Publications

September 2010
Teaching Note

The Challenges of Launching a Start-Up in China: Dorm99.com (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Teaching Note for 307075. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Capital; Investment; Joint Ventures; Product Launch; Business and Government Relations; Entrepreneurship; Opportunities; Business Startups; Problems and Challenges; Social and Collaborative Networks; Beijing

October 2002 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Collabrys, Inc. (A)-The Evolution of a Startup

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey

The CEO of a two-year-old start-up must now decide whether to become a technology provider or a service agency. In a time of enormous uncertainty about the viability of various business models for Internet-delivered services and products, Collabrys has survived the... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Internet and the Web; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Technological Innovation; Cost vs Benefits; Partners and Partnerships; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; United States

01 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

Sometimes Success Begins at Failure

to have any further potential. Once the project was sidelined, IBM decided to publish it on its AlphaWorks Web site, where outsiders could examine and download various IBM software. Soon thereafter, IBM managers noticed that this... View Details

Keywords: by Henry Chesbrough; Health; Pharmaceutical

17 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Is There Help for the Big Ticket Buyer?

from a lack of information (about the negotiation process, about the other side's reservation price, etc.). In recent years, however, a large number of Web sites (e.g., www.cartalk.com) have sprung up that reveal the exact dealer cost of... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman

May 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Building the Digital Manufacturing Enterprise of the Future at Siemens

By: Willy Shih

This case describes the motivation for and the development of Siemens' digital manufacturing enterprise vision, which became the foundation for its implementation of Industrie 4.0. While the effort started with a purely defensive move by Anton Huber, head of the... View Details

2007
Working Paper

Digital Interactivity: Unanticipated Consequences for Markets, Marketing, and Consumers

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

The digital interactive transformation in marketing is not unfolding, as many thought it would, on the model of direct marketing. That model anticipated that digital media using rich profiling data would intrude marketing messaging more deeply and more precisely into... View Details

Keywords: Communication Intention and Meaning; Interactive Communication; Marketing Communications; Consumer Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet and the Web

Read Now

09 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 9, 2007

their role. Those who can acknowledge their misconceptions have a far greater chance of success. For example, new managers typically assume that their position will give them the authority and freedom to do what they think is best. Instead, they find themselves... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Commencement 2011 Address | About

after generation, it renews the springs of high purpose. ” What does that mean? When revolution rocked Egypt, HBS alumni immediately began to think about how business might contribute to a new social order; when nature wreaked havoc in Japan, alumni gathered via the... View Details

September 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Angie's List: Ratings Pioneer Turns 20

By: Robert J. Dolan and Ayelet Israeli

In 1995, before people “googled” or “yelped,” Angela Hicks (HBS, 2000) was establishing her Angie’s List as a pioneer in the accumulation and dissemination of consumer rating information. Hicks focused on the home repair and maintenance market and, as she put it,... View Details

October 2003 (Revised January 2016)
Exercise

The BCPC Internet Strategy Team: An Exercise

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Laura Feldman

This short fictional case forms the basis of a team decision-making exercise. The case, inspired by a real decision facing a major telecommunications company, describes a cross-functional management team convened by the CEO for the purpose of developing a... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decision Making; Risk and Uncertainty; Information Management; Perspective; Product Launch; Internet and the Web; Knowledge Sharing; Telecommunications Industry

09 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 9, 2019

Purchase this case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/719437-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 619-019 Lexoo: Building a Long-Lasting Platform Daniel van Binsbergen, Lexoo’s CEO, and web developer Chris O’Sullivan, CTO, had set up Lexoo,... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

19 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 19

alienating existing customers. The case follows Eileen Fisher's initial forays into social media as they chase a younger demographic and demonstrates the opportunities and pitfalls that await big brands when they enter the world of Web... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2000 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Richard Spellman (A)

Describes Richard Spellman's decision to leave his existing employer and join an Internet start-up as CEO. Focuses on the terms of a restricted stock agreement and employment agreement that must be negotiated. Includes first drafts of these two agreements. View Details

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

03 Jul 2018
What Do You Think?

Should CEO Satya Nadella Cancel Microsoft’s Contract with ICE?

On June 26, an article appeared on the web site of The Guardian titled, “When should a tech company refuse to build tools for the government?” In a statement, Satya Nadella said the company’s contract with ICE “is supporting legacy mail,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer; Technology

27 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Horrible Boss Workarounds

e-commerce sites on the web in the early years of e-commerce," she says. "And it was a small group of believers that made that happen." Ideally, of course, collaboration is borne of shared excitement over a shared goal... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

07 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

The Organizational Model for Open Source

three projects: Debian, a complete non-commercial distribution of Linux; the GNU Object Model Environment (GNOME), which is a graphical user interface for Linux-based operating systems; and Apache, a public domain open source Web server.... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

February 2025
Case

Managing Complexity at mymuesli

By: Thomas Graeber and Stacy Straaberg

In April 2009, direct-to-consumer e-commerce muesli brand mymuesli faced a flood of customer questions. The breakfast cereal startup enabled users to order personalized muesli on its website by choosing from 75 organic ingredients for a total of 566 quadrillion... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Decisions; Food; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Product Launch; Problems and Challenges; Behavior; Competitive Advantage; Customization and Personalization; Segmentation; Internet and the Web; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe; Germany

January 2020
Case

The June Oven

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Christian Godwin

The June Oven was a smart oven which was capable of identifying food and cooking it accordingly. This type of smart oven represented the next step in the long history of oven and stove development. Due to the widespread use of traditional ovens, the market for the June... View Details