• 2020
• Working Paper

The Evolutionary Nature of Breakthrough Innovation: Re-Evaluating the Exploration vs. Exploitation Dichotomy

By: Dominika K. Sarnecka and Gary P. Pisano

Over the past few decades, a consensus has emerged that breakthrough innovations emerge from exploration of novel terrain while more routine innovations are the product of exploitation. In this paper, we revisit this explore versus exploit dichotomy with an analysis...  View Details

Keywords: Breakthrough Innovation; Exploration And Exploitation; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation

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Sarnecka, Dominika K., and Gary P. Pisano. "The Evolutionary Nature of Breakthrough Innovation: Re-Evaluating the Exploration vs. Exploitation Dichotomy." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-071, December 2020.

• September 2020
• Case

Hot Wheels: Launching The Mixed Play Experience

By: Elie Ofek, Andres Terech and Nicole Tempest Keller

Chris Down, Global Brand General Manager for Hot Wheels, and his team from the Advanced Play Group within Mattel, Inc., had developed an entirely new “mixed play” product experience that blended familiar Hot Wheels play in the physical world with breakthrough play in...  View Details

Keywords: Toys; Go-to-market Strategy; Product Development; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Decision Making; Marketing; Strategy; Los Angeles

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Ofek, Elie, Andres Terech, and Nicole Tempest Keller. "Hot Wheels: Launching The Mixed Play Experience." Harvard Business School Case 521-017, September 2020.

• 2020
• Book

Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Over a decade ago, renowned innovation expert Rosabeth Moss Kanter co-founded and then directed Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative. Her breakthrough work with hundreds of successful professionals and executives, as well as aspiring young entrepreneurs, identifies...  View Details

Keywords: Leaders; Advanced Leadership; Advanced Leadership Initiative; Community; Change Leadership; Innovation; Problem Solving; Cross-sector Collaboration; Institutional Change; Leadership; Change; Leading Change; Communication; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Community Relations; Civil Society or Community

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Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time. New York: PublicAffairs, 2020.

• May 2019
• Case

The United States Air Force: 'Chaos' in the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron

By: Francesca Gino, Jeff Huizinga and Nicole Keller

In the spring of 2019, Lt. Col. Matthew “Chaos” Nussbaum is nearing the end of his two-year term as commander of the U.S. Air Force's 99th Reconnaissance Squadron. In this position, he has focused the majority of his energy on finding new ways to organize, train, and...  View Details

Keywords: Empowerment; Culture; Innovation; Motivation; Military; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Change; Leading Change; Innovation Strategy; United States

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Gino, Francesca, Jeff Huizinga, and Nicole Keller. "The United States Air Force: 'Chaos' in the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron." Harvard Business School Case 919-047, May 2019.

• March 2018
• Case

X: The Foghorn Decision

By: Robert S. Huckman, Karim R. Lakhani and Kyle R. Myers

In February 2016, Kathy Hannun--a project leader at X, Alphabet Inc.'s so-called "moonshot factory--had to prepare a recommendation for the senior leadership of X regarding the future of Foghorn, a project she was leading to develop a carbon-neutral process for...  View Details

Keywords: Innovation; R＆D Project Management; Radical Innovation; Clean Technology; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Energy; Research and Development; Projects; Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; California

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Huckman, Robert S., Karim R. Lakhani, and Kyle R. Myers. "X: The Foghorn Decision." Harvard Business School Case 618-060, March 2018.

• January 2018
• Case

Flying into the Future: HondaJet

By: Gary P. Pisano and Jesse Shulman

This cases examine Honda’s diversification into the light jet market. In 1985, Honda initiated a secret program to develop a small jet. Over the years, the program had many ups and downs (it was almost canceled several times). Then, a breakthrough in the configuration...  View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Air Transportation Industry

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Pisano, Gary P., and Jesse Shulman. "Flying into the Future: HondaJet." Harvard Business School Case 618-012, January 2018.

• Article

The Board's New Innovation Imperative: Directors Need to Rethink Their Roles and Their Attitude to Risk

By: Linda A. Hill and George Davis

As firms scramble for competitive advantage, boards—once the cautious voices urging management to mitigate risk—are now calling for breakthrough innovation. Indeed, avoiding risk is now seen as the riskiest proposition of all. In speaking with CEOs and board members...  View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Corporate Governance

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Hill, Linda A., and George Davis. "The Board's New Innovation Imperative: Directors Need to Rethink Their Roles and Their Attitude to Risk." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 6 (November–December 2017): 102–109.

• May 2017 (Revised October 2017)
• Case

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies: Building Breakthrough Innovations in Crowd-Powered Ecosystems

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Terri L. Griffith and Ann Majchrzak

Dirk Ahlborn, co-founder and CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. (HTT) looks back at the evolving organizational design and community that allows HTT to be crowd-powered. Since the founding in 2013, HTT has dealt with building an organization with less...  View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Crowdsourcing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Innovation; Organizational Design; Startups; Business Startups; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Product Development

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Applegate, Lynda M., Terri L. Griffith, and Ann Majchrzak. "Hyperloop Transportation Technologies: Building Breakthrough Innovations in Crowd-Powered Ecosystems." Harvard Business School Case 817-134, May 2017. (Revised October 2017.)

• 2017
• Chapter

Entrepreneurship in Larger Companies

By: William R. Kerr

Entrepreneurship in large and established companies is vital for their long-term success. Incumbent firms face many challenges ranging from global competition to digitization. In times past, being caught flat-footed might have set a company back several years, but it...  View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship

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Kerr, William R. "Entrepreneurship in Larger Companies." Chap. 27 in The Entrepreneur's Roadmap: From Concept to IPO, edited by Tim Dempsey and Bonnie Hyun, 161–164. Chicago, IL: Caxton Business & Legal, Inc., 2017.

• December 2016
• Background Note

Reaching Beyond Your Organization: Empowering Innovation

By: William R. Kerr

Forward-thinking established companies utilize new routes for external innovation with start-ups and crowds. The reading reviews strategic partnerships, strategic investments, strategic acquisitions, and crowd-based collaborations. Case examples include Google, SK...  View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Corporate Innovation; Collaboration; Partnerships; Innovation and Invention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy

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Kerr, William R. "Reaching Beyond Your Organization: Empowering Innovation." Harvard Business School Background Note 817-044, December 2016.

• November 2016 (Revised April 2018)
• Case

reMarkable: e-Writing the Future

By: Elie Ofek and Curtis Hsu

Magnus Wanberg is the creator of reMarkable, a breakthrough e-writer device set apart from similar products on the market by having solved the frustrating “slow ink” problem typically experienced on pen-based electronic devices, thus providing a “pen and paper” like...  View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Innovation Management; Go To Market Strategy; Marketing Plan; Target Market; Digital Devices; Consumer Electronics; Forecasting; Information Technology; Marketing Strategy; Innovation and Management; Marketing Channels; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Marketing; Product Development; Electronics Industry

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Ofek, Elie, and Curtis Hsu. "reMarkable: e-Writing the Future." Harvard Business School Case 517-018, November 2016. (Revised April 2018.)