Publications

February 2021
Teaching Plan

Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Amy Klopfenstein

This teaching plan serves as a supplement to the case “Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?” HBS 820-098. The case explores the tension between two different financing and expansion plans for a startup, and explores issues related to business model pivots and industry... View Details

17 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 17

theatre and coordinate the independent efforts from across the three theatres. Our perspective is a marked departure from the Shared Value framework, in that we embrace the inherent value of corporate philanthropy (theatre 1) on one end as well as transformational... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

June 2025
Teaching Note

AI at QuantumBlack: McKinsey's Open Source Dilemma

By: Frank Nagle, Sam Boysel and Susan Pinckney

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 725-433. The case describes the history of QuantumBlack. In 2015, McKinsey acquired data analytics company QuantumBlack. QuantumBlack produced Kedro, a ML data pipeline tool that helped McKinsey’s customers manage their data in an... View Details

05 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 5

note:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/711419-PDF-ENG Television Competes for a Digital Audience Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy BartlettHarvard Business School Note 710-476 In the face of major disruption... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Jan 2021
Op-Ed

How Influencers, Celebrities, and FOMO Can Win Over Vaccine Skeptics

example, key government officials can serve as mega-influencers by promoting their willingness to be immunized through traditional and digital media. Throughout the history of vaccines efforts, presidents, prime ministers, and leading... View Details

Keywords: by Rohit Deshpandé, Ofer Mintz, and Imran S. Currim

02 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 2, 2019

case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/819043-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 918-413 Gimlet Media: A Podcasting Startup When digital distribution becomes an option for an analog industry, the effects on... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

June 2025
Exercise

Full-Funnel Advertising on TikTok: An Experiment (Solution)

By: Jeremy Yang and Ayelet Israeli

TikTok’s Marketing Science team developed a new type of advertising strategy beyond branding and performance advertising, called full-funnel advertising. Branding ads focused on brand building at the top of the funnel by generating consumer awareness, while performance... View Details

Keywords: Social Media; Advertising; Brands and Branding; Digital Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Measurement and Metrics

05 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 5, 2019

open platforms and then provide a brief history of open digital platforms. I go on to argue that the success of open platforms in competition with vertically integrated firms gave rise to the “vertical-to-horizontal” transition in the... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

07 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 7, 2007

downloads, and other emerging digital media (such as Internet Protocol TV). BBC WW delivered its profits back to the BBC. Since 2004, BBC WW profits had more than doubled. Purchase this case:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2018
Case

Choosy

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Julia Kelley

Founded in 2017, Choosy is a data-driven fashion startup that uses algorithms to identify styles trending on social media. After manufacturing similar items using a China-based supply chain, Choosy sells them to consumers through its website and social media pages.... View Details

20 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

Gaps in the Historical Record: Development of the Electronics Industry

In a recently published book on current international research in business history, edited by Harvard Business School professor Geoffrey Jones, HBS professor emeritus Alfred D. Chandler Jr. contributed an... View Details

Keywords: by Alfred D. Chandler Jr.; Consumer Products

25 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 25, 2018

that data from digital platforms such as Yelp have the potential to improve our understanding of gentrification, both by providing data in close to real time (i.e., nowcasting and forecasting) and by providing additional context about how... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

19 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 19

Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53214 Harvard Business School Case 517-075 Mavi: Fashioning a Path to Brand Growth This case examines the strategic choices and business... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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

17 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 17

January–February 2017 Harvard Business Review The Truth About Blockchain By: Iansiti, Marco, and Karim R. Lakhani Abstract—Contracts, transactions, and records of them provide critical structure in our economic system, but they haven’t... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Can You Buy Creativity in the Gig Economy?

Writers may lament the uncertainties of the digital age, as many turn to online markets to distribute their work with no promises of fame or fortune. But when authors are guaranteed a cut of their own book sales, they tend to work harder... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

July 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Linux in 2004

By: Pankaj Ghemawat, Brian Subirana and Christina Pham

A new technology platform conceived in the early 1990s, Linux developed into a force to be reckoned with in the operating system marketplace. At first, Linux was dismissed as a renegade option used only by tech geeks. By 2004, however, Linux had exploded into the... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Open Source Distribution; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Information Technology Industry