Publications

Jeffrey F Rayport is a faculty member in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School, where he teaches in the School’s MBA and Executive Education Programs and on HBS Online. His primary focus in teaching and research is growth-stage technology... View Details

28 Jul 2016
News

Where is TripAdvisor for Doctors?

November 2021 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Farfetch: Digital Transformation for Luxury Brands

By: Sunil Gupta, Jill Avery, Elena Corsi and Federica Gabrieli

Farfetch, a global luxury technology platform and digital marketplace had been surfing the wave of digital transformation in the luxury fashion industry since 2008. While the company’s stock price and market valuation had fluctuated since its IPO in 2018, it had... View Details

June 2011
Case

CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth

By: Marco Iansiti and Kerry Herman

Adam Famularo, general manager, Cloud Computing business, CA Technologies, and David Dobson, WVP and group executive, Customer Solutions Group, were preparing for a presentation on communicating and positioning CA Technologies' new strategy for cloud computing.... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Product Positioning; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption

January 2002 (Revised June 2002)
Background Note

The Rise and Decline of e-Consulting

By: Ashish Nanda and M. Julia Prats

E-consulting began as a specialized consulting service in the late 1990s. In January 2000, more than 100 firms were characterized as e-consultants. By December 2001, more than 50% of these firms had disappeared. This case tracks the rapid rise and sharp decline of... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Market Participation; Consulting Industry

September 2004 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Sapient Corporation

By: Rakesh Khurana and Joel Podolny

Describes the start-up, growth, organizational design, and operations over the first 10 years of a professional services firm. Focuses on the creative use of organizational purpose and values as an integral part of strategy and alignment of organizational activities. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Operations; Knowledge Management; Strategy; Service Industry

June 2023
Supplement

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complementary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides - consumers and those providing applications or services - need access to the same platform to interact. A... View Details

Keywords: Customer Acquisition; Platform Strategy; Technology Platform; Digital Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Network Effects

January 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial (RJF) currently sells financial services through two channels. It is considering adding a third in the "middle" of the other two. The current strategy has one channel with employees and another with independent contractors. These attract very... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Salesforce Management; Marketing; Distribution Channels; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

January 2002 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Space Data Corporation

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Jay Wynn

Space Data Corp. plans to partner with the U.S. National Weather Service to place transceivers on weather balloons and thereby create a national mobile communications network. The company is in the late development stages and is planning to launch a regional test that... View Details

Keywords: Wireless Technology; Business Startups; Business Processes; Adaptation; Partners and Partnerships; Opportunities; Telecommunications Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States

October 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Sapient Corporation (Abridged)

By: Rakesh Khurana and Joel Podolny

Describes the start-up, growth, organizational design, and operations over the first 10 years of a professional services firm. Focuses on the creative use of organizational purpose and values as an integral part of strategy and alignment of organizational activities. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Human Resources; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Operations; Business Processes; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Industry

October 2013
Article

The Strategy That Will Fix Health Care

By: Michael E. Porter and Thomas H. Lee

In health care, the days of business as usual are over. Around the world, every health care system is struggling with rising costs and uneven quality, despite the hard work of well-intentioned, well-trained clinicians. Health care leaders and policy makers have tried... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Value; Customer Focus and Relationships; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

January 2018 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Transformation at ING (A): Agile

By: William R. Kerr, Federica Gabrieli and Emer Moloney

In December 2017, Vincent van den Boogert, CEO of ING in the Netherlands, was reflecting upon the company’s “agile” transformation, a reorganization of work that had been critical to respond to and exceed rapidly changing customer expectations. Launched in 2015 at the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change; Organizational Management; Workforce; Agile; Change Management; Leadership; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Leading Change; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Banking Industry

July 2003 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Mitchells/Richards

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Corey B. Hajim

Describes a small, luxury retail chain's operational sophistication achieved through the use of technology and high-touch customer service. A family-run business, Mitchells has built its success with a customer service strategy know internally as "hugging." The term is... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Expansion; Family Business; Attitudes; Organizational Culture; Luxury; Customer Focus and Relationships; Retail Industry