Publications

February 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Teaching Note

Emotiv Systems Inc.: It's the Thoughts that Count (TN)

By: Elie Ofek and Natalie Kindred

Teaching Note for 510050. View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Technological Innovation; Applications and Software; Decision Choices and Conditions; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Marketing Channels; Price

Web

FAQs | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

application deadline. The committee will assess a candidate's eligibility within that specific year-long period. Graduates in term positions (including participants in the HBS Leadership Fellows program) will be considered based on their... View Details

July 2021
Case

A Close Shave at Squire

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Zoë B. Cullen, William R. Kerr, Benjamin N. Roth and Michael Norris

In 2020, just after closing a $34 million Series B financing round, Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon consider how to adjust their business, Squire Technologies, to the new realities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their barbershop technology, including tools to run a shop... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Pandemics; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Technology Industry; New York (city, NY); San Francisco

23 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

Strategy for Small Fish

departments easily embracing the Web. In the software industry, for example, we have witnessed how the emergence of loosely coupled interfaces has enabled the majority of application companies to leverage... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Roy Levien

March 2018
Case

IBM: Watson and the Internet of Things

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

IBM has recently launched a business unit devoted to the Internet of Things. The group's leadership team needs to figure out the best way to quickly scale its business in a fragmented and nascent market. View Details

Keywords: IBM; Internet Of Things; Watson; Artificial Intelligence; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry

01 Mar 2012
News

Robots to the Rescue

approach to order fulfillment is based on the disarming efficiency of small, battery-powered, orange mobile robots. When orders are received, the robots are directed by a complex software application to find... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; e-commerce; order fulfillment; robotics; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

2003
Working Paper

Dynamic Mixed Duopoly: A Model Motivated by Linux vs. Windows

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pankaj Ghemawat

This paper analyzes a dynamic mixed duopoly in which a profit-maximizing competitor interacts with a competitor that prices at zero (or marginal cost), with the cumulation of output affecting their relative positions over time. The modeling effort is motivated by... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Competition; Open Source Distribution; Balance and Stability; Applications and Software; Network Effects; Duopoly and Oligopoly

Read Now

01 Apr 2001
News

The Small Business Difference: How Smaller Companies Manage with Less

Slayton (MBA 1990) discussing the situation he faced in 1997 when he took over as president and CEO of a small company called MySoftware. The firm was a struggling Silicon Valley business that developed and sold software for a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

20 Oct 2016
News

Smart Moves

was a role model for me. I decided back then that I wanted to do what he did, work in technology and build a business.” That desire led Mistele to the University of Michigan, where he earned an undergraduate degree in computer engineering and then took a job at Ford as... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley; Support Activities for Transportation; Transportation

Profile

Ravi Belani

and broaden my scope.” Despite its West Coast roots, DFJ applauded Ravi’s application to HBS. “Both of the founding partners have HBS MBAs,” says Ravi. “All told, half of our partners went to business school at HBS.” But for Ravi, there... View Details

03 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

The Tricky Business of Managing Web Advertising Affiliates

programs? What management practices work best? Catching Affiliate Fraud Edelman and Brandi, admitted computer geeks, developed software that allowed them to observe management structures within companies using affiliate branding. Edelman,... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Advertising; Publishing

February 2014
Case

BGI: Data-driven Research

By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai

BGI has the largest installed gene-sequencing capacity in the world, and to Zhang Gengyun, general manager of the Life Sciences Division, this represented an opportunity to apply his training as a plant breeder and his early career work as a biochemist to improving... View Details

October 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Rhythm & Blues

By: Willy Shih

The bankruptcy filing of Rhythm & Hues, who received an Oscar for the arresting visual effects in Life of Pi, raised questions about the challenges faced by the firms like it as well as the broader post-production industry. The rapid pace of technology certainly... View Details

Keywords: Post-production; Visual Effects; Digital; Entertainment; Animation Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Los Angeles

01 Dec 1998
News

Year 2000 Computer Problem and You: Disaster for Some, Lessons for All

With Y2K predictions running the gamut from glitches with home appliances to worldwide economic collapse, Y2K expert John F. Keane (MBA '54) assesses the situation as it appears with one year to go. John F. Keane is CEO and chairman of Boston-based Keane Inc., a $1... View Details

01 Mar 2016
News

Faculty Q&A: Price Check

application in an industry with the most room for improvement. Online retail, particularly online fashion, definitely fit the bill. Why is fashion a good place to focus? The industry faces several challenges that many other retailers... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Nonstore Retailers; Retail Trade

01 Dec 2010
News

Making a Difference

Bridgespan Group — Jeff Bradach (PhDOB ’92) and Tom Tierney (MBA ’80) — pioneers in the application of data-driven strategy and consulting services to enhance the effectiveness of nonprofits and foundations. Founded a decade ago,... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; meta

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