Market Failures - Publications - Faculty & Research

December 1996 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Studio Realty

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Bret J. Baird

Studio Realty created an "electronic open house" technology, by which home buyers sitting in a comfortable setting, could tour a home, viewing its rooms, its exterior, and surroundings, by clicking on digital images. Studio Realty attempted to sell or license its... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Sales; Demand and Consumers; Failure; Innovation and Management; Market Entry and Exit; Real Estate Industry

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Career risks and professional growth: Finding a fulfilling career with Paige Arnof-Fenn (MBA 1991) - Recruiting

leaned into marketing, taking courses and building a resume that showcased my strengths. A summer internship in marketing at Procter & Gamble confirmed I was on the right path, and I’ve never looked back. Making a career leap wasn’t... View Details

06 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

When Product Variety Backfires

Traditional wisdom teaches that brands win market share by offering a wide variety of products, increasing the chance of appealing to a wider variety of customers. But how happy are you when trying to find a head cold remedy at the... View Details

Keywords: by Poping Lin; Consumer Products

15 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Apple Pay’s Technology Adoption Problem

out many consumers with older iPhones or Android models. "Apple might be hamstrung by an incompatibility issue that the company intentionally introduced," Edelman says. Shih agrees that selling technology is tricky in a market... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Technology; Retail

31 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 31

success and failure in organizational learning, to date the phenomenon has received little attention at the individual level. Drawing on attribution theory in psychology, we investigate how individuals learn from their own past... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

02 Oct 2015
News

The ‘F’ Word

in ways that are easily defined and rewarded by society,” says Steven Carpenter (MBA 2004). “But as you get older, you learn that the line between success and failure is razor thin, oftentimes invisible.” Currently executive-in-residence... View Details

Keywords: Walt Disney Studios

22 Feb 2022
News

Q&A: The Post-Pandemic Path

In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Robin Greenwood, the George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking and Anne and James F. Rothenberg Faculty Fellow, saw another catastrophe on the horizon: widespread business View Details

Keywords: April White

04 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

Don’t Lose Money With Customers

series of articles and HBS Working Papers, he explores the process of how firms in business-to-business markets manage customer relationships. As a frame of reference, Narayandas explains that modern View Details

Keywords: by Peter K. Jacobs

Web

Strategy for Entrepreneurs - Course Catalog

and predictions about how a firm can make money by solving a problem that the market has yet to solve. As with any new idea, knowing with certainty if your startup idea will work is impossible. Worse yet, a startup idea is a bet with an... View Details

01 Dec 2008
News

Lack of Energy: The Problem of Human Inertia

of the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets unit. In a democracy of citizens and taxpayers, such dithering largely comes down to a human foible. “When present losses loom larger than future gains,” states Bazerman, “we fail to act in time... View Details

13 Jun 2018
News

The First Five Years: Momchil Filev and Ben Faw (both MBA 2014)

age. Combining this market opportunity with the huge waste of returned goods from e-commerce, we saw the business case—and from there it was all execution.” What short- and long-term goals do you have for the company? Momchil:“The... View Details

02 Dec 2019
What Do You Think?

How Does a Company like Boeing Respond to Intense Competitive Pressure?

billion for SpaceX) from NASA. One can only imagine the pressure under which developers were working at Boeing. The result? A failure to reach its destination, the International Space Station. While the cause is under investigation, early... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Air Transportation

January 2011
Teaching Note

Online Pet Supply Retailing (TN)

By: Tom Nicholas

Teaching Note for 809-117. View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Failure; Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Decisions; Retail Industry; United States

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11 Jun 2018
Blog Post

Meet the 2018-2019 Blavatnik Fellows in Life Science Entrepreneurship

to work with Harvard inventors to promote the commercialization of life science technologies with significant market potential. Harvard's i-lab serves as the hub, providing fellows with space and the opportunity to join an entrepreneurial... View Details

15 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 15, 2008

Working PapersOrganizational Design and Control across Multiple Markets: The Case of Franchising in the Convenience Store Industry Authors:Dennis Campbell, Srikant M. Datar, and Tatiana Sandino Abstract Many companies operate units which are dispersed across... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

25 Aug 2014
News

Wendell P. Weeks, MBA 1987

Corning 2007 Named Chairman, Corning 2007 Corning markets Gorilla Glass 2013 Fast Company names Corning one of World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies Chairman and CEO, Corning Incorporated As CEO of Corning Incorporated, Wendell Weeks... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Web

Launching Tech Ventures - Course Catalog

More broadly, why does the startup ecosystem contain so many market failures that lead to biases and inequities – particularly in terms of access to capital for female entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of... View Details

17 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

A Litmus Test for Entrepreneurs

advice. He suggested that the company test and refine its business model by initially focusing on one payment operation, for parking tickets, in one U.S. city. The entrepreneurs almost bit off his head. "The leader in this market... View Details

Keywords: by Walter Kuemmerle

25 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 25, 2018

counterparts. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55026 Economists (and Economics) in Tech Companies By: Athey, Susan, and Michael Luca Abstract—As technology platforms have created new markets and new... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

15 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of New-Market Disruption

that engineering was trying to keep up with. Believing there were other markets in which these technologies could be profitably leveraged, Teradyne's chairman, Alex d'Arbeloff, created a new subsidiary called Aurora, whose sole mission... View Details

Keywords: by Clark Gilbert; Technology

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