Publications

01 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 1

findings that have implications for theory and practice, and that suggest new directions for future research. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-093.pdf Information Technology and Boundary of the Firm: Evidence from... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

26 Jun 2000
Research & Ideas

Presentation Round-Up

self-proclaimed "infrastructure guy," panelist Steve Papa (HBS MBA '99) of Optigrab.com speculated that the future of e-business services will be marked by the same pull toward uniformity that took place in industry consolidations a... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Kenneth Liss; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

June 2016 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Searching for a New CEO: TiVo 2016

By: David B. Yoffie

In 2015, TiVo initiated a search for a new CEO. This case provides a profile of the CEO search and background on the company. View Details

Keywords: Technological Change; Succession Planning; Information Technology; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Management Succession; Forecasting and Prediction; Change; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

January 2000 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Officenet (A): Making Entrepreneurship Work in Argentina

Describes the creation and financing of Officenet, an office supply distributor in Argentina. The company serves the business-to-business market through a catalog (combined with phone orders) and also through an Internet-based catalog. Officenet is a pioneer in both... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Argentina

January 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Bell Atlantic and the Union City Schools (C2): Project Explore

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ellen Pruyne

The fourth in a five-part series about Bell Atlantic Corp.'s technology-in-education partnership with the Union City, New Jersey school system. Describes Bell Atlantic's planning, implementing, supporting, and assessing elements of the partnership, with special... View Details

Keywords: Education; Technology Adoption; Strategic Planning; Partners and Partnerships; Projects; Telecommunications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; New Jersey

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

How to Write a Great Business Plan

Every seasoned investor knows that detailed financial projections for a new company are an act of imagination. Nevertheless, most business plans pour far too much ink on the numbers—and far too little on the information that really... View Details

Keywords: Re: William A. Sahlman

July 2024
Case

The Voice Wars Continues 2024: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri vs. ChatGPT

By: David B. Yoffie and Sarah von Bargen

In 2024, the Voice War was transforming from a relatively simple index-based technology system, which relied on a list of commands and answers, to a generative AI system, which offered the promise to enable free flowing conversations between people and machines. The... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Competition; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry

April 2017 (Revised February 2020)
Supplement

edaixi (eWash): Digital Transformation of Laundry Services (B)

By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen, Chuang Chen and Ciwu Lin

Founded in 2013 as a laundry service featuring online ordering for home pickup and delivery, China’s edaixi (eWash) illustrated the online-to-offline (O2O) business model. As yet unclear in 2016 was the optimal way to organize third-party laundry service providers,... View Details

Keywords: Laundry; O2O; Online-to-offline; Service Operations; Business Model; Digital Platforms; Transformation; Service Industry; China

February 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Sekisui House and the In-Home Early Detection Platform

By: John D. Macomber and Akiko Kanno

To address an aging population and sales declines, a major Japanese homebuilder considers pivoting to provide and support an in-home health detection platform, in competition with tech companies. This case considers the point of view of major builders regarding how... View Details

Keywords: Voice Assistants; Architecture; Smart Home; Aging Society; Digitalization; Real Estate; Home Automation; Sensors; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Health Care and Treatment; Housing; Age; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Japan

May 2005
Supplement

Otis Elevator: An Interview with Ari Bousbib (video)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Brian DeLacey

CEO Ari Bousbib talks about how IT is transforming Otis and the practical challenges they are overcoming. Visibly demonstrates what appropriate CEO involvement is in an IT-enabled business transformation. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; Construction Industry

June 2022
Case

Worten Portugal: Becoming a Digital Marketplace

By: Antonio Moreno, Pedro Amorim and Tonia Labruyere

With Amazon's entry into Portugal, Miguel Mota Freitas, CEO of Portuguese electronics chain Worten, is reflecting on their strategy of building a competitive marketplace. View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Digital Platforms; Brands and Branding; E-commerce; Logistics; Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Portugal; Spain

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Selling Luxury to Everyone

and retailers keep the segment growing? Tahari said she and her husband have considered the idea of buying one of their retailers in an effort to get more information about how their products are selling, improve their margins, and better... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Consumer Products

05 Sep 2000
Research & Ideas

Building Bridges Between Education and Business

Argentine branch of BankBoston Corporation. At the same time, Sacerdote said, many companies want to hide certain information from the authorities. These barriers make it all the more important, he suggested, to get businesses closer to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

28 Jul 2015
Blog Post

Nairobi Love: Heading Home

and exploring over 10 African countries, I have no doubt that this is where I need to be. Also, I have one passport and it says Kenya on it. My exact plans are to be determined – I’m trying to craft a role within the Ministry of View Details

Article

What Makes a Critic Tick? Connected Authors and the Determinants of Book Reviews

By: Loretti I. Dobrescu, Michael Luca and Alberto Motta

This paper investigates the determinants of expert reviews in the book industry. Reviews are determined not only by the quality of the product, but also by the incentives of the media outlet providing the review. For example, a media outlet may have the incentive to... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Media; Relationships; Marketing Reference Programs; Books; Publishing Industry

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April 1989
Case

News and No Comment at Emery Air Freight

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Norman Klein

A reporter from a regional newspaper examines several major news stories that address significant recent developments at Emery Air Freight. His concerns invite discussion of the implications of Emery's apparent "no comment" policy and other factors that can lead to... View Details

Keywords: Reputation; Newspapers; Communication Strategy; Shipping Industry

May–June 2023
Article

Need for Speed: The Impact of In-Process Delays on Customer Behavior in Online Retail

By: Santiago Gallino, Nil Karacaoglu and Antonio Moreno

The impact of delays has been widely studied in various offline services. The focus of this study is online services, and we explore the impact of in-process delays—measured by website speed—on customer behavior. We leverage novel retail and website speed data to... View Details

Keywords: Online Retail; Quasi-experiments; Abandonment; Synthetic Control; E-commerce; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Policy; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

March 2022 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Moksha Data: Delivering Insights for Public Service

By: Ashish Nanda and Zack Kurtovich

Moksha Data, a boutique consulting firm specializing in public sector work, started in January 2017 with a handshake between friends and a shared commitment to the principles of egalitarianism, ownership, and collaboration. The Houston-based firm had built momentum... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Professional Service Firm; Strategy Formulation; Data; Data As A Service; Government Contracting; Consulting; Consulting Firms; Consulting Services; Entrepreneurship; Public Sector; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development; Strategy; Consulting Industry; Texas

Winter 2016
Article

Analytics for an Online Retailer: Demand Forecasting and Price Optimization

By: Kris J. Ferreira, Bin Hong Alex Lee and David Simchi-Levi

We present our work with an online retailer, Rue La La, as an example of how a retailer can use its wealth of data to optimize pricing decisions on a daily basis. Rue La La is in the online fashion sample sales industry, where they offer extremely limited-time... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Price; Forecasting and Prediction; Revenue; Sales; Retail Industry