Publications

November 2015
Case

Upwork: Reimagining the Future of Work

By: Feng Zhu, Rory McDonald, Marco Iansiti and Aaron Smith

Upwork, the world's largest freelance talent platform, was the result of a merger between the two leading online freelancing companies in 2014, Elance and oDesk. After the merger, the company operated as Elance-oDesk and continued to manage two online... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Employment; Digital Platforms; Market Transactions; Business Processes; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Job Search

05 Sep 2000
What Do You Think?

Whither the Information Economy?

the Internet "is the result of a product based society." All of this is notwithstanding the fact that manufacturing in our "product based society" represents less than 20% of U.S. gross domestic product these days.... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2022
Working Paper

E-commerce During COVID: Stylized Facts from 47 Economies

By: Joel Alcedo, Alberto Cavallo, Bricklin Dwyer, Prachi Mishra and Antonio Spilimbergo

We study e-commerce across 47 economies and 26 industries during the COVID-19 pandemic using aggregated and anonymized transaction-level data from Mastercard, scaled to represent total consumer spending. The share of online transactions in total consumption increased... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Health Pandemics; Spending; Internet and the Web; Global Range; Analysis; E-commerce

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20 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Lessons of Successful Entrepreneurs

CEO of Silk Road Technologies. For the true entrepreneur, he continued, reality is the superior teacher; and school is an excuse to delay failure. Although their topic was "Post Boom Internet Opportunities," panelists spent most... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

June 2021
Case

HelloSelf: Search

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In August 2018, after nearly six months of searching, Charles Wells was convinced that he should found HelloSelf to help people improve their sense of mental wellbeing. Those feeling mentally unwell would receive support from fully qualified clinical psychotherapists,... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Health Care and Treatment; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Product Launch

May 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Case

Improving Repurchase Rates at zulily

By: Thales Teixeira and Sarah McAra

In February 2015, zulily cofounder and CEO Darrell Cavens faced a major challenge in his business, a Seattle-based daily deals site that catered to moms. The more he spent to acquire new customers, the less he retained them in the form of repeat purchases. This was an... View Details

Keywords: Zulily; Repurchase; E-commerce; Online Shopping; Fashion; Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Digital Marketing; Customer Satisfaction; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Seattle

October 2001
Article

The On-Line Auction Phenomenon: Growth, Strategies, Promise, and Problems

By: Gillian Ku and Deepak Malhotra

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Auctions; Growth and Development; Strategy; Problems and Challenges

Find at Harvard

20 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

Maybe Uber isn't God's Gift to Mankind

up,” says Benjamin G. Edelman, an associate professor in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets unit at Harvard Business School whose research focuses on consumer protection related to online businesses. “It’s not because regulators... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Transportation; Insurance

25 Jun 2018
News

Incubating Ideas for the ‘Water Economy’

technologies––things like data analysis, using the internet to carry signals of information, advanced treatment technologies––things like that, and how to build sustainable businesses that improve the way water and wastewater are managed.... View Details

01 Dec 2010
News

How to Survive Past Start-up

— a common experience that might bind the entrepreneurs I wrote about and give the reader some focus. Serendipitously, I came across an article from Fortune, written in 1999 at the height of the Internet bubble. “For new MBAs at Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Bill Murphy Jr.; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Health and Personal Care Stores; Retail Trade

01 May 2000
What Do You Think?

Can You Hard-Wire Performance?

marketing positioning in a customer's mind, and a way to keep an organization on its collective toes. But the concept is, in the opinion of readers, one that in application raises more questions than it answers. Among these are: (1) Are... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

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

February 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Egghead to Egghead.com (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Over the course of 12 months in 1997 and 1998, Egghead senior management decided to shut down its 180 brick-and-mortar retail stores and move to an electronic store. The case describes the evolution of that process, and the role of its CEO George Orban, and poses... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet and the Web; Transformation; Decisions; Corporate Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Market Transactions; Buildings and Facilities; Retail Industry

July 2011 (Revised January 2012)
Teaching Note

Demand Media (TN)

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Teaching Note for 512021. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Media; Society; Transformation; Digital Marketing; Business Model; Initial Public Offering; Customers; Behavior; Value; Information Technology Industry; California

01 Apr 1999
News

HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors: President's Report

club operations, development of continuing education, and the marketing of programs and services to alumni. Three committees have been formed to focus on these issues, and they are presently hard at work assessing the current status of... View Details

August 2019
Case

Twiggle: E-Commerce with Semantic Search

By: Shane Greenstein and Danielle Golan

Four years after being founded, in 2014, by former Google executives Amir Konigsberg (CEO) and Adi Avidor (CTO), Twiggle had developed a search enhancement that plugged into an online merchant’s existing framework. The company utilized advanced structuring and... View Details

Keywords: Search Technology; Customer Acquisition; Internet and the Web; Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Technology Industry; Israel

October 2001
Case

Meg Whitman and eBay Germany

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

After acquiring the German online auction company Alando.de, eBay CEO Meg Whitman and her team must integrate Alando's Web site with the company's existing platform. The acquisition is the first step of eBay's journey to become a global trading platform. In addition to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Integration; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Globalized Markets and Industries; Germany

January 1998
Case

Frontgate Catalog

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Frontgate is a high-end, Lebanon, Ohio-based catalog business. The decision makers are trying to determine how much financial and personnel resources to invest in the development of a Web site. The decision is being made in light of branding issues and competitor's Web... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Competition; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; Ohio