Publications

2013
Working Paper

Separating Homophily and Peer Influence with Latent Space

By: Joseph P. Davin, Sunil Gupta and Mikolaj Jan Piskorski

We study the impact of peer behavior on the adoption of mobile apps in a social network. To identify social influence properly, we introduce latent space as an approach to control for latent homophily, the idea that "birds of a feather flock together." In a series of... View Details

Keywords: Social Influence; Social Network; Mobile App; Peer Effects; Latent Homophily; Latent Space; Proxy Variables; Familiarity; Behavior; Consumer Behavior; Applications and Software; Social and Collaborative Networks; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Power and Influence; Social Media

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March 2009 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Yelp

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, David Chen and Aaron Smith

Yelp was a popular online destination for reviews of local establishments, written by volunteer Internet users and read by 60 million people per month. However, the company was far from profitable. The CEO needs to decide between two options to increase the revenue.... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Business Model; Profit; Revenue; Marketing Strategy; Sales; Internet and the Web; Advertising Industry

September 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Friendster (A)

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In January 2006, the president of Friendster needs to choose between two strategic options to revive the company. Friendster started the social networking industry in 2003, but has been overtaken by MySpace and Facebook. The two options are: 1) offer new features to... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social and Collaborative Networks; Brands and Branding; Service Industry

01 Sep 2013
News

What's Trending at HBS?

slate begins September 25 with Bill Sahlman addressing "Entrepreneurial Solutions to the World's Problems." He will be followed by Professors John Deighton, Ben Edelman, and Mikolaj View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

Article

Power Imbalance, Mutual Dependence and Constraint Absorption: A Closer Look at Resource Dependence Theory

By: Tiziana Casciaro and Mikolaj Jan Piskorski

Despite ubiquitous references to Pfeffer and Salancik's classic volume, The External Control of Organizations, resource dependence theory is more of an appealing metaphor than a foundation for testable empirical research. We argue that several ambiguities in the... View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; Theory

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10 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 10

recipients' actual trustworthiness. This lax approach gives rise to adverse selection: the sites that seek and obtain trust certifications are actually less trustworthy than others. Using an original dataset on web site safety, I demonstrate that sites certified View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 20

more likely to involve collaboration across locations, particularly with inventors from the firm's primary R&D site. Our results suggest that R&D dynamics in clusters are heavily influenced by multi-location firms with innovative... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 1

repatriated earnings from foreign affiliates exceeded net capital investments by $1.1 trillion in 2010 dollars; and from 1950 to 2010, repatriated earnings and net interest from foreign affiliates exceeded net equity investments and loans... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Dec 2009
News

Faculty Research Online

of Social Networks Many business leaders are mystified about how to reach potential customers on social networks like Facebook. Associate Professor Mikolaj Piskorski provides a fresh look at the... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

01 Jun 2011
News

Building a Social Network

the global economy. Based on a culture of mutual trust and support, YPOers form lifelong connections in the small, geographically based YPO Forums where they share successes and challenges (both business and personal) in complete confidentiality. A case View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

01 Apr 2011
News

My First HBS Class

classroom case discussions, the students were models of decorum and probity. I attended two different classes, a second- and a first-year course. I came completely unprepared to a popular second-year Strategy course called Competing with Social Networks, taught View Details

Keywords: Keith Larson; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

January 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Twitter

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, David Chen, Bill Heil and Aaron Smith

Twitter is a micro-blogging company that allows users to send short text updates to others. The site is used by people, including celebrities, government officials, and businesses. It helps to raise money for non-profit organizations and provides first-responders with... View Details

Keywords: Blogs; Revenue; Information Publishing; Growth and Development Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Web