Publications

April 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

National Instruments

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Keri Pearlson and Natalie Kindred

This case explores the use of social media to support product design, customer support, marketing and HR activities at National Instruments (NI). Based in Austin, Texas, with over $1 billion in 2011 sales, NI designs, produces, and sells software and hardware platforms... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Applications and Software; Organizational Culture; Technological Innovation; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Management; Media; Management Systems; Social and Collaborative Networks; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; Texas

August 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Developing an App for That

By: Hanna Halaburda, Joshua Gans and Nathaniel Burbank

At a time when ever-rising smartphone sales are driven as much by demand for devices that run must-have third-party "apps" as by the quality of traditional voice and data services, there is a myriad of challenges facing the software developer who is looking to choose... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Competitive Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Banking Industry; Information Technology Industry

August 2006 (Revised March 2008)
Case

iPod vs. Cell Phone: A Mobile Music Revolution?

By: David B. Yoffie, Travis D. Merrill and Michael Slind

In 2006, a nascent market for music-enabled mobile phones was emerging to challenge Apple Computer's dominant position in the digital music industry. Through its iPod line of portable digital music devices and its iTunes Music Store, Apple controlled more than half of... View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Emerging Markets; Brands and Branding; Sales; Opportunities; Price; Business Model; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Service Delivery; Communications Industry; Music Industry

Article

The Information Technology Ecosystem: Structure, Health, and Performance

By: Marco Iansiti and Gregory L. Richards

A number of modern industries are organized as complex networks of firms whose integrated efforts are necessary to deliver value to end customers. The complexity of these networks, or business ecosystems, and the associated interdependencies among firms, make... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Networks; Value; Customers; Performance Productivity; Product; Applications and Software; Innovation and Invention; Competition; Business Model; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

We study compatibility decisions of two competing platform owners that generate profits through both hardware sales and royalties from content sales. We consider a game-theoretic model in which two platforms offer different standalone utilities to users. We find that... View Details

22 Feb 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Dynamic Effects of Bundling as a Product Strategy

Keywords: by Timothy Derdenger & Vineet Kumar; Video Game

Web

Faculty & Research

Open Source Software and Hardware Business Models By: Frank Nagle and Richie Zitomer June 2025 | Technical Note | Faculty Research Open source software (OSS) and open source hardware (OSH) have evolved from... View Details

April 1995 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Power Play (C): 3DO in 32-bit Video Games

The 1980s were the "Nintendo" decade in video-games, while the early 1990s saw Sega rise to prominence on the basis of next-generation, 16-bit technology. By early 1994, Nintendo and Sega split the worldwide installed base of 16-bit home video-game systems about... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Competition; Product Marketing; Video Game Industry

November 2016
Case

ShotSpotter

By: Mitchell Weiss and Sarah McAra

SST, Inc. offered a subscription-based gunfire detection service, ShotSpotter Flex, to cities across the United States in addition to a few abroad. Over its 20-year history, SST had mostly honed a reliable business-to-government sales model, and the company had been... View Details

Keywords: ShotSpotter; SST; Internet Of Things; IoT; Smart Cities; Public Entrepreneurship; Enterprise Sales; Scaling And Growth; Government; Public Sector; Innovation; Ralph Clark; Entrepreneurship; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Public Administration Industry; California; United States

January 2011 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Paydiant

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Elizabeth C. Williamson and James Weber

Kevin Laracey, founder of Paydiant, needed to figure out how to launch a payment processing company with a new technology based on smart phones. Consumers had increasingly turned to electronic payment methods such as credit cards and debit cards to make purchases.... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Credit Cards; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Structures; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Cooperation; Technology Adoption; Retail Industry

Web

Publications - Faculty & Research

Study: Do We Reskill or Replace Our Workforce? By: William Kerr To remain competitive in the internet-of-things era, should the CEO of SolidTech Innovations, a fictional elevator company, invest a lot of money in reskilling its entire staff? The industry is moving from... View Details

November 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

HP Instant Ink: (Self) Disrupting the Consumer Printing Market

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg and George Gonzalez

Seeking to disrupt the consumer printing market (before being disrupted by others), and in response to customer pain points, in 2013 HP Inc. launched an ink replenishment service called Instant Ink, where customers pay a monthly subscription fee based on the number of... View Details

Keywords: Printing; Ink; Subscription Model; Customers; Information Infrastructure; Service Delivery; Business Model; Disruption; Growth and Development Strategy

SST offered a subscription-based gunfire detection service, ShotSpotter Flex, to cities across the United States, and a few abroad. Over its 20-year history, SST had mostly honed a reliable business to government sales model, and the company had been focused on... View Details

26 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 26, 2019

forthcoming Management Science Frenemies in Platform Markets: Heterogeneous Profit Foci as Drivers of Compatibility Decisions By: Adner, Ron, Jianqing Chen, and Feng Zhu Abstract— We study compatibility decisions of two competing platform owners that generate profits... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

23 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 23

governance regimes to meaningful transnational regulation. Download working paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2178540 Cases & Course Materials Harvard Business School Case 415-015 Opening the Valve: From Software to Hardware (A)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2004 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Scientific-Atlantia (S-A), a leading manufacturer of cable TV equipment, is confronting strategic challenges in mid-2004. For decades, cable operators have faced high switching costs that have locked them into exclusive supply relationships with either S-A or its... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Competition; Industry Structures; Television Entertainment; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Manufacturing Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

September 2022 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Navya: Steering toward a Driverless Future

By: Julian De Freitas, Elie Ofek, Shaun Ingledew and Tonia Labruyere

In 2022, Sophie Desormière arrived at French roboshuttle producer Navya, tasked with charting a new course in a challenging sector. The company, which had recently listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, was burning through cash reserves and needed to transform the promise... View Details

Keywords: Autonomous Vehicles; Market Entry and Exit; Opportunities; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Consumer Behavior; Business Model; Auto Industry; Transportation Industry; France; United States