Publications

2016
Chapter

The Organization of Non-market Strategy

By: Dylan B. Minor

The purpose of this paper is to explore how firms organize to engage in non-market strategy. To achieve this end, we explore the organization of non-market strategy via a formal model of the firm. The model is motivated by a qualitative study of the organization of... View Details

Keywords: Non-market Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility; Strategy; Organizational Design; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

2013
Working Paper

Competing by Restricting Choice: The Case of Search Platforms

By: Hanna Halaburda and Mikolaj Jan Piskorski

Seminal papers recommend that platforms in two-sided markets increase the number of complements available. We show that a two-sided platform can successfully compete by limiting the choice of potential matches it offers to its customers while charging higher prices... View Details

Keywords: Matching Platform; Indirect Network Effects; Limits To Network Effects; Decision Choices and Conditions; Network Effects; Two-Sided Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Competitive Strategy

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February 2000
Case

E2M Health Services

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Naomi Atkins

Outlines the growth of an innovative diabetes disease management organization from 1994-99. Having demonstrated the success of their model in managing diabetes populations in Texas and New York State, the CEO and president must decide the future strategy of the company... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Markets; Revenue; Innovation and Invention; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Internet; Health Industry

31 Dec 2014
News

People We Lost in 2014

12 PM – 1:15 PM EDT, 14 Apr 2021
Virtual Programming

Unlocking Opportunity for America's Workforce

Professor?Bill Sahlman?will discuss his new case, Guild Education: Unlocking Opportunity for Americas Workforce, with CEO and cofounder?Rachel Carlson. Guild connects employers and universities to provide employees with education as a benefit, transforming traditional... View Details

2009
Working Paper

Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search? - Companion Paper

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

This companion paper contains several extensions of the model presented in our main paper - Hagiu and Jullien (2009). View Details

Keywords: Market Intermediation; Search; Two Sided Markets; Platform Design; Demand and Consumers; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

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October 2022
Case

Star Magnolia Capital: Becoming Experts at Finding Experts

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, River Ewing and Grace Headinger

Shinya Deguchi, Founder and Managing Partner of Star Magnolia Capital, a Shanghai-based multi-family office (MFO), considered how to convince a new prospective family that the MFO’s endowment model approach would best suit their needs. In recent decades, there has been... View Details

Keywords: China; Asia; Family Office; Shanghai; Financial Industry; Asset Management; Financial Instruments; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Human Capital; Family Business; Financial Services Industry; China; Shanghai

December 2007 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Alltech...naturally

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

Entrepreneur Pearse Lyons had built Alltech into the fastest growing company in the global animal health industry through innovative technology, creative marketing, and strong branding. Sel-Plex, a proprietary Alltech product, had shown important health benefits for... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Leadership Development; Customer Focus and Relationships; Expansion; Technological Innovation; Intellectual Property; Sales; Value Creation; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry

January 2008 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Linear Air: Creating the Air Taxi Industry

Linear Air is an air taxi start-up established to take advantage of the emergence of Very Light Jets, which incorporate new technology that cuts jet operating costs by about 40%. Air taxis could make use of the 5400 smaller regional airports throughout the US,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Product Launch; Industry Structures; Competition; Air Transportation Industry

25 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Beauty Entrepreneur Madam Walker

Koehn discovered, Walker had lived an entrepreneurial life that was dramatic and deeply complex on many levels. "I think much of Walker's business model and her animating vision is a product of the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Beauty & Cosmetics

December 2021
Case

Burning Glass Technologies: From Data to Product

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Amy Klopfenstein

In May 2021, Matt Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass Technologies, a company that provided labor market analytics for a variety of markets, navigates his company’s transition from data company to product company. Burning Glass originated as a service that used artificial... View Details

2014
Working Paper

Product to Platform Transitions: Organizational Identity Implications

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Mary Tripsas

Organizations are increasingly recognizing that value they once derived from offering standalone products can be significantly enhanced if they transition to platform-based businesses that harness the innovative capabilities of complementors. While the competitive... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change; Organizational Identity; Ecosystems; Complementors; Managing Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multi-Sided Platforms; Innovation and Management; Organizational Culture

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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

02 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Four VCs on Evaluating Opportunities

Partner, Trinity Ventures In no particular order, for us they are team, market opportunity, and the product/value proposition for the solution. Technology differentiation or business model differentiation is... View Details

Keywords: by Lauren Barley

Price Bargaining and Competition in Online Platforms: An Empirical Analysis of the Daily Deal Market

The prevalence of online platforms opens new doors to traditional businesses for customer reach and revenue growth. This research investigates platform competition in a setting where prices are determined by negotiations between platforms and businesses. We compile a... View Details

December 2000
Background Note

Online Market Makers

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Chris Hackett

Describes the business model for online market makers, firms that use the Internet to organize a marketplace, providing participants with a virtual "place" to trade, rules to govern their exchanges, and infrastructure to support trading. First it proposes a definition... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Web Services Industry

April 2019 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Aperture Investors

By: Krishna G. Palepu, George Serafeim and David Lane

Aperture Investors is a startup investment firm that seeks to disrupt the asset management industry through competitive differentiation by charging investors primarily when its portfolio managers outperform the marketplace. Headed by Wall Street veteran Peter Kraus and... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Talent and Talent Management; Investment; Investment Funds; Asset Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Marketing Channels; Emerging Markets; Partners and Partnerships; Motivation and Incentives; Financial Services Industry

11 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The High Risks of Short-Term Management

that larger firms, growth firms, and more profitable firms tend to be more long-term-oriented. In contrast, firms with a more volatile business model and cash flow profile tend to be more... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

January 2008 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Cognizant Technology Solutions

By: Robert G. Eccles, David Lane and Prabakar 'PK' Kothandaraman

In the highly competitive information technology outsourcing industry, Cognizant Technology Solutions has developed a strategy to differentiate itself by emphasizing building very close client relationships through its "Two-in-a-box" (TIB) model. This model is based on... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Knowledge Sharing; Resource Allocation; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry