Publications

August 2014
Case

Netflix: Designing the Netflix Prize (A)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Wesley M. Cohen, Kynon Ingram, Tushar Kothalkar, Maxim Kuzemchenko, Santosh Malik, Cynthia Meyn, Greta Friar and Stephanie Healy Pokrywa

In 2006, Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, was looking for a way to solve Netflix's customer churn problem. Netflix used Cinematch, its proprietary movie recommendation software, to promote individually determined best-fit movies to customers. Hastings determined that a... View Details

Keywords: Crowdsourcing; Prizes; Digitization; Algorithms; Recommendation Software; Disruption; Transformation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Sharing; Applications and Software; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Technology Industry; United States

18 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 18

http://dx.doi.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.01.041 August 2013 The Changing Frontier: Rethinking Science and Innovation Policy Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Renewable Energy By:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 24

responsibility. Working PapersInducement Prizes and Innovation Authors:Liam Brunt, Josh Lerner, and Tom Nicholas Abstract We examine the effect of prizes on innovation using data on awards for... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2019 (Revised August 2020)
Case

The Predictive Index

By: Lynda M. Applegate and James Weber

Mike Zani and Daniel Muzquiz needed to decide next steps to create a new category in the human resources consulting industry and scale their company.
Zani and Muzquiz, serial entrepreneurs, acquired Predictive Index in 2014. Previously, as clients of the... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Talent and Talent Management; Recruitment; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Change Management; Disruptive Innovation; Digital Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Consulting Industry; Service Industry; United States

September 2017 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Hulu: Redefining the Way People Experience TV

By: Henry W. McGee and Christine Snively

In May 2017, Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins announced the launch of Hulu Live TV, a new offering that would "change the way people experience TV." The new service would allow consumers to bypass traditional cable and satellite delivery and use the Internet to access live... View Details

Keywords: Television Industry; Internet; Television Entertainment; Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Price; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

20 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

Rocket-tunity: Can Private Firms Turn a Profit in Space?

As entrepreneurial rocket companies come closer to shooting the first space tourist into the void, perhaps even this year, another reality is dawning: The business of space is no different than new industries everywhere else. It’s tough to launch. Up until now,... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Wallask; Aerospace; Tourism; Transportation

April 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Uber: Competing Globally

By: Alexander J. MacKay, Amram Migdal and John Masko

This case describes Uber’s global market entry strategy and responses by regulators and local competitors. It details Uber’s entry into New York City (New York), Bogotá (Colombia), Delhi (India), Shanghai (China), Accra (Ghana), and London (United Kingdom). In each... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Geography; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Globalization; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Law; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Consumer Behavior; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Design; Market Entry and Exit; Market Participation; Supply and Industry; Industry Structures; Planning; Strategic Planning; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Transportation; Transportation Networks; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; Africa; Ghana; Asia; China; Shanghai Shi; Shanghai; India; New Delhi; Europe; United Kingdom; England; London; Latin America; North and Central America; United States; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US); South America; Colombia

16 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business

changes will play out after this public health emergency is behind us. In the past, companies have used the lessons learned during periods of disruption to improve their standard operating practices. For example, the great recession... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

05 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 5

note:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/711419-PDF-ENG Television Competes for a Digital Audience Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy BartlettHarvard Business School Note 710-476 In the face of major disruption in the industry, television... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Oct 2014
What Do You Think?

Is Too Much Focus a Problem?

people to do senior managers all want innovation and risk taking in principle, but they don't have ways of measuring and evaluating it in the short term. So focus generally wins in larger, well-established organizations " What to do... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

15 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

GM: What Went Wrong and What’s Next

culture relate to its strategy. Use all this understanding to place innovative bets. This is what the early leaders of GM did. And this is what several generations of executives—beginning in the 1970s with the first oil shocks and the... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto

January 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

CloudEats: Revolutionizing the Cloud Kitchen in Southeast Asia

By: Paul A. Gompers and Adina Wong

Philippines-headquartered cloud kitchen CloudEats harbored the ambition of becoming the largest cloud kitchen in Southeast Asia, but it was considering several strategic paths forward. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; E-commerce; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Competitive Advantage; Food and Beverage Industry; Philippines; Southeast Asia

30 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 30

theorists differ as to whether exploitation undermines or enhances exploration. The debate reflects a gap—the missing theoretical mechanism by which organizations break free of old routines and discover new ones. We propose that the missing link is perturbation—novel... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (A)

By: Henry McGee and Aldo Sesia

In 2018, the Hollywood film industry is facing tough headwinds. Fewer and fewer Americans are going to movie theaters, opting instead to watch movies on demand in the comfort of their own homes or on portable devices. Adam Aron, the head of the world’s largest movie... View Details

Keywords: Exhibitors; Movies; Film Entertainment; Disruptive Innovation; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Global Range; Business Model; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

06 Jun 2008
What Do You Think?

Why Don’t Managers Think Deeply?

Jeffrey Immelt, GE's CEO, has received a lot of publicity recently for fostering "imagination breakthroughs" by encouraging managers to think deeply about innovations that will ensure GE's longer-term success. He has vowed that... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

July 2020
Case

Amanda and Kristen: Mented Cosmetics

By: Steven Rogers, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Alterrell Mills

The co-founders (Black HBS alumnae) of an e-commerce beauty startup explore the unmet needs within the beauty industry. This case study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from identifying an underserved market, specifically within the Black community... View Details

17 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 17, 2017

2017 Boston: Harvard Business Review Press Entering StartUpLand: An Essential Guide to Finding the Right Job By: Bussgang, Jeffrey J. Abstract—Many professionals aspire to work for startups. Executives from large companies view them as models to help them adapt to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Tom Quinn and Annelena Lobb

Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas’s engineering background, as he experienced a high... View Details