Publications

February 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Egghead to Egghead.com (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Over the course of 12 months in 1997 and 1998, Egghead senior management decided to shut down its 180 brick-and-mortar retail stores and move to an electronic store. The case describes the evolution of that process, and the role of its CEO George Orban, and poses... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet and the Web; Transformation; Decisions; Corporate Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Market Transactions; Buildings and Facilities; Retail Industry

January 1992 (Revised December 1994)
Background Note

Note on E-Mail and Privacy: U.S. Law and Company Policies

By: Lynn S. Paine

Describes the legal landscape of employee privacy as it applies to e-mail interception: the various legal theories on which a privacy claim might be based and proposed federal legislation relevant to the subject. Also describes the policies companies like UPS,... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Information; Rights; Government Legislation; Internet and the Web; Interpersonal Communication; Ethics; Theory; Policy; Employees

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February 2020 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Anomalie

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Thomas O. Jones

In early 2019, the founders of Anomalie, an online direct-to-consumer provider of bridal gowns, have just agreed to a $13.6 million Series A investment from a Silicon Valley VC. They are considering three major initiatives as they move forward. (1) To scale their very... View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry

Article

Repairing the Damage: The Effect of Price Knowledge and Gender on Auto-Repair Price Quotes

By: Meghan Busse, Ayelet Israeli and Florian Zettelmeyer

In this paper we investigate whether sellers treat consumers differently on the basis of how well informed consumers appear to be. We implement a large-scale field experiment in which callers request price quotes from automotive repair shops. We show that sellers alter... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Price Discrimination; Automobiles; Field Experiment; Information; Fairness; Price; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Internet and the Web; Gender; Service Industry; Auto Industry

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September 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Warner Bros. and BitTorrent

Involves the copyright issues associated with Bram Cohen's revolutionary program BitTorrent, which makes it possible to transfer very large files, such as movies, at a high speed over the Internet. The program, which is available for free over the Internet, is used for... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Copyright; Lawfulness; Distribution; Internet and the Web; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

January 2006 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and the Market for Digital Information Goods

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Andres Hervas and Jordan Mitchell

We study competitive interaction between two alternative models of digital content distribution over the Internet: peer-to-peer (p2p) file sharing and centralized client-server distribution. We present microfoundations for a stylized model of p2p file sharing where all... View Details

Keywords: Price; Profit; Distribution; Competition; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure

Profile

Gerald Chertavian

his new wife, Kate, where he ran marketing for a financial services firm before cofounding Conduit Communications, a consulting firm focused on the nascent field of Internet marketing. He spent several years building Conduit into one of... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government; Entrepreneurship; Services

01 Jun 2000
News

Social Capital Markets: Creating Value in the Nonprofit World

Philanthropy, who will spearhead the effort along with Emerson. Changes are sweeping the social capital markets, in part because a new breed of donor is altering the terrain: Internet moguls, entrepreneurs, and other business leaders who... View Details

Keywords: Anne Kavanagh

March 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Cadre

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Scott Duke Kominers and David Lane

Late in 2017, CEO Ryan Williams and his team debated whether Cadre should become not only a technology-enabled investment manager, but also an online trading exchange providing high levels of liquidity for investors in commercial real estate (CRE) equity. Cadre was a... View Details

Keywords: ＂Cadre,＂; Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Private Equity; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States

November 2012
Teaching Note

Groupon (TN)

By: Sunil Gupta, Ray Weaver and Yien Hao Lock

On November 4, 2011, Groupon, a marketing services company that promoted local businesses by selling deeply discounted vouchers for their products and services, completed its initial public offering that valued the company at $17 billion. Within a year Groupon's share... View Details

Keywords: Social Networking; Media; Technology; Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Marketing Strategy; Marketing; Internet and the Web; Social Media; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; North America; United States

January 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Google in China (A)

By: John A. Quelch

In January 2010, Google threatened in a public statement to stop censoring its search results on its google.cn website, as required by Chinese authorities. Should Google exit China? Or attempt a compromise with the Chinese government? View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry; China

February 2006 (Revised December 2009)
Case

Pixamo-Inc., AG, or OOO?

Andrew Prihodko is forming a new venture, Pixamo, the next generation of online photo management and sharing sites. Pixamo's alpha site has generated over 1,000 users and a lot of information about registration and usage patterns. Prihodko must address a number of... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Globalized Firms and Management; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Web Services Industry; Delaware; Switzerland; Ukraine

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April 2001
Teaching Note

Microsoft Carpoint

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Steven Silverman and William A. Sahlman

Teaching Note for (9-898-280). For book only - not listed on case. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Partners and Partnerships; Change; Customers; Web Services Industry

November 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

VerticalNet (www.verticalnet.com)

By: Das Narayandas

VerticalNet, a leading creator of targeted business-to-business vertical trade communities on the Internet, is trying to expand its model to facilitate e-commerce. Mark Walsh, the CEO of VerticalNet, has to decide how far he can extend the firm's business model without... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Digital Platforms; Expansion; Internet and the Web

September 1999 (Revised April 2000)
Case

drugstore.com

By: Richard L. Nolan

On a clear day in August 1999 in the new headquarters of drugstore.com, against a backdrop of the Blue Angels flying in formation over Lake Washington practicing for their hydroplane Seafare Cup performance, Peter Neupert was pleased with his company's IPO performance.... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Internet and the Web; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Retail Industry