Publications

January 2017
Background Note

Making Virtual Reality Real

By: Feng Zhu, Sarah Mehta and David Lane

This note describes virtual reality and augmented reality technologies and describes the main consumer products on offer in 2016 as well as their manufacturers. It also surveys existing applications of virtual and augment reality technologies. View Details

Keywords: Virtual Reality; Augmented Reality; Oculus; Google; HTC; Magic Leap; Microsoft; Samsung; Software; Niantic; Digital Platforms; Technology Adoption; Applications and Software; Technology Industry

22 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 22, 2019

Platforms Thrive and Others Don’t By: Zhu, Feng, and Marco Iansiti Abstract— In the digital economy, scale is no guarantee of continued success. After all, the same factors... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

08 Dec 2015
First Look

December 8, 2015

These platforms provide notable benefits including reducing transaction costs, improving allocation of resources, and creating information and pricing efficiencies. Yet they also raise questions View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Small Businesses Are Worse Off Than We Thought

survey of nearly 6,000 small-business owners conducted by a team of researchers in partnership with Alignable, an online business networking platform with 4.5 million members.... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

October 2001
Case

Meg Whitman and eBay Germany

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

After acquiring the German online auction company Alando.de, eBay CEO Meg Whitman and her team must integrate Alando's Web site with the company's existing platform. The acquisition is the first step of eBay's journey to become a global trading platform. In addition to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Integration; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Globalized Markets and Industries; Germany

09 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 9, 2015

new Philips HealthSuite Digital Platform find success in the rapidly evolving industry? Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/515052-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 715-047 Korea... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2005
Case

CarMax

By: Rajiv Lal and David Kiron

Carmax is the largest multi-market used car dealer in the U.S., and has no format-to-format competitor in the $375 billion used car market. CarMax is trying to do what some analysts believed to be impossible: sell used cars profitably on a national scale, and at the... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Brands and Branding; Digital Platforms; Segmentation; Auto Industry

19 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 19

platforms have open access, and developers invest to improve the platform. Proprietary platforms have closed access, and investment is done by the platform owner. We present... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Monster Networking

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and David Andrew Vivero

The management at Monster.com, the leading U.S. provider of online recruitment services, must decide how to proceed with Monster Networking (MN), a new business launched in late 2003. MN helps users identify other individuals who can offer career advice. Monster.com... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Social and Collaborative Networks; Recruitment; Service Industry; Employment Industry; United States

career in digital health at Siemens Medical in Pennsylvania. He obtained his Engineering degree at the Polytechnic University in Madrid, Spain; with specialization in Biomedical Engineering at the Technical University View Details

Keywords: Digital Health;#43;#Healthcare;#57;#Public Health & Global Health;#53;#Media & Publishing;#29;#Entertainment

01 Dec 2014
News

@Soldiers Field

arm might lift a barbell.” The 229 RCs who signed up for lunch roulette were connected with three perfectly randomized HBS classmates. Hosted by the Student Association and the Digital Initiative, the project used an open source computer... View Details

Keywords: John Shad (MBA 1949); Educational Services

March 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Cadre

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Scott Duke Kominers and David Lane

Late in 2017, CEO Ryan Williams and his team debated whether Cadre should become not only a technology-enabled investment manager, but also an online trading exchange providing high levels of liquidity for investors in commercial real estate (CRE) equity. Cadre was a... View Details

Keywords: ＂Cadre,＂; Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Private Equity; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States

06 Sep 2024
Blog Post

Harvard Business School Announces 2024 Goldsmith Fellows

effort to create a network of individuals committed to working in social enterprise. The 2024 Goldsmith Fellows are: Princess Aghayere. Princess is co-founder and director of finance for Rebound Liberia, a... View Details

01 Dec 2014
News

Forecasting ’15

Health Care: Data-Driven Diagnosis Robert Wah (AMP 175, 2008) President, American Medical Association; Global Chief Medical Officer, Computer Sciences Corporation “We’re entering the third phase of health information technology. The first... View Details

Keywords: Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

November 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

VerticalNet (www.verticalnet.com)

By: Das Narayandas

VerticalNet, a leading creator of targeted business-to-business vertical trade communities on the Internet, is trying to expand its model to facilitate e-commerce. Mark Walsh, the CEO of VerticalNet, has to decide how far he can extend the firm's business model without... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Digital Platforms; Expansion; Internet and the Web

21 Nov 2013
News

Case Study: BlackBerry and Thorsten Heins

keyboard on smart devices (just like Polaroid believed consumers needed to instantly print their digital photos—when was the last time you printed a photo!). They kept their platform closed, avoiding the... View Details

Keywords: Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises

July 2003 (Revised June 2010)
Case

FrontPoint Partners

By: Jay O. Light

A hedge fund platform, a new and unique kind of asset management firm, contemplates various client markets for its services. View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment; Demand and Consumers; Digital Platforms; Service Delivery; Financial Services Industry