- 14 Nov 2008
- Working Paper Summaries
Parallel Search, Incentives and Problem Type: Revisiting the Competition and Innovation Link
The innovation process is fraught with uncertainty. Managers often do not know ahead of time the ideal mix of individuals and skills needed to solve innovation-related problems. One way around this uncertainty is to have multiple paths, approaches, or designs explored at once. The "parallel search" principle can be used inside the firm just as it may be used more generally by pursuing "open innovation". However, having too many searchers attempting to solve the same problem can undercut the benefits if it leads to less effort and investment. The authors study the outcomes of 645 software development contests, conducted by a software outsourcing vendor, involving over 9,000 coders, to understand the relationship between parallel search and increasing competition and innovation. Key concepts include: The key factor favoring parallel search, i.e. increasing the number of independent solvers, is the complexity of the problem at hand. The benefits of increased searchers were curtailed when the problems were simple, indicating that the negative consequences of competition matter most for simpler problems. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Jul 2007
- Research & Ideas
HBS Cases: How Wikipedia Works (or Doesn’t)
For HBS professor Andrew McAfee, Wikipedia is a surprisingly high-quality product. But when his concept of "Enterprise 2.0" turned up on the online encyclopedia one day—and was recommended for deletion—McAfee and colleague Karim R. Lakhani knew they had the makings of an insightful case study on collaboration and governance in the digital world. Key concepts include: Despite thousands of participants, Wikipedia operates under a very ornate and well-defined structure of participation that enables them to produce a highly regarded online encyclopedia. A group of people in the Wikipedia world characterized as "exclusionists" could dampen user enthusiasm by increasing barriers to acceptance of Wikipedia articles. Knowledge-sharing technologies such as wikis are coming into increasing use in the corporate world, but companies must understand that a top-down approach to administering them will lead to certain extinction. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Feb 2007
- Working Paper Summaries
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. Key concepts include: Opening up problem information to a large group of outsiders can yield innovative technical solutions, increase the probability of success in science programs, and ultimately boost research productivity. Open source software communities provide a model for improving the process of solving scientific problems. Outsiders can see problems with fresh eyes; in this study, problems were solved by independent scientists with expertise at the boundary of or even outside their field. Achieving true openness and collaboration will require change in the mindsets of both scientists and lab leadership. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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. Key concepts include: Practices in the open source software community offer a model for encouraging large-scale scientific problem solving. Open up your problem to other people in a systematic way. A problem may reside in one domain of expertise and the solution may reside in another. Find innovative licensing ways or legal regimes that allow people to share knowledge without risking the overall intellectual property of the firm. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
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. Key concepts include: Many organizations find they cannot monopolize knowledge in any given field of endeavor. Firms need to consider three key factors in deciding to pursue either a community- or market-based external innovation model. Successful models developed by Apple, InnoCentive, SAP, and TopCoder create incentives for many entrants to generate a variety of products and services on a platform. The firm's role is to define the boundaries of the platform and then encourage entry and innovation by outsiders. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.