Innovations in Olympic Speed Skating: When to Reveal a Novel Approach

About this episode

Rebecca Karp joins Brian Kenny to discuss the strategic decisions faced by the U.S. Men’s Olympic speed skating team regarding their innovative techniques.

The U.S. Men’s Olympic speed skating team devised a new approach to the team pursuit event following their disappointing performance in the 2018 Winter Olympics. The team saw promising initial results from their innovations, but they faced a decision about whether to reveal their new techniques. The U.S. Team’s strategy was easily imitated if competitors witnessed it in a race, but it was a risk not to test it in competition before the Olympics. And, were here possible upsides to imitation if it improved the entire sport? Should they share their techniques, and if so, when? Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Rebecca Karp joins Brian Kenny to discuss the case, “A Winning Strategy: Innovation in Olympic Speed Skating.”

People in this episode

Host: Brian Kenny

Guest: Rebecca Karp

Topics covered

• Olympic speed skating
• innovation
• team strategy
• competition
• sports management

Keywords

• speed skating
• Olympics
• innovation
• team pursuit
• competition strategy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard Business School, U.S. Men’s Olympic speed skating team

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