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All HBS Web
(116,020)
- Faculty Publications (104)
- December 2011
- Article
Did R&D Firms Used to Patent? Evidence from the First Innovation Surveys
By: Tom Nicholas
Matching 2,777 R&D firms in surveys conducted by the National Research Council between 1921 and 1938 with U.S. patents reveals that 59 percent of all firms and 88 percent of publicly-traded firms patented. These shares are much higher than those observed for modern R&D...
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Keywords:
Research and Development;
Patents;
Surveys;
Innovation and Invention;
Geographic Location;
United States
Nicholas, Tom. "Did R&D Firms Used to Patent? Evidence from the First Innovation Surveys." Journal of Economic History 71, no. 4 (December 2011): 1032–1059.
- September 2011
- Article
What Drives Innovation?
By: Tom Nicholas
The idea that innovation drives economic growth is incontrovertible, but the factors that, in turn, drive innovation are not fully understood. This paper surveys the recent literature, focusing on three main drivers: intellectual property rights institutions, the...
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Nicholas, Tom. "What Drives Innovation?" Antitrust Law Journal 77, no. 3 (September 2011).
- August 2011
- Article
Independent Invention During the Rise of the Corporate Economy in Britain and Japan
By: Tom Nicholas
Independent inventors accounted for approximately half of all patents in Britain and Japan by 1930, despite the rise of the corporate economy and the spread of industrial R&D. A mixture of patent renewal and historical citations data reveals that the quality of...
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Keywords:
Independent Innovation and Invention;
Development Economics;
Research and Development;
Patents;
System;
Motivation and Incentives;
Tokyo;
London;
United States
Nicholas, Tom. "Independent Invention During the Rise of the Corporate Economy in Britain and Japan." Economic History Review 64, no. 2 (August 2011).
- April 2011
- Article
The Origins of Japanese Technological Modernization
By: Tom Nicholas
Explanations of Japanese technological modernization from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century have increasingly focused on domestic capabilities as opposed to the traditional emphasis on knowledge transfers from the West. Yet, the literature is mostly...
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Keywords:
Knowledge Sharing;
Body of Literature;
Innovation and Invention;
Technological Innovation;
Patents;
Measurement and Metrics;
Expansion;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Economic Growth;
Developing Countries and Economies;
Information Technology;
Technology Industry;
Japan;
Germany;
Great Britain;
United States
Nicholas, Tom. "The Origins of Japanese Technological Modernization." Explorations in Economic History 48, no. 2 (April 2011): 272–291.
- March 2011 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
The Whiz Kids
By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen
In October 1945, Henry Ford II received a telegram in his office at the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan written by Charles "Tex" Thornton, a U.S. Air Force colonel. The telegram presented an opportunity for Ford to deploy a system of statistical control which...
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Keywords:
Ford Motor Company;
Statistical Control;
Management Systems;
Accounting;
Operations;
Strategy;
Mathematical Methods;
Auto Industry;
United States
Nicholas, Tom, and David Chen. "The Whiz Kids." Harvard Business School Case 811-042, March 2011. (Revised April 2021.)
- March 2011
- Article
Cheaper Patents
By: Tom Nicholas
The 1883 Patents Act in Britain provides perspective for modern patent policy reforms because it radically changed incentives for inventors by reducing filing fees by 84 percent. Patents increased 2.5 fold after the reform, which was evenly distributed across the...
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Keywords:
Patents;
Global Range;
Distribution;
Demand and Consumers;
Organizational Structure;
Business Processes;
Innovation and Invention;
Innovation and Management;
Policy;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Fluctuation;
Motivation and Incentives;
Distribution Industry;
United States;
Great Britain
Nicholas, Tom. "Cheaper Patents." Research Policy 40, no. 2 (March 2011).
- January 2011
- Teaching Note
Online Pet Supply Retailing (TN)
By: Tom Nicholas
Teaching Note for 809-117.
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- January 2011 (Revised February 2011)
- Teaching Note
The Ice King (TN)
By: Tom Nicholas
Teaching Note for 808-094.
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- January 2011 (Revised March 2011)
- Teaching Note
The Wright Brothers and their Flying Machines (TN)
By: Tom Nicholas
Teaching Note for 811-034.
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- January 2011
- Teaching Note
Neoprene (TN)
By: Tom Nicholas
Teaching Note for 810-084.
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- January 2011 (Revised April 2023)
- Course Overview Note
The Coming of Managerial Capitalism: Overview
By: Tom Nicholas
This is a course overview note for The Coming of Managerial Capitalism. CMC is chronologically organized. It starts in the late eighteenth century when America gained independence, spans the remarkable rise to industrial maturity during the nineteenth and twentieth...
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Keywords:
Business History;
Business or Company Management;
Entrepreneurship;
Business Startups;
Welfare;
War;
Transformation;
Information Technology;
Finance;
Situation or Environment;
Decision Making;
Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques;
United States
Nicholas, Tom. "The Coming of Managerial Capitalism: Overview." Harvard Business School Course Overview Note 811-033, January 2011. (Revised April 2023.)
- January 2011
- Teaching Note
The Travails of Rubber: Goodyear or Badyear? (TN)
By: Tom Nicholas
Teaching Note for 808118.
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- December 2010 (Revised March 2015)
- Case
The Wright Brothers and Their Flying Machines
By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen
Wilbur (1867-1912) and Orville (1871-1948) Wright were fascinated by the mystery of flight and they built on the ideas of prominent earlier figures such as Octave Chanute (1832-1910) the French-born American who was influential in fostering the free exchange of ideas...
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Keywords:
Entrepreneurship;
Business History;
Technological Innovation;
Patents;
Knowledge Sharing;
Air Transportation;
Air Transportation Industry;
Europe;
United States
Nicholas, Tom, and David Chen. "The Wright Brothers and Their Flying Machines." Harvard Business School Case 811-034, December 2010. (Revised March 2015.)
- October 2010
- Case
Narragansett Brewing Company
By: Tom Nicholas, Lindsey Marshall and Charles Anthony Miller
Mark Hellendrung, CEO of Narragansett Brewing Company, is deciding whether to partner with a local television station for the upcoming NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game between New England's own Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park. He had...
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Keywords:
Corporate Entrepreneurship;
Business Startups;
Business Strategy;
Sports;
Financial Strategy;
Marketing Strategy;
Investment;
United States
Nicholas, Tom, Lindsey Marshall, and Charles Anthony Miller. "Narragansett Brewing Company." Harvard Business School Case 811-028, October 2010.
- October 2010 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Bessemer Trust: Guardians of Capital
By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen
Henry Phipps, Jr. made his fortune in the steel industry alongside one of America's most celebrated entrepreneurs—Andrew Carnegie. His wealth was administered in the form of trusts, which he hoped would provide a stream of income for his family and their descendants...
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Keywords:
Wealth;
Asset Management;
Family Business;
Business History;
Income;
Entrepreneurship;
Capital;
United States
Nicholas, Tom, and David Chen. "Bessemer Trust: Guardians of Capital." Harvard Business School Case 811-031, October 2010. (Revised June 2021.)
- March 2010
- Article
The Role of Independent Invention in U.S. Technological Development, 1880-1930
By: Tom Nicholas
Why did independent inventors account for over half of US patents by 1930 and more than three times the number granted to R&D firms? Using new data on patents and historical patent citations, I show that independents supplied high quality innovations to a...
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Keywords:
History;
Technological Innovation;
Patents;
Urban Scope;
Independent Innovation and Invention;
Research and Development;
United States
Nicholas, Tom. "The Role of Independent Invention in U.S. Technological Development, 1880-1930." Journal of Economic History 70, no. 1 (March 2010).
- February 2010 (Revised September 2011)
- Case
Lehman Brothers
By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen
In 2008, the U.S. financial system was in a state of crisis and Lehman Brothers went from a major Wall Street investment bank to an insolvent institution. It was a swift end for a firm that had its beginnings over 150 years prior. What would be the firm's legacy? And...
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Keywords:
History;
Business History;
Development Economics;
Business Exit or Shutdown;
Investment Banking;
Insolvency and Bankruptcy;
Economic Growth;
Financial Crisis;
Financial Services Industry;
United States
Nicholas, Tom, and David Chen. "Lehman Brothers." Harvard Business School Case 810-106, February 2010. (Revised September 2011.)
- December 2009 (Revised April 2012)
- Case
Neoprene
By: Tom Nicholas and Felipe Tamega Fernandes
In 1931, during one of the worst economic crises in U.S. history, Du Pont announced the discovery of an innovative rubber synthetic product—neoprene. Yet at the time of the announcement, Du Pont did not have any neoprene to sell. Manufacturing facilities were still...
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Keywords:
Financial Crisis;
Business History;
Innovation and Invention;
Product Development;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Science-Based Business;
Commercialization;
Chemical Industry;
United States
Nicholas, Tom, and Felipe Tamega Fernandes. "Neoprene." Harvard Business School Case 810-084, December 2009. (Revised April 2012.)
- September 2009 (Revised January 2011)
- Teaching Note
Maiden in America (TN)
By: Tom Nicholas
Teaching Note for [808095].
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Keywords:
United States
- September 2009 (Revised January 2011)
- Teaching Note
Trouble with a Bubble (TN)
By: Tom Nicholas
Teaching Note for [808067].
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Keywords:
United States