Technology
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- 29 Aug 2017
- Book
Using Language to Build a Global Company
In her new book The Language of Global Success, Tsedal Neeley describes Japanese tech giant Rakuten's five-year effort to adopt English as its lingua franca of business. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 05 Jul 2017
- What Do You Think?
Can Innovation Save Us From Ourselves?
SUMMING UP Can technology save the world from its most pressing problems? James Heskett's readers aren't overly optimistic. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 22 Jun 2017
- Cold Call Podcast
ShotSpotter: A Gunfire Detection Business Looks for a New Market
ShotSpotter sells its gunfire detection services to cities, but is thinking of branching out to private institutions like shopping malls and schools. This podcast with Mitch Weiss discusses his case study around ShotSpotter's options. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 19 Jun 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Learning to Manage: A Field Experiment in the Indian Startup Ecosystem
This study of 100 high-growth startups in India finds that founder-executives can learn how to improve their management style from their peers at other firms. These interfirm network connections between founders may help explain why some companies are well managed and others less so. Despite the apparent value of this peer learning, founders don’t appear to naturally connect with peers who could help them improve their management style.
- 18 Nov 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Innovation Network
Despite recent advances that measure how the technological development processes in innovative fields link with each other, our understanding of how progress in one technological area links to prior advances in upstream technological fields has been limited. The authors’ analysis and mapping of 1.8 million U.S. patents and their citation properties shows that a stable innovation network acts as a conduit for a cumulative process of technological and scientific progress. Upstream technological developments play an important role in the future pace and direction of patenting in downstream fields. This finding implies that if R&D slackens in one period the effects will still be felt years later in downstream fields.
- 01 Sep 2016
- Cold Call Podcast
Behind Apple's Tax Situation, an Unprecedented Financial Policy
The European Union recently hit Apple with a $14.5 billion tax bill, but that’s hardly the first or worst financial challenge the technology giant has faced. Mihir Desai explains the financial wiring behind the inventors of the iPhone. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 15 Aug 2016
- Research & Ideas
Black Swans and Big Trends Can Ruin Anyone's Internet Prediction
Coming off the dot-com bust, Thomas R. Eisenmann was confident enough in his internet vision that he wrote a book about what would happen next. For the most part, he was wrong. He offers lessons learned for navigating the boom-bust cycle. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 11 Jul 2016
- HBS Case
Neurodiversity: The Benefits of Recruiting Employees with Cognitive Disabilities
Employers are increasingly finding fresh ideas and insights by recruiting workers with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other cognitive disabilities. Gary Pisano and Robert Austin discuss their case study, “SAP SE: Autism at Work.” Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 20 Apr 2016
- Research & Ideas
When CEOs Become Activists
More and more, CEOs are promoting social causes that lie far outside their core business interests. Research by Mike Toffel and Aaron Chatterji explores the rise of CEO activists and the effects on their companies. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 07 Mar 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Net Neutrality: A Fast Lane to Understanding the Trade-offs
Shane Greenstein and colleagues identify the economic dimensions involved with net neutrality and show that many questions can be informed by simple economic models of the market for internet services.
- 04 Mar 2016
- Research & Ideas
Is E-commerce at Risk in Apple's Security Dispute with the FBI?
Apple invests heavily in making its products secure, but now is being commanded by the FBI to make more investments to undo that work. Sunil Gupta discusses the fallout when business and government collide. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 02 Mar 2016
- What Do You Think?
Is Apple’s Real Privacy Challenge Technology Innovation Itself?
SUMMING UP: Apple's battle with the FBI over the iPhone contents of one of the San Bernardino shooters raises a question for James Heskett. Given the relentless pace of technology, can any company guarantee the privacy and security of its users? What do YOU think? Closed for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 25 Jan 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment
Online platforms such as Airbnb create new markets by eliminating search frictions, building trust, and facilitating transactions. With the rise of the sharing economy, however, comes the prospect of racial discrimination that is unheard of in established platforms. The authors suggest changes to Airbnb’s site design to reduce or prevent discrimination.
- 20 Jan 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
The Bright Side of Patents
We examine whether patents help startups grow and succeed using detailed micro data on all patent applications filed by startups at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since 2001 and approved or rejected before 2014. We find that patent approvals help startups create jobs, grow their sales, innovate, and reward their investors.
- 09 Dec 2015
- Research Event
When Hosts Attack: The Competitive Threat of Online Platforms
Online retail platforms like Amazon are great for the third-party businesses that use them—until the platform’s owner decides to start competing with them. Feng Zhu looks at the factors that turn hosts into predators. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 09 Nov 2015
- Research & Ideas
These Employers Pay Higher Salaries than Necessary
Some employers using online freelance marketplaces for the first time pay more than they have to for workers. Why? An information imbalance that job seekers can exploit, as explained in research by professor Christopher T. Stanton. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 19 Aug 2015
- Research & Ideas
Codeacademy’s Delicate Work of Adding Monetization Without Crushing Mission
Codeacademy is one of the world's largest educational institutions, with 24 million users. But now that it must monetize, can the coding school remain successful? asks Jeffrey Bussgang. Open for comment; 1 Comment(s) posted.
- 17 Aug 2015
- Research & Ideas
Who is Boss in the Sharing Economy?
The recent controversy over whether Uber drivers are employees or independent contractors ignores the obvious: The answer is somewhere in between, says Andrei Hagiu. Do we need a new category of employee? A new class of business? Open for comment; 7 Comment(s) posted.
- 10 Aug 2015
- Research & Ideas
New Medical Devices Get To Patients Too Slowly
The FDA has streamlined drug testing to ensure new therapies come to market quickly. But when it comes to life-giving medical devices, approvals seem unnecessarily slow, according to research by Ariel Dora Stern. Open for comment; 6 Comment(s) posted.
'Likes' Lead to Nothing—and Other Hard-Learned Lessons of Social Media Marketing
A decade-and-a-half after the dawn of social media marketing, brands are still learning what works and what doesn't with consumers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.