Publications

September 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Zalora Philippines: From Growth to Profitability

By: Donald Ngwe and Thales Teixeira

In May 2015 Paulo Campos, co-founder and CEO of Zalora Philippines, found himself at a crucial turning point in his young company’s development. In just three years, Zalora had come from entering the Philippine fashion retail industry as an unknown quantity to becoming... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Business Subsidiaries; Business Growth and Maturation; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Sweden; Southeast Asia; Philippines

01 Mar 2024
News

Unlocking the Power of Community

understanding of the value they can create for both company and consumer. The buzzy technologies of Web3—blockchain, crypto, artificial intelligence—are simply the tools Co:Create uses to realize this vision. Fung would love to see more people in the industry talk... View Details

Keywords: April White

21 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

Did Pandemic Stimulus Funds Spur the Rise of 'Meme Stocks'?

for the superficial internet buzz that boosted investor interest—have since come down in value in 2022. After all, their rise wasn’t prompted by strong fundamentals, the paper notes. One reason for the jump in retail stock buying after... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

12 Oct 2022
Blog Post

11 Stories from HBS PRIDE for National Coming Out Day

brought us closer than ever before. “Te quiero también, apá.” Michael Brunman (he/him/his), Class of 2023 The summer after graduating high school, I was 18 and curious about my sexuality, I decided to give myself seven days of freedom. I searched the View Details

15 Feb 2024
News

Startup Shepherds

By their count, Catalina Daniels and Jim Sherman (both MBA 1991) listened to approximately 300 startup pitches in 2016, the first year the HBS classmates worked side by side as angel investors in New York. “You meet a lot of very smart people, with what sound like good... View Details

Keywords: April White

24 May 2017
News

David G. Bradley, MBA 1977

made it out of the ditch if the Internet hadn’t come along.” “The Atlantic would never have made it out of the ditch if the Internet hadn’t come along.” That leave-no-stone-unturned approach is a core... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Web

The 20th Century Zeitgeist - Leadership

Majority "Me" generation Focus on training and fitness Income gap widens dramatically AIDS Influence: High 90 1990 s Internet "irrational exuberance" Antigovernment sentiment: Waco standoff; Oklahoma City bombing Influence: Medium-Low... View Details

February 2023
Case

Ransomware Attack at Springhill Medical Center

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan (Jason) Ni

In July, 2019, Springhill Medical Center (“SMC”) in Mobile, Alabama, fell prey to a malicious ransomware attack that crippled the hospital’s internal network systems and public-facing web page. While the hospital rushed to securely restore the network, medical... View Details

March 2020 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Culture at Google

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Amy Klopfenstein and Sarah Mehta

Beginning in 2017, technology (tech) company Google faced a series of employee-relations issues that threatened its unique culture of innovation and open communication. Issues included protests surrounding Google’s contracts with the U.S. government, restrictions of... View Details

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

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

August 2019
Case

Walmart's Omnichannel Strategy: Revolution or Miscalculation?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes Walmart's omnichannel strategy in 2018 as it battled Amazon for online retail market share. The case discusses Walmart's early forays into online retail, as well as its 2018 strategy, which aimed to integrate Walmart's enormous brick and mortar... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Competition; Retail Industry; Bentonville; Arkansas; New Jersey; Seattle; United States

04 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Is Web Surfing Distracting Your Workers?

A number of studies have suggested that US workers waste between one and two hours a day web surfing, costing their companies billions in lost productivity. In response, some employers have banned private Internet use at the office, a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

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

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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

01 Mar 2024
News

Giving All Stakeholders a Voice

For John Wu (MBA 2000), “Web3” means more than technological innovation. “It’s a mindset,” he says of the movement toward a decentralized internet that accelerates innovation and gives end users greater collaboration with businesses. “It’s a transformative shift in... View Details

Keywords: April White

October 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Newsweek: Driving a Digital First Strategy

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Suraj Srinivasan

The case describes the transformation at Newsweek, the storied news magazine that had fallen from its commanding position as a premier print publication unable to find its footing in the fast changing digital media landscape. After buying Newsweek and taking over as... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Analytics and Data Science; Performance Evaluation; Partners and Partnerships