Publications

2015
Working Paper

Fake It Till You Make It: Reputation, Competition, and Yelp Review Fraud

By: Michael Luca and Georgios Zervas

Consumer reviews are now part of everyday decision-making. Yet, the credibility of these reviews is fundamentally undermined when businesses commit review fraud, creating fake reviews for themselves or their competitors. We investigate the economic incentives to commit... View Details

Keywords: Information; Competition; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

SSRN

Read Now

June 1998 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Microsoft CarPoint

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

CarPoint.com was Microsoft's Web-based entry into on-line automobile retailing. While it could not, in fact, "sell" or deliver any cars, it could shift much of consumer search, comparison, and decision-making, including pricing, the traditional car dealer to the Web.... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Market Entry and Exit; Consumer Behavior; Auto Industry; Auto Industry

May 2017 (Revised July 2017)
Supplement

Aadhaar: From Voluntary to Mandatory

By: Tarun Khanna, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

Approximately 1.1 billion residents of India (99% of the population) had a unique biometric identity—Aadhaar—by 2017. In six years, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had achieved an unprecedented milestone in emerging and developed markets. The... View Details

06 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Should Entrepreneurs Pitch Products or Ideas for Products?

speculation—and then, hopefully, sell it? “One of the top questions screenwriters talk about in their online communities is whether to pitch or to spec,” says Luo. In her paper published by Management Science, When to Sell Your Idea:... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Motion Pictures & Video; Entertainment & Recreation; Banking

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

Forces analysis in a work setting, without the benefit of a prepackaged case. Exhibits provide detailed information on top resources for industry analysis, instructions for accessing prominent databases, notes on using the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

07 Jun 2019
Book

Are You a Digital Manager?

Professor Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback write in the new preface to their book Being the Boss: The Three Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader, first published in 2011 and reissued this spring, “Leadership has always been hard, and in... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2014 (Revised February 2015)
Case

YouTube for Brands

By: Thales Teixeira and Leora Kornfeld

This case examines the changes employed by YouTube to make the massively popular site more attractive to brands. Building from its base of amateur, user-generated content, YouTube had turned to experimenting with professionally-made content and organizing its videos... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Internet and the Web; Decision Choices and Conditions; Digital Marketing; Brands and Branding; Advertising Industry; Advertising Industry; Advertising Industry

17 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 17

per capita. MSP's diversified base of industry clusters had enabled the region to adapt to economic downturns and an exodus of major corporate headquarters, earning it the accolade "Minnesota Miracle." Starting in 2003, however,... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

22 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Important Management Trends of the (Still Young) Twenty-First Century

survivors, the future of e-commerce and other info tech industries seemed perilous. BusinessWeek.com recently ranked Amazon #6 in its annual list of most innovative companies; four of the other five are View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 2002 (Revised June 2006)
Case

KnowledgeNet (A)

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes the internal reporting package for a rapidly growing company in the e-learning industry. Management must analyze the data in the package and decide what actions to take. They must also decide what to communicate to the board of directors. Contains a... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Growth Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Performance Improvement; Performance Evaluation; Education Industry

14 Nov 2007
First Look

First Look: November 14, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=208070 iPhone vs. Cell Phone Harvard Business School Case 708-451 The launch of Apple's iPhone marked a pivotal new chapter in the story of mobile music (the uniting of digital music players with mobile... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

28 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Meeting China’s Need for Management Education

capabilities to adapt, making them ideal partners for HBS and Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP). Furthermore, for institutions like HBS and HBSP, one of the major worries about engaging in activities in this part of the world is... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education

October 1990
Case

Parenting Magazine

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes a set of decisions confronting Robin Wolaner, who is negotiating with representatives of Time Inc. about investing in a project to launch a new magazine called Parenting. The negotiations have reached an impasse. Among the issues to be considered are the... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation; Negotiation Deal; Valuation; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Outcome or Result; Risk and Uncertainty; Projects; Journals and Magazines; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry

May 2008 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Tribune Company, 2007

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Eric Seth Gordon

This case describes the proposed acquisition of Tribune Company by Sam Zell in 2007. Tribune Company is one of the largest newspapers and broadcasting companies in the United States. Zell's proposed acquisition is unusual in several respects. It is two-tiered, employs... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Markets; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Negotiation Offer; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry

August 2007
Case

New York Magazine

By: Guhan Subramanian and David Chen

Describes the events surrounding the sale of New York Magazine to Bruce Wasserstein in 2003. Wasserstein's last-second cash bid of $55 million surprised other potential buyers and allowed him to win ownership of the magazine. View Details

Keywords: Journals and Magazines; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Negotiation Deal; Publishing Industry; Publishing Industry

November 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Supplement

Martha Stewart (C)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industry; Publishing Industry

December 2001
Teaching Note

Parenting Magazine TN

By: Paul A. Gompers

Teaching Note for (9-291-015). A rewritten version of an earlier teaching note. View Details

Keywords: Money; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Decisions; Cost Accounting; Economic Systems; Negotiation Process; Corporate Accountability; Negotiation Deal; Business Startups; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry

November 2000
Teaching Note

Boston.com TN

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jon K Rust

Teaching Note for (9-800-165). View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industry; Publishing Industry