Publications

02 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

Do Online Dating Platforms Help Those Who Need Them Most?

we already know. The functionality of these businesses is clear, but their immense popularity can be perplexing. After all, people managed to get married and maintain friendships for eons before the Web ever existed. So, are these virtual... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology

22 Apr 2021
News

Leading for a Better World in Boston; Virtual Event Showcases Japan Fellowship

Japan Fellowship Program Gets Virtual Boost from Professor David Yoffie HBS Professor David Yoffie talks about platform businesses during HBS CLub of Japan's virtual Fellowship... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

Teaching Interest

Competing in the Age of Digital Platforms—(Executive Education)

By: David B. Yoffie

Summary

Without exception, the most valuable companies in the world today are platforms. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and many other firms have built their fortunes by facilitating innovation across global ecosystems or... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Technology; Strategy; Digital Business; Social Networks; Self-driving Cars; Mobile Gaming; Esports; Financial Services; Online Retail; Ride-sharing; Search; Auctions; United States; Asia; China; Europe

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

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

April 2009 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Linden Lab: Crossing the Chasm

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

In early 2008, 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 had... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Infrastructure; Technology Adoption; Digital Platforms

07 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

When Glasses Land the Gig: Employers Still Choose Workers Who 'Look the Part'

graphic design. Freelancers constituted 36 percent of the US workforce in 2021, according to Upwork, a freelance platform. Aiming to establish trust in this largely virtual gig world, many platforms... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

Compliance as Management (“The Dark Side of Compliance”)

Featured in law-partner response to chapter: Jeffrey M. Kaplan, Does Compliance Have a Dark Side?, Conflict of Interest Blog, Dec. 27, 2019. Keynote to IAE Bus. Sch.,... View Details

September 2014
Teaching Plan

Linden Lab: Crossing the Chasm

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

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

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry

September 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Case

VMware, Inc., 2008

By: David B. Yoffie, Andrei Hagiu and Michael Slind

Paul Maritz took the helm of VMware in July 2008, just as the company confronted a radically new competitive environment. Since its founding in 1998, VMware had been the leading provider of virtualization software. Now it faced the kind of threat that every software... View Details

Keywords: History; Digital Platforms; Competition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Applications and Software; Business Strategy

February 2025
Supplement

Intenseye: Powering Workplace Health and Safety with AI (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Shane Greenstein and Sadika El Hariri

Intenseye used its $25 million series A funds to refine and expand its digital safety platform while refining its target markets and ideal customer profile. As the company implemented new approaches to create value for its clients, such as developing an AI-powered... View Details

12 Sep 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Can Remote Surgeries Digitally Transform Operating Rooms?

Keywords: Health

09 Apr 2012
News

Harvard Women Entrepreneurs Find Resource in Women's Founders Forums

15 Aug 2023
HBS Case

(Virtual) Reality Check: How Long Before We Live in the 'Metaverse'?

But it must first overcome key technological and developmental challenges. One of the most critical questions yet to be answered: Will it be an open and interoperable virtual world, similar to today’s internet, or will it be a closed 3D... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Technology; Computer; Information Technology

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Oklahoma VISION Project

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Susan Saltrick

Describes the two-year-old pilot phase of a public/private initiative in Oklahoma called the Virtual Internet School in Oklahoma Network (VISION) project. VISION was a first-of-its-kind, standards-based, vendor-neutral technology infrastructure developed to enable... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Internet and the Web; Performance Evaluation; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Service Delivery; Innovation and Management; Entrepreneurship; Education; Information Technology Industry; Education Industry; Oklahoma; Western United States

Find at Harvard

30 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Racial Bias Might Be Infecting Patient Portals. Can AI Help?

the fact that in 2009, a new law had widely expanded the use of electronic health systems, by early 2020, just 38 percent of patients had logged into a secure online health portal. And communities of color used these health care platforms... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Health

23 Jun 2022
Research & Ideas

All Those Zoom Meetings May Boost Connection and Curb Loneliness

Americans are lonelier than ever—a problem the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated. Could interactions on platforms like Zoom and Twitch come close to replicating the real-life contact people crave? New research suggests that’s more... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

March 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Proximie: Using XR Technology to Create Borderless Operating Rooms

By: Ariel D. Stern and Alpana Thapar

In mid-January 2022, Nadine Hachach-Haram, founder and CEO of Proximie, was thinking about the company’s growth plans. Launched in 2016, Proximie was a platform that enabled clinicians, proctors, and medical device company personnel to be virtually present in operating... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Strategic Planning; Health Care and Treatment; Analytics and Data Science; Digital Platforms; Health Industry; Lebanon; United Kingdom; United States