Publications

10 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Technology and COVID Upended Tipping Norms. Will Consumers Keep Paying?

payment. But what about after taking a ride-share ride? Or after getting a haircut? Many of those establishments prompt tipping either through their online app or on a tablet at checkout. Have you been surprised by the prompt? You’re not alone. These new point-of-sale... View Details

Keywords: by Anna Lamb, Harvard Gazette

2022
Blog Post

Leading Successful Digital Transformation

By: Sunil Gupta

Keywords: 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... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Financial Services

16 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Delivering the Digital Goods: iTunes vs. Peer-to-Peer

sells music titles for 99 cents each, compete with free music downloads on peer-to-peer networks? Do the two approaches to distributing digital content complement each other? What can the music industry, which aggressively fights p2p... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music

2017
Working Paper

Digital Labor Markets and Global Talent Flows

By: John Horton, William R. Kerr and Christopher Stanton

Digital labor markets are rapidly expanding and connecting companies and contractors on a global basis. We review the environment in which these markets take root, the micro- and macro-level studies of their operations, their ongoing evolution and recent trends, and... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Talent and Talent Management; Labor

July–August 2016
Article

The Decoupling Effect of Digital Disruptors

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Peter Jamieson

A new wave of Internet startups is disrupting established businesses by the process of “decoupling.” In this article, the authors discuss how these new digital disruptors allow consumers to benefit from one activity (e.g., watching shows) without incurring the cost of... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Product Marketing; Customization and Personalization

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24 May 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Digital Labor Markets and Global Talent Flows

Keywords: by John Horton, William R. Kerr, and Christopher Stanton

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

clearly epitomized by the advent and affirmation of the electronic processing and sharing of data at a magnitude and speed that in no way we have seen before. The digital age is enabled by the emergence and adoption of four key View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Information Technology

February 2009 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Publicis Groupe 2009: Toward a Digital Transformation

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

After a series of acquisitions, Maurice Levy, the Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, had created the fourth largest marketing and communications company in the world. His next major challenge was managing the firm's digital transformation. In December 2006, the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transformation; Financial Crisis; Globalized Firms and Management; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Information Technology; Advertising Industry; Communications Industry

Research Summary

The Role of Capital Markets in the Digital Economy

This topic of research is motivated by the rapid rise of digital adoption in firms across the economy and capital market participants’ growing interest in this phenomenon. My work studies how investors are responding to digitization, provides insights on the... View Details

June 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

WorldSpace: Digital Radio for the Developing World

By: Debora L. Spar

Describes the evolution of WorldSpace, the world's first major provider of digital radio service to the developing world. The brainchild of Noah Samara, an African-born, American-trained lawyer, WorldSpace has a dual commercial and social mission. Samara wants to... View Details

Keywords: Information; Social Entrepreneurship; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Developing Countries and Economies; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Asia; Latin America; Africa

March 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Mercury Rising: Knight Ridder's Digital Venture

Captures the efforts of newspaper publisher Knight Ridder to create a digital venture. Knight Ridder proves to be a pioneer in digital publishing, launching the first online newspaper site; builds a network of newspaper sites called Real Cities; and invests in... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Newspapers; Innovation and Invention; Journalism and News Industry

2024
Working Paper

Digital Platforms 2.0: Learnings, Opportunities, and Challenges

By: Shrabastee Banerjee, Ishita Chakraborty, Hana Choi, Hannes Datta, Remi Daviet, Chiara Farronato, Minkyung Kim, Anja Lambrecht, Puneet Manchanda, Aniko Oery, Ananya Sen, Marshall W Van Alstyne, Prasad Vana, Kenneth C Wilbur, Xu Zhang and Bobby Zhou

Platform-based digital ecosystems form the backbone of our interactions with the Internet. Over the past decade, digital ecosystems have witnessed significant growth, both in terms of industry footprint and academic research. Yet, the challenges associated with their... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Technology Adoption; E-commerce; Market Design

SSRN

February 23, 2022
Article

Can WEB3 Bring Back Competition to Digital Platforms?

By: Christian Catalini and Scott Duke Kominers

Like the early Internet, blockchain and Web3 applications promise a new wave of decentralization and competition—yet at the same time, it is unclear which of the dynamics that drove concentration in online platforms and services will remain in force under the Web3... View Details

Keywords: Web3; Blockchain; Interoperability; Internet and the Web; Technological Innovation; Competition; Digital Platforms

June 1997
Case

Global Digital Utilities Corporation

By: Paul A. Gompers

Keywords: Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

January 1996 (Revised March 2000)
Case

R.R. Donnelley & Sons: The Digital Division

By: David A. Garvin and Artemis March

In June 1995, Barbara Schetter, VP and general manager of R.R. Donnelley's Digital Division, is struggling to gain acceptance from other groups and divisions at the printing giant. The Digital Division employs radically new technology--digital printing presses and... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Business Model; Business Plan; Leading Change; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Technology Adoption; Value Creation

March 2022
Teaching Note

Digital Manufacturing at Amgen

By: Shane Greenstein, Kyle R. Myers and Sarah Mehta

This teaching note provides guidance for instructors teaching “Digital Manufacturing at Amgen,” case no. 621-008. View Details

January 1988 (Revised March 1995)
Supplement

Digital Equipment Corp.: The Endpoint Model (C2)

By: David A. Garvin

To follow Digital Equipment Corp.: The Endpoint Model (C1). Students must assess what their next steps would be as plant manager and group manufacturing manager. View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Business Model; Business or Company Management; Production; Technology; Technology Industry