Publications

April 2021
Case

Transforming BlackBerry: From Smartphones to Software

By: Ranjay Gulati and Nicole Tempest Keller

On the verge of failure, BlackBerry brought in John Chen as CEO in 2013 to orchestrate a bold turnaround of the company. Once an iconic leader in the smartphone market, BlackBerry was best known for its tactile QWERTY keyboard, strong security, and a focus on business... View Details

Keywords: Pivot; Managing Change; Turnaround; Smartphone; Change Management; Leading Change; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Change; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Competitive Strategy; Cybersecurity; Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; Canada

June 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Background Note

Digital Commerce and Delivery: Preparing Food and Retail Value Chains for a 50-50 World

By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor, Paige Boehmcke and Will Ensor

Increasing digitalization of grocery retail and quick commerce reveals insights about managing complex supply chains at scale and shifting revenue streams from product sales to data monetization. How are the roles of retailers changing? What happens if marginal cost... View Details

Keywords: Grocery Delivery; Grocery; Digitalization; Fulfillment; Delivery; Supply Chain; Disruption; Food; Supply Chain Management; Market Design; Trends; Value Creation; Goods and Commodities; Customer Value and Value Chain; Digital Transformation; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; China

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Summit Explores the New Economy

Harvard Business School's Digital Initiative recently gathered students, scholars, and leaders from practice at the 2015 Digital Initiative Summit to "explore the digital... View Details

June 2020
Case

In-housing Digital Marketing at Sprint Corp.

By: David E. Bell, Rajiv Lal and Olivia Hull

In the fall of 2019, Sprint’s Chief Digital Officer Rob Roy reflected on the telecom’s efforts to improve the effectiveness of its digital marketing campaigns. Digital media buying had long been handled by an outside agency, but in 2017, Sprint brought those functions... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Digital Marketing; Transformation; Talent and Talent Management; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Telecommunications Industry; Electronics Industry; Web Services Industry; United States

December 2019
Article

What Is Different About Digital Strategy?: From Quantitative to Qualitative Change

By: Ron Adner, Phanish Puranam and Feng Zhu

The recent attention paid to the challenge of digital transformation signals an inflection point in the impact of digital technology on the competitive landscape. We suggest that this transition can be understood as a shift from the quantitative advances that have... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Transformation; Strategy; Digital Transformation

Find at Harvard

July 2020
Case

Driving Transformation at the Majid Al Futtaim Group

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Esel Çekin

The case opens with Alain Bejjani, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Holding, anticipating on the Group’s next phase in the multi-year transformation journey and reflecting on the initiatives he implemented to create the Group’s growth-oriented culture. Founded in 1995,... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; United Arab Emirates; Middle East; Dubai

11 Jun 2020
In Practice

Are Digital Organizations Better at Overcoming COVID?

Government leaders rushing to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in March gave companies little time to shift to an all-virtual workforce. Ready or not, many businesses had to become more digital. But true digital View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

February 2018
Teaching Note

Goldman Sachs' Digital Journey

By: Sunil Gupta

Teaching Note for HBS No. 518-039. View Details

Keywords: Finance; Technology; Digital Strategy; Digital Transformation

02 Oct 2017
What Do You Think?

Do Bitcoin and Digital Currency Have a Future?

Credit: pixelfit SUMMING UP How Will Digital Currencies Be Regulated? Blockchain technology has a brighter future than most digital currencies in general and Bitcoin in particular, judging from responses to... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Financial Services

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

this introduction to the book, the three coeditors say we need new methods to better understand “the moving target of the digital world.” Introduction: Digital Strategy—Linear Evolution or Paradigm Shift... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

March 2022 (Revised March 2022)
Module Note

Managing Customers in the Digital Era

By: Eva Ascarza

The last two decades have witnessed incredible technological advances that have transformed the ways customers connect with each other and enabled firms to track customers in multiple ways through various channels to personalize (and automize) their offerings at... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Technological Innovation

August 2017 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Enpara.com: Digital Bank at a Crossroad

By: Sunil Gupta and Eren Kuzucu

In March 2017, Elsa Pekmez Atan (MBA 2004), was wondering about the future of Enpara.com, a digital-only banking platform of QNB Finansbank. Since its launch in October 2012, Enpara had been successful in attracting over 600,000 customers by appealing to digital savvy,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Competition; Banks and Banking; Business Model; Product Launch; Competitive Strategy; Integration; Innovation and Invention; Decision Making; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Digital Transformation; Banking Industry; Turkey

Teaching Interest

Management of Technology: Strategies for the Digital Economy

Companies make decisions daily to compete in the digital age; some are laying strategic building blocks for the future while others are toiling away on tactical distractions or leading their organizations headlong down the path to obsolescence. The advent of digital... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Technology Industry

October 2020
Case

PraDigi Open Learning: Transforming Rural India

By: John J-H Kim and Malini Sen

Pratham is a non-governmental organization, focusing on high-quality, low-cost and replicable interventions to address gaps in the Indian education system. Co-founder Madhav Chavan is interested in using technology for education but differed in the way it is used in... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Information Technology; Learning; Growth and Development Strategy; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Issues; Education Industry; India; Asia

2007
Working Paper

Digital Interactivity: Unanticipated Consequences for Markets, Marketing, and Consumers

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

The digital interactive transformation in marketing is not unfolding, as many thought it would, on the model of direct marketing. That model anticipated that digital media using rich profiling data would intrude marketing messaging more deeply and more precisely into... View Details

Keywords: Communication Intention and Meaning; Interactive Communication; Marketing Communications; Consumer Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet and the Web

Read Now

September 2017
Case

NBCUniversal Telemundo: Transforming Latino Television

By: Henry W. McGee, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Christine Snively

In August 2017, Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCUniversal International Group and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, considered how the Miami-based Spanish-language TV network Telemundo could succeed in a rapidly shifting media landscape. Over the past few years,... View Details

Keywords: Television Industry; Television Advertising; Broadcasting; Telecommunications; Internet; Television Entertainment; Internet and the Web; Advertising; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Miami

14 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Curiosity, Not Coding: 6 Skills Leaders Need in the Digital Age

This is the third and final article of the "Leading in the Digital Era" series. Read parts one and two. Leaders who set out to reshape their companies to compete in a fast-evolving digital world often come... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards; Technology

April 2018
Teaching Plan

NBCUniversal Telemundo: Transforming Latino Television

By: Henry McGee

Teaching Plan for HBS No. 318-018. View Details

Keywords: Television Industry; Television Advertising; Broadcasting; Telecommunications; Internet; Digital Marketing; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Miami

June 2023
Case

Launching Egypt’s First Digital Banking Platform: QNB Bebasata

By: Mark Egan, Billy Chan and Ahmed Dahawy

The leadership team at QNB Alahli, Egypt's second biggest private bank, looked back on their efforts to create a brand-new, fully digital banking platform since 2019. A digital-only banking service was unprecedented in Egypt, a country where over 90% of financial... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Banks and Banking; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Strategy; Business Model; Product Launch; Finance; Banking Industry; Egypt