Publications

November 2020
Article

Disrupting the Disruptors or Enhancing Them? How Blockchain Re‐Shapes Two‐Sided Platforms

By: Daniel Trabucchi, Antonella Moretto, Tommaso Buganza and Alan MacCormack

The importance of platform‐based businesses in the modern economy is growing continuously and becoming increasingly relevant. Specifically, the deployment of digital technologies has enhanced the applicability of two‐sided business models, enabling companies to act not... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Two-Sided Platforms; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation

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Harvard Business School Online Courses & Learning Platforms

Choose a subject area: Digital Transformation Marketing Business Essentials Leadership & Management Entrepreneurship & Innovation Strategy Finance & Accounting Business in Society Now Offering Launching Tech Ventures On-Demand – Start... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

By: Chiara Farronato

Based on a broad interest in the economics of innovation and the Internet, Professor Farronato concentrates her research on the evolution of e-commerce and peer-to-peer online platforms, including platform adoption, economies of scale, and drivers of heterogeneous... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Antitrust; Network Effects; E-Commerce Strategy

April 2010 (Revised June 2011)
Background Note

Television Competes for a Digital Audience

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

In the face of major disruption in the industry television networks have sought new revenue sources, implemented cost-cutting measures and strategized on ways to monetize online access to content. Programming changes, new advertising strategies, and deals via online... View Details

Keywords: Television Entertainment; Marketing Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry

23 Feb 2022
News

Can WEB3 Bring Back Competition to Digital Platforms?

2014
Working Paper

Digital Discrimination: The Case of Airbnb.com

By: Benjamin Edelman and Michael Luca

Online marketplaces often contain information not only about products, but also about the people selling the products. In an effort to facilitate trust, many platforms encourage sellers to provide personal profiles and even to post pictures of themselves. However,... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Internet and the Web; Race; Trust; Renting or Rental; Accommodations Industry; Real Estate Industry

SSRN

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31 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Where Can Digital Transformation Take You? Insights from 1,700 Leaders

Digitally mature companies have the right technical expertise (such as experienced data scientists or analysts), tools (dashboards and data visualization applications), and platforms (computing... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

24 Oct 2023
Research & Ideas

When Tech Platforms Identify Black-Owned Businesses, White Customers Buy

areas with less anti-Black racial bias. “Collectively, our findings suggest that digital platforms can effectively boost the performance of minority firms, particularly during a time of increased national... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Food & Beverage

25 Feb 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

Scholars and Students Unpack the Digital Business Revolution

Think of Harvard Business School's recently launched the Digital Initiative (D/I) as a giant laboratory, where leading scholars and practitioners convene to research, teach, and put into practice new understandings about the relentless... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education; Technology

18 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

After the 'Crypto Crash,' What's Next for Digital Currencies?

has reinforced the perception of critics that markets for the digital currency—used primarily as an investment vehicle as it is not widely accepted as payment for goods and services—are little more than global casinos operating with... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Financial Services; Technology

28 Jan 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Digital Discrimination: The Case of Airbnb.com

Keywords: by Benjamin G. Edelman & Michael Luca; Construction; Real Estate

February 2020
Case

Klöckner & Co: Steeling for a Digital World

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Hoping to get ahead of potential digital disruption at Klöckner & Co.—one of the world’s largest steel and metal distributors—CEO Gisbert Rühl set up both kloeckner.i (KCI), an internal transformation arm, and XOM Materials (XOM), an independent industry platform. KCI... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Markets; Industry Structures; Supply and Industry; Technology Adoption; Transformation; Digital Transformation; Steel Industry; Information Technology Industry; Europe; Germany

2023
Working Paper

Senior Team Emotional Dynamics and Strategic Decision Making at a Platform Transition

By: Timo O. Vuori and Michael L. Tushman

Based on an inductive case study, we develop an emotional-temporal process model of an incumbent’s strategic decision making at a platform transition. We describe the senior team’s emotional response to this transition and the impact of these emotions on their... View Details

Keywords: Emotions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Transition; Digital Platforms

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March 2020
Case

Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery

Thingtesting, a brand discovery and testing digital community devoted to uncovering and exploring direct-to-consumer brands, had just received seed funding and was contemplating a second year of growth. The new year brought many challenges, as founder Jenny Gyllander... View Details

2023
Working Paper

How Private Investors Value 'Platformness': An Exploratory Study of Unicorns

By: David B. Yoffie, Michael A. Cusumano, Annabelle Gawer, Sarah von Bargen and Kwesi Acquay

This paper explores the premium investors have been willing to pay for private companies (unicorns) that are digital platforms vs. traditional companies. View Details

Keywords: Platforms And Ecosystems; Digital Platforms; Investment Portfolio

April 2024 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Moderna: Pioneering a People Platform to Accelerate Science Innovation

By: Tatiana Sandino, Emil Dy and Samuel Grad

Moderna was founded in 2010 to explore how messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) could be used to create breakthrough medicines by encoding instructions for the body to create antibodies. When Stéphane Bancel (HBS 2000) took over in 2011, he bet on the potential of this... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Talent and Talent Management; Selection and Staffing; AI and Machine Learning; Digital Strategy; Innovation and Management; Leadership Development; Management Practices and Processes; Management Systems; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Alignment; Employee Relationship Management; Science-Based Business; Expansion; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States

17 Jun 2019
Working Paper Summaries

The Comprehensive Effects of a Digital Paywall Sales Strategy

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung, Ho Kim, and Reo Song; Media & Broadcasting

June 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Teaching Note

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Teaching Note

By: Feng Zhu

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 623-092. Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complimentary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides—consumers and those providing applications or services—need access... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategy; Customer Acquisition; Technology Platform; Competitive Strategy; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Management Skills

November 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Teaching Plan

Gimlet Media: A Podcasting Startup

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

When digital distribution becomes an option for an analog industry, the effects on the incumbents can be devastating. Is podcasting the beginning of the end of radio? Can it do what streaming video did to television and websites did to print? Two former public radio... View Details

Keywords: Platforms And Ecosystems; Startup; Creative Industries; Digital Marketing; Podcasting; Business Startups; Media; Entertainment; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; United States