Publications

10 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Is Groupon Good for Retailers?

full price? A: We've seen two main effects. First, some discount voucher services send users to merchants en masse. The day after a Groupon is released, hundreds of buyers tend to swamp a small business unprepared for the rush. That barrage of customers can View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Technology

December 2019 (Revised July 2020)
Case

Ray White

By: Boris Groysberg and Tricia Gregg

Ray White is an Australian real estate business that has been owned and operated by the White family for four generations. The business has expanded and prospered. However, as the industry faces new challenges and opportunities, how should the White family respond?... View Details

Keywords: Crisis; COVID-19; Pandemic; Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Disruption; Information Technology; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management; Real Estate Industry; Australia

21 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

7 Successful Battle Strategies to Beat COVID-19

Decision-Making What Are Lessons for Leaders from This Black Swan Crisis? 6 Ways That Emerging Technology Is Disrupting Business Strategy What do great leaders do differently? Share your insights below. View Details

Keywords: by Euvin Naidoo

24 Dec 2013
First Look

First Look: December 24

We contribute to institutional theory by identifying selective disclosure as a corporate symbolic strategy and by revealing how scrutiny and norms limit this symbolic behavior. Download working paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1836472 Mechanisms of View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

29 Dec 2019
Research & Ideas

Read Our Most Popular Research Stories of 2019

plans for future workforce makeup and training, and its search for opportunities from digital infrastructure and automation. What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

Dr. Crawford conducts research on innovation in the energy industry, with a special focus on emerging business models. She is developing several cases for the EC course, "21st Century Energy," that specifically examine innovations at the interface of IT and Energy — ... View Details

February 2024
Case

Horizon Quantum Computing

By: Paul A. Gompers and Billy Chan

In 2023, the Singapore-based startup company Horizon Quantum Computing was on the cusp of fast expansion and the founder faced the challenge to decide where to open the second office outside Singapore. To make a choice from the list of 10 countries, the founder had to... View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial Finance; Disruptive Innovation; Business Offices; Business Startups; Talent and Talent Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Partners and Partnerships; Expansion; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Singapore; Asia

December 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Boll & Branch

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Mel Martin

Boll & Branch is a direct-to-consumer (DTC) business launched in 2015. It was the first Fair-Trade Certified manufacturer of linens. The case provides background on the company, its start, business model, and evolution through 2019. View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Channels; Disruption; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Internet and the Web; Strategy; Retail Industry; United States; Canada

October 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Google Advertising

By: Youngme E. Moon and David Chen

In mid-2006, Google is the number one search engine in America with 99% of its revenues deriving from its simple, text-only advertising services. It is on track to bring in roughly $9.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2006, which would place it fourth among American... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Disruptive Innovation; Media; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Advertising Industry; United States

October 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Background Note

How Media Choices are Changing Online Advertising

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

What is the response by advertisers as media consumption moves to the digital medium? Provides an overview of online advertising in mid-2006 and discusses the impact of an increasingly fractured media landscape and its accompanying expanding advertising options. View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; News; Media; Emerging Markets; Internet and the Web; Perspective; Disruption; Journalism and News Industry

May 2019 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

By: William R. Kerr and Jordan Bach-Lombardo

Faced with intense competition from Amazon, Walmart began a transformation of its operations and workforce in 2015. The goal was to create an omnichannel retail experience for customers that seamlessly joined online and offline shopping. This case explores Walmart's... View Details

Keywords: Walmart; Managing The Future Of Work; Workforce; Automation; Ecommerce; Omnichannel Retail; Operations; Transformation; Employees; Training; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Disruption; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Information Infrastructure; Retail Industry

17 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Who is Boss in the Sharing Economy?

than traditional businesses that employ their workers. And so it seemed until June, when the California Labor Commission disrupted the sharing economy when it declared that an Uber driver was an employee, not an independent contractor.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology; Technology

15 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 15, 2018

are also shown to be actors in periodic deglobalization waves. This was because their function was to reinforce the gaps in wealth and income rather than disrupt them. Business enterprises proved disappointing institutions for knowledge... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 2025
Teaching Note

Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (B): A New Model in Kansas City

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

This Teaching Note helps instructors teach students the HBS Case, Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (B): A New Model in Kansas City. In late 2016, Bridj was expanding its digital platform to help address urban mobility problems faced by cities across the country... View Details

Keywords: App Development; Innovation; Stakeholder Engagement; Collaboration; Ride-sharing; Entrenchment; Digital; Transportation; Urban Development; Disruption; Business Startups; Digital Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Expansion

29 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Uber Is Worth Saving and How To Do It

Credit: Nicolas McComber Uber’s roller coaster ride from ride-sharing pioneer to shunned bad boy should be a lesson to other disruptive startups: Fighting hard is good, while fighting unfairly loses you respect, customers, and perhaps... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Transportation

21 Mar 2016
Lessons from the Classroom

When Your Classmate is an NBA Superstar (or Fashion Model, or Movie Actress)

says. “Digital technology has the potential to completely disrupt the kinds of channels they’re used to. Take the music industry: new technologies allow someone like Beyoncé to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Entertainment & Recreation; Sports; Media & Broadcasting; Education

June 2019 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Parrot: Navigating the Nascent Drone Industry

By: Rory M. McDonald, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In 2018, Henri Seydoux, CEO and Founder of Parrot, believed that his company was at an inflection point in its history. Parrot had been a European leader in consumer electronics since the 1990s, first developing Bluetooth kits for cars before moving on to electronic... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Europe; France; Paris

January 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Background Note

News in the Digital World: Who Pays?

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

Models to monetizing news in the digital landscape, which is real-time, searchable, sharable, multi-sourced, anytime, and any screen, were emerging in 2010. Could content creators get people to pay for what they watched, read, listened to, and shared online? Were news... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Newspapers; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Online Technology; Journalism and News Industry; Publishing Industry