Publications

March 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Supplement

ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (B)

By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen and Shirley Sun

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Outsourcing; Disintermediation; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Information Technology Industry; China

June 2005
Case

CarMax

By: Rajiv Lal and David Kiron

Carmax is the largest multi-market used car dealer in the U.S., and has no format-to-format competitor in the $375 billion used car market. CarMax is trying to do what some analysts believed to be impossible: sell used cars profitably on a national scale, and at the... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Brands and Branding; Digital Platforms; Segmentation; Auto Industry

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

25 Mar 2016
News

New Head of MBA Admissions Is 2013 Grad

range of strategic projects, including HBX, where Losee helped launch and set strategy for the innovative digital learning platform. In particular, he co-led the exam and credential View Details

25 Feb 2020
News

How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Business

Administration. “The traditional model has been turned upside down. Having the data to innovate at scale is now the main thing.” Lakhani and Marco Iansiti, the David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration, are frequent collaborators. Their new book, Competing in... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Web

Navigating Your Worth: AI, Negotiations, and the Nature of Expertise - Course Catalog

Describe your career strategy Digital clones or agents that codify your capabilities Resume that includes how you can scale your expertise Terms on which you are willing to offer your capabilities View Details

Web

Georges F. Doriot: Educating Leaders, Building Companies

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

Web

DEC - Georges F. Doriot : Educating Leaders, Building Companies, Baker Library, Harvard Business School

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

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

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

January 2014
Teaching Note

Dumb Ways To Die: Advertising Train Safety (A), (B) & (C)

By: John Quelch

Keywords: Advertising Media; Viral Advertising; Viral Marketing; Public Safety; Advertising; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Digital Marketing; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Public Administration Industry; Oceania; Europe

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

Read Now

27 May 2014
News

Crowdsourcing the Capitalist's Dilemma

Bryan Mezue (MBA 2013, Forum for Growth and Innovation), Taylor Thompson (MBA 2013, Forum for Growth and Innovation), Alexis Lefort (HBS Forum for Growth and Innovation), Colin Maclay (HBS Digital Initiative), Emily Snyder (HBS Staff),... View Details

Keywords: April White; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

Web

Courses by Title - Course Catalog

Seminar) General Management Andy Zelleke Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantage Strategy Eric J. Van den Steen Fall 2025 Q1 1.5 Creating the Modern Financial System Business, Government & the International... View Details

Web

South Asia - Global Activities 2021

are family owned, Indian corporations, and Indian divisions of international corporations—new insights and strategies that help them take advantage of the opportunities and overcome the challenges they might encounter as leaders. “In... View Details

17 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?

face a host of challenges in the years ahead. For some retailers, ecommerce threatens to digitize the products they sell and leave them without anything meaningful to stock in their stores. For others, hyper-competitive online retailers... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

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

Read Now

May 2017
Supplement

Betfair (B), (C), and (D) Case Slides

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and John Heilbron

Contains slides related to the Betfair B, C, and D cases.
Abstracts:
B) Buoyed by success in the market for gambling contracts, Betfair attempts to enter the market for financial products using its exchange model.
C) Prompted by a takeover bid from... View Details

Keywords: Betfair; Exchange; Betting; Leisure Industry; Betting Markets; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Diversification; Business Model; Laws and Statutes; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Europe

January 2017 (Revised August 2019)
Supplement

X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (B)

By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Competition; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Small Business; Retail Industry; Canada