Publications

Web

Tools & Services | Information Technology

about web design, implementation, management, and support at HBS. Data, Reporting, & Analytics Explore IT supported reporting and analytics platforms for HBS community information assets. Deliver We ensure the availability and security of... View Details

01 Mar 2019
News

Napkin Finance: Say It in a Picture

sketching them out within the space limitations of a fouror five-inch square. With a library of hundreds of digital napkins and counting—along with short videos, actual paper napkins, and a book to come later this year—Napkin Finance is... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

July 1996
Case

Edmund's--www.edmunds.com

Edmund's publishes an automobile price guide in books (600,000 units per year) and over the Internet (16,000 users a day and growing). The site can be visited at www.edmunds.com. In the marketplace, it makes money selling books. In the marketspace, they make their... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Information Publishing; Information Industry; Auto Industry

October 2005 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Red Flag Software Co.

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Tarun Khanna, David Lane and Elizabeth Raabe

In 2005, just five years after its formal launch, Beijing-based Red Flag Software was the world's second-largest distributor of the Linux operating system and was expecting its first annual profit. On a unit basis, Red Flag led the world in desktops (PCs) shipped with... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Competitive Advantage; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Globalized Markets and Industries; Information Technology Industry; Distribution Industry; Beijing; United States

April 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Monster Networking

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and David Andrew Vivero

The management at Monster.com, the leading U.S. provider of online recruitment services, must decide how to proceed with Monster Networking (MN), a new business launched in late 2003. MN helps users identify other individuals who can offer career advice. Monster.com... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Social and Collaborative Networks; Recruitment; Service Industry; Employment Industry; United States

02 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Secrets to a Successful Social Media Strategy

some social media platforms soar while others fizzle, and how business can use them to generate profit. "I have always been fascinated that humans interact online when we can interact offline as we have for thousands of years," says... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

06 Dec 2021
News

Action Plan: Whole Sale

online platforms such as YouTube or, more recently, TikTok, to discover new products, but digital sales in the category were not on par with other consumer goods. The explanation: “Beauty is a fun purchase... View Details

Keywords: April White; ecommerce; bricks and mortar; marketing; beauty

July 2022
Case

Metaverse Seoul

By: Mitchell Weiss and Samantha Markowitz

In May 2022, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) launched the pilot of Metaverse Seoul, a government-run metaverse. SMG had delivered a virtual version of Seoul’s mayor’s office. The team aimed to gain insights as they worked towards building a broad, immersive,... View Details

Keywords: Metaverse; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Government Administration; Public Administration Industry; South Korea; Asia

04 Sep 2019
News

A Wide Screen Approach

platforms at once. “Nobody had streamed a service at that scale before,” says Wilson. “We were holding our breath, because we were basically betting our business that this was going to be a successful pivot.” It felt like a sharp turn not... View Details

01 Sep 2020
News

Giving Amazon the Boot

Amazon was one of the big beneficiaries: The tech giant’s second quarter revenue was $88.9 billion, up a staggering 40 percent from the same period a year earlier. Amazon is the cornerstone of ecommerce—but are the merchants that offer their goods on the View Details

Keywords: Lisa Scanlon Mogolov; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

September 2000 (Revised October 2006)
Teaching Note

Wildfire Communications, Inc. (A) and (B) (TN)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and John T. Gourville

Teaching Note for (9-396-305) and (9-396-306). View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Performance Effectiveness; Business Processes; Digital Platforms; Business Strategy; Markets

08 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Fashion Your New E-Business Model

Internet. The second major category of e-business model comprises businesses that provide the platform upon which digital businesses are built and operated. The e-business model classification…suggests... View Details

Keywords: by Lynda M. Applegate

05 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 5, 2019

open platforms and then provide a brief history of open digital platforms. I go on to argue that the success of open platforms in competition with vertically integrated firms... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

November 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

EbonyLife Media (A)

By: Andy Wu, Feng Zhu, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal

Founded by Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu in 2012 with a mission to bring high-quality African stories to the world, EbonyLife was the company behind many of Nigeria’s biggest films and TV shows. The company began as a television channel on the Africa-wide direct broadcast... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Consumer Behavior; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Nigeria; Africa