Publications

September 2009 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Eden McCallum: A Network-Based Consulting Firm (A)

By: Heidi K. Gardner and Robert G. Eccles

Eden McCallum pioneered the network-based ("virtual") consulting firm model in the U.K. Contracting freelance consultants on a per-project basis keeps overheads lean so that Eden McCallum's fees are a fraction of the big firms' rates. Their flexible, low-cost model has... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Consulting Industry; United Kingdom

20 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 20

from what it promises to do. Book: http://www.people.hbs.edu/jwulf/CMR_May.pdf Working PapersBusiness Model Evaluation: Quantifying Walmart's Sources of Advantage Authors:Humberto Brea-Solis, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, and Emili... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Sep 2013
News

Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption

19 Oct 2010
News

More for-profit firms now involved in open-source

March 2014
Teaching Note

Intuit QuickBooks: From Product to Platform

By: Andrei Hagiu and Elizabeth J. Altman

This case focuses on the challenges and opportunities faced by a successful incumbent organization attempting to transform a large portion of its business from a traditionally product-centric operating mode to a platform-based one that leverages network effects to... View Details

June 2024
Case

Growing Foodology into Latin America's Largest Platform for Virtual Restaurants

By: Jorge Tamayo, Rembrand Koning and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

This case delves into the expansion strategy of Foodology, a cloud kitchen startup based in Bogotá that operated across four Latin American countries (Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru). Co-founders Daniela Izquierdo and Juan Guillermo Azuero (both HBS, 2019) grappled... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Food; Digital Platforms; Product Launch; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Business Model; Business Startups; Profit; Marketing Strategy; Expansion; Diversification; Food and Beverage Industry; Latin America; South America; Colombia; Brazil; Mexico; Peru

28 Feb 2022
News

The Importance of the Governance Committee to a Successful Development Program

January 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

ProfitLogic

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Michael J. Roberts and Taslim Pirmohamed

Describes an "application software" company that has been through several evolutions--from consulting firm to applications service provider (ASP). The firm has received significant venture funding to pursue the ASP model but this has not worked, at least at the time... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Model; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Decision Choices and Conditions; Balanced Scorecard; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry

January–February 2020
Article

Competing in the Age of AI

By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

Today’s markets are being reshaped by a new kind of firm—one in which artificial intelligence (AI) runs the show. This cohort includes giants like Google, Facebook, and Alibaba, and growing businesses such as Wayfair and Ocado. Every time we use their services, the... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Algorithms; Technological Innovation; Business Model; Competition; Competitive Strategy; AI and Machine Learning

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January 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

Managing Networked Businesses: Course Overview for Students

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Provides an overview for students of the MBA elective course Managing Networked Businesses (MNB). MNB focuses on management challenges in businesses that exhibit network effects. The first section of the note explains that such businesses comprise a large and growing... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Capital Structure; Business or Company Management; Network Effects; Organizational Design; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competitive Strategy

April 2021 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Social Media War 2021: Snap vs. Facebook vs. TikTok

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

This case explores the competitive war between Snap, Facebook, and TikTok in 2021. The strategic focus is on Snapchat: how should it respond to the emergence of TikTok, and how should it compete with the dominant competitor in its space—Facebook. The case examines... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Development; Competitor Analysis; Strategy; Network Effects; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Social Media

06 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Are You a Level-Six Leader?

several options)? “Opportunists are the people who always ask, 'What's in it for me?'” Asking the question whom do you serve? is a powerful vector on which to build a useful typology of leadership. Based on this idea, I have constructed a six-level Purpose-Driven View Details

Keywords: by Mitch Maidique

September 2012 (Revised September 2012)
Case

Inkaterra

By: Diego Comin, Rohan Gopaldas and Diego Rehder

The case presents the unique business model of Inkaterra, a leading eco-tourism organization in Peru, and the different strategies the company can pursue to grow. Through the experience of Inkaterra the case studies two general issues. First, it discusses the potential... View Details

Keywords: Inkaterra; Ecotourism; Tourism; Environment; Peru; Informal Sector; Regulation; Economic Development; Bottom Of The Pyramid; Technology Diffusion; Competitiveness; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Natural Environment; Market Entry and Exit; Conflict Management; Tourism Industry; Peru

08 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 8, 2006

personal data industry, must reexamine the company's business model after a serious breach of data security affecting some 145,000 U.S. citizens. He must decide on steps to strengthen data protection in the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

31 Jan 2014
News

How to really measure the value in health care

11 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

The Quiet Leader—and How to Be One

It sounds almost paradoxical. A quiet leader? Yet quiet leaders—managers who apply modesty, restraint, and tenacity to solve particularly difficult problems—are more common than we think, says Harvard Business School professor Joseph L.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Apr 2021
News

Kennedy: Time is ripe for remote work

October 1997 (Revised June 1998)
Case

Woolworths South Africa

By: David B. Yoffie and Anthony St. George

Woolworths South Africa is one of the most successful retail chains in the country, modeled on Marks and Spencer of the United Kingdom. This case focuses on the sources of Woolworth's competitive advantage within South Africa and the challenges of growth in the wake of... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth Management; Global Strategy; Industry Structures; Marketing Strategy; Strategy; Business or Company Management; Retail Industry; South Africa

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October 2001 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Herman Miller (A): Innovation by Design

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

Gary Van Spronsen, president of Miller SQA, has been asked to leave the thriving subsidiary he helped to reinvent to join Herman Miller's corporate initiative on innovation. Miller SQA has pioneered processes new to the Herman Miller organization, such as... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Design; Product Development; Supply Chain Management; Business Model; Organizations; Values and Beliefs; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry