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- All HBS Web
(2,120)
- People (7)
- News (535)
- Research (1,055)
- Events (13)
- Multimedia (19)
- Faculty Publications (582)
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- January 2018 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (A)
By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen and Shirley Sun
ZBJ.com (ZBJ), an online platform that connects knowledge workers to small- and medium-sized enterprises, is China’s largest outsourcing platform. Founded by Mingyue Zhu in 2006, ZBJ had grown into a unicorn with 4,000 employees and a daily transaction volume of RMB15... View Details
Keywords: Outsourcing; Disintermediation; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Information Technology Industry; China
Zhu, Feng, Weiru Chen, and Shirley Sun. "ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (A)." Harvard Business School Case 618-044, January 2018. (Revised October 2019.)
- October 2014
- Module Note
Market Design in Online Businesses (Abridged)
By: Peter Coles and Benjamin Edelman
The purpose of this note is to characterize the challenges entrepreneurs may face in creating a well-functioning ecosystem of users, and to equip entrepreneurs with tools to overcome these obstacles. The note is meant to accompany the final module of the "The Online... View Details
Keywords: Platform Design; Network Effects; Market Design; Information Technology Industry; Information Industry; Advertising Industry
Coles, Peter, and Benjamin Edelman. "Market Design in Online Businesses (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Module Note 915-016, October 2014.
- June 2013
- Background Note
Mobilizing an Online Business
By: Peter Coles and Benjamin Edelman
Entrepreneurs starting online businesses often need to mobilize multiple sets of users or customers, each of whom hesitates to participate unless others join also. This case presents several challenges with similar structure. View Details
Keywords: Mobilization Strategy; Network Effects; Platforms; Internet; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Two-Sided Platforms; Technology Adoption; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Computer Industry
Coles, Peter, and Benjamin Edelman. "Mobilizing an Online Business." Harvard Business School Background Note 913-061, June 2013. (request a courtesy copy.)
- March 2013
- Article
Do You Really Want to Be an eBay?
By: Andrei Hagiu and Julian Wright
Most companies that serve as intermediaries between buyers and sellers face a fundamental strategy decision: Should they be resellers (like supermarkets), acquiring and then reselling products or services? Should they operate as multisided platforms (like eBay),... View Details
Hagiu, Andrei, and Julian Wright. "Do You Really Want to Be an eBay?" Harvard Business Review 91, no. 3 (March 2013): 102–108.
- November 2020
- Article
Disrupting the Disruptors or Enhancing Them? How Blockchain Re‐Shapes Two‐Sided Platforms
By: Daniel Trabucchi, Antonella Moretto, Tommaso Buganza and Alan MacCormack
The importance of platform‐based businesses in the modern economy is growing continuously and becoming increasingly relevant. Specifically, the deployment of digital technologies has enhanced the applicability of two‐sided business models, enabling companies to act not... View Details
Keywords: Blockchain; Two-Sided Platforms; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation
Trabucchi, Daniel, Antonella Moretto, Tommaso Buganza, and Alan MacCormack. "Disrupting the Disruptors or Enhancing Them? How Blockchain Re‐Shapes Two‐Sided Platforms." Journal of Product Innovation Management 37, no. 6 (November 2020): 552–574.
- 14 Jan 2021
- Working Paper Summaries
Dog Eat Dog: Measuring Network Effects Using a Digital Platform Merger
- 2014
- Case
Yonyou 2013
By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming and Ziqian Zhao
The case describes how a leading Chinese management software provider Yonyou (formerly known as "UFIDA") disrupted its value chain-based business model to transform itself into a platform provider. The case describes Yonyou's past success, the market forces and... View Details
Keywords: Business Models; ERP; Platforms; Strategy; Transformations; China; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; China
McFarlan, F. Warren, Zheng Xiaoming, and Ziqian Zhao. "Yonyou 2013." Tsinghua University Case, 2014.
- 11 Nov 2020
- Research & Ideas
How Hackathons Help Decide Platform Winners and Losers
Choosing the right software platform is a critical task for developers. It can be a business life-or-death decision picking between Android or iPhone, Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud Platform, Xbox or... View Details
- 24 Oct 2023
- Research & Ideas
When Tech Platforms Identify Black-Owned Businesses, White Customers Buy
before and after Yelp introduced its “Black-owned” button in June 2020. The authors merged this with other data to identify Black-owned businesses that did and did not receive the label. Among other things, the study found that Yelp’s new... View Details
- 08 Feb 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Platform Systems vs. Step Processes—The Value of Options and the Power of Modularity
Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin
- February 2022 (Revised February 2024)
- Case
Sekisui House and the In-Home Early Detection Platform
By: John D. Macomber and Akiko Kanno
To address an aging population and sales declines, a major Japanese homebuilder considers pivoting to provide and support an in-home health detection platform, in competition with tech companies. This case considers the point of view of major builders regarding how... View Details
Keywords: Voice Assistants; Architecture; Smart Home; Aging Society; Digitalization; Real Estate; Home Automation; Sensors; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Health Care and Treatment; Housing; Age; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; Health Industry; Japan
Macomber, John D., and Akiko Kanno. "Sekisui House and the In-Home Early Detection Platform." Harvard Business School Case 222-070, February 2022. (Revised February 2024.)
- 25 Jun 2019
- Cold Call Podcast
In the Platform Economy, Upwork Searches for Better Matches in the Cloud
- Article
Finding the Platform in Your Product: Four Strategies That Can Reveal Hidden Value
By: Andrei Hagiu and Elizabeth J. Altman
Five of the 10 most valuable companies in the world today—Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft—derive much of their worth from their multisided platforms (MSPs), which facilitate interactions or transactions between parties. Many MSPs are more valuable than... View Details
Hagiu, Andrei, and Elizabeth J. Altman. "Finding the Platform in Your Product: Four Strategies That Can Reveal Hidden Value." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 4 (July–August 2017): 94–100.
- August 1997 (Revised February 1999)
- Case
Argentina's YPF Sociedad Anonima (D): The International Platform
By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop
In March 1995, YPF (the former Argentine state-owned oil and gas utility, privatized in late 1993) acquired the Dallas-based Maxus Energy Corp., one of the world's largest independent oil and gas exploration companies. YPF's first acquisition is nearly bankrupt, with... View Details
Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Globalization; Borrowing and Debt; Privatization; Managerial Roles; Energy Industry; Argentina; Texas
Yoshino, Michael Y., and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "Argentina's YPF Sociedad Anonima (D): The International Platform." Harvard Business School Case 398-005, August 1997. (Revised February 1999.)
- December 7, 2022
- Article
Why Decentralized Crypto Platforms Are Weathering the Crash
By: Shai Bernstein and Scott Duke Kominers
In the past year, crypto markets dropped from $2.9 trillion in value to around $800 billion. In the wake of the collapse, crypto lenders and exchanges have been accused of fraud and other wrongdoing. What went wrong? One factor is competition. In theory, competition... View Details
Keywords: Crypto Economy; Cryptocurrency; Financial Complexity; Financial Crisis; Decentralization; Decentralized Markets; Decentralized Autonomous Organizations; Finance; Market Design; Financial Services Industry
Bernstein, Shai, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Why Decentralized Crypto Platforms Are Weathering the Crash." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (December 7, 2022).
- 2014
- Teaching Note
Yonyou 2013 (TN)
By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming and Ziqian Zhao
The case describes how a leading Chinese management software provider Yonyou (formerly known as "UFIDA") disrupted its value chain-based business model to transform itself into a platform provider. The case describes Yonyou's past success, the market forces and... View Details
Keywords: Business Models; ERP; Platforms; Strategy; Transformations; China; Information Technology; China
McFarlan, F. Warren, Zheng Xiaoming, and Ziqian Zhao. "Yonyou 2013 (TN)." Tsinghua University Teaching Note, 2014.
- June 2024
- Case
Growing Foodology into Latin America's Largest Platform for Virtual Restaurants
By: Jorge Tamayo, Rembrand Koning and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago
This case delves into the expansion strategy of Foodology, a cloud kitchen startup based in Bogotá that operated across four Latin American countries (Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru). Co-founders Daniela Izquierdo and Juan Guillermo Azuero (both HBS, 2019) grappled... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Food; Digital Platforms; Product Launch; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Business Model; Business Startups; Profit; Marketing Strategy; Expansion; Diversification; Food and Beverage Industry; Latin America; South America; Colombia; Brazil; Mexico; Peru
Tamayo, Jorge, Rembrand Koning, and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago. "Growing Foodology into Latin America's Largest Platform for Virtual Restaurants." Harvard Business School Case 724-393, June 2024.
- February 2020 (Revised June 2020)
- Background Note
China Commerce 2020
By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor and Nathaniel Schwalb
China's digital commerce platforms engage billions of consumers daily across a number of routine tasks from banking, retail purchases, travel, gaming, payments, and more. These platforms are the most sophisticated/informed and highest performing/capable in the world.... View Details
Keywords: Platforms; Strategy; Leadership; E-commerce; Digital Platforms; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; Consumer Products Industry; China
Kerr, William R., Daniel O'Connor, and Nathaniel Schwalb. "China Commerce 2020." Harvard Business School Background Note 820-014, February 2020. (Revised June 2020.)
- January 2021 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
Brigad: The Future of Work
By: Nien-he Hsieh, Elena Corsi and Daniela Beyersdorfer
In 2019 Florent Malbranche, CEO and co-founder of the French tech startup Brigad, pondered the next growth steps. Founded in 2015, Brigad’s objective was two-fold: to help restaurants and bars find qualified staff for punctual shifts, and to make it easier for... View Details
- August 2013 (Revised October 2013)
- Case
Modern Family Planning: The Business of Circle Surrogacy
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Blake Landro
The business of surrogacy, a boutique practice with client costs upwards of $100,000, allowed couples and individuals from a variety of backgrounds, ages, and sexual orientations to build families. This case examines Circle Surrogacy (CS), one of the premier surrogacy... View Details
Keywords: Family Planning; Platform; Competitive Advantage; Law; Globalization; Competitive Strategy; Digital Platforms; United States; Ukraine
Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, and Blake Landro. "Modern Family Planning: The Business of Circle Surrogacy." Harvard Business School Case 714-418, August 2013. (Revised October 2013.)