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- All HBS Web
(1,469)
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- News (197)
- Research (1,003)
- Events (6)
- Multimedia (2)
- Faculty Publications (632)
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- September 2014
- Teaching Plan
Linden Lab: Crossing the Chasm
In early 2009, managers at Linden Lab, creator of the virtual world Second Life, faced decisions about the company's growth strategy. Despite profound initial skepticism about demand for a user-generated virtual world that was not a traditional game, Second Life was... View Details
Eisenmann, Thomas R. "Linden Lab: Crossing the Chasm." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 815-053, September 2014.
- April 2011 (Revised September 2011)
- Case
BlackRock Solutions
By: Kenneth A. Froot and Scott Waggoner
The BlackRock Solutions case examines the different functions and economics of a global asset manager's value chain, with particular emphasis on the "money management" and the "investment systems platform" businesses. Students analyze why BlackRock decided to unbundle... View Details
Keywords: Investment Management; Strategic Vision; Organizational Behavior; Economies Of Scale And Scope; Unbundling Of Services; Strategic Planning; Risk Management; Financial Management; Asset Management; Competitive Advantage; Value; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Culture; Investment; Financial Strategy
Froot, Kenneth A., and Scott Waggoner. "BlackRock Solutions." Harvard Business School Case 211-082, April 2011. (Revised September 2011.)
- May 20, 2024
- Article
Porter’s Five Forces and Competitive Advantage in Web3
By: Scott Duke Kominers and Liang Wu
Competitive strategy — the art of crafting and executing plans to achieve an advantageous position in the market — is integral to any business, and especially relevant for platforms because it determines their ability to achieve network effects and scale. But web3... View Details
Keywords: Five Forces Framework; Competitive Strategy; Business Strategy; Network Effects; Digital Transformation
Kominers, Scott Duke, and Liang Wu. "Porter’s Five Forces and Competitive Advantage in Web3." a16zcrypto.com (May 20, 2024).
- October 2021
- Case
(180) Days of Quibi
By: David J. Collis and Terrence Shu
Mobile streaming app Quibi was ready to take the entertainment world by storm at its April 2020 launch. Backed by $1.75 billion, influential investors from Hollywood to Wall Street eagerly anticipated early success for this brainchild of Meg Whitman, former CEO of... View Details
Collis, David J., and Terrence Shu. "(180) Days of Quibi." Harvard Business School Case 722-377, October 2021.
- April 2021 (Revised July 2021)
- Case
StockX: The Stock Market of Things (Abridged)
By: Chiara Farronato, John J. Horton, Annelena Lobb and Julia Kelley
Founded in 2015 by Dan Gilbert, Josh Luber, and Greg Schwartz, StockX was an online platform where users could buy and sell unworn luxury and limited-edition sneakers. Sneaker resale prices often fluctuated over time based on supply and demand, creating a robust... View Details
Keywords: Markets; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Demand and Consumers; Consumer Behavior; Analytics and Data Science; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Market Transactions; Marketplace Matching; Supply and Industry; Analysis; Price; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; North and Central America; United States; Michigan; Detroit
Farronato, Chiara, John J. Horton, Annelena Lobb, and Julia Kelley. "StockX: The Stock Market of Things (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 621-107, April 2021. (Revised July 2021.)
- June 2014
- Case
Going Social: Durex in China
By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Aaron Smith
When Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a leading consumer goods company, first entered China, it encountered significant challenges. RB's strategy relied on selling high margin products supported by cost-effective advertising and distribution, but the highly competitive Chinese... View Details
Keywords: Distribution; Multinational Firms and Management; Internet and the Web; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; China
Piskorski, Mikolaj Jan, and Aaron Smith. "Going Social: Durex in China." Harvard Business School Case 714-430, June 2014.
- December 2017 (Revised March 2018)
- Case
Kellogg Company/eighteen94 capital
By: David Bell, Damien McLoughlin and Natalie Kindred
With 33,000 employees and revenues of $13 billion in 2016, Kellogg Company was the world’s largest producer of branded packaged cereal and a leader in branded convenience foods. Founded in 1906 and based in Michigan, the company had a proud history of product and... View Details
Keywords: CPG; Consumer Packaged Goods; Cereal; Battle Creek; Michigan; Breakfast; Snack; Agribusiness; Change Management; Growth Strategy; Corporate Venture Capital; Innovation; Startup; Brand; Brand & Product Management; Advertising; Demand and Consumers; Innovation and Invention; Venture Capital; Food; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Michigan; North America
Bell, David, Damien McLoughlin, and Natalie Kindred. "Kellogg Company/eighteen94 capital." Harvard Business School Case 518-061, December 2017. (Revised March 2018.)
- November 2017 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
Redfin: Redefine Real Estate
By: Hong Luo and Huafeng Yu
Founded in 2004, Redfin envisioned a light-touch model in which clients self-served using the digital platform in exchange for a significantly lower fee than traditional agents. Realizing the narrow appeal of its initial model, Redfin had made significant changes to... View Details
Keywords: Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Real Estate Industry; North America
Luo, Hong, and Huafeng Yu. "Redfin: Redefine Real Estate." Harvard Business School Case 718-430, November 2017. (Revised December 2019.)
- January 2010 (Revised May 2012)
- Case
TopCoder (A): Developing Software through Crowdsourcing
By: Karim R. Lakhani, David A. Garvin and Eric Lonstein
TopCoder's crowdsourcing-based business model, in which software is developed through online tournaments, is presented. The case highlights how TopCoder has created a unique two-sided innovation platform consisting of a global community of over 225,000 developers who... View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Two-Sided Platforms; Motivation and Incentives; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competition; Software; Technology Industry
Lakhani, Karim R., David A. Garvin, and Eric Lonstein. "TopCoder (A): Developing Software through Crowdsourcing." Harvard Business School Case 610-032, January 2010. (Revised May 2012.)
- May 2024
- Case
A New Aiera for Equity Research
By: Joseph Pacelli, Charles CY Wang and James Barnett
Aiera (pronounced “era”) co-founder and CEO Ken Sena considers strategic pathways to growth for the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform used to source, verify, and transcribe earnings calls, company presentations, and other corporate events. View Details
- January 2017 (Revised May 2019)
- Case
Paytm: Building a Payments Network
By: Sunil Gupta, Das Narayandas and Rachna Tahilyani
By January 2017, Paytm, a mobile payments company that started in 2010, became India’s largest mobile payments platform with over 142 million users and $5 billion valuation. Could Paytm become a $100 billion company its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma envisioned it be? View Details
Keywords: Mobile Payments; Ecommerce; Mobile App; India; Entrepreneurship; Expansion; Service Operations; Mobile and Wireless Technology; E-commerce; Service Industry; India
Gupta, Sunil, Das Narayandas, and Rachna Tahilyani. "Paytm: Building a Payments Network." Harvard Business School Case 517-091, January 2017. (Revised May 2019.)
- October 2023 (Revised February 2024)
- Case
Bizongo and e-B2B in India
By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Radhika Kak
Bizongo, an Indian e-B2B platform was co-founded by three college graduates in 2015 with the goal of creating the "Alibaba of India" when the B2B e-commerce landscape was practically non-existent. The founders saw a significant opportunity in connecting mid-sized... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; E-commerce; Business Strategy; India
Rodríguez Arregui, Álvaro, and Radhika Kak. "Bizongo and e-B2B in India." Harvard Business School Case 824-100, October 2023. (Revised February 2024.)
- April 2014 (Revised June 2014)
- Case
Google Glass
By: Thomas Eisenmann, Lauren Barley and Liz Kind
In early 2014, business development executives at Google were formulating a distribution strategy for Glass, a wearable computer that projected information on a display viewable with an upward glance. Options, which were not mutually exclusive, included 1) continuing... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Distribution Channels; Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Technology Adoption
Eisenmann, Thomas, Lauren Barley, and Liz Kind. "Google Glass." Harvard Business School Case 814-102, April 2014. (Revised June 2014.)
- March 2022
- Case
In Data We Trust: Be Mobile Africa and Furthering Financial Inclusion Across the African Continent
By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Pierre Marchesseault
To Cédric Jeannot, leveraging technology to promote financial inclusion was personal. After no established financial institution would accept his technology platform to lower transaction costs for free, Jeannot launched FinTech company Be Mobile Africa in May 2020.... View Details
Keywords: Finance; Fintech; Emerging Market; Fundraising; Financial Inclusion; Strategy; Expansion; Management; Entrepreneurship; Personal Finance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; Africa; Togo; Nigeria; Ghana
Cohen, Lauren, Grace Headinger, and Pierre Marchesseault. "In Data We Trust: Be Mobile Africa and Furthering Financial Inclusion Across the African Continent." Harvard Business School Case 222-073, March 2022.
- June 2019
- Case
Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Expanding from One to Many Millions of Customers
By: Thales S. Teixeira
By 2019, two-sided online platforms (or marketplaces) were 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 Markets; Digital Marketing; Customer Acquisition; Two-Sided Platforms; Growth Management; Marketing Strategy; Customers; Acquisition; Organizational Change and Adaptation
Teixeira, Thales S. "Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Expanding from One to Many Millions of Customers." Harvard Business School Case 519-087, June 2019.
- 2019
- Working Paper
Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 15 The IBM PC
The IBM PC was the first digital computer platform that was open by as a matter of strategy, not necessity. The purpose of this chapter is to understand the IBM PC as a technical system and set of organization choices in light of the theory of how technology shapes... View Details
Baldwin, Carliss Y. "Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 15 The IBM PC." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-074, January 2019.
- June 2014
- Teaching Note
Google Glass
By: Thomas Eisenmann
In early 2014, business development executives at Google were formulating a distribution strategy for Glass, a wearable computer that projected information on a display viewable with an upward glance. Options, which were not mutually exclusive, included 1) continuing... View Details
- 2017
- Working Paper
Explaining the Vertical-to-Horizontal Transition in the Computer Industry
This paper seeks to explain the technological forces that led to the rise of vertically integrated corporations in the late 19th century and the opposing forces that led to a vertical-to-horizontal transition in the computer industry 100 years later. I first model the... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Design; Business History; Vertical Integration; Horizontal Integration; Digital Platforms; Computer Industry
Baldwin, Carliss Y. "Explaining the Vertical-to-Horizontal Transition in the Computer Industry." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-084, March 2017.
- May 2022
- Case
From GOP to NFT: Anthony Scaramucci and the Launch of Flatter NFT
By: Lauren Cohen, Richard Ryffel and Grace Headinger
Anthony Scaramucci, Managing Director of SkyBridge Capital, considered whether he should officially greenlight the launch of SkyBridge’s own NFT platform — Flatter NFT. He had led the investment firm to push first into Bitcoin and then Ethereum to make SkyBridge a... View Details
Keywords: Business Startup; Fintech; Technology; Cryptocurrency; Web3; Business Startups; Volatility; Decision Making; Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Strategic Planning; Adoption; Competitive Advantage; Technology Adoption; Finance; Currency; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; New York (city, NY)
Cohen, Lauren, Richard Ryffel, and Grace Headinger. "From GOP to NFT: Anthony Scaramucci and the Launch of Flatter NFT." Harvard Business School Case 222-085, May 2022.
- March 2016
- Case
IC Group A/S
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
IC Group owned several of Scandinavia's leading premium fashion brands. How should it respond to the decline of its primary wholesale distribution channels (independent fashion boutiques and department stores)? Should it open more physical stores or focus on... View Details
Keywords: IC Group; IC Companys; Carli Gry; InWear; Mads Ryder; Niels Martinsen; Premium Fashion; Fast Fashion; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Profit; Revenue; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Business or Company Management; Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Distribution Channels; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Product Positioning; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Web Sites; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Scandinavia; Denmark; Sweden; Norway
Wells, John R., and Gabriel Ellsworth. "IC Group A/S." Harvard Business School Case 716-446, March 2016.