Publications

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November–December 2014
Article

Accountable? The Problems and Solutions of Online Ad Optimization

By: Benjamin Edelman

Online advertising might seem to be the most measurable form of marketing ever invented. Comprehensive records can track who clicked what ad—and often who saw what ad—to compare those clicks with users' subsequent purchases. Ever-cheaper IT makes this tracking... View Details

Keywords: Online Advertising; Fraud; Optimization; Incentives; Digital Marketing; Contracts; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Design

2007
Working Paper

Dynamics of Platform Competition: Exploring the Role of Installed Base, Platform Quality and Consumer Expectations

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

This paper seeks to answer three questions. First, which drives the success of a platform, installed base, platform quality or consumer expectations? Second, when does a monopoly emerge in a platform-based market? Finally, when is a platform-based market socially... View Details

Keywords: Price; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Monopoly; Quality; Competitive Advantage; Digital Platforms

August 2018
Teaching Note

IguanaFix

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Thomas Eisenmann

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-056. IguanaFix, based in Argentina, is a platform business that connects consumers with home improvement contractors. The founders are evaluating growth options and an investment offer. The case focuses on scaling issues for a venture... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Home Improvement Services; Marketing Management; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Sales; Digital Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy

2016
Working Paper

Controlling Versus Enabling

By: Andrei Hagiu and Julian Wright

Revenue sharing between principals and agents is commonly used to balance double-sided moral hazard. We provide a theory of how, when such revenue-sharing is optimal, a principal allocates control rights over decisions that either party could make. We show that the... View Details

Keywords: Control Rights; Decision Authority; Employment; Independent Contractors; Organizational Theory; Digital Platforms; Governance Controls; Ethics; Vertical Integration

SSRN

2017
Working Paper

Explaining the Vertical-to-Horizontal Transition in the Computer Industry

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This paper seeks to explain the technological forces that led to the rise of vertically integrated corporations in the late 19th century and the opposing forces that led to a vertical-to-horizontal transition in the computer industry 100 years later. I first model the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Business History; Vertical Integration; Horizontal Integration; Digital Platforms; Computer Industry

01 Mar 2023
News

The Latest Model

was booming: The price of bitcoin had surged to nearly $20,000; governments were beginning to recognize the cryptocurrency as legal tender; and industries from fintech to pharma were launching blockchain-related projects. (Though best known as the distributed View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; blockchain; cryptocurrency; economic models; innovation; consulting; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

Web

Site Credits - The Art of American Advertising

Clubs Faculty & Research Business & Environment Business History Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning Entrepreneurship Faculty & Research Global Healthcare HBS Working Knowledge Institute for Strategy & Competitiveness Leadership... View Details

01 Dec 2016
News

Case Study: Sweat the Technique

are more performance and training related. Next, make sure there is good patent protection. And finally, develop a strategy for longer-term digital partnerships and begin the search. Find partners that will... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

Web

Modern Corporate Strategy: Revitalizing the Corporation - Course Catalog

and Netflix, are also among the most shorted stocks as investors struggle to see their long-term potential. To understand why and how this might occur, the overarching framework applied throughout this course covers “The Complete Strategy... View Details

June 2004 (Revised November 2005)
Case

PalmSource, Inc.

By: David B. Yoffie, Pai-Ling Yin and Christina L. Darwall

PalmSource CEO David Nagel had grand ambitions. In this newly spun-off company, he wanted to create the next leading software platform for hand-held devices. Explores the strategic challenges of building a platform business. View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

August 2019
Case

Preserving Trust at Care.com (A)

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Julia Kelley

Care.com was an online platform designed to match caregivers with individuals seeking care for themselves, others, and pets, through job postings, caregiver profiles, and directories of local day care centers. In March 2019, the Wall Street Journal had just published a... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Corporate Governance; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Emerging Markets; Trust; Technology Industry; United States

Educators

01 Dec 2002
News

Porter Course Goes Abroad

beyond Boston. The Microeconomics of Competitiveness: Firms, Clusters, and Economic Development used Internet technology and digitalized video to make teaching materials, guest speakers, and class lectures available via the Web to faculty... View Details

01 Dec 2020
News

Invest in the New Abnormal

in the current environment has resulted in volatility in purchases and productivity, resulting in a net economic crisis that has not been witnessed by anyone alive today.” To engage customers in this new abnormal, Deshpandé offers the following principles. Grow your... View Details

Web

Site Credits - A Chronicle of the China Trade

Research Business & Environment Business History Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning Entrepreneurship Faculty & Research Global Healthcare HBS Working Knowledge Institute for Strategy & Competitiveness Leadership Networked Business... View Details

Web

Research Links - The Art of American Advertising

Clubs Faculty & Research Business & Environment Business History Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning Entrepreneurship Faculty & Research Global Healthcare HBS Working Knowledge Institute for Strategy & Competitiveness Leadership... View Details

28 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

A Dedication to Creation: India's Ad Man Ranjan Kapur

the General Management Program at Harvard Business School. In the discussion, conducted last August in Mumbai, Kapur reflects on some 50 years in the advertising industry, starting in the “Mad Men” era of the 1960s, experiencing the dawn of the View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Advertising

March 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Scaling Nextdoor

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Thomas O. Jones and Jeff Huizinga

Nextdoor, striving to solidify its position as the leading global social media platform for neighborhoods, works to scale audience, geography, and revenue. View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Media; Digital Platforms

Educators

January 2018
Case

Viacom: Democratization of Data Science

By: Shane Greenstein and Christine Snively

In two short years, Viacom’s Data Science & Advanced Analytics team built a web platform called Science Central that allowed employees from Viacom’s 20+ cable networks to access television audience insights through three data science apps. In the past, employees would... View Details

Keywords: Data Science; Big Data; Digital Platforms; Analytics and Data Science; Expansion; Strategic Planning

Educators