Digital Strategy - Publications - Faculty & Research

11 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

In the Future of Sports Investing, Media Is the Best Bet

For sports fans, this time of year is like a chocolate addict's free pass to Willy Wonka's factory. Horse racing's Triple Crown. The National Basketball Association and National Hockey League championship playoffs. And next up, the most watched sporting competition of... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Sports; Financial Services

January 2019 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

By: Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-011. As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a... View Details

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October 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Bizongo and e-B2B in India

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Radhika Kak

Bizongo, an Indian e-B2B platform was co-founded by three college graduates in 2015 with the goal of creating the "Alibaba of India" when the B2B e-commerce landscape was practically non-existent. The founders saw a significant opportunity in connecting mid-sized... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; E-commerce; Business Strategy; India

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January 2015
Case

Burberry in 2014

By: Anita Elberse

In February 2014, Burberry's chief executive officer Angela Ahrendts is preparing to hand the reins of the English luxury fashion company to chief creative officer Christopher Bailey. Under their partnership, in place since 2006, Burberry's revenues have tripled to... View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Luxury; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Fashion Industry; Great Britain

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August 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Camera IQ and the Metaverse: Building Augmented Reality Brand Experiences

By: Jill Avery and Rayan Nahas

Camera IQ, a camera marketing software company that empowered brands to create and launch augmented reality experiences (AREs) across social platforms, had just raised an additional $5 million to fund further product development and expand its marketing and sales... View Details

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July 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Supplement

Piramal e-Swasthya (C): A New Name, Bigger Scope, and Public-Private Partnerships

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

In 2010, Anand Piramal acquired the Health Management Research Institute (HMRI), a healthcare venture, and merged it with his original digital healthcare startup Piramal e-Swasthya (PeS), so that PeS became Piramal Swasthya. After acquiring HMRI, Piramal Swasthya... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneur; Healthcare; Innovation; Emerging Economies; Scaling; Social Enterprise; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Management; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Partners and Partnerships; India

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May 2023
Teaching Note

Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 520-051. Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Segmentation; Venture Capital; Consumer Products Industry

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July 2023
Case

Moderna: Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

By: Satish Tadikonda, Shikhar Ghosh and William Marks

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moderna was riding the successes of developing a vaccine in record time and helping stem the tide of the crisis. However, the company had grown at an incredible rate, more than doubled its number of employees, and had to put on hold... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Selection and Staffing; Growth Management; Management Succession; Retirement; Technological Innovation; Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry

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April 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Gimlet Media: A Podcasting Startup

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

When digital distribution becomes an option for an analog industry, the effects on incumbents can be devastating. Is podcasting the beginning of the end of radio? Can it do what streaming video did to television and websites did to print? Two former public radio... View Details

Keywords: Podcasting; Business Ecosystem; Business Startups; Media; Disruption; Strategy

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October 2024
Case

Tonik

By: Andy Wu, Maliha Malek Quadir and Aticus Peterson

This case study examines Tonik, the first digital bank in the Philippines, as it navigates the challenges of scaling its lending operations and achieving profitability in an evolving fintech landscape. It explores Tonik's journey from its launch in 2018 to early 2024,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Product; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Philippines

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07 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Electronic Health Records Were Supposed to Cut Medical Costs. They Haven't.

twice the administrative overhead found in Canada and is significantly higher than most other high-resource countries. Adoption of certified EHR systems was seen as a potential antidote. By digitizing patient records and adding billing... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Health

07 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Pursuing a Deadly Opportunity

organizational legitimacy and the kind of moral order we want to create as a society," Anteby explains. The same issues could help us come to grips with the murky legal and ethical areas surrounding the digital age, for example.... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

Research Summary

Moving Beyond Direct-to-Consumer

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Changing consumer behaviors have redefined what it means to be direct to consumer ("DTC"). What once began online a decade ago as a distribution and disintermediation strategy has since evolved into a multifaceted approach for the modern-day brand.

The... View Details

22 Sep 2016
Cold Call Podcast

Innovation Under Constraint: Constructing a Turnaround at Lego

Keywords: Re: Jan W. Rivkin & Stefan H. Thomke; Entertainment & Recreation

21 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 21, 2018

2018 Boston: Harvard Business Review Press Driving Digital Strategy: A Guide to Reimagining Your Business By: Gupta, Sunil Abstract—Disruption and transformation get a lot of hype and for good reason. View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 28, 2019
Other Article

How Russia Found a Disinformation Haven in America

By: Rawi Abdelal and Galit Goldstein

The Mueller Report established that “the Russians” undertook information operations campaigns to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Though this has been clear for a long time, Americans continue to discuss Russian information operations in the wrong way.... View Details

Keywords: Elections; Donald Trump; Political Elections; National Security; Information Technology; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Social Media; Russia; United States

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March 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Case

UFO Moviez—Gentle Disruption

By: Hong Luo, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Saloni Chaturvedi

UFO Moviez is an Indian technology services provider that enables low-cost, digital delivery of films to cinemas. UFO’s satellite-based technology enables a significantly wider release of films compared to traditional analog prints and standard, higher-resolution... View Details

Keywords: Film Entertainment; Information Technology; Distribution; Disruption; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India

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April 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Uber: Competing Globally

By: Alexander J. MacKay, Amram Migdal and John Masko

This case describes Uber’s global market entry strategy and responses by regulators and local competitors. It details Uber’s entry into New York City (New York), Bogotá (Colombia), Delhi (India), Shanghai (China), Accra (Ghana), and London (United Kingdom). In each... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Geography; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Globalization; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Law; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Consumer Behavior; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Design; Market Entry and Exit; Market Participation; Supply and Industry; Industry Structures; Planning; Strategic Planning; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Transportation; Transportation Networks; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; Africa; Ghana; Asia; China; Shanghai Shi; Shanghai; India; New Delhi; Europe; United Kingdom; England; London; Latin America; North and Central America; United States; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US); South America; Colombia

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July 2000 (Revised September 2005)
Case

BMG Entertainment

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Gerrit Meier

As dramatic changes in technology and customer tastes roil the music industry, the top executives of BMG Entertainment, one of the world's largest record companies, must decide how to organize for digital distribution of music. This case includes a brief history of the... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Distribution Channels; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Industry Structures; Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

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February 2003
Case

Dubai Ports Authority (A)

The Dubai Ports Authority (DPA) wishes to digitize many of the documents it shares with its external partners, including shipping lines and agents, merchants, and the country's customs authority. DPA also wishes to automate the many document transmissions related to... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Information Technology; Cooperation; Globalized Markets and Industries; Shipping Industry; Dubai

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