Publications

February 2022
Case

NFX Capital and Moov Technologies

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller

In July 2019, James Currier, a general partner at San Francisco-based NFX Ventures, was considering a seed stage investment of $1.5 million in Moov Technologies, a B2B marketplace for used industrial equipment. NFX was a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Network Effects; Marketplace Matching; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Applications and Software; Semiconductor Industry; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco

September 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Epic: The Future of Health Information Technology

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Brian L. Walker

What are the next steps for a firm that has scaled up?
The case focuses on how the founder and leadership team of a health IT company with over 45 years of market leadership should prepare for the future, while navigating founder transitions and industry... View Details

March 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Scaling Nextdoor

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Thomas O. Jones and Jeff Huizinga

Nextdoor, striving to solidify its position as the leading global social media platform for neighborhoods, works to scale audience, geography, and revenue. View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Media; Digital Platforms

Web

Strategic Plan | Information Technology

System (CMS) Program 3.10: Research Computing Platform (formerly CloudJump) 4. Protect HBS Information & Technology Assets 4.01: Data Loss Prevention (completed) 4.02: Managed Security Service Program... View Details

Web

5.1 Information Technology | MBA

5.1 Information Technology Access to HBS networks, applications, computers, and other electronic resources (“the Resources”) is a privilege. HBS reserves the right to revoke access at any time at its sole discretion. Access is contingent... View Details

20 Feb 2020
Blog Post

Know Your Audience – Recruiting HBS Students for Technology

Strategy, Marketing & Corporate Relations, Career & Professional Development Molly DeCastro – Recruiting Relations Manager, Career & Professional Development Cathy and Molly work closely with technology companies as they... View Details

Keywords: Technology

Web

Best Practices | Information Technology

have an account with a social media platform (like Facebook or Gmail) Anyone who might have used a popular service (like Amazon, PayPal, Netflix, or the U.S. Post Office). Other Resources StaySafeOnline.org The National Cyber Security... View Details

June 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Voice War: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri

By: David B. Yoffie, Liang Wu, Jodie Sweitzer, Denzil Eden and Karan Ahuja

By early 2018, voice-controlled intelligent assistants had become a major new front in the battle between the giants of the technology sector. "Voice War" focuses on Alphabet’s strategy for Google Assistant, its entrant in the voice assistant space, and asks how the... View Details

Keywords: Alphabet; Amazon; Apple; Strategy; Technology; Intelligent Assistants; Smart Speaker; Voice Assistants; Voice; Platform; Technology Adoption; Digital Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Product Positioning; Technology Industry

Summer 2024
Article

The Business Revolution: Economy-Wide Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Platforms

By: Hanna Halaburda, Jeffrey Prince, D. Daniel Sokol and Feng Zhu

In this essay, we identify several themes of the digital business transformation, with a particular focus on the economy-wide impacts of artificial intelligence and digital platforms. In doing so, we highlight specific industries, beyond just the high-profile “Big... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Digital Platforms; AI and Machine Learning

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19 Mar 2021
Working Paper Summaries

Assessing the Strength of Network Effects in Social Network Platforms

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti

March 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Supplement

ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (B)

By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen and Shirley Sun

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Outsourcing; Disintermediation; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Information Technology Industry; China

02 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

Do Online Dating Platforms Help Those Who Need Them Most?

Over the past decade, socially-focused websites have attracted hundreds of millions of users and changed the social fabric in fundamental ways. The likes of eHarmony and Match.com enable us meet new people. Platforms including Facebook,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology

01 Dec 2014
News

Technology Making HBS More Accessible

as an investment banker focused on educational technology makes her very familiar with the topic. “The platform will enable people to collaborate across great distances,” she notes. Steve, who is a private... View Details

Web

Technology & Innovation - Faculty & Research

Technology & Innovation Technology & Innovation December 2014 Article The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology... View Details

Summer 2021
Article

Platform Leadership and Supply Chains: Intel, Centrino, and the Restructuring of Wi-Fi Supply

By: Roberto Fontana and Shane Greenstein

In this paper we examine Intel’s launch of Centrino and interpret it as platform leaders attempt to restructure a supply chain. We provide a narrative of key actions and how they coordinated changes and offer a framework of the predictable consequences for... View Details

Keywords: Mobile and Wireless Technology; Product Launch; Supply Chain; Restructuring; Framework

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15 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Apple Pay’s Technology Adoption Problem

where you see this design competition with competing offerings, and on top of that, you have a platform competition where everyone has their network effects," he said. "It's like PlayStation versus Xbox. The View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Technology; Technology

01 Mar 2018
News

Can a Digital Platform Open Up the Opaque Metals Industry?

revenues compared to third-party traders who orchestrated sales between the two. “It felt fundamentally unfair to us,” Eykher says. “We figured there had to be a better way to do things.” In September 2017, they launched Open Mineral, a cloud-based B2B View Details

Keywords: Nicole Torres

2006
Book

Invisible Engines: How Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries

By: David S. Evans, Andrei Hagiu and Richard Schmalensee

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Innovation and Invention; Transformation

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February 4, 2013
Guest Column

How Facebook Can Totally Undermine Apple and Google in the Platform Games

By: Andrei Hagiu

Today, Facebook seems like the juggernaut crushing everything in its path, most recently Twitter's Vine app and Yandex's social app. And in its last quarter, Facebook's mobile usage surpassed its web usage—for the first time ever. This is important because Facebook has... View Details

Keywords: Technology Industry