Digital Distribution - Publications - Faculty & Research

14 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Getting Down to the Business of Creativity

narrowly defined product space," Tripsas says. "Suppliers, complementary producers, distribution channels, and consumers must often develop new capabilities, beliefs, and behaviors for the product to succeed, creating a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Entertainment & Recreation

10 Dec 2007
HBS Case

One Laptop per Child

collaborative tasks from writing assignments to playing digital instruments. At the same time it needed to address constraints such as the lack of electrical power in many remote rural areas—a problem it solves in several ways. Kids can... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Computer

17 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 17, 2006

Working PapersInstitutional Pressures and Environmental Strategies Authors: Magali A. Delmas and Michael W. Toffel Abstract This paper suggests how institutional theory can explain enduring differences in organizational strategies. We propose that differences in how... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 May 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 9

and shifted the iconic institution to respond to digital disruption and a consensus culture. This case examines his efforts to turn Sesame Workshop around. It notes Sesame's storied history and the underlying financial troubles that Dunn... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2008
Working Paper

Concentration Levels in the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services Industry: Myth vs. Reality

By: Alvin J. Silk and Charles King III

This paper analyzes changes in concentration levels in the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services (A&MS) industry using publicly released data that have been largely ignored in past discussions of the industrial organization of this industry, namely those available... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Mergers and Acquisitions; Revenue; Analytics and Data Science; Surveys; Marketing; Measurement and Metrics; Rank and Position; Competition; Advertising Industry; Service Industry; United States

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30 Jan 2018
First Look

January 30, 2018

Abstract—The article discusses the notion of advertising as a profession in relation to the impact of digital analytics and data-driven marketing. Topics include the history of internet marketing, the investments of the content-driven... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2007
Case

Metro International S.A.

By: Tarun Khanna, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Vincent Marie Dessain, Ane Damgaard Jensen and Anders Sjoman

Explores the business model of Metro International, a company publishing 70 editions of its free newspaper in 20 countries. Metro had been a pioneer in the free newspaper market, fighting incumbent publishers distributing traditional paid-for newspapers. Looks at the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Digital Marketing; Advertising; Expansion; Globalized Firms and Management; Journalism and News Industry; Spain

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07 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Pursuing a Deadly Opportunity

organizational legitimacy and the kind of moral order we want to create as a society," Anteby explains. The same issues could help us come to grips with the murky legal and ethical areas surrounding the digital age, for example.... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

August 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

PassAct, Inc.

PassAct is a virtual distributor for high-tech R&D components and products, taking orders from researchers within companies, passing them on to appropriate suppliers, and monitoring fulfillment. Customers order from a Web-based catalog with built-in work-flow... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Web Services Industry

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12 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

Publish or Perish: What the Research Says About Productivity in Academia

candidate; Rachel Mural, a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School; Jerry Thursby and Marie Thursby, visiting scholars at the Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard’s Laboratory for Innovation Science; HBS data science research... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Education

30 Nov 2016
HBS Seminar

Melissa Valentine and Michael Bernstein, Stanford University

2019
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 17 The Wintel Standards-based Platform

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The purpose of this chapter is to use the theory of bottlenecks laid out in previous chapters to better understand the dynamics of an open standards-based platform. I describe how the Wintel platform evolved from 1990 through 2000 under joint sponsorship of Intel and... View Details

Keywords: Open Platforms; Bottlenecks; Wintel Platform; Disintermediation; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Business History; Digital Platforms; Computer Industry

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11 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: Dec. 11

illustrate how team members' identities and interests intertwine to affect the distribution and flow of information, subgroup dynamics, and team decisions. Findings-We develop three specific ideas to demonstrate the utility of this... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2024 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?

By: Willy C. Shih, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds,... View Details

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January 2025
Teaching Note

Vytal: Packaging-as-a-Service

By: George Serafeim, Michael W. Toffel and Stacy Straaberg

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 124-007. The Germany-based startup Vytal operated the largest digital-native reusable packaging-as-a-service network globally, having raised nearly €15 million, established a large network of restaurant partners, and prevented the use of... View Details

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27 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on 2010’s Biggest Business Developments

voicemail messages. Now their words are much more authentic and can be remarkably empowering. Social networking is also flattening organizations by distributing access to information. Everyone is equal on the social network. No... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

November 2017
Teaching Note

Tencent

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 718-426. Tencent had undergone many transformations since it was founded in 1998 as a simple messaging service. In 2017, it was the largest online games provider in China with a wide range of game types, China’s largest social networking... View Details

Keywords: Tencent; Tencent Holdings; WeChat; Social Networking; Social Networks; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Video Games; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Portals; Payments; Mobile Payments; O2O; Online-to-offline; E-commerce; Messaging; Subscription Model; Freemium; Mobile App Industry; Smartphone; PC; Monetization Strategy; Antitrust; Streaming; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Alibaba; Facebook; JD.com; Tesla; Bundling; Synergies; Digital Strategy; Imitation; Licensing; Agility; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Communication Technology; Blogs; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Price; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Media; Distribution Channels; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Opportunities; Social and Collaborative Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Value Creation; Emerging Markets; Product Development; Segmentation; Business Units; Communication; Profit; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; China; Canton (province, China)

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22 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

Open Source Software: The $9 Trillion Resource Companies Take for Granted

What does it take to put a price tag on open source software (OSS), a resource so critical to the global economy that some 96 percent of commercial programs include some code created, tinkered with, or distributed for free by... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Computer; Information Technology; Technology

Web

Marketing - Faculty & Research

use information and make choices and how these choices affect the firm's strategy for new product development, customer relationship management, branding and other marketing efforts. We examine issues related to branding, business marketing, global marketing, View Details

August 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Developing an App for That

By: Hanna Halaburda, Joshua Gans and Nathaniel Burbank

At a time when ever-rising smartphone sales are driven as much by demand for devices that run must-have third-party "apps" as by the quality of traditional voice and data services, there is a myriad of challenges facing the software developer who is looking to choose... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Competitive Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Banking Industry; Information Technology Industry

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