Publications

October 2021 (Revised June 2022)
Case

PittaRosso: Artificial Intelligence-Driven Pricing and Promotion

By: Ayelet Israeli

PittaRosso, a traditional Italian shoe retailer, is implementing an AI system to provide pricing and promotion recommendations. The system allows them to implement changes that would affect both the top of funnel and bottom of funnel activities for the company: once... View Details

November 2004
Tutorial

Principles of Microeconomics for Strategists

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Pai-Ling Yin and Elizabeth Raabe

Reviews microeconomic principles from a business strategy perspective, using the digital music industry as context. Contains three modules: demand, supply, and equilibrium. The demand module discusses the willingness to pay, market demand, price elasticity, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Supply and Industry; Demand and Consumers; Microeconomics; Balance and Stability; Price; Cost; Revenue; Music Industry

March 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Barnes & Noble: Managing the E-Book Revolution

By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Kimball Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer

The case describes competition in the market for E-Books, and Barnes & Noble's Strategy in this industry. As a traditional retailer, B&N was challenged by the introduction of digital technologies that allow books to be published, distributed and sold to consumers... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Technology Strategy; Platform Competition; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology; Product Development; Digital Platforms; Standards; Disruptive Innovation; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry; North America

Shunyuan Zhang is an assistant professor in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches the first-year Marketing course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Zhang studies the sharing economy and the marketing problems that the dynamics of... View Details

Keywords: e-commerce industry; high technology; retailing

25 Oct 2012
HBS Seminar

Andy McAfee, MIT

November 2018 (Revised August 2020)
Case

The Reinvention of Kodak

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Christine Snively

The Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) was a name familiar to most Americans. The company had dominated the film and photography industry through most of the 20th Century and was known for making affordable cameras (and the “Kodak Moment”) and supplying the movie industry... View Details

Keywords: CEO; Leadership; Asset Management; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy

09 May 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 9

to dealers with whom they have the strongest ties, and more so during periods of market turmoil. Systemically important dealers exploit their connections at the expense of peripheral dealers as well as clients, charging higher markups... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Chiara Farronato

Chiara Farronato is Glenn and Mary Jane Creamer Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School, and co-Principal Investigator of the Platform Lab at the Digital... View Details

The Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports

In the business of entertainment, digital technologies are dramatically disrupting the way products are developed, marketed, and distributed. As a result of this paradigm shift, entertainment executives and content producers are challenged to effectively allocate... View Details

March 2022 (Revised July 2022)
Teaching Note

Camera IQ and the Metaverse: Building Augmented Reality Brand Experiences

By: Jill Avery

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

July 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Beohemija's Duel

By: Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

Vladimir Joksic, Director of Marketing for Serbia's Beohemija, along with his marketing team has managed to grow Duel, the firm's soap powder offering from single digits to almost 40% of the Serbian market in just a few short years. He has used innovative and... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Growth and Development; Innovation Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing; Product Launch; Competition; Consumer Products Industry

August 2024
Case

Circle: Reinventing the Future of Money

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

In early 2024, Circle Internet Financial's leadership team gathered to discuss the company's strategic path as it prepared for an IPO. Founded in 2013 by Jeremy Allaire, Circle had emerged as a pioneer in digital finance through its USD Coin (USDC), a regulated... View Details

October 2016 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson

By: Anita Elberse

In June 2016, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is planning for the upcoming launch of an endeavor that is a first for a Hollywood actor with superstar status—a digital channel. The channel (named “Seven Bucks Digital Studios”) will be a new part of film and television... View Details

November 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

KhataBook

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Allison H. Mnookin and James Barnett

In January 2020, India-based KhataBook, a digital ledger app for small businesses, is led by CEO Ravish Naresh, as his team faces a series of dilemmas regarding where to focus next. View Details

Keywords: Monetization; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Marketing; Measurement and Metrics; Technology Industry; India; Bangalore; Mumbai; Southeast Asia

Henry McGee joined the HBS faculty in 2013 after retiring as President of HBO Home Entertainment, the digital and DVD program distribution division of Home Box Office, the pioneering premium television company. A member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit,... View Details

Keywords: television; motion pictures; media; e-commerce industry; entertainment; broadcasting; distribution; health care; journalism; wholesale; arts; nonprofit industry

Suraj Srinivasan

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: accounting industry; financial services

December 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Sword Health

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Annelena Lobb and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Virgilio “V” Bento, CEO of Sword Health—a startup that provided virtual physical therapy to patients in self-insured firms via AI and sensor technology with supervision by a physical therapist with a doctorate—considered how to increase its U.S. market share. To do so,... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; Technology Industry