Publications

02 Jan 2018
Op-Ed

'Dear Working Knowledge'--Our Favorite Reader Comments of the Year

Credit: iStockPhoto Who are the editors of HBS Working Knowledge most thankful for as the new year begins? It’s the readers who take time to contribute comments to our stories, more than 1,000 in 2017. Since our readership extends to more... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

May 27, 2022
Article

How 'Digital Nomad' Visas Can Boost Local Economies

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury

More and more companies are offering their employees the option to “work from anywhere,” whether in their home office, in another state, or even halfway around the globe. A growing group of remote professionals are taking the “anywhere” in work-from-anywhere to new... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; COVID-19 Pandemic; Collaboration; Work-Life Balance; Human Resources; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

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27 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Hard Work Isn't Enough: How to Find Your Edge

strategies to give it headwinds and tailwinds,” she says. “That’s when you’re unstoppable.” About the Author Dina Gerdeman is senior writer at Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. HBS Digital Media... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

September 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Audrey Tang: Using Technology to Strengthen Democracy in Taiwan

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

Since the early days of the internet, Taiwan had a vibrant community of civic hackers and open-source programmers who engaged with social issues. Audrey Tang was one of them. She spearheaded the 2014 Sunflower Student Movement in Taiwan, where protestors peacefully... View Details

Keywords: Democracy; Internet; Web Technology; Digital Transformation; Digital Platform; COVID; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Governance; Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Taiwan; China; Asia

January 2020 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Freelancer, Ltd.

By: Christopher Stanton, Karim R. Lakhani, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Jin Hyun Paik and Nina Cohodes

Over the course of the 2010s, the rapid advancement of mobile technologies and the rise of online freelancing platforms seemed to portend a radical transformation of labor markets into on-demand, flexible talent pools. Even though several Fortune 500... View Details

Keywords: Freelancers; Platforms; Digital Labor; Labor; Human Resources; Management; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Industry; Australia; United States; Philippines

23 Jan 2024
Book

More Than Memes: NFTs Could Be the Next Gen Deed for a Digital World

open up markets and help build loyal communities of customers. In the following excerpt, the authors shed light on the value and potential of NFTs. Could digital “tokens” possibly be worth hundreds or thousands or even millions of... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology; Financial Services

June 2016
Case

Big Spaceship: The Evolving Agency

By: Boris Groysberg and Matthew G. Preble

This case discusses the evolution of Big Spaceship, an advertising and marketing agency, from a product-focused business to a relationship-oriented one as clients seek deeper and more meaningful long-term partnerships. The 15-year-old company had already evolved... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Social Media; Advertising Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

14 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

You're Right! You Are Working Longer and Attending More Meetings

to keep working from home part of the time after COVID-19 abates, researchers are probing how virtual interaction might reshape organizations. In the first large-scale analysis of digital communication early... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

March 2012
Article

The Influence of Prior Industry Affiliation on Framing in Nascent Industries: The Evolution of Digital Cameras

By: Mary J. Benner and Mary Tripsas

New industries sparked by technological change are characterized by high technological, market, and competitive uncertainty. In this paper we explore how a firm's conceptualization of products in this context, reflected in its introduction of product features, is... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Transformation; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Product; Values and Beliefs; Mathematical Methods; Power and Influence; Behavior; Experience and Expertise; Design; Market Entry and Exit; Employment Industry; Computer Industry

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Article

Health App Policy: International Comparison of Nine Countries' Approaches

By: Anna Essén, Ariel Dora Stern, Christoffer Bjerre Haase, Josip Car, Felix Greaves, Dragana Paparova, Steven Vandeput, Rik Wehrens and David W. Bates

An abundant and growing supply of digital health applications (apps) exists in the commercial tech-sector, which can be bewildering for clinicians, patients, and payers. A growing challenge for the health care system is therefore to facilitate the identification of... View Details

Keywords: Digital Health; Apps; Health Care and Treatment; Internet and the Web; Policy; Global Range; Applications and Software

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Research Summary

The Unexpected Effects of Workplace Connectivity

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

While investigating how workplace transparency and privacy shape organizational behavior and performance, I wondered about the related effects of workplace connectivity. As new digital tools and organizational forms make it far easier for employees to communicate... View Details

Keywords: Human Behavior; Performance; Virtual Work; Hybrid Work; Office Space; Workplace Design; Organizations; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Networks; Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Communication

Article

Rethinking the Profession Formerly Known as Advertising: How Data Science Is Disrupting the Work of Agencies

By: John A. Deighton

The article discusses the notion of advertising as a profession in relation to the impact of digital analytics and data-driven marketing. Topics include the history of internet marketing, the investments of the content-driven internet firms Facebook Inc. and Google... View Details

Keywords: Data Science; Digital Marketing; Marketing; Internet and the Web; Analytics and Data Science; Disruption

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08 Sep 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

Capitalism Works Better When I Can See What You're Doing

embarrassing—it can hurt your career. Racism and Digital Design: How Online Platforms Can Thwart DiscriminationPoor design decisions contribute to racial discrimination on many online platforms. Working for... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

29 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Work 3.0: Redefining Jobs and Companies in the Uber Age

Are Uber drivers and HourlyNerd consultants independent contractors or employees? Interesting question, but the wrong one. Better to ask: Are we stifling innovation across the digital economy by forcing a simplistic choice, contractor vs.... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Transportation; Web Services

Forthcoming
Article

Confronting the Limits of Symbolic Actions: How Entrepreneurs Narrow the Presentation-Performance Gap

By: Rebecca Karp and Siobhan O'Mahony

Entrepreneurs often skillfully leverage symbolic actions to manage impressions and gain acceptance for their innovations. Impression management can generate interest, but also heighten expectations beyond an innovation’s capabilities, creating a gap between... View Details

Keywords: Digital Innovation; Integration Strategy; Impression Management; Innovation Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Health Industry; Technology Industry

June 2015
Case

The Coca-Cola Company's Case for Creative Transformation

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Elizabeth Anne Watkins

In 2013, the Coca-Cola Company was awarded Creative Marketer of the Year by the Cannes Lions Festival (known as the "Oscar of Advertising") for the first time ever in history and nearly 50 years after the Festival's inception. Just one year before that, Jonathan... View Details

Keywords: Attention Economics; Creating Connections; Digital Marketing; Marketing Innovations; Social Networks; Advertising Content; Networked Brand; Beverage Industry; Coca-Cola; Digital Innovation; Digital Transition; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Innovation Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Advertising; Creativity; Consumer Products Industry

May 2019 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

By: William R. Kerr and Jordan Bach-Lombardo

Faced with intense competition from Amazon, Walmart began a transformation of its operations and workforce in 2015. The goal was to create an omnichannel retail experience for customers that seamlessly joined online and offline shopping. This case explores Walmart's... View Details

Keywords: Walmart; Managing The Future Of Work; Workforce; Automation; Ecommerce; Omnichannel Retail; Operations; Transformation; Employees; Training; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Disruption; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Information Infrastructure; Retail Industry

February 2024
Case

Adventures Inc: 21st Century Brand Building

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

Founded in 2020, Adventures worked with celebrities in Brazil to create and launch digitally native brands. The idea was to match the celebrity’s skill in creating content and entertaining fans with Adventures’ skill in consumer packaged goods marketing and operations.... View Details

Keywords: Digital Brand; Influencer Marketing; Growth And Scaling; Capital Constraints; Brand Portfolio Strategy; CPG; Start-up; Celebrity Endorsement; Digital Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Advertising; Social Media; Business Startups; Joint Ventures; Brands and Branding; Brazil

March–April 2017
Article

What's the Value of a Like?: Social Media Endorsements Don't Work the Way You Might Think

By: Leslie John, Daniel Mochon, Oliver Emrich and Janet Schwartz

Brands spend billions of dollars a year on lavish efforts to establish and maintain a social media presence. But do those campaigns actually increase revenue? New research provides an answer to this question, which has vexed marketers ever since social media burst upon... View Details

Keywords: Social and Collaborative Networks; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Strategy; Digital Marketing; Social Media