Innovation and Invention →
- 08 Dec 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
The Industry R&D Survey: Patent Database Link Project
The development and diffusion of new innovations are central to economic growth, and understanding the firm-level underpinnings of technology progress is important to academics, policymakers, and business managers. While many researchers have examined (either separately or together) corporate research and development and technology diffusion, they run into two significant data constraints. William R. Kerr and Shihe Fu describe how they developed a new dataset for studying corporate innovation that encompasses three important existing datasets. This paper summarizes the Industry R&D Survey for researchers who want to study innovation through the Census Bureau's data. Key concepts include: The developed platform offers an unprecedented view of the R&D-to-patenting innovation process and a close analysis of the strengths and limitations of the Industry R&D Survey. This R&S platform can, through the Census Bureau's file structure, facilitate other studies of how innovation leads to productivity. 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.
- 15 Nov 2006
- Research & Ideas
Lessons Not Learned About Innovation
Why have decades of executives fumbled innovation? One reason: Existing corporate structures, controls, and incentives do work against out-of-the-box thinking. Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, who has just published a Harvard Business Review article on the topic, discusses her research into the classic traps of innovation and how to avoid them. Key concepts include: The search for new ideas must go broad and deep throughout an organization. Traditional corporate controls and structures don't work well with innovation teams. New methods are needed to gauge effectiveness. Innovators must be kept connected to the mainstream business. Isolating them leads to tensions with other parts of the company and lessens the chances that their work will be adopted. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 Sep 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Scale without Mass: Business Process Replication and Industry Dynamics
Over the past ten years there's been a clear link between IT investment and productivity growth in the U.S. economy. But what impact has IT had on competition? This paper identifies several recent changes in the competitive dynamics of U.S. industries and shows that they are associated with IT intensity; the more IT and industry has, the greater the changes. Using case studies, previous research, and a simple model, the authors offer a theory that explains these patterns in the data. They argue that IT allows the rapid spread of business process innovations, which in turn leads to more turbulent and concentrated industries. Key concepts include: Since the mid-1990s, IT-intensive industries have seen higher levels of turbulence and concentration growth than have non-IT-intensive industries. The improved ability of firms to replicate business innovations affects not only productivity, but also the nature of business competition itself. Future research on the competitive impact of IT within a single industry could use case studies combined with economy-wide data analysis. This method would help clarify the impetus for technology investments, their timing, and their effects. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 25 Sep 2006
- Research & Ideas
How Software Platforms Revolutionize Business
Cell phones, the Game Boy, and PCs are examples of products based upon software platforms—ecosystems where independent companies can provide products and services tied to the core technology. Playing in a software platform world can make you rich—ask ringtone creators—but it also demands special management skills that emphasize cooperation over competition. Professor Andrei Hagiu discusses his new book, Invisible Engines. Key concepts include: Software platforms have improved productivity and innovation in many industries, disrupted or destroyed others, and created entirely new businesses. Software platforms are powerful engines of change because of the malleability of code and of the fundamental functions they perform, which make it easy for them to march across industry boundaries; and because their multi-sided nature allows them to spawn vibrant ecosystems of complementors. Managing software platforms is about much more than creating technology. It takes skills in navigating cooperation and competition, building creative business models, and anticipating competition across industries. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Aug 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Capturing Benefits from Tomorrow’s Technology in Today’s Products: The Effect of Absorptive Capacity
It seems clear that firms with an existing R&D function are better able to use related outside research than firms without an R&D function. But can specific products also "absorb" a firm's knowledge of related technologies? Using patent data and the example of automobile carburetors, Daniel Snow studied how companies may adapt a component of a "radical innovation" technology for their own current-technology products. He also poses a far-reaching question for companies: Can they capture the returns of these inventive activities? Key concepts include: Firms that have experience working with a "future technology" or radical innovation can efficiently adapt components from such innovations for their own current-technology products. They are also more likely to adapt such components. For any positive effects, the future-technology components should already be closely related to the product's current components. Whether firms can capture the returns of their own inventive activity may boil down to the fact that intellectual property is difficult to protect: The possibility of free-riding may affect firms' willingness to invest in future technologies. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 04 Aug 2006
- What Do You Think?
What Happens When the Economics of Scarcity Meets the Economics of Abundance?
The "Long Tail," a term coined by Chris Anderson—and the title of his new book—describes the item popularity curve. Does the Long Tail represent a paradigm shift for business and consumer behavior? What are its implications for management going forward? Key concepts include: Chris Anderson first coined the term "the Long Tail" in Wired magazine. In a long-tail world, everything digital is available at all times. Anderson describes three conditions critical to potential long-tail profits, all of which are provided by the Internet combined with creative new software and hardware. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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. Key concepts include: Many product innovations originate with users, and as user communities quickly add more improvements, a "design space" is initiated. User innovators seem to spring up around industries such as recreation, where participants are passionate and design costs are low. Commercial opportunities to build upon existing products may be available for both users and existing companies—but the timing is different for each. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Jul 2006
- Lessons from the Classroom
Developing a Strategy for Digital Convergence
Technology was getting dull earlier this decade, says David Yoffie. But the sudden arrival of digital convergence has turned the tech world upside down. What are the right bets to place? Key concepts include: Digital convergence has arrived, creating entirely new products, services, and collaboration opportunities. The technology industry is tilting to horizontal. Players need to learn to complement each other as well as compete. Network effects create strong market advantages for companies that can capitalize on them. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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. Key concepts include: Innovation can't always be planned—accidents happen. Be prepared to recognize serendipitous opportunity. Understand the nature of breakthrough inventions in your industry and plan accordingly. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
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. Key concepts include: Learn from failure by identifying, analyzing, and discussing it, and through deliberate experimentation and risk-taking. It is important to learn from small everyday failures rather than wait for a catastrophe to force change. Break down tasks and provide feedback and specific information on mistakes right away. Use the failure data to educate the organization. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Learning Tradeoffs in Organizations: Measuring Multiple Dimensions of Improvement to Investigate Learning-Curve Heterogeneity
How and why experience leads to performance improvement has made the learning curve an important management topic for sites ranging from nuclear power plants to cardiac surgical units. This new research looks deeper at learning curves by focusing on learning rates in technology adoption in similar organizations along multiple, potentially competing dimensions. Using longitudinal data from sixteen hospitals that are adopting a new technology for cardiac surgery, it specifically studies two dimensions: efficiency and application innovation and the potential tradeoff between efficiency and application innovation. It also asks how such tradeoffs are influenced. Key concepts include: Organizations should explicitly decide which dimension of learning is of greatest strategic importance to them. Some organizations may learn more slowly on a particular dimension because they are investing in a different, potentially contradictory dimension of learning. Hospitals in the study that focused on increasing the technical difficulty and innovativeness of their use of a new technology were less likely to increase efficiency as quickly as those that were focused on efficiency. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Deep Links: Business School Students’ Perceptions of the Role of Law and Ethics in Business
The researchers spent more than a year eliciting twelve MBA students' thoughts and feelings about the role of law in starting and running a U.S. business. This research offers new insights into the ongoing debate about how best to educate the business leaders of tomorrow. More than a standalone course in business law or ethics, it would be wise for educators to use an approach that treats the role of law and business in the broader context of societal needs and norms. Key concepts include: Business school curricula that ignore the role law plays in making markets possible may undermine students' appreciation of how law undergirds the capitalist system. Business students need to learn both more ethics and law. Teaching materials should highlight the positive associations or linkages between law, business, and societal welfare. The systems approach to management is one way to link law, business, and ethics to create an integrated mental model. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Sep 2005
- Research & Ideas
The Broadband Explosion: Thinking About a Truly Interactive World
When true broadband arrives, everything will change—work, play, and society—say professors Robert Austin and Stephen Bradley. What a truly interactive world will look like is the subject of their new book The Broadband Explosion. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Jun 2005
- Research & Ideas
From Turf Wars to Learning Curves: How Hospitals Adopt New Technology
Turf wars and learning curves influence how new technology is adopted in hospitals. HBS professors Gary Pisano and Robert Huckman discuss the implications of their research for your organization. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 24 Jan 2005
- Research & Ideas
Entrepreneurial Hospital Pioneers New Model
A "Robin Hood" cardiac hospital in India—which charges wealthy patients, yet equally welcomes the destitute—is an exciting example of entrepreneurship in the subcontinent, says HBS professor Tarun Khanna. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Jan 2005
- Research & Ideas
The Knowledge Coach
Make sure the knowledge gained by top employees doesn't leave with their retirement, say Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap in their new book, Deep Smarts. One solution: Develop a knowledge transfer coach. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
When Good Teams Go Bad
Jeff Polzer and Scott Snook teach "The Army Crew Team" case and the dilemma faced by a rowing coach who has great individual parts but can't get them to synchronize. Open for comment; 0 Comments.