Publications

January 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Teaching Note

Jumia Nigeria: from Retail to Marketplace (A) and (B)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

Founded in 2012, Jumia Nigeria, a startup effort by Germany-based Rocket Internet, aimed to become an African Amazon. The company entered the nascent market and immediately enjoyed an uptick in consumer spending fueled by the strength of Nigeria’s oil-based economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Marketplace; Inventory; Ecommerce; Funding; Business Ecosystems; Competition; Business Model; Globalization; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Logistics; E-commerce; Retail Industry; India; Nigeria; Africa

Web

Lifelong Learning - Alumni

free coaching sessions per year, including self-assessment, interviewing prep, and offer negotiation tips. Keep Learning with Alumni Virtual Programs Expand your knowledge and skills with online programs led by HBS faculty and other... View Details

Program

Transforming Customer Experiences

operating models and strategic service mission with changing consumer needs, shifting market demands, and an evolving competitive landscape. Details Design effective service strategies and offerings Develop operations and service features... View Details

12 Dec 2016
News

How Streaming Is Changing Music (Again)

February 2022
Case

NFX Capital and Moov Technologies

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller

In July 2019, James Currier, a general partner at San Francisco-based NFX Ventures, was considering a seed stage investment of $1.5 million in Moov Technologies, a B2B marketplace for used industrial equipment. NFX was a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Network Effects; Marketplace Matching; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Applications and Software; Semiconductor Industry; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco

August 2003 (Revised September 2003)
Case

Tower Software

Tower Software (TS) is a publicly traded corporation engaged in multiple facets of the computer software business. Its flagship product, TS SERVE, is a successful proprietary network operating system. TS also develops and sells applications software for word... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Product Launch; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry

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Web

Apply to PRIMO - Doctoral

Program for Research in Markets & Organizations Apply to PRIMO 3ms HOW TO APPLY Applications for PRIMO 2025 have now closed. Applications for PRIMO 2026 will open in late Fall. All files must be uploaded as pdf files through the View Details

October 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Google Advertising

By: Youngme E. Moon and David Chen

In mid-2006, Google is the number one search engine in America with 99% of its revenues deriving from its simple, text-only advertising services. It is on track to bring in roughly $9.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2006, which would place it fourth among American... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Disruptive Innovation; Media; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Advertising Industry; United States

June 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Bluefin Labs: The Acquisition by Twitter

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

What is the value of Bluefin Labs's social listening data to Twitter? Acquired by Twitter in 2013, Bluefin had built a system that gathered millions of online comments in an effort to develop new metrics for TV programs and brand advertising. With data from Twitter... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Data and Data Sets; Internet; Software; Communication Technology; Advertising; Social and Collaborative Networks; Acquisition; Television Entertainment; Advertising Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

Program

Building a Legacy

opportunities Apply frameworks for evaluating unique investment opportunities for family real estate, niche assets, emerging markets, public market ideas, and startup/venture-backed investments Determine whether (and how) to pursue... View Details

21 Sep 2016
HBS Seminar

Catherine Tucker, MIT Sloan School of Management

17 Jan 2024
HBS Case

Psychological Pricing Tactics to Fight the Inflation Blues

businesses today will need to lean hard on psychological pricing strategies to convince customers to overcome their reluctance to spend, according to recent research by Elie Ofek, the Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing at Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Retail

09 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Clayton Christensen’s “How Will You Measure Your Life?”

responded in a 2002 press release. "We have not seen a business model that is financially viable in the long term in this arena. Online rental services are 'serving a niche market.' " Netflix, on the other hand, thought this... View Details

November 2016 (Revised May 2017)
Case

The Black List

By: Henry McGee and Sarah McAra

Franklin Leonard founded The Black List in 2005 as an innovative approach to identifying potential hit movie scripts via crowdsourcing. As the annual Black List proved to hold the scripts of some of Hollywood’s most successful films, from “Slumdog Millionaire” to... View Details

Keywords: Screenwriting; Independent Production; Hollywood; Film Development; Film Distribution; Film Financing; Manging Uncertainty; Barriers To Entry; Globalization; Digitalization; Film Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Media; Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States