Publications

Program

Competing in the Age of Digital Platforms

Summary The vast majority of the world's most valuable companies today are platforms: Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and many other firms have built their fortunes by facilitating innovation across global View Details

August 2013 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Amazon in 2024

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; Publishing Industry

August 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Lexoo: Building a Long-Lasting Platform (Abridged)

By: Chiara Farronato and Elena Corsi

Lexoo, a UK-based online marketplace for legal services, was facing the strategic choice of how to grow from early start-up to mature platform. Daniel van Binsbergen, Lexoo's CEO, and web developer Chris O'Sullivan, CTO, had set up Lexoo to help Small and Medium-Sized... View Details

Keywords: Legal Services; Marketplaces; Pivot; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Small Business; Service Operations; Decision Making; Legal Services Industry

May 2025
Supplement

Dungeons & Dragons: Repairing Ecosystem Trust (B)

By: Gabriel Rossman, Oliver Schilke and Julian Zlatev

Supplements the (A) case, 924-008. View Details

18 Jul 2019

HBS in NYC: The Ecosystem of Entrepreneurship

This event is designed for prospective students who want to learn about the extensive entrepreneurship resources and vibrant community of entrepreneurs at HBS. View Details

17 Apr 2017
Research Event

The Most Pressing Issues for Platform Providers in the Sharing Economy

The so-called chicken-and-egg problem is arguably the most discussed and most obvious business dilemma in the sharing economy. Platform providers–like Uber, Airbnb, or Etsy–rely on both consumers View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Service

25 Aug 2022
News

A New Platform for Alumni Engagement

foray into building the Learning Network, one of four engagement platforms that represent an important component of the new Digital, Data, and Design Institute at Harvard (D^3). “We want to create a two-way... View Details

Keywords: April White

January 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (A)

By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen and Shirley Sun

ZBJ.com (ZBJ), an online platform that connects knowledge workers to small- and medium-sized enterprises, is China’s largest outsourcing platform. Founded by Mingyue Zhu in 2006, ZBJ had grown into a unicorn with 4,000 employees and a daily transaction volume of RMB15... View Details

Keywords: Outsourcing; Disintermediation; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Information Technology Industry; China

05 Nov 2021
Op-Ed

How to Tap the Talent Automated HR Platforms Miss

As the global staffing shortage grinds on, corporate recruiters everywhere are relying on their online hiring platforms and automated systems to deliver the candidates they need. Too often, these tools will fail them, sidelining many qualified workers in the process.... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph B. Fuller

23 Sep 2019
News

A New Ecosystem of Leaders: 40 Social Innovators Driving Change and Transforming Society in 2019

December 2021
Case

Slice Labs: Creating a Fraud-free Online Insurance Platform

By: Amit Goldenberg, Max Bazerman and Ruth Page

"Slice Labs: Creating a Fraud-Free Online Insurance Platform" engages students with the challenge of how to influence other parties to not engage in fraud in the context of digital insurance. The case is centered around Slice, a digital insurance company that was... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Webmunk: A New Tool for Studying Online Behavior and Digital Platforms

By: Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin and Chris Karr

Understanding the behavior of users online is important for researchers, policymakers, and private companies alike. But observing online behavior and conducting experiments is difficult without direct access to the user base and software of technology companies. We... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Technology Adoption; Behavior; Research; Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web

Find at Harvard

Read Now

January 3, 2022
Other Article

Pushing Social Media Platforms to Self-Regulate

By: Michael A. Cusumano, David B. Yoffie and Annabelle Gawer

Read Now

09 Dec 2015
Research Event

When Hosts Attack: The Competitive Threat of Online Platforms

economy. “A platform owner may imitate them and enter their markets by offering similar products,” Zhu explained. “Before you build your business model around platforms, you need to think about how to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Technology; Web Services

09 Sep 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Quantity vs. Quality: Exclusion by Platforms with Network Effects

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Technology

spring 2007
Article

The Metaverse as a Business Platform

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr. and Jonathan Reichental

Keywords: Business Ventures

August 2023
Teaching Note

Strategic Innovation at the United Nations: A Network of Ecosystems

By: Frank Nagle, Elizabeth J. Altman and Kumba Sennaar

December 2011 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Transforming Verizon: A Platform for Change

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

A new CEO steps into the shoes of his long-time predecessor who had created the U.S. telecommunications giant via a series of acquisitions and, before departing, had initiated the company's strategic repositioning. The new CEO reflected on Verizon's recent successes,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Globalized Firms and Management; Groups and Teams; Telecommunications Industry