Publications

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01 Feb 2008
What Do You Think?

How Sustainable Is Sustainability in a For-Profit Organization?

history of these entities.... When it is monetized" (whether by competition or government) "the for-profit enterprise will select the lowest price alternative." But Allen Howlett expressed reservations about this approach,... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

30 Jan 2018
First Look

January 30, 2018

Physical: Federal Limitations on Regulating Online Marketplaces By: Edelman, Benjamin, and Abbey Stemler Abstract—Online marketplaces have transformed how we shop, travel, and interact with the world. Yet, their unique innovations also... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Sep 2014
HBS Seminar

Ben Edelman, Harvard Business School

09 Mar 2016
HBS Seminar

Katja Seim of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

10 Nov 2015
First Look

November 10, 2015

were realized. What we label the CEO-specific Q and past return explains equity issuance, but it does not explain debt issuance, investment, or profitability. Two discontinuity analyses show that the specific share price that the current... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Apr 2016
First Look

April 12, 2016

link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50897 forthcoming Journal of Marketing Research Repairing the Damage: The Effect of Gender and Price Knowledge on Auto-Repair Price Quotes By: Busse,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Faculty & Research

HBS Book Negotiation: The Game Has Changed By: Max Bazerman The world has changed dramatically in just the past few years—and so has the game of negotiation. COVID-19, Zoom, political polarization, the online economy, increasing economic... View Details

January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Less Is More: Will Aldi's Expansion Plans Pay Off in a Crowded U.S. Grocery Market?

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

In 2024, the discount grocery retailer Aldi announced bold U.S. expansion plans. Within five years, the German company would increase its store count by 30% to reach 3,200+ stores across the United States and approach becoming the fifth largest grocery retailer in the... View Details

Keywords: Scope; Grocery; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

October 2014
Case

Progressive, 2007-2013

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2013, Progressive was the fourth largest player in the auto insurance market, having lost the third position to GEICO in 2008. As the industry shifted from agency to online sales, GEICO's direct selling model positioned it strongly for growth. Progressive's direct... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Insurance Companies; Insurance; Strategy; Insurance Industry; North America

Winter 2013
Article

The New Patent Intermediaries: Platforms, Defensive Aggregators and Super-Aggregators

By: Andrei Hagiu and David B. Yoffie

The patent market consists mainly of privately negotiated, bilateral transactions, either sales or cross-licenses, between large companies. There is no eBay, Amazon, New York Stock Exchange, or Kelley's Blue Book equivalent for patents, and when buyers and sellers do... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Platforms; Intermediaries; Aggregator; Patents; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Distribution Channels

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18 Dec 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 18, 2018

describe the enormous changes in the markets for therapies for rare diseases that have emerged over recent decades. The most prominent example is the fact that the profit-maximizing price of new orphan drugs appears to be greater today... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

October 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Cost of Capital at Ameritrade

By: Mark L. Mitchell and Erik Stafford

Ameritrade Holding Corp. is planning large marketing and technology investments to improve the company's competitive position in deep-discount brokerage by taking advantage of emerging economies of scale. In order to evaluate whether the strategy would generate... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Asset Pricing; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Investment; Marketing; Mathematical Methods; Competition; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Financial Services Industry

14 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 14

capita. Our instrumental variable estimates confirm our results that states with commodities that had higher price increases had lower risk premia. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-027.pdf PublicationsWho Owns... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 10, 2018

developing fresh capabilities for organizations. Based on a study of all the programs offered by the business schools, consultancies, corporate universities, and online education providers, we analyze the advantages, and the constraints,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2020
Case

Ureed.com: The Marketplace for Language

By: Ashley V. Whillans, Esel Çekin and Alpana Thapar

Jordanian entrepreneur, Nour Al Hassan, founded Tarjama in 2008, tapping into an underserved and high demand need: Arabic translation service. Its lean model comprised of hiring full-time employees, mainly women, who worked from home. It steadily grew over the... View Details

Keywords: Language Translation; Freelancers; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Management; Expansion; Quality; Growth and Development Strategy

July 2023
Article

Before or After? The Effects of Payment Decision Timing in Pay-What-You-Want Contexts

By: Raghabendra P. KC, Vincent Mak and Elie Ofek

We study how payment decision timing—before versus after product delivery—influences consumer payment under pay-what-you-want pricing. We focus on situations where there is minimal change in consumer uncertainty regarding the product before versus after receiving it.... View Details

Keywords: Price; Behavior; Valuation; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

October 2007
Article

The Art of Designing Markets

By: Alvin E. Roth

Traditionally, markets have been viewed as simply the confluence of supply and demand. But to function properly, they must be able to attract a sufficient number of buyers and sellers, induce participants to make their preferences clear, and overcome congestion by... View Details

Keywords: Market Design; Market Participation; Market Transactions; Information Technology; Internet and the Web