Publications

17 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Why E-commerce Didn’t Die With the Fall of Webvan

delivery services should not be discounted too soon, according to HBS professor and marketing specialist John A. Deighton. As Deighton explained in the article "Who Wanted Webvan to Survive?" published last summer in The Boston... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Consumer Products; Retail

10 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

Lessons from the Browser Wars

diffused into the market. The debate was this: Did Microsoft win because its Internet Explorer was the technologically superior product to Netscape Navigator, or was Microsoft just more successful at the distribution end by convincing... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Computer; Consumer Products; Technology

December 2024
Case

Tencent Games

By: Rebecca Karp, Billy Chan and Nancy Hua Dai

For years, Tencent Games, a division of China’s largest internet company, had taken the lion’s share of revenue in the global gaming market with blockbuster titles such as “League of Legends” and “PUBG: Battlegrounds.” These games defined the game genres that they... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Investment; Competitive Strategy; Video Game Industry; Europe; China

August 2000 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Borders Group, Inc.

By: Zeynep Ton and Ananth Raman

Describes Borders Group, a well-known retail chain, in late 1999 and its traditional strengths and rapid growth in the 1990s. By 1990, however, the company had fallen behind Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in leveraging the Internet for book retailing, although it... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Distribution Channels; Service Operations; Business Growth and Maturation; Economic Growth; Industry Growth; Growth and Development; Internet; Business Model; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Supply and Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

January 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

The Random House Response to the Kindle

By: Bharat N. Anand and Peter Olson

In early 2010, e-readers, like Amazon's Kindle and Apple's impending iPad, threatened to disrupt the book publishing industry. The case provides an overview of the industry, describes the broader trends regarding e-readers, and asks: how should major publishers like... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Trends; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Consumer Behavior; Industry Structures; Corporate Strategy; Hardware; Publishing Industry

Research Summary

Technological Change and Competitive Strategy

Richard S. Rosenbloom continues to explore issues in the strategic management of technology and the relationship between technological change and competitive strategy. He is currently investigating the histories of radical technological innovations and their... View Details

October 2015
Case

Bigbelly

By: Mitch Weiss and Christine Snively

To accelerate Bigbelly's sales growth and its "smart cities" positioning, its CEO planned to shift his company from equipment sales to a subscription service. Jack Kutner hoped to re-position Bigbelly's solar-powered trash compacting stations beyond trash and recycling... View Details

May 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Case

Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Acquiring the First Thousand Customers

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Morgan Brown

By 2016, two-sided online platforms (or marketplaces) were pervasive among the highest growing internet startups around. These marketplaces sought to match suppliers of assets for rent, physical products or services with customers demanding them. Among the most notable... View Details

Keywords: Airbnb; Etsy; Uber; Growth Hacking; Two-sided Market; Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Business Startups; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry

June 2011
Case

Shelley Capital and the Hedge Fund Secondary Market

By: Luis Viceira, Elena Corsi and Ruth Dittrich

An advisory company has to decide how to sell their client's hedge fund holdings in the secondary market, and thinks about their future. Shelley Capital was a a European advisory company operating in the hedge fund secondary market, a market that boosted in 2008 with... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment Funds; Marketing Strategy; Financial Crisis; Sales; Leadership Development; Financial Markets; Crisis Management; Business Processes; Risk and Uncertainty; Globalized Economies and Regions; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Europe

October 2021
Article

Can Self-Regulation Save Digital Platforms?

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

This article explores some of the critical challenges facing self-regulation and the regulatory environment for digital platforms. We examine several historical examples of firms and industries that attempted self-regulation before the Internet. All dealt with similar... View Details

Keywords: Self-regulation; Government Regulation; Digital Platforms; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

Find at Harvard

June 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Exercise

The Pacific Sentinel: Role for Chris Coleman

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Dina R. Pradel

A new publishing company has just purchased the Pacific Sentinel, a fictional West Coast newspaper. The new publisher is willing to invest $1 million in the future success of the paper and has asked the executive editor and advertising manager to develop a joint plan... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Conflict of Interests; Decision Making; Publishing Industry

08 Feb 2010
HBS Case

Looking Behind Google’s Stand in China

Google, the "do no evil" company, gained entry into the Chinese search engine market last decade by agreeing to ban search results on topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese government. To Google's way of thinking, it could do more good for View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

December 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Cameron Trebbi at Taylor Lowell, LLP

By: Karthik Ramanna

Cameron Trebbi is a senior executive overseeing accounting policy at a large global auditing firm. His role is to lobby the firm's position with various accounting rule-making bodies worldwide. The firm is close to acquiring as new audit clients a consortium of Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Lobbying; Thin Political Markets; Accounting; Business and Government Relations; Accounting Industry; China; United States

March 2014 (Revised September 2014)
Supplement

Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (B)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred

This case, a follow-up to Cancer Treatment Centers of America (A), HBS No. 313-012, begins with the debate over New Hampshire's certificate-of-need (CON) law, which restricts hospital expansion. This debate ignited significant public criticism of Cancer Treatment... View Details

Keywords: Cancer; Cancer Treatment; Accountability; Outcomes; Outcomes Reporting; Outcomes Measurement; Survival; For-profit Hospitals; Health Care; Healthcare; Hospital; Certificate Of Need; Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Corporate Accountability; Policy; Health Industry; United States

2001
Case

Encyclopedia Britannica (C)

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Praveen Kopalle

In October of 1999, EBI offered a new Internet service at www.britannica.com. EBI provided access to the entire text and graphics of Encyclopedia Britannica absolutely free of charge. Its revenues came from on-line advertising, sponsorships, and a percentage of goods... View Details

Keywords: Online Technology; Online Advertising; Business Strategy; Information Publishing; Web Services Industry

Read Now

March 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

eFrenzy, Inc. (A)

By: Marco Iansiti and Nicole Tempest

Details how to design, launch, and scale a rapidly growing Internet venture. Focuses on the challenges and opportunities involved in leveraging a network of partners. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Internet and the Web; Product Development; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Information Technology Industry; United States