Lean business model

It puts a premium on customer experience, but undervalues strategic thinking.

The “Toyota” principles can also be effective in operations involving judgment and expertise

For decades, the business world has been fixated on achieving sustainable competitive advantage, a position within an industry that allows a company to...

And it's changing the way they do science.

Success can skyrocket when lessons are systematically captured and made available to everyone.

Empathetic design takes more time but delivers better results.

They’re reinventing their appliance business with rapid prototyping.

Startups that want to harness cutting edge science to create technologies face a different kind of uncertainty than traditional tech companies.

According to a survey of executives.

Inexpensive videos can sell products, but you've got to know what works (and what doesn't).

Researchers found a downside to messages of empowerment.

In the past few years, a new methodology for launching companies, called "the lean start-up," has begun to replace the old regimen. Traditionally, a venture's...

Three pointers for using the theory in practice.

Researchers found educationally diverse teams perform better, but adding MBAs to the mix has both negative and positive effects.

Too much testing can backfire.

How entrepreneurship changes when cash is abundant.

Online video offers a way to achieve higher engagement with consumers for far less money.

Large-scale planning isn't the answer.

Start-ups need both agility and direction.

Editor’s note: For more on the future of health care visit the HBR Insight Center on Health Care Innovations. In the April issue of HBR, Tom Lee describes the story of Gary Kaplan applying lean methodologies he learned from Boeing executives to improve performance at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Health Center. As much as health care […]

Imagine if the multinational hotel groups had founded Airbnb, or the big auto companies had launched Uber and Tesla, or Blockbuster had created Netflix....

In February 2023, Irene Cameron was preparing to launch her property technology (proptech) start-up Geo-Registry Integrated Datachain Inc. (GRID) in eastern...

Implicitly or explicitly, product-development teams in digital spaces will go through a process of gathering and employing data to help them create and...

In September 2015, Pooja Viswanathan, a post-doctoral research scientist, emerged perplexed after a meeting with her post-doc supervisor. The purpose...

The case describes the scientific approach taken by the founders of Mimoto - an electric scooter-sharing company offering dockless, keyless scooters available...

In October 2021, Miles Arnone, CEO of Re:Build Manufacturing (Re:Build), was thinking about Re:Build's next acquisition. Arnone contemplated the pros...

Dropbox is a venture-backed Silicon Valley startup, founded in 2006, that provides online storage and backup services to millions of customers using a...

This case study follows a series of events over the first two years of EdTechWorx, a Pakistan-based education technology start-up that labels itself as...

Microsoft launched the Xbox gaming console on November 15, 2001. For years, Microsoft used the "razor-razorblade" business model for Xbox by subsidizing...

The Carzaty case starts at a pivotal point in the start-up's story. It is 2021 and co-founders Hassan Jaffar and Marwan Chaar are preparing to scale up...

The ability to achieve product-market alignment (PMA) differentiates businesses that will thrive from those that will fail. Yet many find it difficult...

This case study examines the entrepreneurial journey of ROOTCLOUD, a visionary company focused on creating universal IIoT platforms to drive the transformation...

Meesho is a three-part case that highlights the ups and downs, and the twists and turns, of a typical entrepreneurial journey. It follows the experiences...

The case describes the scientific approach taken by the founders of Mimoto - an electric scooter-sharing company offering dockless, keyless scooters available...

This case is about INSEAD's Startup Booster for Entrepreneurs (SBE) and the MBA students who choose the elective. The unique course is designed to immerse...

The case focuses on management innovation in the South African dairy industry, describing how an innovative new yoghurt product, Danimal, was created...

Twelve entrepreneurs were interviewed to understand the most effective paths that founders can take to identify and evaluate promising opportunities....

This technical note introduces readers to two important concepts involving design in the digital sphere: continuous design and hypothesis-driven design...

Nick worked as the weekend shift leader at the fulfillment center of Lee Valley Tools. in Ottawa. The company operated three shifts-a day and night shift...

Hoshin kanri (HK), or strategy deployment, has been an integral part of the company management practices of some of the most successful Lean-practicing...

Imagine if the multinational hotel groups had founded Airbnb, or the big auto companies had launched Uber and Tesla, or Blockbuster had created Netflix....

In February 2023, Irene Cameron was preparing to launch her property technology (proptech) start-up Geo-Registry Integrated Datachain Inc. (GRID) in eastern...

It puts a premium on customer experience, but undervalues strategic thinking.

Implicitly or explicitly, product-development teams in digital spaces will go through a process of gathering and employing data to help them create and...

The “Toyota” principles can also be effective in operations involving judgment and expertise

In September 2015, Pooja Viswanathan, a post-doctoral research scientist, emerged perplexed after a meeting with her post-doc supervisor. The purpose...

For decades, the business world has been fixated on achieving sustainable competitive advantage, a position within an industry that allows a company to...

The case describes the scientific approach taken by the founders of Mimoto - an electric scooter-sharing company offering dockless, keyless scooters available...

In October 2021, Miles Arnone, CEO of Re:Build Manufacturing (Re:Build), was thinking about Re:Build's next acquisition. Arnone contemplated the pros...

Dropbox is a venture-backed Silicon Valley startup, founded in 2006, that provides online storage and backup services to millions of customers using a...