Publications

Web

Employment Data Trends

<1% 1% <1% <1% 1% Technology 19% 19% 19% 16% 16% Consumer Electronics 1% <1% 1% <1% <1% E-Commerce 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% Equipment / Hardware / Networking <1% <1% <1% 0% <1% Internet Services 6% 6% 3% 4% 3% Software 5% 6% 5% 5% 7% View Details

October 2007
Case

iPhone vs. Cell Phone

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

The launch of Apple's iPhone marked a pivotal new chapter in the story of mobile music (the uniting of digital music players with mobile phones). The iPhone combined an iPod music player, a cell phone, and a mobile Internet device, along with a camera and other... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Music Entertainment; Product Launch; Partners and Partnerships; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communications Industry; Music Industry

October 2013
Background Note

Multi-Sided Platforms: Foundations and Strategy

By: Andrei Hagiu

This note offers an analysis of four fundamental strategic decisions and associated tradeoffs that set MSPs apart from other types of businesses (e.g. product firms) and that every MSP entrepreneur and investor should carefully consider. In the last section I also... View Details

Keywords: Multi-Sided Platforms; Strategy; Technology; Technology Industry

July 2006 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Symantec vs. McAfee: Competing in the Consumer Anti-virus Industry

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Jordan Mitchell

Symantec and McAfee hold 53.6% and 18.8% respectively, of the anti-virus software market as of 2006. While the market is concentrated with five firms controlling over 90%, Microsoft is on the eve of releasing a consumer security subscription packed called OneCare Live.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Software; Information Technology Industry

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Article

A Collective Biological Processing Algorithm for EKG Signals

By: Mike Horia Teodorescu

We establish and explore an analogy between hunting by packs of agents and signal processing. We present a version of adaptive ‘Hunting Swarm’ algorithm (HSA), apply it to EKG signals, and investigate the influence of the model parameters on the filtering of stationary... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Technological Innovation; Health Care and Treatment

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22 Dec 2013
News

Jesse Willms, the Dark Lord of the Internet

03 Dec 2007
Research & Ideas

Authenticity over Exaggeration: The New Rule in Advertising

The past 10 years have seen some level of this direct marketing model bear out. But according to an HBS working paper to be published in the Journal of Interactive Marketing, consumers are using technology to learn about marketers, rather... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Publishing; Advertising

23 Jul 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: How Wikipedia Works (or Doesn’t)

"stub"—essentially a brief starting point for others to build on the concept. McAfee's article detailed how so-called Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, and group messaging, employed in a business... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Publishing

January 2011
Case

Aardvark

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld and Lauren Barley

Aardvark is an online social search service that allows users to pose questions and receive answers from other users in their extended social network. The case explores the process that Aardvark's founders used to design and develop their product based on intensive... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Entrepreneurship; Product Design; Product Development; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet and the Web

March 2006
Case

EMC Corporation: Proposed Acquisition of VMware

By: Constance E. Bagley, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Chris Lombardi

Involves the decision by the CEO of EMC Corp. whether to acquire VMware, a small software firm in California that makes virtualization software. Among the factors to be considered are a pending patent case involving WMare and Microsoft and integration challenges... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Decision Choices and Conditions; Lawsuits and Litigation; Applications and Software; Acquisition; Information Technology Industry; California

July–August 2016
Article

The Decoupling Effect of Digital Disruptors

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Peter Jamieson

A new wave of Internet startups is disrupting established businesses by the process of “decoupling.” In this article, the authors discuss how these new digital disruptors allow consumers to benefit from one activity (e.g., watching shows) without incurring the cost of... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Product Marketing; Customization and Personalization

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Web

Profiles - MBA

similar challenges in other industries. Professional goals: My goal is to develop innovative technology that addresses critical gaps in accessibility and affordability across various industries, with a focus... View Details

December 2014 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Simplot Plant Sciences: Designing a Better Potato

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Mary Shelman

Privately held Simplot has developed a new genetically engineered potato that substantially reduces waste and does not turn brown after cutting. Unlike other GMOs, it does not contain foreign genes. The case describes the company's commercialization plans in light of... View Details

Keywords: GMO; Sustainability; Agribusiness; Biotechnology; Food And Environment; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Food; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Marketing; Product Positioning; Genetics; Value Creation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

New Research Explores Multi-Sided Markets

Andrei Hagiu is on the vanguard of a new field of business research that explores the dynamics of multi-sided markets. Although these markets have been around a long time, they have not really been recognized as entities unique from other... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

10 Nov 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Making Lincoln Center Cool Again

groups of constituents and board members, using technology wisely, and planning for a future in the digital world. It also shows that there are alternative paths for a CEO to take—and that a strong organizational leader can make up for... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

January 1996
Case

Outrage in Cyberspace: CompuServe and the GIF Patent

By: Josh Lerner and Benjamin Conway

CompuServe, an online services vendor, informs its software developers that they must enter into a licensing agreement to use the popular GIF compression. CompuServe claims that it is forced to do so because Unisys is enforcing its patent rights in this area. Others... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; Web Services Industry

July–August 2013
Article

Building Sustainable Cities

By: John D. Macomber

By 2050 the number of people living in cities will have nearly doubled, to 6 billion, and the problems created by this rampant urbanization are among the most important challenges of our time. Of all resource-management issues, the author argues, water, electricity,... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Urban Development; Entrepreneurship; Infrastructure; City