Karim R. Lakhani
Karim R. Lakhani
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
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| Overview | Biography | Publications & Course Materials | Current Research | Areas of Interest |
Books
Feller, Joe, Brian Fitzgerald, Scott Hissam, and Karim R. Lakhani, eds. Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005.
Published Papers
Jeppesen, Lars Bo, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Marginality and Problem Solving Effectiveness in Broadcast Search." Organization Science (forthcoming). Abstract
We examine who the winners are in science problem-solving contests characterized by open broadcast of problem information, self-selection of external solvers to discrete problems from the laboratories of large R&D intensive companies, and blind review of solution submissions. We find that technical and social marginality, being a source of different perspectives and heuristics, plays an important role in explaining individual success in problem solving. The provision of a winning solution was positively related to increasing distance between the solver's field of technical expertise and the focal field of the problem. Female solvers—known to be in the "outer circle" of the scientific establishment—performed significantly better than men in developing successful solutions. Our findings contribute to the emerging literature on open and distributed innovation by demonstrating the value of openness, at least narrowly defined by disclosing problems, in removing barriers to entry to non-obvious individuals. We also contribute to the knowledge-based theory of the firm by showing the effectiveness of a market mechanism to draw out knowledge from diverse external sources to solve internal problems.
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Lakhani, Karim R., and Kevin J. Boudreau. "How to Manage Outside Innovation." MIT Sloan Management Review 50, no. 4 (summer 2009).
West, Joel, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Getting Clear About Communities in Open Innovation." Industry & Innovation 15, no. 2 (April 2008).
Lakhani, Karim R., and Jill A. Panetta. "The Principles of Distributed Innovation." Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization 2, no. 3 (summer 2007).
Lakhani, Karim R., and Lars Bo Jeppesen. "Getting Unusual Suspects to Solve R&D Puzzles." Forethought. Harvard Business Review 85, no. 5 (May 2007).
von Krogh, Georg, Sebastian Spaeth, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Community, Joining, and Specialization in Open Source Software Innovation: A Case Study." Research Policy 32, no. 7 (July 2003): 1217-1241.
Lakhani, Karim R., and Eric von Hippel. "How Open Source Software Works: "Free" User-to-User Assistance." Research Policy 32, no. 6 (June 2003): 923-943.
Book Chapters
Lakhani, Karim R. and Robert Wolf. "Why Hackers Do What They Do: Understanding Motivation and Effort in Free/Open Source Software Projects." In Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software, edited by Joe Feller, Brian Fitzgerald, Scott Hissam and Karim Lakhani. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2005.
Other Papers
Boudreau, Kevin J., Nicola Lacetera, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Parallel Search, Incentives and Problem Type: Revisiting the Competition and Innovation Link." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 09-041, September 2008. Abstract
This paper presents econometric evidence of two independent effects of adding more competitors on innovation: 1) a competition effect whereby increasing rivalry shapes, and often decreases, incentives to expend effort and invest in innovation; and 2) a parallel search effect whereby adding greater numbers of "searchers" benefits innovation by broadening the search for solutions. We further show the importance of these effects depends on the nature of the innovation problem being solved. The analysis uses data from TopCoder's software contest platform, on which elite software developers were assigned different problems to solve within assigned groups of direct competitors. Econometric relationships are identified by exploiting random assignment and a separate instrumental variables procedure.
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Lakhani, Karim R., Lars Bo Jeppesen, Peter A. Lohse, and Jill A. Panetta. "The Value of Openness in Scientific Problem Solving." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 07-050, 2007.
HBS Course Materials
Coles, Peter A., Karim R. Lakhani, and Andrew P. McAfee. "Cambrian House." Harvard Business School Case 608-016.
Lakhani, Karim R. "InnoCentive.com (A)." Harvard Business School Case 608-170.
Coles, Peter A., Karim R. Lakhani, and Andrew P. McAfee. "Prediction Markets at Google." Harvard Business School Case 607-088.
Iansiti, Marco, and Karim R. Lakhani. "SAP AG: Orchestrating the Ecosystem." Harvard Business School Case 609-069.
Lakhani, Karim R., and Zahra Kanji. "Threadless: The Business of Community." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Case 608-707.
Lakhani, Karim R., and Zahra Kanji. "Threadless: The Business of Community (Instructor's Version)." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Case 608-719.
Lakhani, Karim R. "Threadless: The Business of Community (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 608-169.
Lakhani, Karim R., and Andrew P. McAfee. "Wikipedia (A)." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Case 607-712.