Agribusiness has come to be seen not just as economically important, but as a critical part of society. The future for this massive industry will be both exciting and complex.
Published in 2006
After thirty years the numbers are in on the biotech business—and it's not what we expected. The industry in aggregate has lost money. R&D performance has not radically improved. The problem? In a new book, Professor Gary Pisano points to systemic flaws as well as unhealthy tensions between science and business.
Published in 2004
Can the R&D process be managed to provide more certainty and success? The authors explore R&D performance volatility using the pharmaceutical industry as the model. The study looks at two types of heuristics that are commonly used to manage R&D project portfolios: (1) which products to start, and whether to continue or kill a product in development; (2) how resources should be allocated at each phase of development. By changing the heuristics used to make decisions at each stage of development, managers can decrease the amount of uncertainty and failure in the R&D process.
Published in 2003
Governmental, cultural and academic differences are hurting Europe’s chances of gaining on the U.S. Can anything be done?
What will it take for biotechnology to fulfill its economic potential? Participants need to think twice about the strategies and assumptions that are driving the industry, says HBS professor Gary P. Pisano.
Published in 2002
Critics say Microsoft's incredible two-decade run at the top of the computer industry has less to do with innovation than it does with bully tactics. But new research from Harvard Business School professors Marco Iansiti and Alan MacCormack suggest a different reason: the company's ability to spot technological trends and exploit key software technologies.
Published in 2001
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Alfred D. Chandler Jr. examines the development of two pivotal industries in post-World War II America—the consumer electronics and computer industries.
What's one way to give an industry a kick-start? According to HBS professor Monica C. Higgins, the power of professional relationships should never be underestimated. In this article, she outlines some of the key lessons now emerging from the earliest stages of a long research project on how careers create an industry—in this case, biotechnology. Higgins' work is also outlined in a chapter she wrote for the forthcoming volume from Oxford University Press, Career Creativity.
Mapping the human gene is indisputedly one of the great scientific advances. How will this new knowledge shape the business of life science in the 21st century?
Published in 2000
On the cusp of what most analysts agree will be the age of biotechology, Professor Gary P. Pisano and four HBS alums on the front lines of the biotech revolution offer their views of the challenges, issues and opportunities facing the industry in the laboratory, the boardroom and the marketplace.
