Publications

February 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Harvard Business School Executive Education: Balancing Online and Offline Marketing

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

How does a small business set its online media budget? The HBS Executive Education Division can be viewed as a small-to-medium sized business unit with annual revenues of $107 million. As we watch it change its culture, practices, and organization from offline to... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Marketing Strategy; Budgets and Budgeting; Technology Adoption; Digital Marketing; Resource Allocation; Information Technology Industry

Article

Platform Competition: Betfair and the U.K. Market for Sports Betting

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Neil Campbell

We examine two episodes of strategic interaction in the U.K. betting industry: (i) Betfair (an entrant multi-sided platform or MSP) vs. Flutter (also an MSP) and (ii) Betfair vs. traditional bookmakers. We find that although Betfair was an underfunded second mover in... View Details

Keywords: Platform Design; Betting; Complements; Competing Business Models; Co-opetition; Entry; Multi-Sided Platforms; Design; Network Effects; Business Model; Competition; Cooperation

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July 2021
Article

Outsourcing Tasks Online: Matching Supply and Demand on Peer-to-Peer Internet Platforms

By: Zoë Cullen and Chiara Farronato

We study the growth of online peer-to-peer markets. Using data from TaskRabbit, an expanding marketplace for domestic tasks at the time of our study, we show that growth varies considerably across cities. To disentangle the potential drivers of growth, we look... View Details

Keywords: Two-sided Market; Two-sided Platforms; Peer-to-peer Markets; Platform Strategy; Sharing Economy; Platform Growth; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Strategy; Market Design; Network Effects

February 2017
Teaching Note

Oversight Systems

By: Frank Cespedes

This Teaching Note accompanies the case, set in May 2016, which discusses sales strategy and channel partnerships at Oversight Systems, an early stage software firm that developed analytics for organizations to monitor their data for errors, fraud, and operational... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Sales Strategy; Entrepreneurial Sales; Entrepreneurial Sales And Marketing; Software Sales; Marketing; Marketing Management; Pricing; Salesforce Management; Distribution Channels; Marketing Strategy; Technology Industry; North America

January 2014
Supplement

J.C. Penney's 'Fair and Square' Strategy (B): Out with the New, In with the Old

By: Elie Ofek, Jill Avery and Jose B. Alvarez

In his August 2012 earnings call, CEO Ron Johnson urged investors to be patient and stay the course with the revised JC Penney marketing strategy despite mounting negative financial indicators. The heart of the strategy was the "Fair and Square" approach to pricing.... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry

03 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Layoffs Can Be Bad Business: 5 Strategies to Consider Before Cutting Staff

organization long term, says Sucher, who collaborated with research associate Marilyn Morgan Westner on the case study and with both Westner and research associate Christopher Diak on the background note. Sucher outlines five strategies... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Telecommunications; Technology; Financial Services; Manufacturing

April 1982 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Hart Schaffner & Marx: The Market for Separately Ticketed Suits

By: Richard S. Tedlow

Calls for a decision on whether Hart Schaffner & Marx, the nation's leading manufacturer of high quality, branded suits, should expand its product line by marketing suits that are separately ticketed (i.e., the coat, vest, and slacks are sold from individual hangers... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Decisions; Price; Markets; Distribution Channels; Production; Mathematical Methods; Competitive Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry

28 Jan 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Does Product Market Competition Lead Firms To Decentralize?

Keywords: by Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen

Article

A Choice Prediction Competition for Market Entry Games: An Introduction

By: Ido Erev, Eyal Ert and Alvin E. Roth

A choice prediction competition is organized that focuses on decisions from experience in market entry games (http://sites.google.com/site/gpredcomp/ and http://www.mdpi.com/si/games/predict-behavior/). The competition is based on two experiments: An estimation... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Learning; Market Entry and Exit; Game Theory; Behavior; Competition

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May 2022 (Revised July 2022)
Case

The Voice War Continues: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri in 2022

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

In 2022, after five years of pursuing a new "AI-first" strategy, Google had captured a sizeable share of the American and global markets for voice assistants. Google Assistant was used by hundreds of millions of users around the world, but Amazon retained the largest... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Artificial Intelligence; Deep Learning; Voice Assistants; Smart Home; Market Share; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competitive Strategy; Digital Platforms; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry; United States

July 1996 (Revised July 2009)
Background Note

Antitrust and Competitive Strategy from the 1990s to 2008 (Condensed)

Describes U.S. antitrust policy, including major judicial decisions and their impact on competitive strategy. Omits information on the history of antitrust policy and on the specific prohibitions of the various acts. View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Policy; Laws and Statutes; Monopoly; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; United States

Web

Credential of Digital Innovation and Strategy | HBS Online

Introduction to Credential of Digital Innovation and Strategy This Credential Includes Leading in the Digital World, Design Thinking and Innovation, Digital Marketing Strategy, and Winning with Digital... View Details

02 Sep 2011
Working Paper Summaries

First-Party Content, Commitment and Coordination in Two-Sided Markets

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Daniel Spulber

Article

Teaching Auction Strategy Using Experiments Administered via the Internet

By: John Asker, Brit Grosskopf, C. Nicholas McKinney, Muriel Niederle, Alvin E. Roth and George Weizsäcker

Keywords: Teaching; Auctions; Strategy; Online Technology

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09 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

can't seem to get innovation right. When companies keep improving their existing products and services to meet their best customers' needs, they eventually run into the "innovator's dilemma." By doing everything right, they create opportunities for new... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor & Scott D. Anthony

January 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Perfect Diary (完美日记)

By: Shunyuan Zhang and Sunil Gupta

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 522-030. View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Marketing; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; China

1985
Chapter

Interrelationships between Equity Markets and Prospects for Integration

By: Marc L Bertoneche

Keywords: Equity; Markets; Integration

June 2008
Case

From xiaonei to hainei: The Quest for the Social Networking Service Market in China

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Michael Shih-Ta Chen and Keith Chi-ho Wong

Wang Xing, the founder of Hainei.com, one of the fastest growing social networking service (SNS) providers in China, was preparing to raise funds from venture capitalists. Since late 2003, Wang had established several Internet startups in China. Xiaonei.com, which he... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competition; Internet; China