Publications

25 Aug 2014
Blog Post

Working in Tech 4Dev

and NGO budgets are squeezed. The City of Los Angeles, for example, used our platform to crowdsource broken sidewalk locations for repair, saving the city a costly location survey estimated at millions. Ushahidid’s View Details

Keywords: Technology

January 2017
Background Note

Making Virtual Reality Real

By: Feng Zhu, Sarah Mehta and David Lane

This note describes virtual reality and augmented reality technologies and describes the main consumer products on offer in 2016 as well as their manufacturers. It also surveys existing applications of virtual and augment reality technologies. View Details

Keywords: Virtual Reality; Augmented Reality; Oculus; Google; HTC; Magic Leap; Microsoft; Samsung; Software; Niantic; Digital Platforms; Technology Adoption; Applications and Software; Technology Industry

Web

Tools & Services | Information Technology

about web design, implementation, management, and support at HBS. Data, Reporting, & Analytics Explore IT supported reporting and analytics platforms for HBS community information assets. Deliver We ensure the availability and security of... View Details

17 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Who is Boss in the Sharing Economy?

service—price, for example—but being flexible in other areas, such as letting drivers choose the car they drive, says Hagiu. "This places [Uber] somewhere in between pure platforms and pure employers. While everyone agrees that the key... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Service; Technology

January 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Technical Note

Making Markets

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Scott Duke Kominers

Explains how to identify and capitalize on marketplace design opportunities. Defines markets and marketplaces and describes the basic functions of each. Discusses attributes (e.g., heterogeneity of participants' preferences and asymmetry in available information) that... View Details

Keywords: Marketplaces; Two-Sided Markets; Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Market Participation; Market Transactions; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Auctions

08 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

The Critical Computer Science Principles Every Strategic Leader Needs to Know

is intrinsically the same thing,” says Wu. “Generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT and the motion gestures control in the Apple Vision Pro continue to expand who can use a computer and what you can use it for.” 2. Platforms are power In the... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology; Information Technology

17 Jun 2019
Working Paper Summaries

The Comprehensive Effects of a Digital Paywall Sales Strategy

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung, Ho Kim, and Reo Song; Media & Broadcasting

2016
Working Paper

Controlling Versus Enabling

By: Andrei Hagiu and Julian Wright

Revenue sharing between principals and agents is commonly used to balance double-sided moral hazard. We provide a theory of how, when such revenue-sharing is optimal, a principal allocates control rights over decisions that either party could make. We show that the... View Details

Keywords: Control Rights; Decision Authority; Employment; Independent Contractors; Organizational Theory; Digital Platforms; Governance Controls; Ethics; Vertical Integration

SSRN

Read Now

14 Mar 2014
News

Start-up Takes the Legwork out of Shopping

Keywords: fashion; start-up; Personal Services; Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade

November–December 2021
Article

Does Gender Matter? The Effect of Management Responses on Reviewing Behavior

By: Davide Proserpio, Isamar Troncoso and Francesca Valsesia

We study the effect of management responses on the reviewing behavior of self-identified female and male reviewers. Using data from Tripadvisor, we show that after hotels begin to respond to reviews, the probability that a negative review comes from a self-identified... View Details

Keywords: Word Of Mouth; Online Reviews; Management Responses; E-commerce; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Digital Platforms; Customers

SSRN

Find at Harvard

February 2019
Case

Halliday's OASIS

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller

Wade Watts has won control of the OASIS – a futuristic, immersive virtual reality game world. He must decide on rules, rights, and marketplace design, balancing the founding principles of the OASIS with the platform’s potentially negative externalities. View Details

Keywords: Managing Markets; Corporate Responsibility; Virtual Reality; Digital Platforms; Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Media; United States

Web

Catherine Yeo | MBA

a mobile game to learn new vocabulary, a task they struggled with in English classes. From that moment on, I recognized the power of technology in solving community problems. My experience organizing ten hackathons for 6,000+ young innovators globally and co-founding a... View Details

10 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 10

Working PapersPlatform Envelopment (revised) Authors:Thomas Eisenmann, Geoffrey Parker, and Marshall Van Alstyne Abstract Due to network effects and switching costs, platform providers often become entrenched. To enter established... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

24 Mar 2017
News

Personalizing the Path to Professional Success for Women

Many women hit a point in their career unsure which path to take or even how to move ahead. Lisa Skeete Tatum (MBA 1998) has designed what she calls the ideal “playbook” with Landit, a technology startup that offers a personalized career View Details

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

August 2013
Technical Note

Raising the Level of Abstraction

By: Willy Shih

This technical note discusses abstraction as a way of generalizing a process or component for wider application. By hiding complexity inside a module, abstraction enables system designers to think at a higher level. This lowers entry barriers to using (and reusing) a... View Details

Keywords: Abstraction; Modularity; Commercialization; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; United States; Asia; Europe

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