Publications

February 2002 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Chengwei Ventures and the hdt* Investment

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Bo Feng, cofounder and principal in Chengwei Ventures, one of the first sovereign venture capital firms in China, is trying to decide on the proper business model for hdt, the product of a merger between two portfolio companies. This case discusses the best way for the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Relationship Management; Sovereign Finance; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Markets; Business Model; Financial Services Industry; China

25 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 25, 2008

stable mechanism is Pareto-optimal if and only if it prevents unravelling. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-068.pdf Cases & Course Materials Amazon Web Services Harvard Business School Case 609-048 Considers the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2012 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Business-driven Research at IBM Research India

By: Willy Shih, Margaret Pierson, Pankaj Agarwal, Diego Medicina and Juan Prajogo

What is the right mix between business-driven and pure research? This case considers the question in the setting of IBM Research India, where a management push for balance between exploratory research and the fulfillment of business needs meets some resistance from... View Details

Keywords: R＆D; Computer Services Industries; IT R＆D; Internet; Web-enabled Application; Technological Planning; Emerging Technologies; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Research and Development; Projects; Practice; India

29 Aug 2011
News

Google gets a wake-up call on questionable ads

February 2001
Case

BarnesandNoble.com (B)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dickson Louie and William A. Sahlman

At the end of 1998, Jonathan Bulkeley, the newly-named CEO of barnesandnoble.com, is faced with a challenge. As the second leading online bookseller behind Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com must build its market share. With Forrester Research predicting that the online... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Publishing Industry

Research Summary

The Economics of Search

Utilizing data on web searches, we characterize the economics of search and estimate the path of diffusion for information, allowing us to specify how choice sets are actually formed among consumers and examine the impact of cybergeography vs. spatial geography. Joint... View Details

24 Mar 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Optimal Deterrence when Judgment-Proof Agents Are Paid In Arrears—With an Application to Online Advertising Fraud

Keywords: by Benjamin G. Edelman; Web Services; Web Services

June 2001
Case

Bang Networks- The First Customer (A)

By: Jay O. Light and Mary N. Caravella

In November 2000, six-month-old start-up Bang Networks is preparing a proposal for its first paid subscription contract. The recent MBA founders of the new San Francisco--based company believe they have a unique new solution for effective delivery of real-time Web... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Negotiation Tactics; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Value Creation; Negotiation Preparation; Information Technology Industry; San Francisco

March 2001 (Revised July 2002)
Case

WingspanBank.com (B): Should This Bird Still Fly?

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

WingspanBank.com is launched to critical acclaim, but its fate is hardly certain. Bank One's new CEO, Jamie Dimon, must decide what to do with what is now a second Web site for the bank's current and prospective customers. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Customers; Innovation and Management; Organizations; Complexity; Web Sites; Financial Services Industry

04 Feb 2013
News

Facebook’s the Winner in the Platform Hunger Games

June 2003
Case

IBM and Linux (A)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Siobhan O'Mahony and James Quinn

In the fall of 1998, Dan Frye, member of IBM's emerging technologies and business team, is trying to decide whether to forge a strategic alliance with the Linux Development Community (LDC). Just two years earlier, IBM had its first exposure to an "open source" software... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Open Source Distribution; Problems and Challenges; Alliances; Cooperation; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

15 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

A New Model for Business: The Museum

many ways Facebook is taking over big chunks of what we used to do using more open technologies: web search, content consumption, even e-mail. Increasingly, Facebook is valuable to many people because it represents a more orderly... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

June 1998 (Revised January 2001)
Case

Browser Wars, 1994-1998, The

By: David B. Yoffie and Mary Kwak

Analyzes the competition between Netscape and Microsoft in the market for Web browsers and related products. Despite its first mover advantage, Netscape sees its market share fall once Microsoft becomes "hard-core" about the Internet. By the spring of 1998, the future... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Competition; Supply and Industry; Information Technology Industry

June 2010
Article

The Pathologies of Online Display Advertising Marketplaces

By: Benjamin Edelman

Display advertising marketplaces place "banner" ads on all manner of popular sites. While these services are widely used, they suffer significant challenges, including weak user response and low accountability for both advertisers and web site publishers. I survey a... View Details

Keywords: Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Online Advertising; Cost; Corporate Accountability; Information Publishing; Consumer Behavior; Relationships; Web Sites

Read Now

November 2000
Exercise

Atlantis-Biovent Negotiation: Confidential Instructions for Atlantis

By: Michael A. Wheeler

This two-party exercise illustrates bidding strategy in the context of settling a large insurance claim. Specifically, the claimant (Biovent) and the insurer (Atlantis) are asked to submit confidential offers to a dispute resolution Web site that will determine whether... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Bids and Bidding; Digital Platforms; Negotiation Process; Conflict and Resolution; Strategy; Internet and the Web

30 Nov 2011
News

Yelp's IPO Will Test the Flaws in Its Business Model

October 2001
Case

Meg Whitman and eBay Germany

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

After acquiring the German online auction company Alando.de, eBay CEO Meg Whitman and her team must integrate Alando's Web site with the company's existing platform. The acquisition is the first step of eBay's journey to become a global trading platform. In addition to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Integration; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Globalized Markets and Industries; Germany

August 1999 (Revised September 1999)
Case

Double Dealmaking in the Browser Wars (A)

By: James K. Sebenius

Recounts two complex negotiations in which Netscape and Microsoft compete to win a browser contract with AOL--then later with KPMG. After reviewing the web and browser sectors, this case recounts AOL's dramatic negotiations with Netscape and with Microsoft over which... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Deal; Web; Web Services Industry

August 2001 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Maria Hernandez & Associates

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

This case presents the situation of an unemployed web page designer who starts a new consulting firm with personal savings and a family loan. Two months later, she is to report on operations to her father, using financial reports she must design and construct. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Accounting; Business Startups; Design; Borrowing and Debt; Service Industry