Transportation Network Company - Publications - Faculty & Research

Frederick W. Smith

Capitalizing upon an idea that came to him while in college, Smith and his company have single handedly built and dominated the overnight delivery industry. Though the idea was slow growing at first, FedEx lost $29 million in its first... View Details

Keywords: Transportation

24 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 24

element, the note lists questions that an entrepreneur must address when evaluating an early-stage opportunity. The note explores in greater depth several business-model issues that are especially relevant to entrepreneurial ventures, including the impact of View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

September 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Teaching Note

Fishbowl: Scaling Up

By: Leslie K. John

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

Teaching Note for HBS No. 919-013. Fishbowl is a social media app that allows professionals to connect with other relevant professionals both within their company and... View Details

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20 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 20

PublicationsSpanning the Institutional Abyss: The Intergovernmental Network and the Governance of Foreign Direct Investment Authors:Juan Alcácer and Paul Ingram Publication:American Journal of Sociology (forthcoming). Abstract Global... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Sep 2014
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First Look: September 23

conduct-that diffuse global standards. But little is known about the conditions under which companies adhere to these standards. We conduct one of the first large-scale comparative studies to determine which international, domestic, civil... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 30, 2019

platform businesses. We have five major themes in the book: 1) The world’s most valuable companies are all platforms, in part because platforms have network effects, with the potential for a winner-take-all... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

01 Jun 2014
News

Ready for Takeoff

previous World Cup and Olympic hosts. But the country's lack of transportation alternatives—particularly a useful rail system—has also put an extraordinarily heavy burden on the airlines to move fans to disparate match sites. "I don't... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; Air Transportation; Air Transportation

04 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 4, 2018

in talent clusters—a tactic Vodafone uses effectively. These three options aren’t mutually exclusive. Given the need to stay in touch with multiple clusters, companies may want to try them all. Each one involves substantial risks that... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

March 2011
Supplement

Padraig O'Ceidigh and Aer Arann: Building a Business in the Context of a Life - What Happened

By: Janet J. Kraus and Shirley Spence

Provides an epilogue to the problem posed in the companion case: what to do in the face of potential liquidation? View Details

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Crisis Management; Air Transportation; Entrepreneurship; Management Teams; Business or Company Management; Success; Decision Making; Air Transportation Industry; Republic of Ireland

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02 Oct 2018
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New Research and Ideas, October 2, 2018

innovation processes could be a major blind spot and a potential liability. Fewer than one-third (30%) of respondents see innovation as one of the top three challenges their company faces in achieving its strategic objectives, and just... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

June 2020
Teaching Note

The New LAX: Ready for Takeoff?

By: Boris Groysberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Kerry Herman and Amy Klopfenstein

This teaching note serves as a supplement to “The New LAX: Ready for Takeoff?” HBS 420-025. View Details

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15 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 15, 2017

817-068 Swagbucks In early 2016, Chuck Davis, chairman and CEO of Prodege LLC, parent company of the brand promotion business Swagbucks, and Josef Gorowitz, Prodege’s founder and president, must decide whether to acquire MyPoints, a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 9

Effects, and Investment Strategy Willy ShihHarvard Business School Note 611-082 This technical note discusses scale economies and direct and indirect network effects in the context of building better business models. Some of the great... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 21

requirements. Download working paper: http://www.nber.org/papers/w19018 Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture By:Baldwin, Carliss Y., Alan MacCormack, and John Rusnak Abstract—In this paper, we describe an... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 May 2015
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First Look: May 5

merely distributed value in each era are explored. Although there is no framework yet for how leaders can create value for all stakeholders, we note that a key theme amongst the companies illustrated is that each was able to align... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

April 2013 (Revised October 2014)
Case

SaferTaxi: Connecting Taxis and Passengers in South America

By: Peter Coles and Benjamin Edelman

SaferTaxi, a taxi booking service in South America must develop its mobilization strategy; that is, it must attract enough passengers and drivers to make its service worthwhile for all. Drivers hesitate to pay for SaferTaxi's smartphones and service unless these will... View Details

Keywords: Taxi Booking; Smartphone; Transportation Networks; Network Effects; Laws and Statutes; South America; Argentina; Brazil; Chile

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07 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: Sept. 7

associated with anti-dumping petitions among upstream companies. It also weakens downstream companies lobbying in favor of the general protection of highly integrated conglomerates. In the steel industry, by contrast, national industrial... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

century. It focuses especially on Beiersdorf, a pharmaceutical and skin care company in Germany. During World War I, the expropriation of its brands and trademarks revealed its vulnerability to political risk. Following the advent of the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2011
Case

Padraig O'Ceidigh and Aer Arann: Building a Business in the Context of a Life

By: Janet J. Kraus and Shirley Spence

In April 2010, the eruption of a volcano wreaked havoc in the airline industry and placed Aer Arann on the bring of liquidation. For founder, sole owner and chairman Padraig O'Ceidigh, the airline has been a personal as well as business passion. The case provides a... View Details

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Crisis Management; Air Transportation; Entrepreneurship; Management Teams; Business or Company Management; Success; Decision Making; Air Transportation Industry; Republic of Ireland

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2010
Book

The Big Ditch: How America Took, Built, Ran, and Ultimately Gave Away the Panama Canal

By: Noel Maurer and Carlos Yu

On August 15, 1914, the Panama Canal was officially opened for business, thus changing the face of both world trade and military power and playing a pivotal role in the rise of the United States on the world stage. Today we view the creation of the Panama Canal as a... View Details

Keywords: Political History; For-Profit Firms; Development Economics; Infrastructure; State Ownership; Ship Transportation; Panama; United States

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