Publications

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31 Mar 2022
Op-Ed

Navigating the ‘Bermuda Triangle’ in Professional Services

service offerings. Firms that are in between are in a challenging zone, a “Bermuda Triangle.” Several small firms enter this zone as they grow;... View Details

Keywords: by Ashish Nanda

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

Find at Harvard

March 1988 (Revised September 1993)
Case

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)

Under the leadership of Robert F. McDermott, USAA has been transformed from a property and casualty insurance company with $200 million in assets in the late 1960s to a $11 billion financial services empire in 1988. The case illustrates the value of having a CEO drive... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Leadership; Information Technology; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

22 Jun 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Proprietary vs. Open Two-Sided Platforms and Social Efficiency

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Web Services; Web Services

22 Feb 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Dynamic Effects of Bundling as a Product Strategy

Keywords: by Timothy Derdenger & Vineet Kumar; Video Game

December 1998
Background Note

Retail Financial Services in 1998

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Provides an overview of the current restructuring that is taking place in the retail financial services industry. Provides a brief overview of the structural changes in banking, brokerage, insurance, and mutual funds. Used as background for examining the strategies of... View Details

Keywords: Economic Sectors; Economy; Financial Institutions; Financial Markets; Industry Growth; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

02 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Leading Professional Service Firms

The HBS Executive Education course Leading Professional Service Firms (LPSF) is an intensive, one-week program that focuses on management issues unique to these firms. It provides a forum for participants... View Details

Keywords: Re: Jay W. Lorsch; Service; Service; Service

2021
Book

Management as a Calling: Leading Business, Serving Society

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Business leaders have tremendous power to influence our society, how it operates, whether it is fair, and the extent to which it impacts the environment. And yet, we do not recognize or call out the responsibility that comes with that power. This book is meant to... View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Power and Influence; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Leadership

November 1989 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Automation Consulting Services

By: Robert Simons and Hilary Weston

Illustrates the management control challenges that are associated with rapid growth and geographic expansion. Situated at an offsite Executive Committee Retreat. The three founding partners of a specialized consulting firm are grappling with several difficult questions... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Expansion; Consulting Industry

October 2014
Case

CreditEase: Providing Credit and Financial Services for China's Underclass

By: Lena G. Goldberg, Paul Healy and Nancy Hua Dai

In 2013 Ning Tang, who in 2006 founded CreditEase as a broker of P2P loans to unbanked individuals and small businesses in China, confronts the challenges of rapid growth and expansion in a changing regulatory environment. CreditEase needs to develop technology to... View Details

Keywords: P2P Lending; HNW Products And Services; Business Growth; Business Start-ups; Government Regulation; Change Management; Credit; Microcredit; Banking; Innovation And Management; Developing Countries And Economies; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Law; Financing and Loans; Change; China

17 Apr 2017
Research Event

The Most Pressing Issues for Platform Providers in the Sharing Economy

there’s truly such a thing as a winner-take-all market. While a winner-take-all mentality is widespread among venture capitalists who fund... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Service

June 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Global Business Services

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Warren Brackin, Alex Cabanas, Phil Shellhammer and David L. Ager

Dave Walker, vice-president of business service opportunities and chairman of the governance team at Procter & Gamble, must decide what to do with P&G's 5,700 employee Global Business Services (GBS) group. GBS brought together internal services such as finance,... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Change Management; Decision Making; Globalized Firms and Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Organizational Design

October 2024
Case

EU's Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act

By: David B. Yoffie and Sarah von Bargen

Since the early 2020s, the EU began passing regulations on digital platforms and their marketplaces. One of the first was the Digital Services Act package, consisting of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). These regulations were focused on... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; E-commerce; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Cybersecurity; European Union

01 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

A Bank That Takes Parmesan as Collateral: The Cheese Stands a Loan

Since 1953, the regional bank Credito Emiliano has accepted curious collateral for small-business loans: giant wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Known locally as Credem, the bank is the subject of a new... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Banking; Food & Beverage

June 2023
Supplement

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complementary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides - consumers and those providing applications or services - need access to the same platform to interact. A... View Details

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

December 1987 (Revised September 1995)
Case

IDS Financial Services

Scarce managerial talent, sales force turnover, and client attrition were potential problems underlying IDS' disappointing performance at mid-year 1987. The marketing vice president had three potential "fixes": 1) increasing or decreasing the $35 million budget for... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Salesforce Management; Performance Improvement; Financial Services Industry