Publications

July 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Linux in 2004

By: Pankaj Ghemawat, Brian Subirana and Christina Pham

A new technology platform conceived in the early 1990s, Linux developed into a force to be reckoned with in the operating system marketplace. At first, Linux was dismissed as a renegade option used only by tech geeks. By 2004, however, Linux had exploded into the... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Open Source Distribution; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Information Technology Industry

12 May 2020
Blog Post

The Importance of Coordination: Apoorva Pasricha Reflects on Crisis Leadership

access, devices, or digital literacy, San Jose launched a $24 million fund, to be distributed over the next ten years, to provide grants to community groups serving low-income residents. "I was... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Technology; Nonprofit / Government

28 Apr 2020
Blog Post

The Importance of Coordination: Apoorva Pasricha Reflects on Crisis Leadership

access, devices, or digital literacy, San Jose launched a $24 million fund, to be distributed over the next ten years, to provide grants to community groups serving low-income residents. "I was... View Details

March 1998
Case

Launch

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Launch has developed an entertainment publication on CD-ROM with 240,000 subscribers and has recently introduced an on-line entertainment product (www.mylaunch.com) to complement the CD-ROM. Deals with multiple-channel delivery and platform selection and branding on... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Distribution Channels; Information Publishing; Brands and Branding; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Publishing Industry

2012
Chapter

IP Modularity in Software Ecosystems: How SugarCRM's IP and Business Model Shape Its Product Architecture

By: Josef Waltl, Joachim Henkel and Carliss Y. Baldwin

Keywords: Business Model; Digital Platforms; Open Source Distribution; Complexity; Applications and Software; Intellectual Property

April 2020
Teaching Note

Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature

By: Michael W. Toffel and James Barnett

Teaching Note for HBS No. 620-024. Indigo Agriculture used a digital-enabled research and development (R&D) process to launch its initial product, microbial coatings for agricultural seeds, which increase crop yields while reducing the need for fertilizers. In doing... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Supply Chain; Social Enterprise; Product Development; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Digital Platforms; Science-Based Business; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Massachusetts

01 Mar 2024
News

What is Web3?

secure, and decentralized framework where individuals own, and have greater control and sovereignty over, their digital assets and interactions within the digital realm. Blocks and Blockchains The... View Details

2009
Working Paper

Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search? - Companion Paper

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

This companion paper contains several extensions of the model presented in our main paper - Hagiu and Jullien (2009). View Details

Keywords: Market Intermediation; Search; Two Sided Markets; Platform Design; Demand and Consumers; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

Read Now

Web

Delivered by fast service cars - The Human Factor – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

planned system of fast distribution and replacements. Deliveries are made to dealers every few days by fast service cars. Typical of their up-to-the minute equipment, the illustrated truck is refrigerated, ventilated, insulated, to guard... View Details

19 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Wrapping Your Alliances In a World Wide Web

new digital economy, coupled with the growing size of the EC and IT sectors within the overall economy, we can no longer afford to further postpone attention to efficient business process interfaces between supply-chain trading partners.... View Details

Keywords: by Andrew McAfee

Web

Site Credits - Railroads and the Transformation of Capitalism | Harvard Business School

Railroads Finance Management Business Analysts Mass Distribution Mergers & Syndicates Research Links Railroads & the Transformation of Capitalism Credits: Curator: Melissa Banta HBS Faculty Advisors: Walter A. Friedman, Research Fellow... View Details

01 Dec 2017
News

2017 in Manufacturing: The Supply Chain Goes High Tech

The globalization of manufacturing and the increased dependence on digital technology is transforming the sector and changing its competitive advantage profile. This is a long-term trend, but we are seeing its effects more clearly with... View Details

Keywords: Jerry Jasinowski (AMP 97, 1985), former president and CEO, National Association of Manufacturers

2007
Working Paper

Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

We analyze the incentives to divert search for an information intermediary who enables buyers (consumers) to search affiliated sellers (stores). We identify two original motives for diverting search (i.e. inducing consumers to search more than they would like): i)... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

Read Now

October 2005 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Red Flag Software Co.

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Tarun Khanna, David Lane and Elizabeth Raabe

In 2005, just five years after its formal launch, Beijing-based Red Flag Software was the world's second-largest distributor of the Linux operating system and was expecting its first annual profit. On a unit basis, Red Flag led the world in desktops (PCs) shipped with... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Competitive Advantage; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Globalized Markets and Industries; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry; Beijing; United States

02 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Retail Reaches a Tipping Point—Which Stores Will Survive?

us to believe that we are at an inflection point is demographics. You have this new generation of digital natives who are used to operating online. Their default option for shopping is through a digital... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

Web

HBS - Financials | From the Chief Financial Officer

is reinventing how organizations compete in the digital world. The School welcomed the first cohort of fellows at the Institute for the Study of Business in Global Society (BiGS), bringing together researchers and practitioners to address... View Details

17 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?

face a host of challenges in the years ahead. For some retailers, ecommerce threatens to digitize the products they sell and leave them without anything meaningful to stock in their stores. For others, hyper-competitive online retailers... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

24 Apr 2014
News

A business career comes full circle

Henry McGee (AB 1974, MBA 1979) spent 34 years at Home Box Office, helping to develop the television company into an international powerhouse. As president of HBO Home Entertainment, the DVD and digital program View Details

Article

Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

We analyze the incentives to divert search for an information intermediary who enables buyers (consumers) to search affiliated sellers (stores). We identify two original motives for diverting search (i.e., inducing consumers to search more than they would like): 1)... View Details

Keywords: Market Intermediation; Search; Two-Sided Markets; Platform Design; Demand and Consumers; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Retail Industry