Publications

August 2021
Case

Yummy: Delivering Value to Venezuela

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Carla Larangeira

By June 2021, Yummy had become Venezuela’s first and largest food delivery app and last-mile logistics company. In Caracas, the nation’s capital, Yummy held a 55% market share, while operations in other cities had already started to take place, including in three of... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Health Pandemics; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion

2012
Book

Sleeping with Your Smartphone: How to Break the 24-7 Habit and Change the Way you Work

By: Leslie A. Perlow

Does it have to be this way? Can't resist checking your smartphone or mobile device? Sure, all this connectivity keeps you in touch with your team and the office—but at what cost? In "Sleeping with Your Smartphone," Leslie Perlow reveals how you can disconnect and... View Details

Keywords: Time Management; Internet and the Web; Groups and Teams; Performance Productivity; Globalized Firms and Management; Service Industry

Web

Historical Data & Sources - Business History

Statistique Agricole , various years Download Data Set in Excel Boston Consulting Group “A Truly Global Firm,” BCG website Map created by John Regan, MBA 2016 Download Data Set in Excel Broadband Subscriptions per 100 People The World Bank, “Fixed Broadband View Details

August 2022 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Bajaj Finance: Building an Omnipresent Financial Services Firm

By: Das Narayandas and Rachna Tahilyani

Bajaj Finance, India’s largest consumer finance firm with $20.9 billion of assets across 50.5 million customers, is on a journey to transform itself from a traditional firm that sells loans and other financial products through brick-and-mortar outlets to an omnipresent... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Transformation; Financial Instruments; Customer Satisfaction; Internet and the Web; Customer Focus and Relationships; India

01 Jun 2004
News

Runner-Up and Lovin’ It

Cuban, billionaire Internet entrepreneur and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Being runner-up isn’t so bad after all, Jackson told Van Susteren. “I think where God closes a door, he opens a window,” said Jackson. “And you’ve got to... View Details

Keywords: The Apprentice; Corporate Services

09 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

The Simple Secret of Effective Mentoring Programs

company that operates a call center in which workers handle customer inquiries about purchasing new digital products and services, including phone, TV, and internet service. Though the company already had a robust training program in... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

30 Nov 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is Management’s Role in Innovation?

"a theoretical sweet spot where scale fosters innovation, beyond which the complexity starts to stifle it?" A third executive will raise questions concerning the impact of the Internet on the management of these processes. He... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

October 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture

By: Frances X. Frei, Robin J. Ely and Laura Winig

On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its board of directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies.... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

08 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Creating Value in Your Business Ecosystem

rapidly with the number of ecosystem members that use them. This allows keystone players to share the surplus with their communities. During the Internet boom, many businesses failed because, although the theoretical value of a keystone... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Roy Levien

09 Jan 2020
Book

Rethinking Business Strategy in the Age of AI

cybersecurity threats. During the past 10 years, Iansiti and Lakhani have researched AI’s impact on businesses and have helped several companies transform their strategies, including internet pioneers like Amazon, Microsoft, Mozilla, and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

12 Feb 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Adding Bricks to Clicks: The Effects of Store Openings on Sales through Direct Channels

Keywords: by Jill Avery, Mary Caravella, John Deighton & Thomas Steenburgh; Retail

January 2020 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Direct to Consumer Brands

By: Sunil Gupta

Recent years have seen the dramatic rise of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands by several startups. Many of these brands, such as Dollar Shave Club, Harry’s, Glossier, and Allbirds, entered mature markets dominated by established companies, and yet they grew rapidly to... View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Digital Marketing; Industry Evolution; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Change

2014
Working Paper

Digital Discrimination: The Case of Airbnb.com

By: Benjamin Edelman and Michael Luca

Online marketplaces often contain information not only about products, but also about the people selling the products. In an effort to facilitate trust, many platforms encourage sellers to provide personal profiles and even to post pictures of themselves. However,... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Internet and the Web; Race; Trust; Renting or Rental; Accommodations Industry; Real Estate Industry

SSRN

Read Now

01 Dec 2023
News

Case Study: Staking a Claim

continued focus on organic content. Particularly in a world where AI is driving e ciencies, this marketing can in fact drive great brand value, as Terry theorizes, at lower cost than has ever been possible in the internet marketing era.... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Insurance Carriers and Related Activities; Finance

13 Jun 2011
HBS Case

Mobile Banking for the Unbanked

In many developing countries it's common for a person to have a mobile phone but not a bank account. In fact, more than 1 billion people fit this description, and the number is only likely to increase. To that end, many companies are considering how to give residents... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Banking; Communications; Telecommunications

30 Jun 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

The Role of Emotions in Effective Negotiations

electrician Peter, what Kate doesn't realize is that while she is annoyed at her lack of phone and Internet access brought by the power outage, Peter has been working 18-hour days since the storm, and dealing with multiple homeowners all... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Entertainment & Recreation; Sports

04 Jun 2001
What Do You Think?

What’s the Future of the Subscription Model?

Richard Feder maintains that the subscription model will gain momentum on the Internet as the memory of free service fades and the utility of new service increases. The response gives hope for those hoping to utilize the subscription... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

24 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

The 'Amazon Effect' Is Changing Online Price Competition—and the Fed Needs to Pay Attention

unusual to find stores from the same chain selling a product for different prices in different regions or online. Cavallo attributes this to the transparency afforded by the internet and customers’ concerns about fairness. “The web allows... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Retail

January 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Google Inc.

By: Benjamin Edelman and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Describes Google's history, business model, governance structure, corporate culture, and processes for managing innovation. Reviews Google's recent strategic initiatives and the threats they pose to Yahoo, Microsoft, and others. Asks what Google should do next. One... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Network Effects; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry