Publications

Web

Winners & Runners-Up | New Venture Competition

Dellenbach Social Enterprise Track Runner-Up Reducing unemployment among Palestinian youth and helping small businesses in the West Bank by establishing a cell-phone based job matching service. Business Track, 2005 Uplift Karen Grajwer Business Track Winner Uplift,... View Details

Web

Business History - Faculty & Research

strengths such as a young, English-speaking workforce, a strategic location, and a growing digital economy. The case highlights Zalora Philippines, an e-commerce retailer facing a critical decision: transitioning to low-emission vehicles... View Details

21 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

Did Pandemic Stimulus Funds Spur the Rise of 'Meme Stocks'?

for the superficial internet buzz that boosted investor interest—have since come down in value in 2022. After all, their rise wasn’t prompted by strong fundamentals, the paper notes. One reason for the jump in View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

01 Jan 2012
News

Hiroshi Mikitani, MBA 1993

owners of small businesses, as well as Japanese society as a whole, Mikitani began working on a web-based shopping mall. “At the time, the Internet was at an early stage,” he notes. “No one was buying things online in Japan.” Working with... View Details

August 2013 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Amazon in 2025

By: Sunil Gupta and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Amazon launched its website in July 1995 to sell books online and by 2020 it has grown to become a digital giant with over $280 billion in annual sales. A large part of its growth came from expanding into a variety of businesses that some see as unrelated. Has it... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Complements; Showrooming; Ecosystem; Growth Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Network Effects; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

06 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

The Problem with Hedge Funds

in the Internet and telecom bubbles. Those who have money left, or who have new savings coming in and are seeking investments have heard that hedge funds have done well. For example, they've heard that Julian Robertson's Tiger Fund has... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

22 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

Can Amazon Remake Health Care?

has to retail shopping. Amitabh Chandra is the Henry and Allison McCance Professor of Business Administration and faculty chair of the M.S./M.B.A. program in life sciences at Harvard Business School. He is also Ethel Zimmerman Wiener... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Health

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Birth of the American Salesman

and Internet age? A: Today there are more sales workers than ever before, though I would not call them "Willy Lomans." They are a vital and essential part of the economy. The number of people in sales occupations in 2000 was 16... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

18 Feb 2019
Book

What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology

idea—allowing people to live-cast on the internet their day-to-day activities—that was centered on technology. After many twists and turns, they arrived at their eventual business model of allowing gamers to decouple playing games from... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail

08 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Creating Value in Your Business Ecosystem

rapidly with the number of ecosystem members that use them. This allows keystone players to share the surplus with their communities. During the Internet boom, many businesses failed because, although the theoretical value of a keystone... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Roy Levien

September 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Zameer Kassam Fine Jewelry: Engaging Clients

By: Ryan W. Buell and Amy Klopfenstein

Zameer Kassam Fine Jewelry (ZKFJ) designs custom engagement rings that tell the story of a couple’s relationship. The case describes the company’s process for engaging clients, which has historically been a relatively offline, high-touch experience. Obliged by... View Details

Keywords: Customer Engagement; Service Delivery; Health Pandemics; Internet and the Web; Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development; Retail Industry

Web

Debora L. Spar | About

Chaos, and Wealth from the Compass to the Internet (2001), The Baby Business (2006), and Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection (2013). Spar is a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and serves as a director of Value... View Details

Web

Industry Information - Alumni

as well as original coverage of the industry. Topics covered include retail technology, marketing, ecommerce, logistics and more. Digital Commerce 360 Formerly Internet View Details

January 2013 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google 2018

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Four businesses had, by 2012, grown to dominate the infrastructure that all firms rely on to reach online customers. Will the balance of power among the four persist, will one take command at the expense of the other three, or are all four more vulnerable than they... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Competitive Advantage; Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

March 2023
Case

Mirakl: Growing The Marketplace Economy

By: Antonio Moreno, Santiago Gallino and Emilie Billaud

Mirakl provided the technology and seller network required for companies like Macy's, Best Buy, Walmart, Siemens, or Carrefour to simply design, launch, and administer a marketplace that included products from third-party sellers. What began as a basic business idea in... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Transformation; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Sales; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Europe; France; Paris; United States