Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,063)
- Faculty Publications (718)
- April 2000 (Revised November 2003)
- Case
H. E. Butt Grocery Company: The New Digital Strategy (A)
By: F. Warren McFarlan and Melissa Dailey
Shows how the company's IT priorities have moved from primary supply chain restructuring to e-commerce. Shows the new organization structure created by the company. View Details
- March 2000 (Revised January 2001)
- Case
First USA and Internet Marketing
By: Rajiv Lal and Amy H. Nelson
Explores First USA's decision to use the Internet for acquiring customers. Tom Brenner needs to decide on the terms of the deals demanded by the portals and justify the recommendations to his boss. View Details
- February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
- Case
Boston.com
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jon K Rust
How aggressively should an incumbent move when developing an online business that threatens its core product? With Internet competitors taking direct aim at the traditional print newspaper business model, the Boston Globe fought back with its own web initiative,... View Details
- December 1999
- Case
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A5): Solaris 7: Rich Green on Product Strategy and Culture Change
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner
Solaris, Sun Microsystems' version of the UNIX operating system, was an amorphous collection of capabilities that had accumulated over the years, a product the company vaguely wished it could market and sell better. Developing and marketing Solaris 7 would help... View Details
- December 1999
- Case
E Ink: Financing Growth
By: William A. Sahlman and Matthew C. Lieb
A set of financial and strategic decisions confront the management of a company trying to develop a technology for creating "electronic ink." If successful, the company will be able to create "radio paper," essentially turning a piece of paper into a computer monitor... View Details
- December 1999 (Revised November 2000)
- Background Note
Pricing and Market Making on the Internet
By: Robert J. Dolan and Youngme E. Moon
Considers the impact of the Internet on how market exchanges will take place. Discusses the role of shopping agents and alternatives to fixed prices such as negotiations, auctions, and exchanges. View Details
- November 1999 (Revised June 2000)
- Case
VerticalNet (www.verticalnet.com)
By: Das Narayandas
VerticalNet, a leading creator of targeted business-to-business vertical trade communities on the Internet, is trying to expand its model to facilitate e-commerce. Mark Walsh, the CEO of VerticalNet, has to decide how far he can extend the firm's business model without... View Details
- August 1999 (Revised October 1999)
- Case
RCA Records: The Digital Revolution
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis
In 1995, Bertelsmann-owned RCA Records was considered a "tired and old" record label. By 1999, the company represented a number of the "hottest" acts in the music industry. Nevertheless, the company's position (as well as that of the entire music industry) was under... View Details
- May 1999 (Revised March 2001)
- Case
Marshall Industries
Confounding predictions that the Internet would "disintermediate" commerce, making "middle man" companies all but obsolete, Marshall Industries, a leading electronics distributor, used the Internet and digital technologies to reinvent itself. Marshall continued to sell... View Details
- March 1999 (Revised October 2002)
- Case
Xerox: Book-In-Time
Book-In-Time, developed at Xerox, can dramatically reduce the cost of printing "one" book. Combined with the possibilities of digital content storage and transmittal, the new technology has vast opportunities. Xerox needs a commercial plan. The case describes the state... View Details
- December 1998 (Revised October 2007)
- Case
Tele-Communications, Inc.: Accelerating Digital Deployment
The top management team at Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), the largest U.S. cable company, conceived and implemented a dramatic operational turnaround and a radical new technology strategy over an 18-month period beginning in late 1996. View Details
- November 1998 (Revised February 1999)
- Case
Microsoft Office: Finding the Suite Spot
By: Stefan H. Thomke and Steven Sinofsky
Describes a key decision-making process within Microsoft's Office products division. At a time when the PC software business has a great deal of uncertainty, Microsoft's management has to make a key decision regarding the future of software suites. A strengthening of... View Details
Keywords: Decisions; Applications and Software; Strategic Planning; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Development; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Goals and Objectives; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Management; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry
- March 1998 (Revised November 1999)
- Case
USA TODAY Online
By: John A. Deighton and Anthony St. George
How should USA TODAY use its brand franchise to build a publishing business on the World Wide Web? Advertising Age described the first steps as "a case study in how not to do it," but by the end of 1997 USA TODAY Online is the most visited news site on the Web. Now the... View Details
- February 1998 (Revised February 1999)
- Case
FreeMarkets OnLine
Describes the marketing strategy of an entrepreneurial start-up engaged in electronic purchasing for large manufacturers. By creating an electronic bidding platform, the company has been able to cut down procurement costs by about 15%. The case question concerns how... View Details
- September 1996 (Revised April 1997)
- Case
GO Corporation
By: Josh Lerner, Thomas J. Kosnik, Tarek AbuZayyad and Paul C. Yang
GO faces a crisis in March 1991 when Microsoft announces the introduction of a competing operating system for pen-based computers. GO's managers must work with its venture financers, Kleiner Perkins, to redesign its financing, alliance, and product development... View Details
- September 1995
- Case
Ares-Serono
By: Michael Y. Yoshino, Jean-Pierre Jeannet and Carin-Isabel Knoop
Ares Serono, a medium-size Swiss pharmaceutical company, is the global leader in the field of fertility drugs. The company has successfully transformed into one of the very few biotech firms in Europe. The case treats a set of major strategic and organizational... View Details
Keywords: Geographic Location; Globalized Firms and Management; Asset Management; Balance and Stability; Expansion; Digital Platforms; Leadership Development; Health Care and Treatment; Transformation; Family Business; Problems and Challenges; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Switzerland; Europe
- March 1990 (Revised July 1991)
- Case
Digital Equipment Corp.: Complex Order Management
Describes the proposed creation of a low end 3000 configuration workstation using Digital's competitive advantage of offering a la carte configuration capability and ability to build different options for customers. Disadvantages of this 3000 configuration workstation... View Details
- Teaching Interest
Competing in the Age of Digital Platforms—(Executive Education)
By: David B. Yoffie
Summary
Without exception, the most valuable companies in the world today are platforms. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and many other firms have built their fortunes by facilitating innovation across global ecosystems or... View Details
Without exception, the most valuable companies in the world today are platforms. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and many other firms have built their fortunes by facilitating innovation across global ecosystems or... View Details
- Forthcoming
- Article
Confronting the Limits of Symbolic Actions: How Entrepreneurs Narrow the Presentation-Performance Gap
By: Rebecca Karp and Siobhan O'Mahony
Entrepreneurs often skillfully leverage symbolic actions to manage impressions and gain acceptance for their innovations. Impression management can generate interest, but also heighten expectations beyond an innovation’s capabilities, creating a gap between... View Details