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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,020)
- People (2)
- News (373)
- Research (1,286)
- Events (11)
- Multimedia (14)
- Faculty Publications (909)
- June 2007
- Article
Merchant or Two-Sided Platform?
By: Andrei Hagiu
This paper provides a first pass at clarifying the economic tradeoffs between two polar strategies for market intermediation: the "merchant" mode, in which the intermediary buys from sellers and resells to buyers; and the "two-sided platform" mode, under which the... View Details
Hagiu, Andrei. "Merchant or Two-Sided Platform?" Review of Network Economics 6, no. 2 (June 2007): 115–133.
- May 2022
- Case
Rawbank's Illico Cash: Can 'Fast Money' Overcome Cash Dependency in the DRC?
By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger
Thomas de Dreux-Brézé, the Head of Strategy and Project Management at Rawbank Congo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was perplexed as he reviewed annual adoption rates for the bank’s launch of Illico Cash 2.0. As the bank’s mobile money app, Illico Cash... View Details
Keywords: Fintech; Inflation; Deflation; Rural; Urban; Emerging Market; Mobile Technology; Finance; Money; Inflation and Deflation; Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Demographics; Developing Countries and Economies; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Behavioral Finance; Currency; Banks and Banking; Commercial Banking; Financial Strategy; Rural Scope; Urban Scope; Innovation Strategy; Emerging Markets; Network Effects; Consumer Behavior; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Technology Adoption; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Cohen, Lauren, and Grace Headinger. "Rawbank's Illico Cash: Can 'Fast Money' Overcome Cash Dependency in the DRC?" Harvard Business School Case 222-084, May 2022.
- Research Summary
Overview
By: Chiara Farronato
Based on a broad interest in the economics of innovation and the Internet, Professor Farronato concentrates her research on the evolution of e-commerce and peer-to-peer online platforms, including platform adoption, economies of scale, and drivers of heterogeneous... View Details
- February 2022 (Revised February 2023)
- Case
TikTok in 2020: Super App or Supernova? (Abridged)
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dan Maher and Dan O'Brien
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around a simple idea—helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. In less than a decade, it had become one of the world’s most valuable private companies, with investors... View Details
Keywords: Digital Platform; Artificial Intelligence; AI; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; China
Rayport, Jeffrey F., Dan Maher, and Dan O'Brien. "TikTok in 2020: Super App or Supernova? (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 822-112, February 2022. (Revised February 2023.)
- 2022
- Working Paper
Can a Website Bring Unemployment Down? Experimental Evidence from France
By: Aïcha Ben Dhia, Bruno Crépon, Esther Mbih, Louise Paul-Delvaux, Bertille Picard and Vincent Pons
We evaluate the impact of an online platform giving job seekers tips to improve their search and recommendations of new occupations and locations to target, based on their personal data and labor market data. Our experiment used an encouragement design and was... View Details
Keywords: Online Platform; Digital Platform; Unemployment; Encouragement Design; Job Search; Jobs and Positions; Internet and the Web; Well-being; Outcome or Result; Digital Platforms; France
Ben Dhia, Aïcha, Bruno Crépon, Esther Mbih, Louise Paul-Delvaux, Bertille Picard, and Vincent Pons. "Can a Website Bring Unemployment Down? Experimental Evidence from France." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 29914, April 2022.
- May 2016 (Revised January 2018)
- Case
Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Acquiring the First Thousand Customers
By: Thales S. Teixeira and Morgan Brown
By 2016, two-sided online platforms (or marketplaces) were pervasive among the highest growing internet startups around. These marketplaces sought to match suppliers of assets for rent, physical products or services with customers demanding them. Among the most notable... View Details
Keywords: Airbnb; Etsy; Uber; Growth Hacking; Two-sided Market; Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Business Startups; Transportation Industry; Accommodations Industry
Teixeira, Thales S., and Morgan Brown. "Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Acquiring the First Thousand Customers." Harvard Business School Case 516-094, May 2016. (Revised January 2018.)
- February 2019
- Case
Canibal—Play It Green!
By: Frank V. Cespedes, Joseph B. Fuller, Tonia Labruyere and Elena Corsi
In 2011, Canibal launched a machine that could sort and compress aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and cups. Users could play a jackpot-style game on the machine’s digital display, while disposing of their beverage containers and earning coupons or other rewards. The... View Details
Keywords: Sales Growth; Recycling; Start-up; Scaling; Market Selection; Sales; Marketing; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Segmentation; Product Positioning; Technology Industry; France
Cespedes, Frank V., Joseph B. Fuller, Tonia Labruyere, and Elena Corsi. "Canibal—Play It Green!" Harvard Business School Case 319-089, February 2019.
- October 2015 (Revised November 2024)
- Case
A Challenger's Strategy: Pinar Abay at ING Bank Turkey
By: Paul Healy, Gautam Mukunda and Esel Çekin
In 2013, Pinar Abay was appointed as the CEO of ING Bank Turkey. At 34, she was the youngest bank CEO in Turkey's history. Her appointment raised eyebrows because of her youth and because her career at McKinsey had given her no day-to-day bank management experience.... View Details
Keywords: Challenger's Strategy; Culture; Innovation; Performance Management; Talent Acquisition; Differentiation; Growth; Emerging Country; Banking; Digital Banking; Alternative Channels; Leadership; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Organizational Culture; Emerging Markets; Transformation; Banks and Banking; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Banking Industry; Turkey
Healy, Paul, Gautam Mukunda, and Esel Çekin. "A Challenger's Strategy: Pinar Abay at ING Bank Turkey." Harvard Business School Case 116-023, October 2015. (Revised November 2024.)
- January 2014 (Revised June 2014)
- Supplement
Dumb Ways To Die: Advertising Train Safety (B)
By: John Quelch
The case series focuses on Melbourne Trains' viral advertising campaign to improve safe behaviors around trains among young people. This iconic, low budget campaign swept the Cannes Lions advertising awards in 2013 and became a social media sensation. View Details
Keywords: Marketing Channels; Marketing Communication; Viral Advertising; Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Public Sector; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Digital Marketing; Advertising Industry; Public Administration Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Oceania; Europe
Quelch, John. "Dumb Ways To Die: Advertising Train Safety (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 514-080, January 2014. (Revised June 2014.)
- August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Amazon.com, 2021
By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin
In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details
Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle
Wells, John R., Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth, and Galen Danskin. "Amazon.com, 2021." Harvard Business School Case 716-402, August 2015. (Revised June 2021.)
- February 2022 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
Buddy Valastro: Cake Boss
By: Boris Groysberg, Evan M.S. Hecht and Katherine Connolly Baden
Buddy Valastro, celebrity baker and business owner, inherited his father’s bakery—Carlo’s Bake Shop of Hoboken, New Jersey—at the age of seventeen. He had willed the shop to survive and gone on to fame through his television show, “Cake Boss”—the name most people now... View Details
Keywords: Bakery; Entrepreneur; Scalability; Digital; Systems; Process Improvement; Team Effectiveness; Team Building; COVID-19 Pandemic; Food; Entrepreneurship; Family Business; Crisis Management; Change Management; Leadership; Creativity; Operations; Groups and Teams; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry; United States
Groysberg, Boris, Evan M.S. Hecht, and Katherine Connolly Baden. "Buddy Valastro: Cake Boss." Harvard Business School Case 422-060, February 2022. (Revised May 2022.)
- July 2021
- Article
Outsourcing Tasks Online: Matching Supply and Demand on Peer-to-Peer Internet Platforms
By: Zoë Cullen and Chiara Farronato
We study the growth of online peer-to-peer markets. Using data from TaskRabbit, an expanding marketplace for domestic tasks at the time of our study, we show that growth varies considerably across cities. To disentangle the potential drivers of growth, we look... View Details
Keywords: Two-sided Market; Two-sided Platforms; Peer-to-peer Markets; Platform Strategy; Sharing Economy; Platform Growth; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Strategy; Market Design; Network Effects
Cullen, Zoë, and Chiara Farronato. "Outsourcing Tasks Online: Matching Supply and Demand on Peer-to-Peer Internet Platforms." Management Science 67, no. 7 (July 2021): 3985–4003.
- January 2014 (Revised June 2014)
- Case
Dumb Ways To Die: Advertising Train Safety (A)
By: John Quelch
The case series focuses on Melbourne Trains' viral advertising campaign to improve safe behaviors around trains among young people. This iconic, low budget campaign swept the Cannes Lions advertising awards in 2013 and became a social media sensation. View Details
Keywords: Viral Marketing; Advertising; Marketing Communications; Social Marketing; Digital Marketing; Advertising Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Public Administration Industry; Oceania; Europe
Quelch, John. "Dumb Ways To Die: Advertising Train Safety (A)." Harvard Business School Case 514-079, January 2014. (Revised June 2014.)
- May 2017
- Supplement
Betfair (B), (C), and (D) Case Slides
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and John Heilbron
Contains slides related to the Betfair B, C, and D cases.
Abstracts:
B) Buoyed by success in the market for gambling contracts, Betfair attempts to enter the market for financial products using its exchange model.
C) Prompted by a takeover bid from... View Details
Abstracts:
B) Buoyed by success in the market for gambling contracts, Betfair attempts to enter the market for financial products using its exchange model.
C) Prompted by a takeover bid from... View Details
- 2013
- Book
Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment
By: Anita Elberse
What's behind the phenomenal success of entertainment businesses such as Warner Bros., Marvel Enterprises, and the NFL—along with such stars as Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, and LeBron James? Which strategies give leaders in film, television, music, publishing, and sports an edge... View Details
Keywords: Entertainment; Business; Strategy; Media; Digital Technology; Blockbuster; Superstar; Film; Television; Music; Publishing; Performing Arts; Nightlife; Risk and Uncertainty; Information Technology; Marketing Strategy; Music Entertainment; Success; Sports; Business Strategy; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Music Industry; Fine Arts Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Publishing Industry
Elberse, Anita. Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2013.
- Article
Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search?
By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien
We analyze the incentives to divert search for an information intermediary who enables buyers (consumers) to search affiliated sellers (stores). We identify two original motives for diverting search (i.e., inducing consumers to search more than they would like): 1)... View Details
Keywords: Market Intermediation; Search; Two-Sided Markets; Platform Design; Demand and Consumers; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Retail Industry
Hagiu, Andrei, and Bruno Jullien. "Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search?" RAND Journal of Economics 42, no. 2 (Summer 2011): 337–362. (2012 Winner for Best Paper on Competition Economics, Association of Competition Economics.)
- June 2016 (Revised January 2018)
- Case
Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Growing from One Thousand to One Million Customers
By: Thales S. Teixeira and Morgan Brown
By 2016, two-sided online platforms (or marketplaces) were pervasive among the highest growing internet startups around. These marketplaces sought to match suppliers of assets for rent, physical products or services with customers demanding them. Among the most notable... View Details
Keywords: Airbnb; Etsy; Uber; Growth Hacking; Two Sided Markets; Digital Platforms; Marketing; Digital Marketing; Growth Management; Service Industry
Teixeira, Thales S., and Morgan Brown. "Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Growing from One Thousand to One Million Customers." Harvard Business School Case 516-108, June 2016. (Revised January 2018.)
- May 2021 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
Headspace vs. Calm: A Mindful Competition
By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne Wilson
By 2021, the mindfulness app wars reached their apex. Over 2,000 meditation apps were available to consumers, but two apps, Headspace and Calm, dominated the space, jointly holding about 70% of the total market. Headspace had established itself as the approachable... View Details
Keywords: Marketing Communication; Integrated Strategy; Brand; Brand & Product Management; Brand Communication; Brand Differentiation; Brand Building; Brand Management; E-Commerce Strategy; Ecommerce; App; App Development; Applications; COVID; COVID-19; Pandemic; Pricing; Pricing Strategy; Subscription Model; Subscription; Partnerships; Strategic Partnerships; B2B Vs. B2C; B2B; Health & Wellness; Wellbeing; Digitization; Commoditization; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Mobile Healthcare; Mobile Marketing; Digital Brand; Digital Health; Consumer Health; Apps; Online Business; Online Competition; Online Community; Online Entertainment; Entertainment And Leisure; Meditation; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Price; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Partners and Partnerships; Health; Well-being; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communication; Communication Strategy; Disruption; Consumer Behavior; Digital Marketing; E-commerce; Applications and Software; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Communications Industry; United States; North America; United Kingdom
Israeli, Ayelet, and Anne Wilson. "Headspace vs. Calm: A Mindful Competition." Harvard Business School Case 521-102, May 2021. (Revised May 2022.)
- 2020
- Working Paper
Targeting for Long-Term Outcomes
By: Jeremy Yang, Dean Eckles, Paramveer Dhillon and Sinan Aral
Decision makers often want to target interventions so as to maximize an outcome that is observed only in the long term. This typically requires delaying decisions until the outcome is observed or relying on simple short-term proxies for the long-term outcome. Here we... View Details
Keywords: Targeted Marketing; Optimization; Churn Management; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Policy; Learning; Outcome or Result
Yang, Jeremy, Dean Eckles, Paramveer Dhillon, and Sinan Aral. "Targeting for Long-Term Outcomes." Working Paper, October 2020.
- May 2022 (Revised July 2022)
- Case
The Voice War Continues: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri in 2022
By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher
In 2022, after five years of pursuing a new "AI-first" strategy, Google had captured a sizeable share of the American and global markets for voice assistants. Google Assistant was used by hundreds of millions of users around the world, but Amazon retained the largest... View Details
Keywords: Strategy; Artificial Intelligence; Deep Learning; Voice Assistants; Smart Home; Market Share; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competitive Strategy; Digital Platforms; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry; United States
Yoffie, David B., and Daniel Fisher. "The Voice War Continues: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri in 2022." Harvard Business School Case 722-462, May 2022. (Revised July 2022.)