Publications

March 2004 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Akamai Technologies

By: Benjamin Edelman, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Eric J. Van den Steen

As the leading content delivery network, Akamai helps Internet companies deliver Web site content to end users with fewer delays and lower costs. Describes the strategic management challenges facing Akamai in early 2004. The company is poised to offer its next... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure

July 2002 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Avon.com (A)

Avon has always sold its products through a large independent direct-selling organization. However, it is now considering whether it should sell directly to the consumer. The company's independent representatives number 500,000 in the United States alone. Yet, there... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Salesforce Management; Marketing Channels; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

March 2010
Background Note

Airline Travel in the U.S.

By: Sunil Gupta and Kavita Shukla

How should airlines respond to the rising share of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) as consumers increasingly search the web to buy tickets? View Details

Keywords: Management; Marketing Channels; Consumer Behavior; Market Participation; Agency Theory; Online Technology; Aerospace Industry; United States

30 Mar 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Temptation at Work

Keywords: by Alessandro Bucciol, Daniel Houser & Marco Piovesan

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Why the Internet Doesn’t Change Everything

deal of time trying to concoct a strategy for dealing with this unsettling cyber-priest. But there really wasn't much that they could do, so they left Gaillot and his liberal site alone. Partenia had won. In cyberspace, Partenia is everywhere. Dotted along the... View Details

Keywords: by Debora L. Spar

March 1998 (Revised February 2001)
Case

PlanetAll

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

PlanetAll is a Web-based contact manager that automatically updates users' contact information. In early 1998, the young company must decide whether to compete with large Web sites and become a destination site or to become an enabling technology for other contact... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Business Startups; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry

21 May 2019
Cold Call Podcast

If the Key to Business Success Is Focus, Why Does Amazon Work?

Keywords: Re: Sunil Gupta; Retail

14 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Mapping Polluters, Encouraging Protectors

Citizens, industrial polluters, and scholars do not usually see eye to eye—but that may change with a new Web site that monitors corporate environmental performance in the United States. According to the university professors who created... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Manufacturing; Chemical

February 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Exercise

Accounting for Pensions at General Motors Corporation (A)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

A potential investor in General Motors is gathering information about investment in General Motor's stock. The investigation leads the investor to review the General Motor's Web site and several CNBC interviews of General Motors' executives. View Details

Keywords: Investment; Accounting; Compensation and Benefits; Financial Services Industry; Auto Industry; Accounting Industry

2013
Working Paper

Where do the Most Active Customers Originate and How Can Firms Keep Them Engaged?

By: Clarence Lee, E. Ofek and Thomas Steenburgh

In this paper, we study how firms offering Web services can acquire and develop an active customer base. We focus on two basic questions. First, how does the method of customer acquisition affect the way customers use the service to meet their own needs and to interact... View Details

Keywords: Customer Engagement; Adoption Routes; Hidden Markov Models; Search; Word-of-Mouth; Digital Media; Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Mathematical Methods; Consumer Behavior; Entrepreneurship; Marketing Reference Programs; Web Services Industry

31 Mar 2008
HBS Case

JetBlue’s Valentine’s Day Crisis

You don't need to be a frequent flier to know that the friendly skies aren't so friendly anymore. Cramped, overloaded planes, flight delays, and bare-bones amenities are the norm on most of the legacy carriers. But low-cost airlines like Southwest and JetBlue have... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Air Transportation

March 2000
Case

Medscape

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Lisa Shapiro Strovink

Medscape is a health care Web site that focuses on delivering high-quality information to health providers and consumers. This case describes Medscape's formation and business model and asks, How is this model unique and is it sustainable? View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Delivery; Web Sites; Information Industry

March 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

NeoPets, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Elizabeth Kind

NeoPets, a rapidly growing Internet start-up, faces decisions about its international expansion strategy--whether to enter a joint venture with a conglomerate in Singapore to exploit Asian markets as well as which other regions to target. NeoPets allows its... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Global Strategy; Network Effects; Joint Ventures; Business Conglomerates; Age; Internet and the Web; Product Positioning; Digital Marketing; Internet and the Web; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Information Technology Industry; Asia; Singapore

June 2000 (Revised September 2000)
Case

Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Meredith Collura

Enables a thorough analysis of Amazon.com and the company's value proposition, in terms of its business concept, digital business capabilities, and community and shareholder value. Examines the company's complex set of business models and web of business relationships,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Asset Pricing; Capital; Financial Management; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Relationships; Competitive Strategy; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry

Research Summary

Research and Publications

By: Mihir A. Desai

Please refer to Professor Desai's Web Page for a complete listing of Professor Desai's View Details

April 2012 (Revised May 2012)
Case

EILEEN FISHER: Repositioning the Brand

By: Anat Keinan, Jill Avery, Fiona Wilson and Michael Norton

Well-established fashion brand Eileen Fisher has traditionally appealed to older women. However, to drive growth, Eileen Fisher's management team wants to target a younger demographic and has revamped its Fall product line to offer more fashionable styles to appeal to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Market Segmentation And Target Market Selection; Retailing; Fashion; Corporate Social Responsibility; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Segmentation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Media; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry

March 2001 (Revised July 2002)
Case

WingspanBank.com (B): Should This Bird Still Fly?

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

WingspanBank.com is launched to critical acclaim, but its fate is hardly certain. Bank One's new CEO, Jamie Dimon, must decide what to do with what is now a second Web site for the bank's current and prospective customers. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Customers; Innovation and Management; Organizations; Complexity; Web Sites; Financial Services Industry

2018
Working Paper

The State of Open Source Server Software

By: Shane Greenstein and Klaus Ackermann

The study assembles new data to construct a census of worldwide web server use across the globe. We document a large concentration of investment in the United States, and a wide dispersion across scores of countries. We find tens of billions of dollars of unmeasured... View Details

Keywords: Internet; Open Source; Internet and the Web; Policy; Open Source Distribution; Internet and the Web; Global Range

Read Now

June 2012 (Revised March 2014)
Case

I Paid a Bribe (Dot) Com

By: Karthik Ramanna and Rachna Tahilyani

Anti-corruption web platform "ipaidabribe.com" leverages the transparency and anonymity of the Internet to encourage private citizens in India who have been the victims of corruption to self-report details of bribes paid, including the bribe amount, the name of the... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Service Industry; India