Publications

May 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

HubSpot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh, Jill Avery and Naseem Ashraf Dahod

This case introduces the concept of inbound marketing, pulling customer prospects toward a business through the use of Web 2.0 tools and applications like blogging, search engine optimization, and social media. Students follow the growth of HubSpot, an entrepreneurial... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Communications; Social and Collaborative Networks; Segmentation; Web

Article

How Social Networks Are Changing Everything

Keywords: Technology; Digital Services; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Marketing

April 2009
Case

Keeping Google "Googley" (Abridged)

By: Boris Groysberg, David A. Thomas and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Web Services Industry; California

April 2009 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Sanctuary Soft: International Expansion Strategies

By: Boris Groysberg, Geoff Marietta, Tim Marshall and Adam Hartley

Sanctuary Soft CEO Elizabeth Smalley faced increasing pressure from her primary investor to expand operations internationally. If successful, the expansion could enlarge Sanctuary’s customer base and enable the firm to better serve existing clients’ overseas offices.... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Labor; Laws and Statutes; Market Entry and Exit; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; China; India; Germany; United Kingdom; United States

April 2009
Article

What's Your Google Strategy?

By: Andrei Hagiu and David B. Yoffie

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Strategy; Information

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2009
Simulation

Finance Simulation: M&A in Wine Country: No. 3289.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and W. Carl Kester

In this simulation, students play the role of CEO at one of three publicly-traded wine producers: Starshine, Bel Vino, or International Beverage. Each player evaluates merger and/or acquisition opportunities among the three companies and then determines reservation... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Negotiation; Valuation; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Article

Make Online Ads Accountable

Keywords: Technology; Digital Services; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Marketing

Article

Media Companies Need to Become Marketing Companies

By: Andrew J. Heyward and Jeffrey F. Rayport

Keywords: Technology; Digital; Services; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Marketing

February 2009
Article

Suspended in Self-Spun Webs of Significance: A Rhetorical Model of Institutionalization and Institutionally Embedded Agency

By: Sandy Edward Green, Yuan Li and Nitin Nohria

This article employs rhetorical theory to reconceptualize institutionalization as change in argument structure. As a state, institutionalization is embodied in the structure of argument used to justify a practice at a given point in time. As a process,... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Management Practices and Processes; Trust; Adoption; Theory; United States

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Article

Social Networks Are the New Web Portals

Keywords: Technology; Digital; Services; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Marketing

January 2009
Case

Microsoft's Search

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Eric J. Van den Steen

In 2008, executives at Microsoft must decide how to compete against Google in the market for Internet search and advertising. The case describes how Microsoft has responded to a set of competitive threats in the past, how Google has gained a dominant position in... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; United States

January 2009
Teaching Note

Obama versus Clinton: The YouTube Primary (TN)

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Teaching Note for [509032]. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Media; Political Elections; Advertising Campaigns

January 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Alibaba's Taobao (A)

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Julie M. Wulf

This case examines the decision of Alibaba Group to diversify from an international business-to-business (B2B) exchange (Alibaba.com) into a B2C and C2C exchange (Taobao.com) for Chinese retailers and consumers. In China, Taobao had managed to displace the once... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Demand and Consumers; Market Transactions; Service Operations; Diversification; Internet and the Web; China

Article

Why Online Ads Are Weathering the Recession

Keywords: Technology; Digital; Services; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Marketing

December 2008
Teaching Note

LinkedIn Corp., 2008 (TN)

By: David B. Yoffie

Teaching Note for [709426]. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Social and Collaborative Networks; Rank and Position; Job Search; Revenue; Competition; Valuation; Financing and Loans; Mergers and Acquisitions

Article

Cloud Computing is No Pipe Dream

Keywords: Technology; Digital; Services; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Marketing

November 2008
Teaching Note

Yahoo!: Becoming a Competitor in the Career Listings Space (A) and (B) and Travelexis.com (Role for Robin Knight from TravelPlanner.com), (Role for Pat Young from SCOUT) and (Role for Jackie Hoff from Travelexis.com) (TN)

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Dina R. Witter Pradel

Teaching Note for [903071], [903072], [903059], [903060], and [903061]. View Details

Keywords: Web Services Industry

November 2008 (Revised August 2011)
Case

UnME Jeans: Branding in Web 2.0

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery

This case introduces emerging Web 2.0 social media in virtual worlds, social networking sites, and video-sharing sites and encourages students to explore the opportunities and risks they present for brands. The case allows students to grapple with the strategic and... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Risk and Uncertainty; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet and the Web; Apparel and Accessories Industry