Publications

March 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Technical Note

Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent: The Three Kingdoms of the Chinese Internet

By: Feng Zhu and Aaron Smith

This note provides an overview of the Chinese Internet by describing its leading three companies: Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (BAT). While BAT had previously focused their respective businesses on distinct sectors of the online economy—Baidu for search, Alibaba for... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet; Information Technology Industry; China

March 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

RealNetworks Rhapsody

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Steven Carpenter

Examines RealNetwork's (Real's) strategy for the rapidly emerging online music market. In contrast to rivals who sell individual copies of songs, Real offers online music on a subscription basis. For a $10 monthly fee, subscribers to Real's Rhapsody service have... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Competitive Advantage; Distribution Channels; Music Entertainment; Ownership; Service Industry; Retail Industry; Music Industry

15 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

In the Virtual Dressing Room Returns Are A Real Problem

comparisons based on independent performance evaluations. (Although for online purchases, as for catalog purchases, brand names help consumers infer certain aspects of quality or fit, especially for consumers making repeat purchases.)... View Details

Keywords: by Jan Hammond & Kristin Kohler; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Manufacturing; Retail

25 Mar 2019
News

New generation of startups threaten blue-chips like CVS and UnitedHealth

10 Oct 2018
News

The Legacy of Boaty McBoatface: Beware of Customers Who Vote

OYO: Creating Effective Spaces

Twenty-four-year old Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of India-based online hotel branding network OYO Rooms, has tackled the issue of unreliability in India's highly fragmented budget hotel industry. In 2018, OYO branded 8,500 properties across 200 cities and... View Details

Negotiate 1-2-3

Drawing on my book, The Art of Negotiation, the Negotiation 1-2-3 web project provides business practitioners, MBA students, and other learners, an interactive, online resource for improving their negotiation skills. The site’s numeric name reflects three... View Details

22 Feb 2016
Video

Retail Sector at HBS

February 2000 (Revised April 2003)
Case

InSite Marketing Technology (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Genevieve J.S. Feraud and Sheila L Marcelo

Introduces students to products and services that improve customers' online shopping experience. Also discusses the challenges of marketing new product concepts and finding funding for start-up ventures. View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Financing and Loans; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Service Delivery; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Service Industry; Web Services Industry

11 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 11, 2018

Conference Proceedings More Amazon Effects: Online Competition and Pricing Behaviors By: Cavallo, Alberto Abstract—I study how online competition, with its shrinking margins, algorithmic pricing... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

October 2020
Supplement

OpenIDEO (B)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Anne-Laure Fayard, Manos Gkeredakis and Jin Hyun Paik

In the midst of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was unfolding, OpenIDEO—an online open innovation platform focused on design-driven solutions to social issues—rapidly launched a new challenge to improve access to health information, empower communities to stay safe... View Details

October 2011
Supplement

An Interview with Jack Hughes, Founder and Chairman of TopCoder

By: David A. Garvin

TopCoder's crowdsourcing-based business model, in which software is developed through online tournaments, is presented. The case highlights how TopCoder has created a unique two-sided innovation platform consisting of a global community of over 225,0000 developers who... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Technological Innovation; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; Competition; Online Technology; Information Technology Industry

07 Jun 2016
First Look

June 7, 2016

likelihood of meeting or beating analyst expectations. Collectively the results shed light on the effect of increased ownership concentration on tax avoidance. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51123 June 2016 Service Science... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2020
Article

Customer Supercharging in Experience-Centric Channels

By: David R. Bell, Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno

We conjecture that for online retailers, experience-centric offline store formats do not simply expand market coverage, but rather, serve to significantly amplify future positive customer behaviors, both online and offline. We term this phenomenon “supercharging” and... View Details

Keywords: Retail Operations; Marketing-operations Interface; Omnichannel Retailing; Experience Attributes; Quasi-experimental Methods; Operations; Internet and the Web; Marketing Channels; Consumer Behavior; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

We conjecture that for online retailers, experience-centric offline store formats do not simply expand market coverage, but rather, serve to significantly amplify future positive customer behaviors, both online and offline. We term this phenomenon “supercharging”... View Details

July 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Saffronart.com: Bidding for Success

By: Mukti Khaire and R. Daniel Wadhwani

Saffronart, a five-year-old online art auction company, leads the market for modern Indian art and now faces competitors in the market it created. Established in 2000 by the wife-and-husband team of Minal and Dinesh Vazirani, Saffronart.com is an innovative online... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Auctions; Industry Growth; Competition; Online Technology; Fine Arts Industry; India

July 2016
Teaching Note

Launching Yelp Reservations

By: Michael Luca, Kevin Mohan and Patrick Rooney

This teaching note accompanies "Launching Yelp Reservations (A) and (B)," which present a multi-party negotiation among Yelp, current partner OpenTable, and two startups in the online restaurant reservation industry. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Negotiation; Business Startups; Acquisition; Technology Industry; United States

October 2011
Supplement

Jack Hughes, Founder and Chairman of TopCoder, In-class comments 4/8/11

By: David A. Garvin

TopCoder's crowdsourcing-based business model, in which software is developed through online tournaments, is presented. The case highlights how TopCoder has created a unique two-sided innovation platform consisting of a global community of over 225,000 developers who... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development; Technological Innovation; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; Competition; Online Technology; Information Technology Industry