Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(420)
- Faculty Publications (83)
- January 2015 (Revised April 2015)
- Case
Zeal: Launching Personalized and Social Learning
By: John J-H Kim and Christine S. An
Set in 2014, this case follows John Danner and his team at Zeal as they consider their product development strategy. In February 2013, serial entrepreneurs John Danner and Sanjay Noronha co-found Zeal, an education technology start up providing a web-based, mobile... View Details
- January 2015 (Revised May 2018)
- Case
$19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg!
By: David Collis, Ashley Hartman and Aakash Mehta
In February 2014, Facebook announced the acquisition of WhatsApp for $19 billion. WhatsApp, founded in 2009, was a relatively young company that employed only 50 people and earned merely $10 million in revenue in 2013. It was one of many mobile messaging services that... View Details
Keywords: WhatsApp; Facebook; Mobile Messaging; Social Network; Acquisitions; Value Added; Strategy Alignment; Monetization; Social Platforms; Technology; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Acquisition; Communication Technology; Social and Collaborative Networks; Value Creation; Social Media; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Communications Industry; Information Technology Industry
- November 2014 (Revised February 2016)
- Case
DoubleDutch
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Matthew G. Preble
Lawrence Coburn and Pankaj Prasad, co-founders of the event solution startup DoubleDutch, have to make a significant decision about their young company's sales function. DoubleDutch's key product was a mobile application (app) and event management platform that... View Details
- July 2014 (Revised August 2015)
- Case
Qihoo
By: Feng Zhu
Qihoo, one of the largest Internet companies in China today, was founded in 2005. The company started its business by offering a security software product, and quickly dominated the market in China after its unusual move of giving its product away for free in 2009.... View Details
- May 2014
- Article
Mobile Computing: The Next Platform Rivalry
By: Timothy Bresnahan and Shane Greenstein
Competition to become one of several dominant mobile platforms is intense. Platforms compete for developers, who create applications which make the platform valuable for users. Why doesn't one form of platform governance emerge as superior? This essay will stress the... View Details
- February 2014
- Technical Note
Mobile Broadband and the Telecommunications Industry in 2011
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Kerry Herman and Christine Snively
Mobile broadband carriers provide network access to the Internet for a range of devices (typically portable or mobile), including consumer devices such as smartphones, tablets and E-Readers, but also a host of new emerging devices. Mobile broadband networks enable data... View Details
- November 2013
- Teaching Note
Research In Motion: The Mobile OS Platform War
By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Kimball Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer
- September 2013
- Case
Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins
After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details
Keywords: Management; Startup; Leadership; Leadership Style; Leadership Skills; Nutrition Database; Nutritionist In Your Pocket; Nutritional Educational Platform; Shazam Of Food; Weight Loss; Iphone; Android; Applications; App Development; Nutrition Labeling; Nutritional Information; Obesity; Epidemic; Applications and Software; Nutrition; Business Startups; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology Industry; Health Industry; Boston; Massachusetts
- 2013
- Case
Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins
After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company, Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz, sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details
- January 2013 (Revised February 2013)
- Case
EverTrue: Mobile Technology Development (A)
By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell
Brent Grinna is evaluating different options for the technology development of his start-up's iPhone app, including hiring local programmers, finding a CTO, or outsourcing. He only has a little over two months before he presents his alumni networking app to Brown... View Details
- December 2012
- Case
Blink Booking
By: William R. Kerr, Magnus Thor Torfason and Alexis Brownell
Rebeca Minguela hopes to create an arbitrage platform, similar to Rocket Internet, that can bring start-up ideas and opportunities to Spain. However, Blink Booking, her first venture and proof of concept, is rocked by a co-founder's breach of confidence and departure.... View Details
- November 2012 (Revised May 2013)
- Case
ASUSTeK and the Google Nexus 7 Tablet
By: Willy C. Shih and Jyun-Cheng Wang
Days after Jerry Shen introduced a new tablet computer at the Consumer Electronics Show, a Google meeting convinced him to go with a lower price point and co-branding as the Nexus 7. While his company would have a premier position at launch, companies like Samsung... View Details
Keywords: Nexus; Google; ASUSTeK; Android; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Notebook Computers; ODM; Apple; Price Point; App Store; Ecosystem; Open Handset Alliance; Reference Design; iPad; EMS; Electronic Manufacturing Services; Smartphone; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Industry Structures; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Taiwan; United States
- July 2012 (Revised April 2014)
- Case
Research In Motion: The Mobile OS Platform War
By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer
The case describes competition in the market for smart phones in the US, and the position of one player, Research In Motion (RIM) who manufacture the popular Blackberry line of products. Early in 2011, RIM is in trouble. Its stock price has plummeted, amidst poor... View Details
Keywords: Innovation; Product Development; Technology Strategy; Platform Strategy; Software; Hardware; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry; Canada; United States
- March 2012 (Revised September 2012)
- Case
INRIX
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Ryan Johnson
Since its founding in 2004, INRIX, a leading global provider of traffic information and driver services, had received four rounds of financing from leading venture capital (VC) firms and by 2012 had been cash flow positive for the past six quarters. Its founder, Bryan... View Details
- September 2011
- Module Note
Orientation to Leadership Intelligence Days, 2011
By: Joshua D. Margolis and Anthony J. Mayo
Julie Bornstein, senior vice president of Sephora Direct, is seeking to double her budget for social media and other digital marketing initiatives for 2011. A number of digital efforts implemented in the past two years seem to be bearing fruit and there is a desire to... View Details
- June 2011 (Revised June 2012)
- Case
Sephora Direct: Investing in Social Media, Video, and Mobile
By: Elie Ofek and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Julie Bornstein, senior vice president of Sephora Direct, is seeking to double her budget for social media and other digital marketing initiatives for 2011. A number of digital efforts implemented in the past two years seem to be bearing fruit and there is a desire to... View Details
- October 2010
- Case
The iPhone at IVK
By: Richard L. Nolan and Robert D. Austin
The CIO addresses a decision to replace salesmen netbook PC's with iPhones, including converting the company's sales and customer applications to the iPhone platform View Details
- March 2010 (Revised May 2012)
- Case
Bank of America: Mobile Banking
By: Sunil Gupta and Kerry Herman
In January 2010, Jen McDonald, head of Bank of America Corporation's (BAC) Digital Marketing group, was discussing the bank's mobile strategy with Douglas Brown, senior vice president, Mobile Product Development. BAC launched mobile banking in 2007 and within three... View Details
- April 2009 (Revised November 2012)
- Case
Sermo, Inc.
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lars Peter Christian Nielsen
Sermo operates the leading online professional network for physicians in the United States. Doctors use Sermo free of charge to post surveys regarding diagnostic and treatment concerns and to discuss these concerns, as well as challenges with managing their practices.... View Details
- March 2008 (Revised March 2014)
- Case
By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Aaron Smith, David Chen and Brian Feinstein
As Facebook topped one billion monthly users in October 2012, the online social network continued to face questions about how best to monetize its surging traffic. The company could invest further in new advertising products, which represented the majority of the... View Details