Publications

19 Jan 2011
First Look

First Look: Jan. 18

Garvin and Carin-Isabel KnoopHarvard Business School Case 311-008 In late spring 2009, Stroz Friedberg co-presidents Edward Stroz and Eric Friedberg had to set growth targets for 2010. The leading global consulting firm they had built specialized in managing View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Supplement

PittaRosso: Artificial Intelligence-Driven Pricing and Promotion

By: Ayelet Israeli and Fabrizio Fantini

PittaRosso, a traditional Italian shoe retailer, is implementing an AI system to provide pricing and promotion recommendations. The system allows them to implement changes that would affect both the top of funnel and bottom of funnel activities for the company: once... View Details

26 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Where will Pokémon Go with Your Personal Information?

app’s success has striking implications for a number of industries. Willy Shih is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration at Harvard Business School and spent 28 years in industry at IBM, View Details

Keywords: Re: Willy C. Shih; Video Game; Entertainment & Recreation

02 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Stuck in Gear: Why Managers Don’t Act

pronounce your company as outstanding. Another potential jinx. Look what happened to Digital Equipment, Kodak, and Wang Laboratories, once lauded by business academics. You build monuments to your success. Resist the urge to construct... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 2010
Case

The iPhone at IVK

By: Richard L. Nolan and Robert D. Austin

The CIO addresses a decision to replace salesmen netbook PC's with iPhones, including converting the company's sales and customer applications to the iPhone platform View Details

Keywords: Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Salesforce Management; Transition; Technology Adoption; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Change Management

02 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Where Does Apple Go From Here?

Apple Computer knows how to make headlines. The company is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh and is enjoying the fruits of its launch into the digital entertainment business. In its December quarter, Apple sold 730,000... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

November 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Microsoft Office: Finding the Suite Spot

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Steven Sinofsky

Describes a key decision-making process within Microsoft's Office products division. At a time when the PC software business has a great deal of uncertainty, Microsoft's management has to make a key decision regarding the future of software suites. A strengthening of... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Applications and Software; Strategic Planning; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Development; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Goals and Objectives; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Management; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

27 Jul 2019
Op-Ed

Does Facebook's Business Model Threaten Our Elections?

on investment of the targeted ad model they’ve perfected is far superior to traditional advertising. Both Google and Facebook have an effective duopoly on digital advertising, though Amazon is starting to put up meaningful numbers. As... View Details

Keywords: by George Riedel

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

What Your Competition is Telling You

and do it more efficiently, over time. Richard E. Beville should know. The chief operating officer of Lamont Digital Systems, a Greenwich, Conn., provider of digital telecommunications services, Beville... View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

13 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Small Businesses Are Worse Off Than We Thought

Knowledge “Everything is rapidly evolving,” says Luca, the Lee J. Styslinger III Associate Professor at HBS, “and this survey helps to get some baseline understanding of what is happening in close to real-time.” Those responses could come from government, larger... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

29 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Uber Is Worth Saving and How To Do It

from ordinances regulating limos and taxis. The company even allegedly built a digital tool that would alert staff when code enforcers were on the way.) Kanter says the same disrespect shown for authorities on the outside seemed to seep... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Transportation

13 Sep 2016
First Look

September 13, 2016

the status quo, primarily because of the lack of a decision-making mechanism amongst the brothers. The firm rapidly went downhill, before declaring bankruptcy in 1875. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/316186-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School... View Details

03 Dec 2001
Research & Ideas

Healthcare Conference Looks At Ailing Industry

was developed elsewhere, such as a digital form of DNA. The goal now is to redefine disease based on the underlying biological mechanisms, Lander said. By that token, diseases are going to surprise us. Reclassifying them means that some... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

June 2018 (Revised October 2018)
Teaching Note

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (A), (B), and (C)

By: Marco Di Maggio and Benjamin C. Esty

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 218-095, 218-096, and 218-116. View Details

January 2017 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Chicago and the Array of Things: A Fitness Tracker for the City

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

The city of Chicago has recently launched a project called the Array of Things. The program involves a series of sensor nodes placed around the city that capture a massive amount of data including pedestrian and vehicle flow, air quality, and cloud cover. The Array of... View Details

Keywords: Smart Connected Products; Smart Cities; Internet Of Things; Sensors; Govenment; Government Administration; Technological Innovation; Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Public Administration Industry; Technology Industry; Chicago; United States

July 2012 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Research In Motion: The Mobile OS Platform War

By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer

The case describes competition in the market for smart phones in the US, and the position of one player, Research In Motion (RIM) who manufacture the popular Blackberry line of products. Early in 2011, RIM is in trouble. Its stock price has plummeted, amidst poor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Product Development; Technology Strategy; Platform Strategy; Software; Hardware; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry; Canada; United States

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; Information Technology Industry