Publications

2003
Other Unpublished Work

Initiative for a Competitive Milwaukee: A Call to Action

By: Michael E. Porter

The inner city of Milwaukee holds great promise, but is not advancing economically. The inner city has been hard hit by the loss of many of its largest employers as a result of relocation, acquisition and failure. According to the 2000 US Census data, thirty percent of... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Society; Poverty; Economy; Growth and Development; Wisconsin

Read Now

July 2003 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Model N Inc.

By: Marco Iansiti and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

The CEO of a Silicon Valley start-up needed to make organizational and product changes to deliver a new software solution to a Fortune 500 customer. He was wondering how he should structure the company to best meet the requirements for this particular customer, while... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Trends; Communication; Customer Focus and Relationships; Selection and Staffing; Time Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Software; Computer Industry

November 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Amazon.com-2002

By: Stig Leschly, Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Todd H Thedinga

Describes the evolution of Amazon.com and its business model since its founding. Specifically, discusses Amazon's transformation from an e-Tailer to a commerce platform and its marketplace initiative, which has driven this. Also describes the economics of various... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Transformation; Retail Industry

October 2001
Case

Meg Whitman and eBay Germany

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

After acquiring the German online auction company Alando.de, eBay CEO Meg Whitman and her team must integrate Alando's Web site with the company's existing platform. The acquisition is the first step of eBay's journey to become a global trading platform. In addition to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Integration; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Globalized Markets and Industries; Germany

February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

WholesalerDirect

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Describes the development of WholesalerDirect, a B2B electronic commerce venture in the plumbing, heating, cooling, and piping industry. Adam Berger, the CEO, is trying to raise funding to roll out the company's e-commerce platform to the industry's more than 3,000... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Valuation; Business Plan; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy

November 2000 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Tellme Networks, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Nicole Tempest

Tellme, an early-stage, venture-backed company based in Silicon Valley, leverages speech-recognition technologies to provide: 1) a "voice portal" with news and other information accessible through any telephone, and 2) turnkey application development and hosting... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Business Conglomerates; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Venture Capital; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Information Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry

November 2000
Case

FireDrop

By: William A. Sahlman and Michael J. Roberts

Describes the evolution of FireDrop, a new venture-backed company that has developed a new platform for e-mail communication. The FireDrop application--called a Zaplet--allows for e-mails to be continually updated so they are current when read (rather than when sent).... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet and the Web; Communication Technology; Venture Capital; Technological Innovation; Information Technology Industry

September 2000 (Revised October 2006)
Teaching Note

Wildfire Communications, Inc. (A) and (B) (TN)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and John T. Gourville

Teaching Note for (9-396-305) and (9-396-306). View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Performance Effectiveness; Business Processes; Digital Platforms; Business Strategy; Markets

February 2000 (Revised May 2001)
Case

eBricks.com

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

eBricks.com is developing an online marketplace for construction materials. The start-up company faces two decisions: 1) whether to merge with BluelineOnline.com, a firm providing project management solutions for the construction industry; and 2) whether to develop an... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Marketplace Matching; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Startups; Construction Industry

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A4): Sun Peak: Helen Yang and Mark Walden on "Running Sun on Sun"

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

SunPeak was the largest project Sun Microsystems, Inc. had ever undertaken: shifting Sun's entire business transaction system from a mainframe-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to a Sun-based system. Making the shift would be complicated and financially... View Details

Keywords: Projects; Transformation; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy; Complexity; Risk and Uncertainty; Success; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Technology Industry; Computer Industry

November 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

VerticalNet (www.verticalnet.com)

By: Das Narayandas

VerticalNet, a leading creator of targeted business-to-business vertical trade communities on the Internet, is trying to expand its model to facilitate e-commerce. Mark Walsh, the CEO of VerticalNet, has to decide how far he can extend the firm's business model without... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Digital Platforms; Expansion; Internet and the Web

November 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Microsoft Office: Finding the Suite Spot

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Steven Sinofsky

Describes a key decision-making process within Microsoft's Office products division. At a time when the PC software business has a great deal of uncertainty, Microsoft's management has to make a key decision regarding the future of software suites. A strengthening of... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Applications and Software; Strategic Planning; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Development; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Goals and Objectives; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Management; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

August 1997 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Argentina's YPF Sociedad Anonima (D): The International Platform

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In March 1995, YPF (the former Argentine state-owned oil and gas utility, privatized in late 1993) acquired the Dallas-based Maxus Energy Corp., one of the world's largest independent oil and gas exploration companies. YPF's first acquisition is nearly bankrupt, with... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Globalization; Borrowing and Debt; Privatization; Managerial Roles; Energy Industry; Argentina; Texas

March 1996 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Wildfire Communications, Inc. (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Mary Connor

Founder and CEO Bill Warner is faced with critical decisions regarding the product lines, target markets, and technology platforms that his start-up, Wildfire Communications, Inc., will pursue. In addition to the question of strategic focus across these lines of... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Resource Allocation; Organizational Culture; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Communications Industry; Technology Industry

October 1995
Case

Singapore TradeNet: Beyond TradeNet to the Intelligent Island

By: Lynda M. Applegate, John L. King and Soon-Siong Neo

Describes the actions taken by the government of Singapore to enable the country to survive and prosper after it achieved independence in the late 1960s. Recognizing that its small size, limited natural resources, but excellent location placed it in a vulnerable... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Communication Technology; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry; Singapore

September 1995
Case

Ares-Serono

By: Michael Y. Yoshino, Jean-Pierre Jeannet and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Ares Serono, a medium-size Swiss pharmaceutical company, is the global leader in the field of fertility drugs. The company has successfully transformed into one of the very few biotech firms in Europe. The case treats a set of major strategic and organizational... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Globalized Firms and Management; Asset Management; Balance and Stability; Expansion; Digital Platforms; Leadership Development; Health Care and Treatment; Transformation; Family Business; Problems and Challenges; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Switzerland; Europe

Forthcoming
Article

Beefing IT Up for Your Investor? Engagement with Open Source Communities, Innovation, and Startup Funding: Evidence from GitHub

By: Annamaria Conti, Christian Peukert and Maria P. Roche

We study the engagement of nascent firms with open source communities and its implications for innovation and attracting funding. To do so, we link data on 160,065 U.S. startups from Crunchbase to their activities on the open source software development platform... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Knowledge; Open Source Communities; GitHub; Machine Learning; Innovation; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Information Technology; Strategy