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Publications
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- 2022
- Working Paper
Nailing Prediction: Experimental Evidence on the Value of Tools in Predictive Model Development
Predictive model development is understudied despite its importance to modern businesses. Although prior discussions highlight advances in methods (along the dimensions of data, computing power, and algorithms) as the primary driver of model quality, the value of tools...
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Keywords:
Analytics and Data Science
- March 2021
- Case
VideaHealth: Building the AI Factory
By: Karim R. Lakhani and Amy Klopfenstein
Florian Hillen, co-founder and CEO of VideaHealth, a startup that used artificial intelligence (AI) to detect dental conditions on x-rays, spent the early years of his company laying the groundwork for an AI factory. A process for quickly building and iterating on new...
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Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence;
Innovation and Invention;
Disruptive Innovation;
Technological Innovation;
Information Technology;
Applications and Software;
Technology Adoption;
Digital Platforms;
Entrepreneurship;
AI and Machine Learning;
Technology Industry;
Medical Devices and Supplies Industry;
North and Central America;
United States;
Massachusetts;
Cambridge
- February 2021 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Brainlab: Imaging a MedTech Future
By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Gregory P. Licholai and Federica Gabrieli
Can Brainlab, a privately held firm, compete with giants like Medtronic and Amazon in delivering the Digital Operating Room of the future? The CEO is pondering solutions for secure exchange of medical information, pricing a new robotic imaging device, and reorganizing...
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Keywords:
Surgery;
Robotics;
Health Care;
Private Healthcare;
Pricing;
Technology Platform;
Acquisition;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Corporate Strategy;
Corporate Entrepreneurship;
Health Care and Treatment;
Health;
Innovation and Invention;
Innovation and Management;
Innovation Strategy;
Technological Innovation;
Applications and Software;
Information Infrastructure;
Information Technology;
Digital Platforms;
Health Industry;
Europe;
Germany;
Munich
- February 2021
- Module Note
Intellectual Property Strategy
By: Andy Wu and Aticus Peterson
Managing intellectual property (IP) in information technology—digital technologies like software or computing hardware—requires a distinct strategic approach. This note summarizes the high-level strategic considerations for managers of information technology businesses...
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- February 2021
- Article
Platform Diffusion at Temporary Gatherings: Social Coordination and Ecosystem Emergence
By: Tommy Pan Fang, Andy Wu and David R. Clough
Software platforms create value by cultivating an ecosystem of complementary products and services. Existing explanations for how a prospective complementor chooses platforms to join assume the complementor has rich information about the range of available platforms....
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Keywords:
Innovation Ecosystems;
Technology Diffusion;
Hackathon;
Contagion;
Software Applications;
Software Development;
Software Engineering;
Technology Strategy;
Technology Adoption;
Technological Innovation;
Information Infrastructure;
Innovation Strategy;
Digital Platforms;
Network Effects;
Applications and Software;
Information Technology;
Computer Industry;
Computer Industry;
Computer Industry;
Computer Industry
- 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...
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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
- November 2020 (Revised July 2022)
- Case
Dell Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to the Ground
By: Navid Mojir and V. Kasturi Rangan
The case tells the story of Dell Technologies and its efforts to revitalize its value proposition and escape a commodity trap by acquiring EMC for $67 billion—the largest tech acquisition in history. It also shows the deeply intertwined connections between a company’s...
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- November 2019 (Revised November 2019)
- Supplement
eSig: Growth Analysis
By: Mark N. Roberge and Thomas R. Eisenmann
eSig, an early-stage startup, offers an electronic signature application as a "freemium" product, i.e., users can upgrade from a free basic version to a premium version by paying a subscription fee. Using 9 months of data from 50,000 user activations, available as a...
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- 2019
- Working Paper
Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 17 The Wintel Standards-based Platform
The purpose of this chapter is to use the theory of bottlenecks laid out in previous chapters to better understand the dynamics of an open standards-based platform. I describe how the Wintel platform evolved from 1990 through 2000 under joint sponsorship of Intel and...
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- August 2019
- Case
Huawei and the U.S.-China Trade War
By: Elie Ofek and John Masko
In 2019, Chinese smartphone maker and telecommunications empire Huawei was preparing to launch its new flagship smartphone series, the Mate 30. After years of explosive growth, the previous 18 months had been a challenge for the company. In early 2018, Huawei’s planned...
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- 2019
- Working Paper
The Impact of Professionals' Contributions to Online Knowledge Communities on Their Workplace Knowledge Work
By: Hila Lifshitz - Assaf and Frank Nagle
Knowledge work is becoming increasingly challenging as pace of change in the knowledge frontier is increasing. Organizations have created multiple mechanisms to minimize knowledge gaps and increase learning such internal training, mentorship programs as well as...
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- December 2018 (Revised March 2021)
- Background Note
Modern Automation (A): Artificial Intelligence
By: William R. Kerr and James Palano
This primer is meant to be a field guide to the late 2010s' surge in business use of "Artificial Intelligence" (AI), or enterprise software based in machine learning. First, it provides an overview of the key trends—digitization, connectivity, the continuation of...
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- Summer 2018
- Book Review
Leslie Berlin, Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age
Leslie Berlin's book Troublemakers, is an engaging and insightful people-first exploration of the roots of Silicon Valley, from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Berlin portrays seven individuals who played important roles at critical junctures in the...
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- March 2018
- Case
Sachem Head's Activism at Autodesk
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher
In 2015, activist hedge fund Sachem Head Capital, led by founder Scott Ferguson, launched an activist campaign at computer aided design (CAD) software maker Autodesk. The activist campaign, waged mainly in private, was over Autodesk's lackluster financial performance,...
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- February 2018 (Revised March 2018)
- Case
Artificial Intelligence and the Machine Learning Revolution in Finance: Cogent Labs and the Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
By: Lauren Cohen, Christopher Malloy and William Powley
This case examines the intersection of two firms (Cogent Labs—a machine learning software firm in Tokyo; and Google, the technology infrastructure giant) attempting to exploit the benefits of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the financial services...
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- February 2018 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
Rise of the Drones: Identified Technologies
By: Andy Wu and George Gonzalez
The founder and CEO of Identified Technologies, a Pittsburgh-based drone software and services company, faces a dilemma when San Francisco–based DroneDeploy begins to disrupt the industry with its drone software platform. Identified Technologies needs to consider...
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- January 2018 (Revised August 2020)
- Background Note
Continuous Software Development: Agile's Successor
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Samuel Clemens and Olivia Hull
In recent years, the twin software development methodologies of continuous delivery and continuous deployment have risen to prominence in the start-up world and beyond. These methods have enabled technology companies large and small to accelerate their product...
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Keywords:
Continuous Improvement;
Continuous Development;
Continuous Delivery;
Continuous Integration;
Product Development Processes;
Computer Programming;
Agile;
Waterfall;
Software Applications;
Software Engineering;
Applications and Software;
Information Technology;
Technological Innovation;
Product Development;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Entrepreneurship;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Organizational Structure;
Quality;
Product Marketing;
Product;
Infrastructure;
Information Infrastructure;
Computer Industry;
Computer Industry;
Computer Industry;
Computer Industry;
Massachusetts;
Boston
- May 2017 (Revised February 2018)
- Supplement
VMware and the Public Cloud (B)
By: Raffaella Sadun and Christine Snively
Supplements the (A) case.
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- March 2017 (Revised February 2018)
- Case
VMware and the Public Cloud
By: Raffaella Sadun and Christine Snively
In 2015, VMware, a pioneer in server and network virtualization and a member of parent company EMC’s “federation” of companies, had set its sights on becoming a leading public cloud provider. Two years prior, VMware first entered the public cloud market with its vCloud...
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- August 2016 (Revised November 2019)
- Case
eSig: Growth Analysis
By: Mark Roberge and Tom Eisenmann
eSig, an early-stage startup, offers an electronic signature application as a "freemium" product, i.e., users can upgrade from a free basic version to a premium version by paying a subscription fee. Using 9 months of data from 50,000 user activations (available as a...
View Details