Publications

January 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

ByteDance: TikTok and the Trials of Going Viral

By: William C. Kirby and John P. McHugh

In 2020, TikTok became the most valuable start-up ever. The short-form, video-sharing social media platform emerged as the crown jewel of the Chinese technology firm ByteDance, realizing 850 million monthly users and an estimated worth of $180 billion. However, a... View Details

20 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Misgovernance at the World Bank

Keywords: by Ashwin Kaja & Eric Werker

13 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Small Businesses Are Worse Off Than We Thought

and is working through the details of a partnership with GoFundMe to help facilitate donations for businesses. Other platforms such as Uber are working on similar initiatives. Distrust of government aid The... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

2023
Article

Green Bargains: Leveraging Public Investment to Advance Climate Regulation

By: Jonas Meckling and Jesse Strecker

Climate policy has entered a new era as public investment is increasingly moving to center stage, including recovery spending and long-term climate investment plans. While essential for decarbonization, public investment is not enough – the carrots of investment need... View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Environmental Regulation; Climate Change; Policy; Motivation and Incentives

Find at Harvard

07 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

How to Help Small Businesses Survive COVID's Next Phase

software. During the last week of August, about 25 percent of respondents to the US Census Bureau’s Small Business Pulse Survey said they were increasingly using online platforms to promote goods and services. However, businesses don’t... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Food & Beverage; Service

11 Dec 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 11, 2018

and displacement effects of immigrants on female employment—and provide evidence that none of them can account for a quantitatively relevant fraction of our results. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54796 View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

September 2017
Case

Tencent

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Tencent had undergone many transformations since it was founded in 1998 as a simple messaging service. In 2017, it was the largest online games provider in China with a wide range of game types, China’s largest social networking service provider with several of the... View Details

Keywords: Tencent; Tencent Holdings; WeChat; Social Networking; Social Networks; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Video Games; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Portals; Payments; Mobile Payments; O2O; Online-to-offline; E-commerce; Messaging; Subscription Model; Freemium; Mobile App Industry; Smartphone; PC; Monetization Strategy; Antitrust; Streaming; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Alibaba; Facebook; JD.com; Tesla; Bundling; Synergies; Digital Strategy; Imitation; Licensing; Agility; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Communication; Communication Technology; Blogs; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Media; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Opportunities; Social and Collaborative Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Value Creation; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; China; Canton (province, China)

28 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 28, 2010

PublicationsFamilienunternehmen in Westdeutschland. Corporate Governance und Gesellschafterkultur seit den 1960er Jahren (Family business in West Germany since the 1960s) Authors:Christina Lubinski Publication:Vol. 21, Schriftenreihe... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Revenue Recognition at Stride Funding: Making Sense of Revenues for a Fintech Startup

By: Paul M. Healy and Jung Koo Kang

The case explores the challenges of revenue recognition and financial reporting for Stride Funding (Stride), a fintech startup that has disrupted the student loan market. Stride leveraged proprietary machine learning and financial models to underwrite alternative... View Details

Keywords: Revenue Recognition; Financial Reporting; Entrepreneurial Finance; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Governance Compliance; Accrual Accounting; Financial Services Industry; United States

15 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

The Unspoken Messages of COVID-19 Restrictions

Soaring COVID-19 cases are forcing government officials to confront a critical question: Should they lock down the economy further? Whether to curb activities like indoor dining might seem like a simple choice, but the decision to ease... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Food & Beverage

21 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 21, 2009

organization, which are increasingly inadequate in modern sectors, where innovation relies on platforms and horizontal ecosystems of firms producing complementary products. Using three case studies—:software, animation, and mobile... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2023
Article

So, Who Likes You? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

By: Ravi Bapna, Edward McFowland III, Probal Mojumder, Jui Ramaprasad and Akhmed Umyarov

With one-third of marriages in the United States beginning online, online dating platforms have become important curators of the modern social fabric. Prior work on online dating has elicited two critical frictions in the heterosexual dating market. Women, governed by... View Details

Keywords: Online Dating; Internet and the Web; Analytics and Data Science; Gender; Emotions; Social and Collaborative Networks

Find at Harvard

May 2022
Case

TikTok and National Security: Investment in an Age of Data Sovereignty?

By: Jeremy Friedman, Sarah Bauerle Danzman and David Lane

This case covers TikTok’s purchase of Musical.ly and the reaction of the United States government, including the review of the purchase by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the reaction of the presidential administration of Donald... View Details

Keywords: Data Security; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cybersecurity; Internet and the Web; International Relations; Laws and Statutes; Globalized Firms and Management

July 2022
Case

Metaverse Seoul

By: Mitchell Weiss and Samantha Markowitz

In May 2022, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) launched the pilot of Metaverse Seoul, a government-run metaverse. SMG had delivered a virtual version of Seoul’s mayor’s office. The team aimed to gain insights as they worked towards building a broad, immersive,... View Details

Keywords: Metaverse; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Government Administration; Public Administration Industry; South Korea; Asia

19 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

LEED-ing by Example

In the debate over whether to increase or decrease the stringency of environmental regulations, the possibility that government agencies might use purchasing to stimulate market demand for "green" products and services is often... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Construction; Real Estate; Energy; Utilities

May 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Airbnb During the Pandemic: Stakeholder Capitalism Faces a Critical Test

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Allison Ciechanover

As the COVID pandemic spread in early 2020, global travel ground to a halt. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based platform for renting accommodations, the impact was both swift and severe as revenues plummeted more than 70% over the prior year. Responding to the sudden... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Leadership; Digital Platforms; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Value Creation; Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Travel Industry; Tourism Industry; Service Industry; United States

24 Jun 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Don’t Just Survive—Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad

Keywords: by Lynda M. Applegate & J. Bruce Harreld

December 2021
Case

Whistleblowing at Veolia: A Technology Solution

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese, Christian Godwin and James Weber

In 2019, Bruno Masson, the vice chairman of Veolia’s Ethics Committee, was preparing for a meeting on a rollout plan for a new whistleblowing system to more countries. Veolia, a global supplier of water, waste, and energy services, had recently gone through several... View Details

Keywords: Whistleblowing; Corporate Misconduct; Corporate Governance; Ethics; Crime and Corruption; Values and Beliefs; Trust; Employee Relationship Management; Utilities Industry