Publications

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26 Jul 2022
News

Burgers with Bugs? What Happens When Restaurants Ignore Online Reviews

08 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Hunt for Talent on Digital Platforms, Not in Resume Piles

Strategy Unit. “They’re not sending resumes in. They’re being recruited, often through online platforms like LinkedIn.” Indeed, the rise of digital platforms now enables firms and recruiters to source... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Employment

Research Summary

Ray's current research is on technology platforms - how technology companies can platformize their technology offerings, how platforms impact competitive strategy and create pricing power, and how technology consumers interact with technologies that are platforms. View Details

11 Jul 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Managing Proprietary and Shared Platforms: A Life-Cycle View

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann; Technology

June 2004 (Revised November 2005)
Case

PalmSource, Inc.

By: David B. Yoffie, Pai-Ling Yin and Christina L. Darwall

PalmSource CEO David Nagel had grand ambitions. In this newly spun-off company, he wanted to create the next leading software platform for hand-held devices. Explores the strategic challenges of building a platform business. View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

16 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Opening Platforms: How, When and Why?

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann, Geoffrey Parker & Marshall Van Alstyne

March 2015 (Revised April 2015)
Case

The Heat Is On: Emerging Ecosystems in the Thermostat Industry

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

Beth Wozniak, President of Honeywell Environmental and Combustion Controls (ECC) at Honeywell International Inc., spun around in her office chair, reflecting about how the classic, mature thermostat industry was rapidly evolving. In February 2014, Google paid $3.2... View Details

07 Apr 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Strategic Channel Selection with Online Platforms: An Empirical Analysis of the Daily Deal Industry

Keywords: by Lingling Zhang and Doug J. Chung; Retail

31 Jan 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Addressing Racial Discrimination on Airbnb

Keywords: Web Services

19 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

A Brand Manager’s Guide to Losing Control

charge of public discussions about the brands they use. And while marketers have tried to take part, they've had to face the fact that social media platforms are primarily meant for conversations among consumers, not for one-way brand... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

08 May 2023
Research & Ideas

How Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Crushed Crowdfunding for Minority Entrepreneurs

according to Kerr. However, there might be ways for Kickstarter and similar platforms to offset or at least mitigate some of these tendencies and trends. Minority entrepreneurs are less likely to have projects promoted as “staff picks” on... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

April 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Maersk: Betting on Blockchain

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

In March 2018, international shipping giant Maersk is getting ready to debut a trade digitization platform. Maersk hopes the platform will help streamline global trade since shipping goods internationally is an extraordinarily complicated and inefficient process.... View Details

Keywords: Maersk; IBM; Blockchain; Shipping; Shipping Line; Trade; Bitcoin; Digitization; Container Shipping; Joint Ventures; Ship Transportation; Transportation Networks; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Applications and Software; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry

January 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

TopCoder (A): Developing Software through Crowdsourcing

By: Karim R. Lakhani, David A. Garvin and Eric Lonstein

TopCoder's crowdsourcing-based business model, in which software is developed through online tournaments, is presented. The case highlights how TopCoder has created a unique two-sided innovation platform consisting of a global community of over 225,000 developers who... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Two-Sided Platforms; Motivation and Incentives; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competition; Software; Technology Industry

2023
Working Paper

When Does Gamified Training Improve Performance? The Roles of Office and Leader Engagement

By: Ryan W. Buell, Wei Cai and Tatiana Sandino

Gamified training is a novel management control system in which companies use gamification techniques to engage and motivate employees to learn. This study empirically examines the performance consequences of gamified training using data from a natural field... View Details

Keywords: Gamified Training; Management Control Systems; Employee Engagement; Employees; Learning; Training; Motivation and Incentives; Performance

SSRN

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January 2017 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Paytm: Building a Payments Network

By: Sunil Gupta, Das Narayandas and Rachna Tahilyani

By January 2017, Paytm, a mobile payments company that started in 2010, became India’s largest mobile payments platform with over 142 million users and $5 billion valuation. Could Paytm become a $100 billion company its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma envisioned it be? View Details

Keywords: Mobile Payments; Ecommerce; Mobile App; India; Entrepreneurship; Expansion; Service Operations; Mobile and Wireless Technology; E-commerce; Service Industry; India

December 2020
Case

Urban Company

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Urban Company is an India-based market platform that helps customers book home services and at home beauty services. The company differentiated itself by investing heavily in building customer trust. Rather than merely positioning itself as a lead generating... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Emerging Markets; Strategy; Service Delivery; Trust; Technology Industry; Service Industry; India

November 2022
Background Note

The Future of E-Commerce: Lessons from the Livestream Wars in China

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jeremy Yang and Billy Chan

This note explores the emerging multi-billion dollar commerce trend of livestream commerce. Livestream commerce is the sale of goods or services directly to consumers via live shows on digital platforms (such as social media or e-commerce platforms). It is a form of... View Details