Publications

May 2024
Supplement

During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Betsy Harbison formed the search fund Forest Park Capital with the intention of purchasing a small business. The case conveys the details of Betsy’s final decision at the terminus of her search, between a software company... View Details

Keywords: Search Fund; Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition; Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; North America; Missouri

February 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Google Inc. (Abridged)

By: Benjamin Edelman and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Describes Google's history, business model, governance structure, corporate culture, and processes for managing innovation. Reviews Google's recent strategic initiatives and the threats it poses to Yahoo, Microsoft, and others. Asks what Google should do next. One... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Governance; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Search Technology; Web Services Industry

15 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Lessons Not Learned About Innovation

money." What's the central message here? A: In 2002, Arrow Electronics attempted a new Internet venture, Arrow.com. The group was granted perks not given to others, View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

April 2009 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Sanctuary Soft: International Expansion Strategies

By: Boris Groysberg, Geoff Marietta, Tim Marshall and Adam Hartley

Sanctuary Soft CEO Elizabeth Smalley faced increasing pressure from her primary investor to expand operations internationally. If successful, the expansion could enlarge Sanctuary’s customer base and enable the firm to better serve existing clients’ overseas offices.... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Labor; Laws and Statutes; Market Entry and Exit; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; China; India; Germany; United Kingdom; United States

10 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

How Numbers Talk to People

successfully. Megibow's team investigated the reason for the failures, again using Web metrics data and server log files throughout View Details

07 Mar 2007
Research & Ideas

How Do You Value a “Free” Customer?

for the auction house, which must determine how to allocate marketing and other expenditures between buyers and sellers to attract new business. As more job seekers sign on to... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Web Services

May 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

BEA Systems, Inc.: Constant Reinvention to Cope with Market Waves

Developed in 1995 as a specialist software vendor, BEA Systems, Inc. had already transformed itself twice from a transaction processing product company to a server application provider. By July 2002, it had become the fastest company in history to reach $1 billion in... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Business Growth and Maturation; Management Practices and Processes; Applications and Software; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry

Find at Harvard

October 2000 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Richard Spellman (B)

Presents the final version of the agreements introduced in the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Internet and the Web; Executive Compensation; Personal Development and Career; Business Startups; Management Teams

December 2001
Case

Dairy.com

By: Ray A. Goldberg and James M Beagle

Dairy.com's ecommerce exchange attempts to provide value to the dairy industry through price discovery mechanisms. View Details

Keywords: Food; Innovation and Invention; Business Strategy; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Price; Value Creation

September 2000 (Revised June 2002)
Supplement

Overview of E-Business Pricing Models

By: Lynda M. Applegate, W. Earl Sasser and Kristin Kohler

Supplements National Logistics Management. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Price; Business Model; Information Technology Industry

July 2024
Case

Jacqueline Cook at Vendasta: Debating an IPO

By: Reza Satchu, Tom Quinn and Andrew Kosc

In May 2021, after a surge in demand for digital services that prompted high valuations for startups across the Canadian tech sector, Saskatchewan-based Vendasta entered the final stages of the initial public offering (IPO) process. COO Jacqueline Cook had invested her... View Details

March 2001 (Revised November 2002)
Supplement

Amazon.com Update: January 2001- July 2002

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Updates the Amazon.com series (9-800-330), (9-800-441), and (9-801-194). View Details

Keywords: Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry

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11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Evolving for Success [Part Two]

donors will give money over the Web and won't show up at its fundraisers, it has to create its own network, and has to make human connections so... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

December 2001
Case

Sarah Vickers-Willis: Career Decisions (B)

By: Myra M. Hart, Lynda M. Applegate, Sarah Harden and Susan Saltrick

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Leadership; Internet and the Web; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Business Startups

January 2014
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry