Publications

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Topics - HBS Working Knowledge

Weather and Climate Change (37) Web Sites (8) Web (12) Weight (1) Welfare or Wellbeing (14) Wireless Technology (1) Work-Life Balance (52) Working Capital (1) Working... View Details

24 May 2018
Research & Ideas

Distance Still Matters in Business, Despite the Internet

Lalocracio Location has always been a vital resource in business. “Location, location, location,” as they say in real estate. But then along came the internet in the 1980s, and suddenly distance-related business costs collapsed for transactions, communications,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology; Technology; Technology; Technology; Technology

March 2023
Case

MrBeast: Building a YouTube Empire

By: Anita Elberse and Oliver Band

Wednesday November 16, 2022 was a historic day in the ascent of Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, to the top echelon of YouTube creators. That day he became the YouTuber with the most subscribers ever—a total of 112 million. The meteoric rise of the 24-year-old... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Power and Influence; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

May 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Marshall Industries

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Confounding predictions that the Internet would "disintermediate" commerce, making "middle man" companies all but obsolete, Marshall Industries, a leading electronics distributor, used the Internet and digital technologies to reinvent itself. Marshall continued to sell... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Supply Chain; Emerging Markets; Customer Focus and Relationships; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry

2019
Working Paper

The Future of Executive Development: The CLO's Compass and The Executive Programs Designer's Guide

By: Mihnea Moldoveanu and Das Narayandas

Executive education worldwide has entered a period of disruption catalyzed by the digitalization of content, connectivity, and communication—while the demand for managerial skills is growing. The forces of disintermediation, disaggregation, and decoupling are creating... View Details

Keywords: Digitalization; Executive Education; Disruption; Leadership Development; Management Skills; Curriculum and Courses; Internet and the Web; Design

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Other Article

The Market That Wasn't: The Non-emergence of the Online Grocery Category

By: Chad Navis, Greg Fisher, Ryan Raffaelli and Mary Ann Glynn

We examine the non-emergence of a potential new market category. In the late 1990s the entrepreneurial firms that attempted to sell groceries online attracted significant resources, made meaningful technological advancements and generated immense publicity, yet online... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Food; Emerging Markets; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

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2017
Book

HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Find, acquire, and run your own business. Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own start-up seem too risky? There is a radical third path open to you: you can buy a small business and run it as CEO. Purchasing a small... View Details

Find at Harvard

01 Sep 2023
News

Money Does Grow on (Family) Trees

on his land. Kearns has documented it all. “Genealogy is an opportunity to uncover, be inspired by, and share stories of all people,” says Kearns, a marketing director for Amazon Web Services and board member of the nonprofit National... View Details

Keywords: April White; Illustrations by Fabio Consoli; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

04 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Navigating Consumer Data Privacy in an AI World

Harnessing customer data well is central to any modern business, as is earning consumers’ trust that their information will stay private. With data breaches growing more common, regulations are tightening across the globe to bolster security, creating a new View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Technology

January 2020 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Freelancer, Ltd.

By: Christopher Stanton, Karim R. Lakhani, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Jin Hyun Paik and Nina Cohodes

Over the course of the 2010s, the rapid advancement of mobile technologies and the rise of online freelancing platforms seemed to portend a radical transformation of labor markets into on-demand, flexible talent pools. Even though several Fortune 500... View Details

Keywords: Freelancers; Platforms; Digital Labor; Labor; Human Resources; Management; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Industry; Australia; United States; Philippines

Research Summary

Overview

The research activity of Stefano Denicolai regards the management of innovation and technology. His recent works investigate if and how the investment in intangible assets (IA) - especially knowledge assets, such as patents or copyright - impacts on the firm... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Management; International Entrepreneurship; Intangible Assets; Open Innovation; Innovation and Management; Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Glossier: Co-Creating a Cult Brand with a Digital Community

By: Jill Avery

Glossier’s proclaimed strategy was “born from content; fueled by community.” The digital-first, direct-to-consumer beauty brand had experienced rapid growth, with sales up 600% in 2017 and a customer portfolio that grew by threefold. But, its founder, Emily Weiss, was... View Details

Web

Entrepreneurship - Faculty & Research

and Antoinette Schoar This paper documents that ventures that are funded by two successful angel groups experience superior outcomes to rejected ventures: they have improved survival, exits, employment, patenting, web traffic, and... View Details

11 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

Is A/B Testing Effective? Evidence from 35,000 Startups

researchers analyzed the characteristics, web metrics, and technology adoption trajectories of the startups over four years starting in April 2015 to determine not only whether A/B testing affected firm... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

June 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (A)

By: Marco Di Maggio, Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Snap, the disappearing message app, went public at $17 per share on March 2, 2017, making its two 20-something founders the youngest self-made billionaires in the country. Over the next three weeks, 14 analysts made investment recommendations on Snap: two with buy... View Details