshua D. Margolis, Matthew Preble and Dave Habeeb
→More Harvard Business Publishing
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