Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(3,009)
- Faculty Publications (336)
- February 2024 (Revised July 2024)
- Case
Taffi: Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia
By: Paul A. Gompers and Fares Khrais
Taffi was a tech-enabled fashion styling startup founded by Shahad Geoffrey in Saudi Arabia in 2020. Within three years of operating, Geoffrey had pivoted the business multiple times. In 2023, Geoffrey was attempting the business’s most ambitious pivot yet, shifting... View Details
- February 2024
- Case
FIGS: Scrubbing the Status Quo
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Nicole Tempest Keller
In October 2023, FIGS had revolutionized the medical scrubs industry with its fashionable and functional designs, but the venture was at a critical juncture. The digitally native vertical brand (DNVB) had gone public in a successful IPO in 2021 and reached $500 million... View Details
- January 2024 (Revised February 2024)
- Exercise
Travelogo: Understanding Customer Journeys
By: Eva Ascarza, Nicolas Padilla and Oded Netzer
In late May 2023, Sarah Merino, the newly appointed manager of the Customer Insights group at Travelogo—an online travel booking platform—initiates a comprehensive analysis of clickstream data to understand the varied behaviors and needs of their users. In preparation... View Details
- 2024
- Report
The Eco-Digital EraTM: The Dual Transition to a Sustainable and Digital Economy
By: Suraj Srinivasan, Andy Feinstein, Amol Khadikar, Jiani Zhang, Noémie Lauer, Hiral Shah, Sally Epstein, Jerome Buvat and Vaishnavee Ananth
Since the proliferation of smartphones and social media in the late 2000s, digital has captured an increasingly large portion of the economy. In this Capgemini Research Institute report, The Eco-Digital EraTM: The dual transition to a sustainable and... View Details
- 2024
- Book
The Everything Token: How NFTs and Web3 Will Transform the Way We Buy, Sell, and Create
By: Steve Kaczynski and Scott Duke Kominers
We demystify the coming digital revolution, showing how NFTs will transform our online and offline interactions.
NFTs aren’t just pictures on the internet, or a fad that has come and gone. Rather, they’re a new technology for creating digital assets and... View Details
NFTs aren’t just pictures on the internet, or a fad that has come and gone. Rather, they’re a new technology for creating digital assets and... View Details
Keywords: Economic Systems; Microeconomics; Entrepreneurship; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Digital Platforms; Digital Strategy; Digital Transformation; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Markets; E-commerce; Market Design; Value; Customer Value and Value Chain; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Organizational Structure; Customer Ownership; Ownership; Advertising Industry; Communications Industry; Computer Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Technology Industry; Web Services Industry
- October 2023 (Revised January 2024)
- Case
SEK: Reimagining Spanish Higher Education at Universidad Camilo José Cela (UCJC)
By: John J-H Kim, Mary C. Sauer and Emilie Billaud
In 2023, Nieves Segovia, President of the SEK Education Group in Spain, contemplates the future of her family's for-profit education company, which includes K-12 schools and the newly established UCJC university. Renowned for its innovation in education, SEK faces... View Details
- September 2023 (Revised June 2024)
- Case
Kaspi.kz: Building Trust through Innovation
By: Sandra J. Sucher, Fares Khrais and Marilyn Morgan Westner
This case is written to help students explore how companies can maintain and develop trust while innovating, how to identify and respond effectively to warning signs that they may not be as trusted as they believe, and how being trusted can aid in expanding and growing... View Details
- 2023
- Working Paper
Mapping Organizational-Level Networks Using Individual-Level Connections: Evidence from Online Professional Networks
By: Shelley Xin Li, Frank Nagle and Aner Zhou
Organization-level networks facilitate the flow of information and business activities in the
economy. Prior research relies solely on high-level connections to measure these networks. Therefore, to
understand the role of employee connections at all job levels in... View Details
- August 2023
- Case
Kariyer.net: Recruiting AI
By: Shunyuan Zhang, Fares Khrais and Namrata Arora
In 2017, Fatih Uysal (AMP 2021) became CEO of Kariyer.net. By then, the business was already the industry leading online job board in Turkey. However, faced with stalling growth, a turbulent macroenvironment, and growing competition from international players, Uysal... View Details
Keywords: Online Technology; Marketing; Websites; Artificial Intelligence; Innovation; Two-sided Platforms; Internet and the Web; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Job Search; Employment; Transformation; Volatility; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Management Practices and Processes; Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Strategy; Business Startups; Talent and Talent Management; Cost vs Benefits; Macroeconomics; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Digital Platforms; Employment Industry; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Middle East; Turkey
- June 2023
- Case
The Business of Campaigns
By: Vincent Pons and Mel Martin
In 2022, the U.S. Congress examined the Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act, the latest in a long series of campaign finance reforms. According to its authors, the law would be the “most consequential overhaul of federal... View Details
- 2023
- Working Paper
Setting Gendered Expectations? Recruiter Outreach Bias in Online Tech Training Programs
By: Jacqueline N. Lane, Karim R. Lakhani and Roberto Fernandez
Competence development in digital technologies, analytics, and artificial intelligence is increasingly important to all types of organizations and their workforce. Universities and corporations are investing heavily in developing training programs, at all tenure... View Details
- March 2023 (Revised August 2023)
- Case
Majid Al Futtaim: Adapting the Shopping Mall to the Digital Era
By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu
The case opens in August 2022, as Ahmed Galal Ismail, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Properties and Fatima Zada, digital and omnichannel director at Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls, go over the plans to roll out the omnichannel mall offering for the Mall of the Emirates they... View Details
- March 2023
- Case
Interior Collab
By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn
After venture capital-funded online interior design agency Homepolish collapsed, its former freelance designers met to discuss next steps. The bitter experience led some of them to create a workers’ collaborative called Interior Collab. The founding members needed to... View Details
- February 22, 2023
- Article
How to Seed Organic Marketing in a Video-First World
By: Ayelet Israeli, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Matt Higgins
Early direct-to-consumer (DTC) companies relied on plentiful capital and low-cost digital marketing to power growth. But as this sector has matured, capital is more constrained, social media is more cluttered, and customer acquisition costs are rising. DTC companies... View Details
Keywords: Online Business; Ecommerce; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Omnichannel Retail; Omnichannel Retailing; Influencer Marketing; Consumer; Organic Growth; Video Advertising; Promotion; Celebrities; Online Advertising; Online Channel; Online Communities; Online Community; Go To Market Strategy; Platform; Media; Media Content; Digital; Digital Culture; Digital Influencers; Direct To Consumer Marketing; Direct-to-consumer; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Sales; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Digital Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web; Advertising; Business Model; Growth Management; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Communication Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; Advertising Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; North America
- 2022
- Working Paper
Institutional Emplacement and the Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores
By: Ryan Raffaelli and Ryann Noe
This study reveals how actors leverage physical place as an asset to facilitate organizational
adaptation and industry evolution. Through a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of the U.S.
independent bookselling industry from 1995 to 2019, we outline how dispersed... View Details
- December 2022
- Supplement
Freelancer, Ltd. Case Supplement
By: Christopher Stanton, Karim R. Lakhani, 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 companies,... View Details
Keywords: Labor Markets; Freelancers; Change Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Globalized Firms and Management; Human Capital; Employment; Digital Platforms; Global Range; Adoption; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; Employment Industry; Information Industry; Australia; United States; Philippines
- November 2022
- Case
The Battle Among Channels for Marketing Pharmaceuticals: UpScript, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, and Direct-to-Consumer Sales
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Tiffany Farrell
Can an online, direct-to-consumer pharmacy both improve the quality and speed of care for patients who need branded drugs and stabilize profits for pharmaceutical manufacturers? UpScript, after years spent achieving legal and regulatory compliance and simultaneous... View Details
- October 2022 (Revised November 2023)
- Case
Framebridge (A): Reimagining Custom Framing
By: Rembrand Koning and Alicia Dadlani
In December 2018, Susan Tynan, founder and CEO of Framebridge, a four-year-old venture-backed startup that sold online custom framing, formulated plans for the future. Her vision was to revolutionize the $4 billion industry by making custom framing easy, transparent,... View Details
- September–October 2022
- Article
Should Your Company Sell on Amazon?: Reach Comes at a Price
By: Ayelet Israeli, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Matt Higgins and Sabir Semerkant
Selling on Amazon allows brands to reach millions of consumers—but that exposure comes with costs. They include smaller margins, more competition, the risk of commoditization, and less knowledge about customers.
In this article, the authors present a scorecard to... View Details
Keywords: Retail; Retailing; Online Business; Ecommerce; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Omnichannel Retail; Omnichannel Retailing; Amazon; Amazon.com; Sales; Digital Marketing; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; Advertising Industry; Battery Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States
- August 2022
- Background Note
Retail Media Networks
By: Eva Ascarza, Ayelet Israeli and Celine Chammas
In 2022, retail media was one of the fastest growing segments in digital advertising. A retail media network (RMN) allows a retailer to use its assets for advertising. Retailers set up an advertising business by allowing marketers to buy advertising space across their... View Details
Keywords: Advertisers; Advertising Media; Media And Broadcasting Industry; Retail; Retail Analytics; Retail Promotion; Retailing; Ecommerce; E-Commerce Strategy; E-commerce; Marketing Communication; Targeting; Targeted Advertising; Targeted Marketing; Advertising; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Media; Marketing Channels; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Advertising Industry; United States