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Note on Hackathons

By: Ethan Bernstein
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:19
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Abstract

Organizations have often sought to meet the pressures of rapid change through novel ways of managing human capital to boost innovation and productivity. Hackathons have emerged as one of the latest approaches to do just that. How can those responsible for managing human capital use hackathons as a new tool in their toolkit? This note is meant as a guide for academics and practitioners to understand what hackathons are, how they work, when and how they can be useful, and how they complement other more traditional tools for organizational innovation and productivity. The note ends with a summary of questions and additional resources for more detail.

Keywords

Hackathon; Crowdsourcing; Hack; Innovation; Productivity; Minimum Viable Product; Time; Transparency; Bootcamp; Design; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Management; Organizational Structure; Performance Productivity; Technology; Technology Industry

Citation

Bernstein, Ethan. "Note on Hackathons." Harvard Business School Background Note 419-021, August 2018.

About The Author

Ethan S. Bernstein

Organizational Behavior
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