Commercial and Home Software Industry

Author: A. MacCormack
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: Welcome to this entry in the From the Field series of case collections from HBS Publishing. We have three main objectives for this series: To enrich readers' understanding of business by presenting coherent collections of field-based research published by Harvard Business School. Understanding business involves much more than earnings reports and news headlines. It means understanding how managers perceive and analyze the complex challenges their companies face and the strategies and tactics they devise in response. For nearly a century, HBS has been researching the world of managers from inside companies and delivering their stories to facilitate superior teaching and learning. You won't find easy answers or quick fixes in these cases, but you will discover balanced, detailed pictures of industries, markets, and technologies, and the intelligent professional who, like you, are trying to cope with them. The items in this collection have been chosen because they reveal important aspects of today's business and consumer software industry. Each item is preceded by a summary. Following each item is a set of "Questions and Ideas to Consider" that we hope will stimulate your thinking as well as drive you to the Internet to do your own research.