- 20 Mar 2000
- Research & Ideas
Incubators: The New Venture Capitalists?
Once the sleepy domain of universities and public development agencies, business incubators have shown new life in the Internet economy. Focused on providing new ventures not just with funding, but also with services, advice, connections and physical space, they offer a new way for dot.com companies to get to market fast. Four leaders from this rapidly growing industry looked at incubators and their relation to the traditional world of venture capital. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Mar 2000
- Research & Ideas
Putting Health Care Consumers in the Driver’s Seat
Amid rising costs, changing attitudes and increasing dissatisfaction with the existing health care system, the development of consumer-driven health care is a given: the question, according to participants in an HBS conference chaired by Professor Regina A. Herzlinger, is not If, but When. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 29 Feb 2000
- Research & Ideas
Whence IT Value?
Spending on information technology on the part of U.S. manufacturers is finally starting to pay off in increased productivity. Why now? Have IT investments, growing steadily since the 1970s, suddenly crossed a magic threshhold? HBS Professor Andrew McAfee believes the answer lies neither in magic nor in the growing power of computers themselves. Productivity gains, he writes in this article from the online journal Exec, may have more to do with the evolution of computing from PC "islands" to integrated networks that bridge distances and bring people together. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Feb 2000
- Research & Ideas
Social Capital Markets: Creating Value in the Nonprofit World
Money given away to nonprofit organizations used to be considered "charity." No longer. Donations to nonprofits are increasingly viewed as capital investments of precious resources. HBS faculty members Jed Emerson and Allen Grossman have launched an interdisciplinary effort to study and understand these "Social Capital Markets." Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Feb 2000
- Research & Ideas
The Mind of the Market: Extending the Frontiers of Marketing Thought
HBS Professor Gerald Zaltman makes metaphors come alive with his patented Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique or ZMET, a process that draws on psychology, anthropology, neuroscience and other disciplines to delve deep into the mind of the consumer. In this interview, Zaltman talks about the imagery and inspirations behind this unusual market research tool. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Feb 2000
- Research & Ideas
Growing Pains: Prescriptions for U.S. Health Care
The health care industry may look seriously ill, says HBS Professor Clayton M. Christensen, but it's merely suffering the growing pains of a natural evolution as technology forces change at both the high and low ends of the market. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Feb 2000
- Research & Ideas
The Right Connections
In attracting funding for a new venture, report HBS Professor Monica Higgins and her colleague Ranjay Gulati of Northwestern University, professional ties and company connections are even more important than a good product in inspiring the trust and loosening the wallets of potential investors. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 08 Feb 2000
- Research & Ideas
- 08 Feb 2000
- Research & Ideas
Building Effective R&D Capabilities Abroad
Planning R&D facilities in the new global economy calls for a complex decision making process, based in part on whether a particular site is intended to tap local knowledge or to support a company's manufacturing and marketing abroad. HBS Professor Walter Kuemmerle offers a look at two contrasting foreign-based R&D decisions in this excerpt from his article in World View: Global Strategies for the New Economy (HBS Press). Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Feb 2000
- Research & Ideas
- 25 Jan 2000
- Research & Ideas
Strategic Alliances
Businesses and nonprofit organizations are joining together in alliances to create value for themselves and society that far surpass the sum of their parts. HBS Professor James Austin studies these new alliances and sees mutual benefits and a new business-nonprofit relationship emerging. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Jan 2000
- Research & Ideas
Calling All Managers: How to Build a Better Call Center
Once viewed simply as low-cost channels for resolving customer concerns, call centers are increasingly seen as powerful service delivery mechanisms and even as generators of revenue. Research by HBS Professor Frances X. Frei and her colleagues Ann Evenson and Patrick T. Harker of the Wharton School points toward new ways of making them work. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 14 Dec 1999
- Research & Ideas
From Spare Change to Real Change: The Social Sector as a Beta Site for Business Innovation
U.S. companies have too often viewed the social sector as a dumping ground for their spare cash, obsolete equipment, and tired executives, but that mind-set, says HBS Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, has hardly created lasting change. In this excerpt from an article in the Harvard Business Review, she issues a call for corporate social innovation, an approach, says Kanter, that's more R&D than it is charity. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Dec 1999
- Research & Ideas
Henry Heinz and Brand Creation in the Late Nineteenth Century
H.J. Heinz founder Henry Heinz developed sophisticated brand-building strategies without the advantages of modern economic analytic technique, data and theory. HBS Professor Nancy F. Koehn shows how in this excerpt from her Business History Review article "Henry Heinz and Brand Creation in the Late Nineteenth Century." Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Nov 1999
- Research & Ideas
What’s Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge?
Knowledge management as a conscious practice is so new that there are few successful models for executives to use as guides. In this excerpt from their article in the Harvard Business Review, HBS Professors Morten T. Hansen and Nitin Nohria and colleague Thomas Tierney of Bain & Company reveal two key KM strategies — codification and personalization — and their use among consulting firms. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Nov 1999
- Research & Ideas
Bringing the Environment Down to Earth
Does it pay to be green? When it comes to questions about business and the environment, says HBS Professor Forest L. Reinhardt, there are no simple yes-or-no answers. In this excerpt from his article in the Harvard Business Review, Reinhardt stresses the importance of applying traditional business principles to environmental issues. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Nov 1999
- Research & Ideas
The Future of the Venture Capital Cycle
Despite many success stories and a rapid rise to prominence, the venture capital industry remains a mystery to most, and questions about its sustainability persist. In this excerpt from their pathbreaking book The Venture Capital Cycle, HBS Professors Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner look toward the future of this misunderstood financial intermediary. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Nov 1999
- Research & Ideas
Companies, Cultures and the Transformation to the Transnational
Often overlooked in the move into the international arena, a comapny's heritage can have a major impact on how it adapts to the new environment. In this excerpt from the second edition of their pioneering book Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution, HBS Professor Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal examine one aspect of that heritage: the influence on a company of its nation's history, infrastructure and culture. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Nov 1999
- Research & Ideas
John H. Patterson and the Sales Strategy of the National Cash Register Company, 1884 to 1922
John H. Patterson's sales management techniques built National Cash Register into the dominant force in its industry and had a major impact on the development of modern selling. This excerpt from Business History Review looks at one aspect of the Patterson method. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
No Place Like Home: America’s Housing Crisis and Its Impact on Business
Affordable housing is a bottom-line issue, one that American business ignores at its own peril. New research and initiatives of HBS Professors William J. Poorvu and Michael A. Wheeler and others show why business needs to take a more provocative stance to assure that moderate- and low- income workers can afford to live near where they work. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.