Publications

June 2019
Case

Monetizing Insurance at Trov

By: Thales Teixeira, Samy Dana and Leandro A Guissoni

Trov is a disruptive startup in the insurance space (“insurtech”). It allows consumers to simply turn on and turn off insurance for each of their possessions on a mobile app with the swipe of a finger. Consumers love the simple, on-demand, single-item coverage product.... View Details

Keywords: Monetization; Decoupling; Business Startups; Insurance; Disruption; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Strategy; Insurance Industry

01 Mar 2017
News

How Deep Brain Stimulation Could Change Medicine

Mayo’s Neural Engineering Laboratory began to make dramatic improvements to the technology behind the treatment. Instead of requiring constant tweaking like a typical deep brain stimulation device, Harmoni’s sensors work to keep the brain... View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos

November 2019
Supplement

Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL

By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta

This multimedia supplement accompanies the case “Innovation at Uber: the Launch of Express POOL” (case no. 619-003). Set in March 2018, the case follows ride-sharing company Uber as it develops and launches a new product called Express POOL. This multimedia supplement... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Technology Industry; California; San Francisco

September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Telepass: From Tolling to Mobility Platform (Abridged)

By: Chiara Farronato, Stefano Denicolai and Sarah Mehta

Telepass, until very recently the sole processor of electronic toll payments on Italy’s highways, has ambitions beyond tolling. Since the mid-2010s, the company has been expanding into adjacent services. In 2017, Telepass launched TelepassPay—a mobile payment... View Details

Winter 2021
Article

Mobile Internet Usage and Usage-based Pricing

By: Jeffrey Prince and Shane Greenstein

Using data on mobile Internet usage of thousands of individuals, we provide some of the first analyses linking mobile usage to key demographics such as income. We find a reverse-U relationship between mobile Internet usage and income—notably different than the... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Internet Usage; Pricing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Demographics; Income; Price; Strategy

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

01 Mar 2019
News

Ask the Expert: Auto Pilot

a Work Lyft with 5G wireless connectivity and swivel desks, allowing you to do conference calls. Others might be optimized for entertainment or even meditation. Recently my home state revoked my privilege to drive because of a disability.... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers; Retail Trade

July 2021
Case

A Close Shave at Squire

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Zoë B. Cullen, William R. Kerr, Benjamin N. Roth and Michael Norris

In 2020, just after closing a $34 million Series B financing round, Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon consider how to adjust their business, Squire Technologies, to the new realities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their barbershop technology, including tools to run a shop... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Pandemics; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; New York (city, NY); San Francisco

August 2004 (Revised April 2005)
Case

MK Taxi: Private Chauffeur Service

MK Taxi Tokyo has developed a system to allow customers to use their mobile phones to find and contact the cab closest to them, bypassing the dispatch center. The system, called the Private Chauffeur Service (PCS), makes use of NTT's i-mode service, which essentially... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Customer Focus and Relationships; Transportation; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Transportation Industry; Service Industry; Tokyo

February 2017 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Shopkick: The Power of Shopper Data

By: John Deighton, Allison Ciechanover and Mike Horia Todorescu

Keywords: Big Data; Mobile App; Marketing; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Analytics and Data Science

Web

Winners & Success Stories | New Venture Competition

relationship between the business and its customers. @hoc’s Persistent Communications technology creates a continuous Channel of communication between a company and its customers. Birchbox Hayley Barna , MBA 2010 Katia Ververis , MBA 2010... View Details

01 Dec 2005
News

Campaign Ends, Exceeds Expectations

is teeming with people grabbing a bite to eat, checking e-mail, or picking up cases. Hawes Hall, the School’s first new classroom building in fifty years, and its newly renovated neighbor, Aldrich Hall, have the technology to beam a... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

September 2013
Case

PadFone vs. FonePad

By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai

To Jonney Shih, Chairman of ASUSTek Computer, the introduction of Apple's iPad made clear the need to transition his company to a new cloud-computing era. But the company's roots in the manufacture of Windows-powered desktop and notebook PCs bounded the creativity of... View Details

November 2020
Case

The Rise and Fall of Nokia (Abridged)

By: Juan Alcácer and Tarun Khanna

In 2013, Nokia sold its Device and Services business to Microsoft for €5.4 billion. For decades Nokia had led the telecommunications (telecom) industry in handsets and networking. By the late 2000s, however, Nokia's position as market leader in mobile devices was... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Phones; Smartphones; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Emerging Markets; Technological Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Telecommunications Industry

01 Jun 2003
News

Up Against The Firewall

policies, and procedures to detect if anyone successfully intrudes, and then to know how to respond. Security is not just firewalls.” Indeed, a reliance on technological defenses can breed a false sense of security, since constant... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Robert Austin; Corporate Services; Computer Systems Design and Related Services; Professional Services

2017
Working Paper

Threat of Platform-Owner Entry and Complementor Responses: Evidence from the Mobile App Market

By: Feng Zhu

We examine how app developers on the Android mobile platform adjust their innovation efforts (rate and direction) and value-capture strategies in response to Google’s entry threat and actual entry into their markets. We find that, after Google’s entry threat increases,... View Details

Keywords: Platform-owner Entry; Entry Threat; Innovation; Complementors; Mobile App Industry; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation Strategy; Market Entry and Exit

01 Feb 2002
News

HBS Expands Global Presence

adds. "In the telecommunications arena, for instance, the European market is more focused on wireless devices than is the case in the United States, so the technology industry is evolving in distinct ways."... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

January 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

foursquare

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and David Chen

Co-founders of foursquare are deciding how to respond to competitive threats and scale up the organization. Foursquare was a location-based online service that allowed users to "check in" to a location using an application on a smartphone. Foursquare kept track of a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Competitive Advantage; Web Services Industry; United States