Publications

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01 Mar 2012
News

Learning to Speak the Language of Business

Mikitani Main article: Where Innovation Rules Case study: Englishnization at Rakuten From Pinterest to Kobo, how Japan's Rakuten is building a global internet giant (Wired.co.uk) You might call Hiroshi Mikitani (MBA 1993) the Jeff Bezos... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; e-commerce; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Miscellaneous Store Retailers

April 2018
Supplement

Flipkart (B): The Ongoing Battle for India's E-Commerce Market

By: Sunil Gupta, Das Narayandas and Rachna Tahilyani

In 2017, both Flipkart and Amazon claimed leadership position in India's recently concluded key annual festive season sale, but it was too early to declare victory. Amazon continues to invest heavily in India. Competition from newer players is increasing. Media reports... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Competition; Retail Industry; India

June 1998 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Microsoft CarPoint

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

CarPoint.com was Microsoft's Web-based entry into on-line automobile retailing. While it could not, in fact, "sell" or deliver any cars, it could shift much of consumer search, comparison, and decision-making, including pricing, the traditional car dealer to the Web.... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Market Entry and Exit; Consumer Behavior; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

01 Apr 2000
News

Getting the Message

In 1994, the World Wide Web was not yet a household name. A new company called Yahoo! had just developed a way to look for sites on the Internet -- the search engine. HotWired debuted as the first online magazine to carry advertisements.... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

19 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Are Web Sites So Confusing?

Do you sometimes get the feeling that Internet portals, search pages, social networks, e-commerce, and other Web sites are not necessarily designed in order to maximize user convenience and benefits? We do, too. Why—you might ask? For a... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Bruno Jullien

July 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Petstore.com

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Petstore.com is one of four contenders for leadership in the highly competitive online pet supply business. Petstore.com faces decisions regarding potential merger partners and how to brand its service within the website managed by its ultimate merger partner,... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Partners and Partnerships; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry

May 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Service and Value in e-Commerce

This collection of readings illustrates the importance of service and logistics in e-commerce, focusing on e-Toys' disastrous 1999 holiday season. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Logistics; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

30 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 30

These findings challenge previous recommendations for optimal advice-seeking behavior. Harvard Business School Case 617-059 Flashion: Art vs. Science in Fashion Retailing Kate Wilson, retail analytics... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Predictions, Prophets, and Restarting Your Business

period—and so did in-store sales as well as sales of jigsaw puzzles and walkie-talkies. It’s not clear what we learn from panic buying. So let’s look at what was happening online before the virus of 2020. Ecommerce has been part of the View Details

Keywords: by Frank V. Cespedes

01 Jan 2008
News

John Doerr, MBA 1976

a dramatic impact on life in the 21st century, from online retail giant Amazon.com to Internet behemoth Google to synthetic biology leader Amyris. Doerr has become a leading advocate of innovation and... View Details

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

What Your Competition is Telling You

perhaps prefer, the nearby independent. "There's a delicate balance between the synergies [two combatants] can generate on one hand and too much competition on the other," says Joan E. Primo, a principal of real estate and View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

January 1998
Case

Frontgate Catalog

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Frontgate is a high-end, Lebanon, Ohio-based catalog business. The decision makers are trying to determine how much financial and personnel resources to invest in the development of a Web site. The decision is being made in light of branding issues and competitor's Web... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Competition; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; Ohio

Find at Harvard

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Priceline WebHouse Club

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jon K Rust

Priceline empowered consumers to "name their own price" for airline tickets and hotel rooms; then it shopped these offers to marketers. Priceline's founder Jay Walker described the resulting transactions as a new ecosystem, that helped consumers realize lower prices... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry

17 Dec 2001
Research & Ideas

Enterprising Women

Lewis (HBS MBA '92), took the Internet retailer of office supplies from 25 to 400 employees and $50 million to $500 million in revenues. Being an "intrapreneur" within a larger corporation—with a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

26 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

A Better Way to Negotiate: Backward

negotiate in the right order. Sorting Out The Possibilities When Steve Perlman was preparing to launch WebTV in 1996, he faced a critical sequencing dilemma. He had obtained seed funding, developed the technology to bring the Internet to... View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius

25 Apr 2012
What Do You Think?

How Will the “Age of Big Data” Affect Management?

appraisal of opportunities for new business startups. Furthermore, analytics (not the data) should be a source of continuing competitive advantage. In his new book, Charles Duhigg describes how the retailer Target uses data on consumption... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

December 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Boll & Branch

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Mel Martin

Boll & Branch is a direct-to-consumer (DTC) business launched in 2015. It was the first Fair-Trade Certified manufacturer of linens. The case provides background on the company, its start, business model, and evolution through 2019. View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Channels; Disruption; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Internet and the Web; Strategy; Retail Industry; United States; Canada

05 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

In Praise of Marketing

alongside global brands. Retailing and distribution remain largely local. And American consumers show a desire for increasing cultural variety in their life experiences, eating more often at ethnic restaurants and vacationing more often... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Advertising

January 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Background Note

Paving the Information Superhighway

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Geoffrey Bock and Janis Lee Gogan

Examines solutions to many of the information-sharing problems that limit growth of electronic commerce on the Internet. Serves as a basic primer for the use of electronic information exchange. While familiarizing the student with the basic tenets and terminology of... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Knowledge Sharing; Problems and Challenges; Retail Industry; Retail Industry