Publications

26 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Yes, You Can Raise Prices in a Downturn

current "Great Recession"—PACCAR has maintained a price premium and outperformed the S&P 500 by several orders of magnitude. One practice among others that sustains this performance: PACCAR provides a 26-page white paper on its View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Consumer Products

October 2013 (Revised July 2024)
Teaching Note

Amazon in 2024

By: Sunil Gupta

Amazon launched its website in July 1995 to sell books online and by 2020 it has grown to become a digital giant with over $280 billion in annual sales. A large part of its growth came from expanding into a variety of businesses that some see as unrelated. Has it... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry

July 2011
Teaching Note

The National Geographic Society (TN)

By: David A. Garvin

Teaching Note for 311-002. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Structure; Sales; Leading Change; Society; Internet and the Web; Adaptation; Change Management; Media; Washington (state, US)

Article

Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

We analyze the incentives to divert search for an information intermediary who enables buyers (consumers) to search affiliated sellers (stores). We identify two original motives for diverting search (i.e., inducing consumers to search more than they would like): 1)... View Details

Keywords: Market Intermediation; Search; Two-Sided Markets; Platform Design; Demand and Consumers; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

2013
Chapter

The Design of Online Advertising Markets

By: Benjamin Edelman

Because the market for online advertising is both new and fast-changing, participants experiment with all manner of variations. Should an advertiser's payment reflect the number of times an ad was shown, the number of times it was clicked, the number of sales that... View Details

Keywords: Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Online Advertising; Price; Market Design; Measurement and Metrics; Sales; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web

Read Now

03 Apr 2006
What Do You Think?

Has Globalization Reached Its Peak?

annual contest among budding entrepreneurs here at HBS, were awaiting the arrival of software being designed in India that would allow them to demonstrate smoothly-functioning Web sites important to their prospective businesses. Getting... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2011
Teaching Note

TopCoder (A): Developing Software through Crowdsourcing (TN)

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Eric Lonstein

Teaching Note for 610032. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Applications and Software; Product Development; Competition; Internet and the Web; Problems and Challenges; Perspective; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry

March 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Dell Online

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Dell started online commerce for its PCs in 1996, and by 1997 had achieved a sales rate of $3 million a day. The case describes the internal process that led to these dramatic results and poses the question of how the firm should leverage this activity to meet Michael... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Market Transactions; Goals and Objectives; Business Processes; Distribution Channels; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Advantage; Computer Industry; Retail Industry

April 2011 (Revised February 2015)
Course Overview Note

The Online Economy: Strategy and Entrepreneurship — Course Architecture Note

By: Peter Coles and Benjamin Edelman

This note provides an overview of the Harvard Business School course "The Online Economy: Strategy and Entrepreneurship." It covers the framework for the course, key principles within each course module, and a synopsis of each case, along with the lessons the case is... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Plan; Business Education; Curriculum and Courses; Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Information Technology; Internet and the Web

January 2011
Teaching Note

Online Pet Supply Retailing (TN)

By: Tom Nicholas

Teaching Note for 809-117. View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Failure; Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Decisions; Retail Industry; United States

November 1996 (Revised June 1999)
Case

Living on Internet Time: Product Development at Netscape, Yahoo!, NetDynamics, and Microsoft

By: Marco Iansiti and Alan D. MacCormack

Describes how four companies in the Internet software market approach product development. Drawing upon short case studies of three recent projects, students are invited to synthesize the common attributes of development practice in turbulent environments. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Situation or Environment; Volatility; Risk and Uncertainty; Research and Development; Information Technology Industry; United States

09 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 9, 2007

their role. Those who can acknowledge their misconceptions have a far greater chance of success. For example, new managers typically assume that their position will give them the authority and freedom to do what they think is best. Instead, they find themselves... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 9, 2019

Purchase this case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/719437-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 619-019 Lexoo: Building a Long-Lasting Platform Daniel van Binsbergen, Lexoo’s CEO, and web developer Chris O’Sullivan, CTO, had set up Lexoo,... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

10 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 10

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/612045-PDF-ENG Recorded Future: Searching the Web for Alpha Christopher MalloyHarvard Business School Case 212-057 Recorded Future was a software company that aimed to aggregate the information... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

22 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

Getting to Eureka!: How Companies Can Promote Creativity

something, another requirement emerges: the cost of communication must be low enough so that various users can collaborate in an effective way. That is where the Internet comes in. With the web cutting down on both the cost of information... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

29 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 29

quickly became a pop culture phenomenon, talked about on popular television programs such as Oprah and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and paid mock tribute to on web sites such as YouTube, where hundreds of video parodies could be found.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2011
Teaching Note

Curt Schilling's Next Pitch (TN)

By: Noam Wasserman

Teaching Note for 810053. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Problems and Challenges; Selection and Staffing; Groups and Teams; Leadership Style; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Financing and Loans; Games, Gaming, and Gambling

November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Anthology: Pivoting the Business Model

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

In July 2014, after 18 months and eight unsuccessful product launches, the CEO of Yabbly has agreed to sell his company to a larger, well-funded startup, providing a return of capital for his investors and a home for his team. Two weeks prior to the scheduled closing,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Business Model; Business Plan; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Innovation Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Fairness; Valuation; Technology Industry; Consumer Products Industry; North America; United States; Seattle