Publications

26 Apr 2016
First Look

April 26

April 2016 Review of Economic Studies Landing the First Job: The Value of Intermediaries in Online Hiring By: Stanton, Christopher, and Catherine Thomas Abstract—Online markets for remote labor services... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Aug 2014
Working Paper Summaries

The State of Small Business Lending: Credit Access During the Recovery and How Technology May Change the Game

Keywords: by Karen Mills & Brayden McCarthy; Banking; Financial Services

October 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Auction Vignettes

By: Guhan Subramanian and Michelle Kalka

This case consists of a series of short vignettes illustrating several auctions: the auctions for Hillary Clinton's biography and the talents of baseball star Alex Rodriguez; eBay online auctions; the Turkish government's auction for a 51% stake in its state-run gas... View Details

Keywords: Auctions

April 2019
Case

Afterpay U.S.: The Omnichannel Dilemma

By: Antonio Moreno, Donald Ngwe and George Gonzalez

In 2018, Nick Molnar, the founder of the Australia-based online payment service Afterpay began its expansion to the U.S. market. The service had gained a loyal following in Australia by enabling customers to pay for online purchases through four interest-free... View Details

September 2006 (Revised January 2007)
Background Note

Where to Get Your News and Information: The Digital Disruption

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

What is the response by traditional news and information deliverers (newspapers and television networks) to declining audiences as media consumption moves to the digital medium? Provides a view of the news industry in mid-2006 and discusses the impact of an... View Details

Keywords: News; Media; Emerging Markets; Internet and the Web; Disruption; Perspective; Advertising; Journalism and News Industry

Find at Harvard

14 Aug 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 14, 2018

Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54823 June 2018 Strategy Science Integrated Strategy: Residual Market and Exchange Imperfections as the Foundation of Sustainable Competitive Advantage By: Oberholzer-Gee,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

June 2012
Response

Solution to Exchanges 10.2 Puzzle: Borrowing in the Limit as Our Nerdiness Goes to Infinity

By: Ran I. Shorrer

This is a solution to the editor's puzzle from issue 10.2 of SIGecom Exchanges [Reeves 2011]. The puzzle asks to determine a point in time such that a lump sum payment of $S will be equivalent to a continuous stream of infinitesimal payments totaling $S, spread evenly... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Market Transactions; Mathematical Methods

Read Now

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Jumia's Path to Profitability

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in September 2019 as Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, co-founders and co-CEOs of Jumia, the leading Pan-African e-commerce platform, are contemplating the company’s path to profitability in the aftermath of a fragile investor sentiment, as the company... View Details

May 2019 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

By: William R. Kerr and Jordan Bach-Lombardo

Faced with intense competition from Amazon, Walmart began a transformation of its operations and workforce in 2015. The goal was to create an omnichannel retail experience for customers that seamlessly joined online and offline shopping. This case explores Walmart's... View Details

Keywords: Walmart; Managing The Future Of Work; Workforce; Automation; Ecommerce; Omnichannel Retail; Operations; Transformation; Employees; Training; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Disruption; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Information Infrastructure; Retail Industry

February 2018
Case

Redfin

By: Marco Di Maggio and Julia Kelley

Redfin, a technology-powered residential real estate brokerage, was founded in 2002 with the intention of using technology to disrupt the real estate industry. Over the next 15 years, Redfin made several changes to its business model. Initially, the company provided... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Decision Making; Real Estate Industry

Program

Creating Brand Value

nurture relationships and create value for both consumers and your business. Key Benefits Through real-life examples of how B2C companies and their marketers are creating brand value, you will expand your understanding of today's branding... View Details

24 May 2013
News

Four Lean Advertising Campaigns That Went Viral

September 1999 (Revised June 2001)
Case

eBay, Inc.

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kelley Porter

eBay was the world's largest and most popular person-to-person trading community on the Internet. In early 1999, the company was doing very well and seemed to have solved many of its early problems. However, on March 30, 1999, Amazon.com announced that it was entering... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Planning; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry

04 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

Should You Outsource Your Marketing?

that outside expertise is often needed. Sony, a legendary marketer, outsourced its program to market products through its online "Sony Style" store, recognizing that they needed expertise in areas... View Details

Keywords: by Poping Lin

October 2013 (Revised July 2024)
Teaching Note

Amazon in 2024

By: Sunil Gupta

Amazon launched its website in July 1995 to sell books online and by 2020 it has grown to become a digital giant with over $280 billion in annual sales. A large part of its growth came from expanding into a variety of businesses that some see as unrelated. Has it... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry

William Sahlman is a Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Mr. Sahlman received an A.B. degree in Economics from Princeton University (1972), an M.B.A. from Harvard University (1975), and a Ph.D. in Business... View Details

07 May 2016
News

Harvard’s Anita Elberse Teaches Entertainment Ropes To Execs (And Celebrities)

June 2018
Case

The Grommet in 2018

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Karen Gordon Mills and Lena Goldberg

The Grommet, an online product launch platform, was at the brink of scaling its business. The Grommet's daily launch and sale of innovative consumer products, using personal videos created by product makers, had led to its initial success. In 2014, the company launched... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Value Capture; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Value; Retail Industry