Publications

October 1999 (Revised January 2000)
Case

W. R. Hambrecht & Co: OpenIPO

By: Andre F. Perold and Gunjan D. Bhow

OpenIPO is a new mechanism for pricing and distributing initial public offerings. The system, which is based on a Dutch auction, represents an attempt by the investment bank W.R. Hambrecht + Co. to change the manner in which IPOs are underwritten. The case provides a... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Debt Securities; Stocks; Initial Public Offering; Price; Information; Auctions; Agreements and Arrangements; Distribution; Internet; Netherlands

February 2001 (Revised February 2018)
Case

The iPremier Company (A): Distributed Denial of Service Attack

By: Robert D. Austin, Larry Leibrock and Alan Murray

Describes a new CIO trying to manage a denial of service (DOS) attack against his e-retailing business. The attack and its aftermath provide students an opportunity to discuss the business issues that are interwoven with computer security issues. View Details

Keywords: Safety; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Retail Industry

September 2017 (Revised July 2018)
Case

CyberArk: Protecting the Keys to the IT Kingdom

By: Raffaella Sadun, David Yoffie and Margot Eiran

CyberArk was the recognized leader in the Privileged Account Management (PAM) space, a cybersecurity subsegment it had essentially created to secure organizations’ IT systems and sensitive data. Over 17 years, the Israeli company had grown to a market capitalization of... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology; Cybersecurity; Information Technology Industry; Israel; United States

10 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

Lessons from the Browser Wars

diffused into the market. The debate was this: Did Microsoft win because its Internet Explorer was the technologically superior product to Netscape Navigator, or was Microsoft just more successful at the distribution end by convincing... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Computer; Consumer Products; Technology

March 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Eliot Spitzer: Pushing Wall Street to Reform

By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella and Jonathan Schlefer

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer faced a decision about how to stop wrongdoing committed by major Wall Street firms during the Internet boom. The equities analysts of Merrill Lynch and other Wall Street firms were charged with objectively advising retail... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Decisions; Financial Institutions; Stocks; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Laws and Statutes; Lawsuits and Litigation; Conflict of Interests; Internet; Financial Services Industry; United States

06 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

The Trouble Behind Livedoor

Horie represented all that is wrong with Western-style capitalism, others saw him as the future of the country's media industry, and a man of the people. But last month, Horie was arrested on suspicion of accounting fraud and illegal View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Technology

11 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Financial Services 24/7

routine part of most people's lives, there is no doubt that technology—especially Internet technology—is having a huge impact on the financial services industry. With much hype and headlines, Web trading has revolutionized the View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Where Main Street Meets Wall Street

& Company, based in San Francisco. Randy W. Goldman (MBA '76), vice president for electronic brokerage product development at Schwab, explains that her company's Internet site carries more than half the firm's trading volume and... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Financial Services

July 2016 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Cyber Breach at Target

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Lynn S. Paine and Neeraj Goyal

In November and December of 2013, Target Corporation suffered one of the largest cyber breaches to date. The breach that occurred during the busy holiday shopping season resulted in personal and credit card information of approximately 110 million Target customers... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Credit Cards; Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Governing and Advisory Boards; Crisis Management; Retail Industry

15 Sep 2015
First Look

September 15, 2015

Shane Greenstein Abstract—We examine the relationship between the diffusion of advanced Internet technology and the geographic concentration of invention, as measured by patents. First, we show that patenting became more concentrated from... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2023
Case

Ransomware Attack at Springhill Medical Center

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan (Jason) Ni

In July, 2019, Springhill Medical Center (“SMC”) in Mobile, Alabama, fell prey to a malicious ransomware attack that crippled the hospital’s internal network systems and public-facing web page. While the hospital rushed to securely restore the network, medical... View Details

May 2021
Teaching Note

From Globalization to Dual Digital Transformation: CEO Thierry Breton Leading Atos Into 'Digital Shockwaves'

By: Tsedal Neeley

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 419-027 and 419-046. Thierry Breton, chairman and CEO of IT company Atos, faces a pivotal juncture. After spending eight intense years scaling the company globally to over 100,000 employees in 70 countries, he sees digital shockwaves... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Transformation; Strategy; Disruption; Employees; Competency and Skills; Training; Organizational Culture; Digital Transformation; Information Technology Industry

February 2001 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Amazon.com (C)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

At the end of 1998, Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos ponders the next moves for his company. Having secured the leadership position as the leading online book seller in the United States, Amazon.com has now moved into the product categories of CDs and videos by... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Books; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Germany; United Kingdom; United States

May 2017 (Revised July 2017)
Supplement

Aadhaar: From Voluntary to Mandatory

By: Tarun Khanna, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

Approximately 1.1 billion residents of India (99% of the population) had a unique biometric identity—Aadhaar—by 2017. In six years, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had achieved an unprecedented milestone in emerging and developed markets. The... View Details

January 2021 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Snapp: Scaling Under Sanctions in Iran (A)

By: Meg Rithmire and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in November 2019 as Eyad Alkassar and Mahmoud Fouz, co-founders of Iran’s first and leading ride-hailing platform, Snapp, find out about Apple’s and Google’s decisions to remove all Iranian apps from their respective application stores.
The case... View Details

Keywords: Sanctions; Change Management; Disruption; Volatility; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Government and Politics; International Relations; National Security; Risk Management; Crisis Management; Transportation Industry; Iran; Middle East

13 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 13, 2007

alike: (1) securing the future through innovation strategies suitable for an emerging "white coat economy" that is discovery-based; (2) pursuing happiness by addressing the connection between work and family life and reinventing... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 5, 2006

helping intentions; in other words, those participants who did not dehumanize outgroup victims were the individuals most likely to report volunteering for hurricane relief efforts. Internet Companies' Growth Strategies: Determinants of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Data.gov

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Robert D. Austin and Yumi Yi

This case presents the logic and execution underlying the launch of Data.gov, an instantiation of President Obama's initiative for transparency and open government. The process used by Vivek Kundra, the federal CIO, and his team to rapidly develop the website and to... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Rights; Analytics and Data Science; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Cost vs Benefits; Innovation and Management; Information Management; Public Administration Industry; Information Industry; United States