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- 2022
- Working Paper
Are Experts Blinded by Feasibility?: Experimental Evidence from a NASA Robotics Challenge
By: Jacqueline N. Lane, Zoe Szajnfarber, Jason Crusan, Michael Menietti and Karim R. Lakhani
Resource allocation decisions play a dominant role in shaping a firm’s technological trajectory and competitive advantage. Recent work indicates that innovative firms and scientific institutions tend to exhibit an anti-novelty bias when evaluating new projects and... View Details
Keywords: Evaluations; Novelty; Feasibility; Field Experiment; Resource Allocation; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Decision Making
Lane, Jacqueline N., Zoe Szajnfarber, Jason Crusan, Michael Menietti, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Are Experts Blinded by Feasibility? Experimental Evidence from a NASA Robotics Challenge." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-071, May 2022.
- March 2022 (Revised March 2023)
- Case
Commercial Space Stations, Chickens and Eggs, and Demand for Activity in Low-Earth Orbit
By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Brendan L. Rosseau
With the International Space Station set to retire in January 2031, NASA has made clear its desire to transition to commercially-led space stations in low-earth orbit (LEO). But the history of commercial station attempts has been fraught, characterized by a lack of... View Details
- June 2021 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
The Lunar Gateway, Moon vs. Mars, and the Political Governance of Space Activities
By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Mehak Sarang
In 2017, the Trump Administration made a bold claim—that they would return the next man and the first woman to the lunar surface by 2024, this time to establish a sustainable presence to enable further exploration in the solar system. With the Artemis Program, NASA has... View Details
Keywords: Space; Space Economy; Aerospace; Nasa; Governance; Policy; International Relations; Infrastructure
Weinzierl, Matthew C., and Mehak Sarang. "The Lunar Gateway, Moon vs. Mars, and the Political Governance of Space Activities." Harvard Business School Case 721-059, June 2021. (Revised December 2021.)
- May 2021
- Case
The International Space Station, Principal-Agent Problems, and NASA's Quest to Keep Humans in Space
By: Matthew Weinzierl and Mehak Sarang
In building the International Space Station (ISS), NASA opened the door to the development of a robust in-space economy in low-Earth Orbit, and yet the decision to build the station, and continue to extend its lifetime, placed a huge burden on NASA’s Human Spaceflight... View Details
Keywords: Aerospace; Nasa; Space Economy; Principal-agent Theory; Policy; Commercialization; Aerospace Industry
Weinzierl, Matthew, and Mehak Sarang. "The International Space Station, Principal-Agent Problems, and NASA's Quest to Keep Humans in Space." Harvard Business School Case 721-054, May 2021.
- February 12, 2021
- Article
The Commercial Space Age Is Here
By: Matt Weinzierl and Mehak Sarang
In May of 2020, SpaceX made history as the first private company to send humans into space. This marks not only a tremendous technological achievement, but also the first indication that an entirely new “space-for-space” industry—that is, goods and services designed to... View Details
Keywords: Space Economy; New Markets; Emerging Markets; Opportunities; Entrepreneurship; Commercialization; Aerospace Industry
Weinzierl, Matt, and Mehak Sarang. "The Commercial Space Age Is Here." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (February 12, 2021).
- December 2020 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
Made In Space, Expectations Management, and the Business of In-Space Manufacturing
By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Mehak Sarang
After having proven its base technology (3D printing) through NASA solicitations and contracts, Made In Space was searching for a viable commercial application. But the business case for the leading candidate, high-quality fiber optic cable for use on Earth, remained... View Details
Keywords: Aerospace; Space; Space Economy; 3D Printing; Manufacturing; Public-private Partnership; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Aerospace Industry; Manufacturing Industry
Weinzierl, Matthew C., and Mehak Sarang. "Made In Space, Expectations Management, and the Business of In-Space Manufacturing." Harvard Business School Case 721-025, December 2020. (Revised March 2021.)
- Article
Innovation Contests for High-Tech Procurement
By: Jin Hyun Paik, Martin Scholl, Rinat A. Sergeev, Steven Randazzo and Karim R. Lakhani
Innovation managers rarely use crowdsourcing as an innovative instrument despite extensive academic and theoretical research. The lack of tools available to compare and measure crowdsourcing, specifically contests, against traditional methods of procuring goods and... View Details
Keywords: Open Innovation; Contests; Crowdsourcing; Nasa; Evaluation; Acquisition; Information Technology; Innovation and Invention; Performance Evaluation; Framework
Hyun Paik, Jin, Martin Scholl, Rinat A. Sergeev, Steven Randazzo, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Innovation Contests for High-Tech Procurement." Research-Technology Management 63, no. 2 (March–April 2020): 36–45.
- 2020
- Working Paper
Recognition Incentives for Internal Crowdsourcing: A Field Experiment at NASA
By: Jana Gallus, Olivia S. Jung and Karim R. Lakhani
What might motivate employees to participate in internal crowdsourcing, a peer-based approach to innovation? Should organizations use incentives that are congruent with their established hierarchical structures, or should they use incentives that are aligned with the... View Details
Keywords: Online Platforms; Employee Engagement; Managerial Recognition; Innovation and Management; Employees; Motivation and Incentives
Gallus, Jana, Olivia S. Jung, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Recognition Incentives for Internal Crowdsourcing: A Field Experiment at NASA." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-059, November 2019. (Revised May 2020.)
- 2019
- Article
Sustaining Open Innovation Through a 'Center of Excellence'
By: Elizabeth E. Richard, Jeffrey R. Davis, Jin Hyun Paik and Karim R. Lakhani
This paper presents NASA’s experience using a Center of Excellence (CoE) to scale and sustain an open innovation program as an effective problem-solving tool and includes strategic management recommendations for other organizations based on lessons... View Details
Keywords: Crowdsourcing; Culture Change; Open Innovation; Center Of Excellence; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Organizational Culture; Change Management
Richard, Elizabeth E., Jeffrey R. Davis, Jin Hyun Paik, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Sustaining Open Innovation Through a 'Center of Excellence'." Strategy & Leadership 47, no. 3 (2019): 19–26.
- May 29, 2018
- Article
A Study of NASA Scientists Shows How to Overcome Barriers to Open Innovation
By: Hila Lifshitz - Assaf, Michael Tushman and Karim R. Lakhani
Lifshitz - Assaf, Hila, Michael Tushman, and Karim R. Lakhani. "A Study of NASA Scientists Shows How to Overcome Barriers to Open Innovation." Harvard Business Review (website) (May 29, 2018).
- May 2018
- Exercise
Data Visualization & Communication Exercise
By: Srikant M. Datar and Caitlin N. Bowler
This exercise uses the 1986 Challenger shuttle disaster to explore the relationship between data visualization, effective communication, and decision-making. Students review and analyze excerpts from the 13 charts engineers presented to NASA executives the night before... View Details
Keywords: Visualization; Data; Analytics and Data Science; Communication; Performance Effectiveness; Decision Making; Analysis
Datar, Srikant M., and Caitlin N. Bowler. "Data Visualization & Communication Exercise." Harvard Business School Exercise 118-107, May 2018.
- Article
Space, the Final Economic Frontier
After decades of centralized control of economic activity in space, NASA and U.S. policymakers have begun to cede the direction of human activities in space to commercial companies. NASA garnered more than 0.7% of GDP in the mid-1960s but is only around 0.1% of GDP... View Details
Weinzierl, Matthew C. "Space, the Final Economic Frontier." Journal of Economic Perspectives 32, no. 2 (Spring 2018): 173–192.
- April 2017 (Revised July 2017)
- Case
ISRO: Explore Space or Exploit CubeSats?
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) achieved global acclaim by launching successful missions to the moon and Mars at a fraction of the cost of prior Western missions. It is now faced with an important strategic dilemma—whether to continue exploring deep space... View Details
Choudhury, Prithwiraj, Tarun Khanna, Karim Lakhani, and Rachna Tahilyani. "ISRO: Explore Space or Exploit CubeSats?" Harvard Business School Case 617-062, April 2017. (Revised July 2017.)
- October 2016
- Case
Elon Musk: Balancing Purpose and Risk
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Sarah Mehta
The case is used to illustrate the place of ‘Purpose’ versus financial risk and returns in a founder’s objectives. It also addresses personal risk profile of different founders, and when paired with the Risk Tolerance Exercise, it enables evaluating one’s own appetite... View Details
Keywords: Electric Vehicle; Solar Power; Vision; Trade-offs; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Risk and Uncertainty; Entrepreneurship; Failure; United States; North America
Ghosh, Shikhar, and Sarah Mehta. "Elon Musk: Balancing Purpose and Risk." Harvard Business School Case 817-040, October 2016.
- September 2016 (Revised July 2017)
- Teaching Note
Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (A) and (B)
By: Dorothy Leonard and Christopher Myers
Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 917-404 and 917-405. View Details
- September 2016 (Revised July 2017)
- Case
Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (A)
By: Dorothy Leonard and Christopher Myers
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a federally funded research institution within NASA, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has played a large role in many space and planetary explorations, particularly to the planet Mars. As a project-based... View Details
Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Management; Employees; Experience and Expertise; Aerospace Industry; United States
Leonard, Dorothy, and Christopher Myers. "Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (A)." Harvard Business School Case 917-404, September 2016. (Revised July 2017.)
- September 2016 (Revised July 2017)
- Supplement
Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B)
By: Dorothy Leonard and Christopher Myers
At the conclusion of the (A) case, Jennifer Trosper needed to decide whether or not to throw her support behind the training and outreach represented by the ROV-E program to build small rovers like the ones used on the surface of Mars by NASA JPL. The (B) case... View Details
Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Management; Employees; Experience and Expertise; Decision Making; Aerospace Industry; United States
Leonard, Dorothy, and Christopher Myers. "Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 917-405, September 2016. (Revised July 2017.)
- 2016
- Chapter
Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions
By: Kevin J. Boudreau and Karim R. Lakhani
This paper discusses several challenges in designing field experiments to better understand how organizational and institutional design shapes innovation outcomes and the production of knowledge. We proceed to describe the field experimental research program carried... View Details
Boudreau, Kevin J., and Karim R. Lakhani. "Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions." In Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 16, edited by William R. Kerr, Josh Lerner, and Scott Stern, 135–167. National Bureau of Economic Research, and University of Chicago Press, 2016.
- February 2016 (Revised May 2016)
- Case
Blue Origin, NASA, and New Space (A)
By: Matthew Weinzierl and Angela Acocella
Jeff Bezos, six years after starting a revolution in retailing with Amazon.com, turned his life-long passion for space into a start-up, Blue Origin. Blue (as it was called) was a part of the New Space industry, a collection of startup aerospace engineering companies... View Details
Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Partners and Partnerships; Transportation; Business Startups; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations; Aerospace Industry
Weinzierl, Matthew, and Angela Acocella. "Blue Origin, NASA, and New Space (A)." Harvard Business School Case 716-012, February 2016. (Revised May 2016.)
- November 2014
- Teaching Note
Houston We Have a Problem: NASA and Open Innovation (A) and (B)
By: Michael L. Tushman, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf and Kerry Herman