Publications

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18 Dec 2018
News

Why Some Platforms Thrive and Others Don’t

July 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Qihoo

By: Feng Zhu

Qihoo, one of the largest Internet companies in China today, was founded in 2005. The company started its business by offering a security software product, and quickly dominated the market in China after its unusual move of giving its product away for free in 2009.... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategy; Business Model Innovation; Chinese Internet Market; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry

Educators

2023
Book

Beyond AI: ChatGPT, Web3, and the Business Landscape of Tomorrow

By: Ken Huang, Yang Wang, Feng Zhu, Xi Chen and Chunxiao Xing

This book explores the transformative potential of ChatGPT, Web3, and their impact on productivity and various industries. It delves into Generative AI (GenAI) and its representative platform ChatGPT, their synergy with Web3, and how they can revolutionize business... View Details

Keywords: Generative Ai; AI and Machine Learning; Ethics; Technology Adoption

March 2020
Module Note

Business Model Transformation in the Platform Age

By: Feng Zhu

Although some digital platforms are highly successful, most firms today are still traditional product- or service-based firms. To take advantage of the opportunities created by platform business models, traditional firms can work with existing platforms to become their... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Platform Businesses; Platform Disruption; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Transformation; Digital Platforms

January 2017 (Revised August 2019)
Case

X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (A)

By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace, and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Competition; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Small Business; Retail Industry; Canada

Educators

September 2016 (Revised March 2020)
Teaching Note

Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model

By: Feng Zhu

Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride, as opposed to the 20%–30%... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Transportation; Business Startups; Business Model; Transportation Industry; Boston

November 2015
Article

Cannibalization and Option Value Effects of Secondary Markets: Evidence from the U.S. Concert Industry

By: Victor Manuel Bennett, Robert Seamans and Feng Zhu

We examine how reducing search frictions in secondary markets affects the value appropriated by firms in primary markets. We characterize two effects on primary market firms caused by intermediaries entering secondary markets: the "cannibalization" and "option value"... View Details

Keywords: Cannibalization Effect; Option Value Effect; Secondary Markets; Concert Industry; Craigslist; Competition; Distribution Channels; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

SSRN

Web

Leadership - Faculty & Research

HBS Working Knowlege 08 Nov 2024 What Wartime Service Taught These Historic Leaders Re: Robert Simons 17 Sep 2024 Fawn Weaver’s Entrepreneurial Journey as an Outsider in the Spirits Industry Re: Hise O. Gibson 20 Aug 2024 Why Competing With Tech Giants Requires Finding... View Details

2022
Article

Gender Inequality in Research Productivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Ruomeng Cui, Hao Ding and Feng Zhu

We study the disproportionate impact of the lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak on female and male academics' research productivity in social science. The lockdown has caused substantial disruptions to academic activities, requiring people to work from home.... View Details

Keywords: Gender Inequality; Research Productivity; Telecommuting; COVID-19 Pandemic; Research; Performance Productivity; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Health Pandemics

Read Now

April 2013
Article

Business Model Innovation and Competitive Imitation: The Case of Sponsor-Based Business Models

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Feng Zhu

This paper provides the first formal model of business model innovation. Our analysis focuses on sponsor-based business model innovations where a firm monetizes its product through sponsors rather than setting prices to its customer base. We analyze strategic... View Details

Keywords: Business Model Innovation; Imitation; Sponsor-based Business Model; Strategic Revelation; Strategic Concealment; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Price; Competitive Strategy; Adoption; Value; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Product; Customers; Market Entry and Exit; Monopoly

January 2017 (Revised August 2019)
Supplement

X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (B)

By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Competition; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Small Business; Retail Industry; Canada

2011
Working Paper

Business Model Innovation and Competitive Imitation: The Case of Sponsor-Based Business Models

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Feng Zhu

We study sponsor-based business model innovations where a firm monetizes its product through sponsors rather than setting prices to its customer base. We analyze strategic interactions between an innovative entrant and an incumbent where the incumbent may imitate the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value

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TeachingInterests

Digital Innovation and Transformation – MBA Elective Curriculum

By: Feng Zhu

Digital Innovation and Transformation is designed to equip students to confidently help conceive, lead and execute digital innovation initiatives and develop new business models for existing and insurgent organizations. The basic premise of the course... View Details

2025
Working Paper

Antitrust Platform Regulation and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from China

By: Ke Rong, D. Daniel Sokol, Di Zhou and Feng Zhu

Many jurisdictions have launched antitrust enforcement and brought in regulation of large tech platforms. The swift and strict implementation of China’s Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for the Platform Economy (Platform Guidelines) provides a quasi-natural experiment... View Details

Keywords: Platform; Antitrust; Regulation; Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; Venture Capital; Market Entry and Exit; Supply and Industry; China

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Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

Participants will leave with a sense for metaverse technologies being explored by governments and the private companies that engage with them, as well as the potential political, social and commercial implications of these new... View Details

June 2023
Supplement

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complementary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides - consumers and those providing applications or services - need access to the same platform to interact. A... View Details

Keywords: Customer Acquisition; Platform Strategy; Technology Platform; Digital Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Network Effects