Publications

August 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Zillow Offers: Winning Online Real Estate 2.0

By: Luis Viceira, Marco Di Maggio and Allison Ciechanover

Founded in 2005, Zillow had become the leading online real estate and home-related marketplace. The brand was recognized as a trusted resource for players in the real estate market, providing information and transparency on home prices. Revenue, which was historically... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Corporate Culture; Intermediation; Brokerage; Startup; Evaluating Business Investments; Property; Information Technology; Business Model; Expansion; Business Startups; Real Estate Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

August 2019 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Rand Fishkin at Moz (A)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

In 2016, senior management at Moz, a venture capital–backed startup providing software tools for digital marketing professionals, must decide how to address a looming cash flow crisis precipitated by failed efforts to broaden its product line. Seattle-based Moz had... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Business Startups; Diversification; Growth Management; Technology Industry

August 2019
Case

The United States and Russia: Gas Rivals in Europe?

By: Rawi Abdelal, Galit Goldstein and Paul Apostolicas

Though the shale revolution transformed the U.S. into the largest producer of petroleum products, it was unclear how much success American exporters would find selling liquefied natural gas on the European energy market. Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian energy... View Details

June 2019
Article

Brokers vs. Retail Investors: Conflicting Interests and Dominated Products

By: Mark Egan

I study how brokers distort household investment decisions. Using a novel convertible bond dataset, I find that consumers often purchase dominated bonds—cheap and expensive versions of otherwise identical bonds coexist in the market. The empirical evidence suggests... View Details

Keywords: Brokers; Fiduciary Standard; Consumer Finance; Structured Products; Household; Investment; Decisions; Motivation and Incentives; Conflict of Interests

Find at Harvard

May 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Mobike and ofo: Dancing with Titans (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Haibo Zhao

This case address pacing issues – how fast does a company need to scale? It also examines the role of investors in determining company strategy and exit.
Mobike and ofo were two dominant players in China’s emerging dockless bike-sharing market, that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Competition; Value Creation; Governance; Economics; Business Startups; Strategy; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Infrastructure; Transportation; Bicycle Transportation; China

April 2019
Teaching Note

The a2 Milk Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and... View Details

2023
Working Paper

When Does Gamified Training Improve Performance? The Roles of Office and Leader Engagement

By: Ryan W. Buell, Wei Cai and Tatiana Sandino

Gamified training is a novel management control system in which companies use gamification techniques to engage and motivate employees to learn. This study empirically examines the performance consequences of gamified training using data from a natural field... View Details

Keywords: Gamified Training; Management Control Systems; Employee Engagement; Employees; Learning; Training; Motivation and Incentives; Performance

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Article

Tesla's Online Selling Is a Big Bet on Millennials

By: Scott Duke Kominers

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March 2019
Case

DayTwo: Going to Market with Gut Microbiome

By: Ayelet Israeli and David Lane

DayTwo is a young Israeli startup that applies research on the gut microbiome and machine learning algorithms to deliver personalized nutritional recommendations to its users in order to minimize blood sugar spikes after meals. After a first year of trial rollout in... View Details

February 2019
Teaching Note

Talent@Tencent

By: Tarun Khanna

Late in 2016, two senior human resources (HR) executives at Tencent Holdings (Tencent), China’s leading Internet services firm, are assessing the effectiveness of the company’s talent management practices in responding to Tencent’s sustained hypergrowth. Over the... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Employees; Retention; Entrepreneurship; Employee Relationship Management; Web Services Industry; China

February 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Pierre Foods Acquisition of Advance Foods (A)

By: Guhan Subramanian and Mike Harmon

This case (A), and its related cases (B-E), establish a setting to discuss an M&A transaction and some of the key legal contracts that are associated with it. In 2010, private equity backed food manufacturer Pierre Foods is contemplating the acquisition of a key... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation; Complexity

February 2019 (Revised September 2021)
Case

The a2 Milk Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and... View Details

January 2019 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Analytical Space: The Next Frontier?

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and David Lane

With one satellite aloft and in the midst of beta testing in late 2018, Analytical Space founders Justin Oliveira and Dan Nevius turned to critical questions about the pioneering startup’s go-to-market, pricing, and business development strategy. Analytical Space aimed... View Details

Keywords: Pricing Decisions; Demand Validation; Revenue Model; Business Development; Space Tech; Satellites; Earth Observation; Remote Sensing; Business Startups; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Finance; Selection and Staffing; Business Strategy; Aerospace Industry

January 2019 (Revised February 2019)
Supplement

The a2 Milk Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Daniel Fisher and Greg Saldutte

The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and... View Details

December 2018
Teaching Note

The Campbell Home (A), (B), and (C)

By: Leslie John

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 918-017, 918-018, and 918-019. Campbell siblings Thomas and Sally are faced with selling their childhood home. They need to make several... View Details

Keywords: Agents; Bidding Process; Negotiation; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Participants; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; United States

December 2018
Case

Choosy

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Julia Kelley

Founded in 2017, Choosy is a data-driven fashion startup that uses algorithms to identify styles trending on social media. After manufacturing similar items using a China-based supply chain, Choosy sells them to consumers through its website and social media pages.... View Details

November 2018 (Revised August 2020)
Case

The Reinvention of Kodak

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Christine Snively

The Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) was a name familiar to most Americans. The company had dominated the film and photography industry through most of the 20th Century and was known for making affordable cameras (and the “Kodak Moment”) and supplying the movie industry... View Details

Keywords: CEO; Leadership; Asset Management; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy

November 2018
Case

Yatooq: Longing for Arabic Coffee

By: Mark Roberge, Gamze Yucaoglu and Samer Al-Rachedy

As one of the few female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia, Lateefa Alwaalan had been trying to produce the perfect cup of Arabic coffee for over a decade. In 2007, she began testing various coffee blends, which she later branded Yatooq, the Arabic word for “craving” or... View Details

Fall 2018
Article

The Value of Fit Information in Online Retail: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

By: Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno

Online channels generate frictions when selling products with nondigital attributes, such as apparel. Customers may be reluctant to purchase products they have not been able to try on, and those customers who do purchase may return products when they do not fit as... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Information; Fit Uncertainty; Online Retail; Randomized Field Experiment; Virtual Fitting Room; Digital Retail; Customization and Personalization; Internet and the Web; Value; Performance Improvement; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry