Publications

May 2021
Supplement

Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy — Operating the Business Model Exercise, Instructor Version

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

On a mission to "automate the on-demand economy," Harvard Business School classmates Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck launched Hello Alfred in 2013 to provide subscribers with an "Alfred" to complete various chores for a monthly fee. In early 2016, the company has built... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Service Operations; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Service Industry; New York (city, NY); Boston

07 Nov 2016
News

How Wikipedia Keeps Political Discourse from Turning Ugly

December 2010
Supplement

Ad Classification at Right Media — pre-class slides — supplement

By: Benjamin Edelman

Right Media considers systems and policies to make sure that ads are only shown on web sites where they are appropriate, and vice versa. Setting standards is particularly challenging given the large and growing marketplace, the numerous participants, their diverse... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Market Participation; Negotiation Tactics; Marketing Communications; Communication; Media; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

October 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

eLance.com: Building a Professional Services Marketplace

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kristin Kohler

Launched as an eBay for services, eLance promises to leverage the capabilities of the Internet to not only change the way services are bought and sold, but change the fundamental dynamics of the global economy. Building on theories posited in the HBR article by Tim... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Job Search; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Web Sites; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry

01 Apr 1999
News

A Random Sampling of HBS Graduates in the News

breathtaking Internet IPOs - the company's stock went from $17 to $95.50 on its first day of trading. "It's the first pure-play journalism IPO," Kramer told USA Today (January... View Details

February 2014
Article

Responses to Entry in Multi-Sided Markets: The Impact of Craigslist on Local Newspapers

By: Robert Seamans and Feng Zhu

How do firms respond to entry in multi-sided markets? We address this question by studying the impact of Craigslist, a website providing classified-advertising services, on local U.S. newspapers. We exploit temporal and geographical variation in Craigslist's entry to... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Market Entry and Exit; Internet and the Web; Newspapers; Advertising; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry

03 Dec 2001
What Do You Think?

What Happens When the Sumo Master Learns Judo?

sumo learning judo—following through fast, pushing when pulled, and leveraging Apple Computer's (educational) partners to Microsoft's long-term competitive advantage? In the wake of View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Blog

Two-Year Action Plan Update: Q+A with Terrill Drake, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Harvard Business School

our web presence, email, and logistics. We were lucky enough to hire coordinator Andy Martinez, who uses they/them pronouns, from the Harvard Chaplains Office. View Details

April 1996 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Virtual Vineyards

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Alvin J. Silk, Lisa Klein Pearo and Thomas A. Gerace

Virtual Vineyards markets wine from small California vineyards directly to consumers through its site on the World Wide Web. It also facilitates fulfillment of customer orders. The case focuses on the ways in which Virtual Vineyards provides value to end consumers... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Technological Innovation; Management; Service Operations; Internet and the Web

16 Nov 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

Data.gov: Matching Government Data with Rapid Innovation

Innovation happens fast and slowly. The GPS applications so prevalent today to guide us from Point A to Point B took their first baby steps nearly three decades ago when President Ronald Reagan encouraged... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

01 Nov 1999
Lessons from the Classroom

What’s Next & So What? Leading in the 21st Century

industries that can be anybody, anywhere. While some observers have dismissed the phenomenon as exclusive to "a few crazy Internet companies in California," the... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

17 Jun 2013
News

George Sees ‘Tradeoff’ in Surveillance, Security

24 Apr 2014
News

Digital ID network empowers individuals, disrupts the data brokers

disadvantage of the Internet has been a lack of trust. We are creating trust and disrupting data brokers by providing individuals with a medium that provides them with control... View Details

July 1999
Article

An American Democracy Network: Factors Shaping the Future of On-line Political Campaigns

By: Sharon Docter, William H Dutton and Anita Elberse

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Government and Politics

July 2001 (Revised December 2001)
Case

WeServeHomes.com

ServiceMaster, a Fortune 500 supplier of home services such as Terminex, Trugreen (lawn care), and MerryMaids, has a 50% interest in an Internet start-up designed to attract new customers to its services and help service providers improve quality and lower costs.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Service Industry

July 2006 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Changan Automobile Co., Ltd.

By: Dennis Campbell and Donglin Xia

Chairman Yin Jiaxu must communicate that the company's extraordinary reported performance in 2002 reflects Changan's unique strategy within the competitive dynamics of China's automobile industry. Changan's 2002 annual report demonstrated an extraordinary level of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Ethics; Corporate Disclosure; Media; Business and Shareholder Relations; Auto Industry; China

February 2000 (Revised April 2000)
Case

San Francisco Opera

By: John C. Sawhill and Elizabeth Kind

The San Francisco Opera, second largest in the United States, has embarked on a initiative to attract a larger audience and more support from Silicon Valley. Given that the opera's traditional constituency is the older, wealthier residents of San Francisco, this... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Nonprofit Organizations; Marketing Strategy; Internet; Fine Arts Industry; San Francisco