Publications

June 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Teaching Note

TripAdvisor (TN)

By: Sunil Gupta

By 2010, TripAdvisor (TA) was the largest travel site in the world operating in 24 countries and 16 languages, with listings for 455,000 hotels, 92,000 attractions and 564,000 restaurants in over 71,000 destinations worldwide. It had over 40 million reviews from 35... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Digital Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Travel Industry; Tourism Industry; China; United States

September 2000 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Chapters.ca

By: Michael J. Roberts, Rajiv Lal and Walter J. Salmon

Describes the challenges facing the online site associated with Canada's largest bricks-and-mortar bookseller. Presents a variety of lenses for examining the economic model of the online versus traditional book-selling business, and asks students to identify the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Product Marketing; Business Strategy; Technological Innovation; Canada

Find at Harvard

December 2008 (Revised February 2011)
Supplement

Evan Williams: From Blogger to Odeo (B)

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Louis-Philippe Maurice

For several months, founder-CEO Evan Williams has felt trapped, unable to control Odeo and its strategic direction. He longs for the “simple” days of Blogger, the previous venture he had co-founded. Although his Blogger experiences had included a major blow-up with his... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy

January 2006 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Toyota Motor Corporation: Launching Prius

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Dennis A. Yao and Masako Egawa

In 1995, Hiroshi Okuda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., considers whether to push for a more aggressive launch of the Toyota Prius--an automobile that incorporates Toyota's new and technically advanced hybrid power train. This launch decision allows discussion of the... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Product Launch; Transportation; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Green Technology Industry; Auto Industry; Japan

November 2008 (Revised March 2014)
Supplement

Savage Beast (B)

By: Noam Wasserman, LP Maurice and Yael Braid

For several months, things had been spiraling downwards at Savage Beast, the music-recommendation company started three years before by Tim Westergren. The company's founder-CEO recently left due to pressures both at home and within the venture. Dozens of investors... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Groups and Teams

24 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Rules: Multi-Sided Platforms as Regulators

Keywords: by Kevin J. Boudreau & Andrei Hagiu; Technology

01 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

Company Town: Fixing Corrupt Governments

kickbacks. A corruption scandal in Lagos could harm KPMG's reputation in New York or Shanghai. Moreover, foreign firms are bound by many laws of their home country and by international laws, notably the... View Details

Keywords: by Eric Werker

November 2022
Case

Arcos Dorados’ Quest for the Digitalization of Last-Mile Delivery in Colombia

By: Jorge Tamayo, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In 2018, Francisco Staton, Managing Director of Arcos Dorados in Colombia had to decide on the company’s strategy to expand its food ordering and delivery business in the country. Arcos Dorados stood as McDonald’s largest independent franchisee, and Colombia was one of... View Details

17 Jul 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: As America Recedes from Global Leadership, Its CEOs are Stepping Up

As America recedes from global leadership under President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies, a new generation of business statesmen is stepping up to take on global issues of monumental importance: global trade, climate change, job creation, and healthy living.... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

January 2011
Case

Serious Materials

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Elizabeth A. Kind

Serious Materials is a start up who is moving into clean tech markets. The company's first product, QuietRock, originated the sound proofing drywall category and created a steady stream of revenue. It was now considering how to expand its product line to compete in the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Green Technology Industry

February 2006 (Revised December 2009)
Case

Pixamo-Inc., AG, or OOO?

Andrew Prihodko is forming a new venture, Pixamo, the next generation of online photo management and sharing sites. Pixamo's alpha site has generated over 1,000 users and a lot of information about registration and usage patterns. Prihodko must address a number of... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Globalized Firms and Management; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Web Services Industry; Delaware; Switzerland; Ukraine

Find at Harvard

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

13 Aug 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Entrepreneurs Needed for Long-Run Success

business reasons and family reasons why we think this is true. The Business Reasons In today's competitive environment of rapid technological change and quickly evolving... View Details

Keywords: by Michael J. Roberts

February 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Travelogo: Understanding Customer Journeys

By: Eva Ascarza and Ta-Wei Huang

Teaching Note for HBS Exercise 524-044. The exercise aims to teach students about 1) Customer Segmentation; and 2) constructing buying personas, 3) Get actionable insights from clickstream data. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Analysis; Analytics and Data Science; Marketing Strategy; Segmentation; Consumer Behavior; Travel Industry; United States

23 Aug 2013
News

CEO Ballmer to leave Microsoft

August 2021
Case

Livongo: Scaling a Purpose-Driven Organization in Healthcare

By: Ranjay Gulati, Aseem Shukla and Reva Nohria

When seasoned entrepreneur Glen Tullman founded the chronic health care startup Livongo in 2014, it was personal. His son lived with diabetes, and Tullman knew firsthand how taxing it could be to manage such an unrelenting disease. Livongo set out to empower people... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare Industry; Scaling; Telehealth; Health Care and Treatment; Small Business; Internet and the Web; Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Opportunities; Mergers and Acquisitions; Health Industry