Publications

25 Aug 2022
News

A New Platform for Alumni Engagement

foray into building the Learning Network, one of four engagement platforms that represent an important component of the new Digital, Data, and Design Institute at Harvard (D^3). “We want to create a two-way street between our alumni and... View Details

Keywords: April White

14 Aug 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

The Manager's Guide to Leveraging Disruption

one of the forces that threatens established companies can also be a source of salvation: disruptive change. How to Be a Digital Platform Leader The most valuable companies in the world have one thing in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Web

Disruptive Innovation Online Course | HBS Online

This course is part of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Strategy track. Introduction to Disruptive Strategy ENROLL NOW No application needed for our certificate programs. Start your journey today! View Details

11 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

How Hackathons Help Decide Platform Winners and Losers

tremendous way for developers to learn quickly, and for both developers and technology companies to reap real benefits.” About the author Michael Blanding is a writer based in Boston. [Image: gorodenkoff] Related Reading 6 Ways That Emerging Technology Is View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

10 Feb 2020
In Practice

6 Ways That Emerging Technology Is Disrupting Business Strategy

Alexander J. MacKay, an assistant professor of business administration who studies the economics of competition. 4. Platforms are upending traditional business models “Emerging technologies of all types and forms are helping companies... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

April 2024 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Moderna: Pioneering a People Platform to Accelerate Science Innovation

By: Tatiana Sandino, Emil Dy and Samuel Grad

Moderna was founded in 2010 to explore how messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) could be used to create breakthrough medicines by encoding instructions for the body to create antibodies. When Stéphane Bancel (HBS 2000) took over in 2011, he bet on the potential of this... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Talent and Talent Management; Selection and Staffing; AI and Machine Learning; Digital Strategy; Innovation and Management; Leadership Development; Management Practices and Processes; Management Systems; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Alignment; Employee Relationship Management; Science-Based Business; Expansion; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States

September 2017 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Marriott International: The Next 90 Years

By: Chiara Farronato and Gary Pisano

The case examines how Marriott should respond to the potential threats from new home-sharing platforms and the rise of online travel agencies. In 2017 Marriott was the largest hotel chain, with more than one million rooms and 7% of worldwide room supply. In the... View Details

Web

Winning with Digital Platforms Online Course | HBS Online

This course is part of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation track. Introduction to Winning with Digital Platforms ENROLL NOW No application needed for our certificate programs. Start your journey today! Winning with Digital View Details

01 Mar 2018
News

Can a Digital Platform Open Up the Opaque Metals Industry?

revenues compared to third-party traders who orchestrated sales between the two. “It felt fundamentally unfair to us,” Eykher says. “We figured there had to be a better way to do things.” In September 2017, they launched Open Mineral, a cloud-based B2B View Details

Keywords: Nicole Torres

February 2018
Teaching Plan

Tesla in 2015

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Olivia Hull and Sarah Mehta

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-081. View Details

2014
Case

Yonyou 2013

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming and Ziqian Zhao

The case describes how a leading Chinese management software provider Yonyou (formerly known as "UFIDA") disrupted its value chain-based business model to transform itself into a platform provider. The case describes Yonyou's past success, the market forces and... View Details

Keywords: Business Models; ERP; Platforms; Strategy; Transformations; China; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; China

Speaker's Box, Journal of Advertising Research

“Speaker’s Box” invites academics and practitioners to identify potential areas of research affecting marketing and advertising. Its intention is to bridge the gap between the length... View Details

2014
Teaching Note

Yonyou 2013 (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming and Ziqian Zhao

The case describes how a leading Chinese management software provider Yonyou (formerly known as "UFIDA") disrupted its value chain-based business model to transform itself into a platform provider. The case describes Yonyou's past success, the market forces and... View Details

Keywords: Business Models; ERP; Platforms; Strategy; Transformations; China; Information Technology; China

Summer 2016
Article

The Real Lessons From Kodak's Decline

By: Willy C. Shih

Eastman Kodak is often mischaracterized as a company whose managers didn't recognize soon enough that digital technology would decimate its traditional business. However, what really happened at Kodak is much more complicated—and instructive. Kodak suffered from a... View Details

Keywords: Technological Change; Disruption; Ecosystem; Semiconductors; Photography; Scaling-up; Scaling; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Product; Consumer Products Industry; United States

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November 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Teaching Plan

Gimlet Media: A Podcasting Startup

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

When digital distribution becomes an option for an analog industry, the effects on the incumbents can be devastating. Is podcasting the beginning of the end of radio? Can it do what streaming video did to television and websites did to print? Two former public radio... View Details

Keywords: Platforms And Ecosystems; Startup; Creative Industries; Digital Marketing; Podcasting; Business Startups; Media; Entertainment; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; United States

March 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Barnes & Noble: Managing the E-Book Revolution

By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Kimball Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer

The case describes competition in the market for E-Books, and Barnes & Noble's Strategy in this industry. As a traditional retailer, B&N was challenged by the introduction of digital technologies that allow books to be published, distributed and sold to consumers... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Technology Strategy; Platform Competition; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology; Product Development; Digital Platforms; Standards; Disruptive Innovation; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry; North America

October 2020
Supplement

OpenIDEO (B)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Anne-Laure Fayard, Manos Gkeredakis and Jin Hyun Paik

In the midst of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was unfolding, OpenIDEO—an online open innovation platform focused on design-driven solutions to social issues—rapidly launched a new challenge to improve access to health information, empower communities to stay safe... View Details

September 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

edX: Strategies for Higher Education

By: David Collis, Matthew Shaffer and Ashley Hartman

In May 2012, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) founded edX, a new non-profit joint venture that would provide a platform for massive open online courses (MOOCs). edX did not produce original courses or instructional content—it made... View Details

Keywords: MOOCS; edX; Online Platforms; Online Education; Harvard University; MIT; Execution; Monetization; Brand Management; Higher Education; Information Technology; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Digital Platforms; Education Industry

March 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Prodigy Network: Democratizing Real Estate Design and Financing

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Katja Hutter and Greta Friar

This case follows Rodrigo Nino, founder and CEO of commercial real estate development company Prodigy Network, as he develops an equity-based crowdfunding model for small investors to access commercial real estate in Colombia, then tries out the model in the U.S. U.S.... View Details