Publications

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2017
Working Paper

Digital Agility: The Impact of Software Portfolio Architecture on IT System Evolution

By: Alan MacCormack, Robert Lagerström, Martin Mocker and Carliss Y. Baldwin

The modern industrial firm increasingly relies on software to support its competitive position. However, the uncertain and dynamic nature of today’s global marketplace dictates that this software be continually evolved and adapted to meet new business challenges. This... View Details

Keywords: Information Systems; Software; Architecture; Modularity; Agility; Coupling; Applications and Software; Design; Decisions; Performance

SSRN

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Suraj Srinivasan is the Philip J. Stomberg Professor of Business Administration, a member of the Accounting and Management faculty unit, and chair of the View Details

Keywords: financial services; financial services

07 Aug 2009
What Do You Think?

Why Can’t Americans Get Health Care Right?

above are numerous in a channel that includes, in your comments, food and tobacco producers of unhealthy products (Christy Hitchens, Tom Dolembo); lifestyle equipment and service providers; developers and manufacturers of high-cost... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

December 1999 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Charles Schwab: A Category of One

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Thomas H. Esperson

Examines Charles Schwab's on-line discount brokerage firm and questions whether or not Schwab has effectively balanced the old and new world of stock trading, and has remained a leader between giants like Merrill Lynch and Internet pure plays like E-Trade. Also looks... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Banks and Banking; Technological Innovation; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

Educators

09 Sep 2015
HBS Seminar

Judith A. Chevalier, Yale University

14 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 14

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-055.pdf Marketplace Institutions Related to the Timing of Transactions Author:Alvin E. Roth Abstract This paper describes the unraveling of transaction dates in several markets, including the labor... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Jul 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: How Wikipedia Works (or Doesn’t)

maintained, the power of self-policing organizations, the question of whether the service is drifting from its core principles, and whether a Wikipedia-like concept can work in a business setting. (See related story below.) The Wisdom Of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Publishing

27 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Buy Big, Sell Small

distribution model by providing a digital platform where shop owners can order fast-moving consumer goods online or by phone from local wholesalers who combine their orders with others from nearby kiranas. “We’re like a Costco or Sam’s... View Details

Christina M. Wallace

A self-described “human Venn diagram” Christina Wallace has crafted a career at the intersection of business, technology, and the arts. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: service industry; service industry; service industry; service industry; service industry

April 2000 (Revised June 2000)
Case

E-Loan: The CarFinance.com Acquisition

E-Loan is an online mortgage lender that acquired an auto-lending arm in August of 1999. This case examines E-Loan's purchase of CarFinance.com and highlights E-Loan's strategy-setting process. In addition, the case explores business development as a strategic process... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Internet and the Web; Change Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry

05 Apr 2017
Research & Ideas

For Women Especially, It Pays to Know What Car Repairs Should Cost

that was higher than consumers’ expectations. Immediately after receiving the quote, some callers queried whether the repair business would be willing to match the expected price published by the online automotive repair website... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild Swearingen; Service; Service

January 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Intellectual Property Intermediaries

By: Andrei Hagiu

During the past 5 to 10 years, several different intermediation business models have emerged for the intellectual property (IP) market. This note describes the most prominent ones: non-practicing entities (or patent trolls), defensive patent aggregators, online IP... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Intellectual Property; Auctions; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Service Industry

Educators

Program

Competing in the Age of AI—Virtual

industry or business model, you cannot afford to ignore this exciting, highly disruptive trend. In this live online program, you will delve into new AI-based business models and operational approaches while exploring the possibilities of... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Digital Platforms 2.0: Learnings, Opportunities, and Challenges

By: Shrabastee Banerjee, Ishita Chakraborty, Hana Choi, Hannes Datta, Remi Daviet, Chiara Farronato, Minkyung Kim, Anja Lambrecht, Puneet Manchanda, Aniko Oery, Ananya Sen, Marshall W Van Alstyne, Prasad Vana, Kenneth C Wilbur, Xu Zhang and Bobby Zhou

Platform-based digital ecosystems form the backbone of our interactions with the Internet. Over the past decade, digital ecosystems have witnessed significant growth, both in terms of industry footprint and academic research. Yet, the challenges associated with their... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Technology Adoption; E-commerce; Market Design

SSRN

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May 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Music Downloads

By: David B. Yoffie and Deborah Freier

Examines the competition between competing music formats. In the '90s, the MP3 format challenged the traditional means of music distribution by allowing for storage of near CD-quality recordings at 1/10th of their previous size. The threat to traditional distribution... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Music Entertainment; Legal Liability; Distribution; Competition; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Information Infrastructure; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Music Industry

Financial markets have recently witnessed a disruptive force: the rise of online intermediaries and, more generally, fintech companies, i.e., firms that apply technology to improve financial activities. Fintech companies have targeted the consumer credit market,... View Details

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Jumia's Path to Profitability

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in September 2019 as Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, co-founders and co-CEOs of Jumia, the leading Pan-African e-commerce platform, are contemplating the company’s path to profitability in the aftermath of a fragile investor sentiment, as the company... View Details

Educators

January 2022
Teaching Plan

Just Arrived: Integrating Refugees in Sweden

By: Brian Trelstad and Emilie Billaud

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 321-040. Just Arrived is an online platform that matches newly-arrived immigrants in Sweden with employment opportunities. As one of several for-profit and non-profit start-ups in Europe that is looking to address the refugee crisis, the... View Details

Keywords: Immigration; Refugees; Employment; Integration; Business Model; Social Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Employment Industry; Sweden; Italy; Germany

Article

Finding the Platform in Your Product: Four Strategies That Can Reveal Hidden Value

By: Andrei Hagiu and Elizabeth J. Altman

Five of the 10 most valuable companies in the world today—Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft—derive much of their worth from their multisided platforms (MSPs), which facilitate interactions or transactions between parties. Many MSPs are more valuable than... View Details

Keywords: Multi-Sided Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation