Managing Innovation
55 Results
- 18 Mar 2013
- HBS Cases
HBS Cases: LEGO
- 04 Mar 2013
- Working Papers
The Dirty Laundry of Employee Award Programs: Evidence from the Field
Many scholars and practitioners in human resource management have recently argued that awards and other forms of on-the-job recognition provide a "free" way to motivate employees. But are there unintended, negative effects of such awards? In this paper, the authors simultaneously examine the costs and benefits of an attendance award program that was implemented in an industrial laundry plant. The award used in the study was effective in that it reduced the average rate of tardiness among employees. However, it also led to a host of potential spillover effects that the plant manager readily admits were not considered when designing the program, and that reduced overall plant productivity. Overall, findings demonstrate that an award program that appears to be effective may also induce unintended consequences severely reducing the net value of the program. These results highlight the impact such a program can have on the overall performance of the firm and suggest caution when designing and implementing such programs. Read More
- 25 Feb 2013
- Research & Ideas
Lean Strategy Not Just for Start-Ups
- 07 Sep 2012
- Working Papers
IP Modularity: Profiting from Innovation by Aligning Product Architecture with Intellectual Property
Firms increasingly practice open innovation, license technology out and in, outsource development and production, and enable users and downstream firms to innovate on their products. However, while such distributed value creation can boost the overall value created, it may create serious challenges for capturing value. This paper argues that in order to optimize value capture from a new product or process, an innovator must manage the artifact's intellectual property (IP) and its modular structure in conjunction. In other words, each module's IP status needs to be defined carefully and its boundaries must be placed accordingly. Fundamentally, IP modularity eliminates incompatibilities between IP rights in a given module, while permitting incompatibilities within the overall system. This in turn allows a firm to "have its cake and eat it too": It can reap the benefits of an open architecture while at the same time reducing the costs of opportunism on the part of suppliers, complementors, and employees. Read More
- 02 Aug 2012
- Working Papers
The Rich Get Richer: Enabling Conditions for Knowledge Use in Organizational Work Teams
Individuals on the periphery of organizational knowledge-sharing networks, due to inexperience, location, or lack of social capital, may struggle to access useful knowledge at work. An electronic knowledge repository (KR) offers a practical solution to the challenges of making knowledge available to people who might otherwise lack access to relevant expertise. Such a system may function as a knowledge-access equalizer. However, the presence of a knowledge repository will not solve the problem of access to knowledge for those at the periphery of the organization unless it is used. In this paper, the authors begin to theorize the social and structural conditions that support KR use by exploring whether individuals on the organizational periphery take advantage of KRs, or whether KRs function more to enrich individuals whose experience and position already provide them better access to other knowledge sources. Using extensive data on KR use at a global, outsourced provider of software services, the authors' results show that despite the seeming promise of a KR to integrate or equalize peripheral players, it instead enriches knowledge access for people who are already well positioned. Findings thus suggest that KR use is not simply an individual activity based on need, but is instead enabled by certain social conditions (such as familiarity and experience) and inhibited by others (such as status disparities and remote location). An organizational KR thus fails to serve as an equalizer absent intervention. Read More
- 16 Feb 2012
- Op-Ed
Nitin Nohria: Why US Competitiveness Matters
- 14 Feb 2012
- Working Papers
Relational Contracts and Organizational Capabilities
If capabilities are indeed a source of sustained competitive advantage, why don't they diffuse more rapidly? Capabilities diffuse slowly even when managers acknowledge that they are behind and are spending heavily to catch up, and where there appears to be industrywide agreement about best practice. This paper by R. Gibbons and R. Henderson suggests that the often slow diffusion of competitively significant capabilities is because many key managerial practices rely on relational contracts: an economist's term for collaboration sustained by the shadow of the future, as opposed to formal contracts enforced by courts. Building these relational contracts requires moving beyond task knowledge to the development of "relational knowledge." Relational knowledge may be substantially more difficult to develop than task knowledge both because there is much more of it and because its acquisition is complicated by incentive problems. Overall, while it is well established that organizations are replete with relational contracts, these informal understandings may be one of the reasons that competitively important practices are sometimes surprisingly slow to diffuse. Read More
- 12 Dec 2011
- HBS Cases
HBS Cases: Clocky, the Runaway Alarm Clock
- 04 Nov 2011
- Working Papers
Multi-Sided Platforms
Research in multi-sided platforms (MSPs) studies how payment networks bring together cardholders and retailers, shopping malls bring together shoppers and retailers, and video game systems bring together gamers and game developers. Andrei Hagiu and Julian Wright propose a new definition of MSPs that aims to capture what makes eBay, shopping malls, Yellow Pages directories, and dating websites different from "regular" firms such as a bakery or car dealership, as well as how to characterize less clear-cut examples. They also discuss the economic trade-offs that determine where organizations choose to place themselves on the continuum between MSPs and resellers, or between MSPs and input suppliers. Read More
- 06 Sep 2011
- Research & Ideas
How Small Wins Unleash Creativity
- 26 Apr 2011
- Working Papers
The Contingent Effect of Absorptive Capacity: An Open Innovation Analysis
Does experience with adopting technology improve a person's capacity for inventing better technology? On the other hand, does invention experience increase the capacity for adoption? This paper explores how adoption and invention affect each other, using data from several programming competitions sponsored by The MathWorks Corporation. Research was conducted by Andrew A. King of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and Karim R. Lakhani at Harvard Business School. Read More
- 04 Apr 2011
- HBS Cases
Reinventing the National Geographic Society
- 29 Mar 2011
- Working Papers
Risky Trust: How Multi-entity Teams Develop Trust in a High Risk Endeavor
Work that comes with high risk requires a great deal of trust among the individuals involved, whether it's the financial risk of producing a high-budget film or the personal safety risk of working in a war zone. In this paper, reporting on case study research on a high-risk, multimillion-dollar construction project, HBS doctoral candidate Faaiza Rashid and professor Amy C. Edmondson explore the concept of "risky trust," and examine how colleagues can learn to trust each other in the midst of high-risk work situations. Read More
- 26 Oct 2010
- Working Papers
When Does a Platform Create Value by Limiting Choice?
Platforms such as video games and smartphones need to attract users, and the best way to do so is to offer more and more applications. Is there ever a point where a platform should limit the variety available? Researchers Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Hanna Halaburda observe that in many situations users enjoy consuming applications together. When such consumption complementarities are present, users may benefit if the platform limits choice. With fewer applications to choose from, it is easier for users to take full advantage from shared consumption. Read More
- 20 Jul 2009
- Research & Ideas
Markets or Communities? The Best Ways to Manage Outside Innovation
No one organization can monopolize knowledge in any given field. That's why modern companies must develop a new expertise: the ability to attract novel solutions to difficult or unanticipated problems from outside sources around the world. A conversation with Harvard Business School professor Karim R. Lakhani on the keys to managing distributed innovation. Read More
- 24 Jun 2009
- Working Papers
Don’t Just Survive—Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad
The financial crisis provides a sobering reminder of what happens when innovation fails to drive productive economic growth. For over a decade, money from around the world poured into the United States seeking innovation. Despite these massive investments, when adjusted for inflation, U.S. GDP grew slowly with much of the growth coming from government, professional, and business services, including real estate and outsourcing. What's more, inflation adjusted wages stalled for many, even as consumer spending increased. This paper argues that innovation is not a side business to a real business: rather, innovation is the foundation of a successful business. Read More
- 19 Feb 2008
- Research & Ideas
Radical Design, Radical Results
- 10 Sep 2007
- Research & Ideas
High Note: Managing the Medici String Quartet
As one of the top ensembles in classical music, the Medici String Quartet has enjoyed a long and creative collaboration. But it hasn't always been harmonious. HBS professor Robert Austin explains what innovative businesses can learn about managing creative people. Read More
- 07 Feb 2007
- Working Papers
The Value of Openness in Scientific Problem Solving
Scientists are generally rewarded for discoveries they make as individuals or in small teams. While the sharing of information in science is an ideal, it is seldom practiced. In this research, Lakhani et al. used an approach common to open source software communities—which rely intensely on collaboration—and opened up a set of 166 scientific problems from the research laboratories of twenty-six firms to over 80,000 independent scientists. The outside scientists were able to solve one-third of the problems that the research laboratories were unable to solve internally. Read More
- 20 Nov 2006
- Research & Ideas
Open Source Science: A New Model for Innovation
Borrowing a practice that is common in the open source software community, HBS professor Karim R. Lakhani and colleagues decided to see how "broadcasting" might work among scientists trying to solve scientific problems. The results? Promising for many types of innovation, as he explains in this Q&A. Read More
- 24 Jul 2006
- Research & Ideas
How Kayak Users Built a New Industry
Customers have produced some of the most important innovations in industries ranging from oil refining to scientific instruments. But how do user innovations take place? How do they get to market? Professor Carliss Baldwin discusses research into the rodeo kayak industry to understand the world of user innovation. Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Research & Ideas
The Accidental Innovator
Many important innovations are the byproduct of accidents—the key is to be prepared for the unexpected. Professor Robert D. Austin discusses his research and practical implications on the concept of accidental innovation. Read More
- 10 Apr 2006
- Research & Ideas
Lessons from the Browser Wars
The first-mover advantage is well chronicled, but it didn't help Netscape when Microsoft launched Internet Explorer. What drives technology adoption, and do browser upstarts such as Firefox stand a chance? A Q&A with professor Pai-Ling Yin. Read More
- 06 Jun 2005
- Research & Ideas
Microsoft vs. Open Source: Who Will Win?
Using formal economic modelling, professors Pankaj Ghemawat and Ramon Casadesus-Masanell consider the competitive dynamics of the software wars between Microsoft and open source. Read our interview. Read More
- 10 Jan 2005
- Research & Ideas
The Knowledge Coach
- 29 Nov 2004
- Research & Ideas
Caves, Clusters, and Weak Ties: The Six Degrees World of Inventors
Your company's scientists and investors can be antennas that bring great ideas into your company. The key, says HBS professor Lee Fleming, is understanding small-world networks. Read More
- 19 Jul 2004
- Research & Ideas
Why Innovations Sit on the Shelf
- 31 May 2004
- Research & Ideas
How Team Leaders Show Support–or Not
What does a team leader do so that employees know they are being supported? A Q&A with HBS professor and creativity expert Teresa Amabile about new research. Read More
- 26 Apr 2004
- Research & Ideas
A Clear Eye for Innovation
- 01 Mar 2004
- Lessons from the Classroom
Mission to Mars: It Really Is Rocket Science
Do the successful Mars missions mean NASA again has the right stuff? Professor Alan MacCormack dissects the space agency’s "Faster, Better, Cheaper" program. Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Papers
Failing to Learn and Learning to Fail (Intelligently): How Great Organizations Put Failure to Work to Improve and Innovate
Successful companies see failure as a part of the innovative process, but there are social (organizational) and technical (skill-based) reasons why it is difficult to turn failures into learning opportunities. First, executives need to develop the skills to probe failures and analyze the root causes. Then improve management's technical skills in problem diagnosis, statistical process design, and qualitative and quantitative analysis. Organizationally, executives should create an environment where people are encouraged to identify failures, rather than encourage a "shoot the messenger" mindset. Read More
- 01 Dec 2003
- Research & Ideas
Sometimes Success Begins at Failure
- 11 Aug 2003
- Research & Ideas
Cheap, Fast, and In Control: How Tech Aids Innovation
Companies don’t need to spend a fortune on research and innovation. HBS professor Stefan Thomke explains how new technologies enable businesses to experiment on the cheap in his new book, Experimentation Matters. Read More
- 09 Jun 2003
- Research & Ideas