Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,860)
- Faculty Publications (316)
- March–April 2020
- Article
Avoid the Pitfalls of A/B Testing
By: Iavor I. Bojinov, Guillaume Sait-Jacques and Martin Tingley
Online experiments measuring whether “A,” usually the current approach, is inferior to “B,” a proposed improvement, have become integral to the product-development cycle, especially at digital enterprises. But often firms make serious mistakes in conducting these... View Details
- March–April 2020
- Article
Pricing Policies that Protect your Brand
By: Ayelet Israeli and Eugene F. Zelek Jr.
When customers seek out online deals, it seems like a win for everybody: Brands, retailers, dealers, and distributors sell more goods, and buyers get a bargain. What's not to like? Here's the problem: Lured by rock-bottom online prices, customers often end up dealing... View Details
- February 2020 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
StockX: The Stock Market of Things
By: Chiara Farronato, John J. Horton, Annelena Lobb and Julia Kelley
Founded in 2015 by Dan Gilbert, Josh Luber, and Greg Schwartz, StockX was an online platform where users could buy and sell unworn luxury and limited-edition sneakers. Sneaker resale prices often fluctuated over time based on supply and demand, creating a robust... View Details
Keywords: Markets; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Demand and Consumers; Consumer Behavior; Analytics and Data Science; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Market Transactions; Marketplace Matching; Supply and Industry; Analysis; Price; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; North and Central America; United States; Michigan; Detroit
- December 2019
- Case
Steemit: A New Social Media?
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Alexander White and Karen Elterman
This case discusses the alternative social media site Steemit, including the principles it was founded on in 2016 and the challenges it faced in 2019. Steemit was a blockchain-based platform that aimed to differentiate itself from other social media companies by... View Details
Keywords: Decision Making; Decisions; Voting; Economic Systems; Money; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Goals and Objectives; Digital Platforms; Product Design; Design; Problems and Challenges; Network Effects; Motivation and Incentives; Social and Collaborative Networks; Reputation; Business Strategy; Competition; Internet and the Web; Social Media; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; Virginia; New York (city, NY)
- November 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
Bayer Crop Science
By: David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin, Natalie Kindred and James Barnett
In mid-2019, a year after German conglomerate Bayer Group closed its acquisition of U.S.-based seeds giant Monsanto, the leadership of Bayer’s Crop Science division (which absorbed Monsanto) is reflecting on the opportunities ahead. Some observers have questioned... View Details
- November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
Purple Innovation, Inc.: The Online to Offline Marketing Challenge
By: Elie Ofek and Nakisha Williams
This case focuses on Purple Innovation Inc. (Purple), a company that started out in the Direct to Consumer (DTC) mattress space. In late 2018, after a successful launch and IPO with sales predominantly originating from its website, Purple was looking to sustain its... View Details
- November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand
By: Jill Avery and Joseph B. Fuller
Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth trajectories to maximize its potential? Three... View Details
Keywords: Brand Management; DTC; Brand Extension; Lifestyle Brand; Customer Segmentation; Retailing; Scaling And Growth; Startup; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Consumer Behavior; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Startups; E-commerce; Consumer Products Industry; Travel Industry; United States; North America
- 2019
- Working Paper
Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 17 The Wintel Standards-based Platform
The purpose of this chapter is to use the theory of bottlenecks laid out in previous chapters to better understand the dynamics of an open standards-based platform. I describe how the Wintel platform evolved from 1990 through 2000 under joint sponsorship of Intel and... View Details
- October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
Fixing Facebook: Fake News, Privacy, and Platform Governance
By: David Yoffie and Daniel Fisher
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook based on the idea that connecting people was a fundamentally good thing—and a way to turn a handsome profit. But from the beginning, Facebook received criticism both for how it handled user privacy and how it curated user-generated... View Details
- October 2019 (Revised February 2023)
- Case
Gupta Media: Performance Marketing in the Digital Age
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Courtney Han
Gupta Media is a Digital Marketing firm started in 2005 that places advertisements and marketing promotions for its clients in digital media, mainly social media such as Facebook and Google. Over the years it had built its expertise in promoting music labels, artists... View Details
- October 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
Relevent and LaLiga: Bringing Spanish Soccer to America
By: Anita Elberse and David Moreno Vicente
“Barcelona backs out of proposed LaLiga match in Miami.” It is December 2018, and Daniel Sillman, chief executive officer of sports and entertainment company Relevent, is tasked with finding a way forward after a significant setback. Relevent had found success by... View Details
- September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Bill Connors and The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)
By: Linda A. Hill and Eric Mankin
In 2017, Bill Connors, the President of Comcast’s Central Division, launched a startup accelerator in Comcast’s new Atlanta Regional headquarters. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business bundling television... View Details
- September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Burunda Prince at The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)
By: Linda A. Hill, Eric Mankin and Emily Tedards
After a successful inaugural year, Burunda Prince, the Managing Director of Comcast’s startup business accelerator The Farm, was getting ready for an eventful 2019. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business... View Details
Keywords: Innovation; Accelerator; Entrepreneur; Startup; Outsourcing; Hiring; Talent; Culture; Ecosystem; Digital; Women; African Americans; Leadership; Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Management; Diversity; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Culture; Media; Entertainment; Transformation; Atlanta
- September 2019
- Case
Netflix: A Creative Approach to Culture and Agility
By: Ranjay Gulati, Allison Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga
By 2018, Netflix had been credited for revolutionizing how viewers consumed entertainment—shifting from ad-fueled linear network programming to a highly personalized, on-demand, all-you-can-consume, ad-free model. The company was riding a long wave of revenue and... View Details
Keywords: Digital Technologies; Streaming; Video On Demand; International Expansion; Leadership; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Leadership Style; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Entertainment; Media; Change Management; Expansion; Technology Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States
- September 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Teaching Note
Fishbowl: Scaling Up
By: Leslie K. John
Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.
Teaching Note for HBS No. 919-013. Fishbowl is a social media app that allows professionals to connect with other relevant professionals both within their company and... View Details
Teaching Note for HBS No. 919-013. Fishbowl is a social media app that allows professionals to connect with other relevant professionals both within their company and... View Details
Keywords: Communication Technologies; Customer Value; Value Chain; Interpersonal Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Advertising; Product Marketing; Digital Platforms; Consumer Behavior; Network Effects; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Trust; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Digital Platforms; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States
- August 2019 (Revised March 2023)
- Case
Rand Fishkin at Moz (A)
In 2016, senior management at Moz, a venture capital–backed startup providing software tools for digital marketing professionals, must decide how to address a looming cash flow crisis precipitated by failed efforts to broaden its product line. Seattle-based Moz had... View Details
- August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
Lemonade: Disrupting Insurance with Instant Everything, Killer Prices, and a Big Heart
By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan
Launching its first products in the fall of 2016 in New York, insurtech startup Lemonade was on a mission to disrupt the insurance market by using AI and behavioral economics principles. The company offered renters, homeowners, and condo insurance and mainly targeted... View Details
- August 2019
- Article
When and How to Diversify—A Multicategory Utility Model for Personalized Content Recommendation
By: Yicheng Song, Nachiketa Sahoo and Elie Ofek
Sometimes we desire change, a break from the same or an opportunity to fulfill different aspects of our needs. Noting that consumers seek variety, several approaches have been developed to diversify items recommended by personalized recommender systems. However,... View Details
- May 28, 2019
- Other Article
How Russia Found a Disinformation Haven in America
By: Rawi Abdelal and Galit Goldstein
The Mueller Report established that “the Russians” undertook information operations campaigns to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Though this has been clear for a long time, Americans continue to discuss Russian information operations in the wrong way.... View Details
- May 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
The Video-Streaming Wars in 2019: Can Disney Catch Netflix?
By: Anita Elberse and Monica Cody
Bob Iger, CEO of entertainment conglomerate Disney, thrilled investors with details about Disney’s upcoming foray into video streaming in April 2019. Disney’s move was only the latest in a series of actions taken by new and established entertainment companies in a... View Details