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  • 11 Feb 2015
  • Video

The Serial Entrepreneur: From E-Readers to Nuclear Fission

  • 01 Sep 2009
  • News

E Ink’s Wild Ride

it hit me right there.” That moment, the moment Wilcox fell in love, was the starting point for a wild ride called E Ink, which manufactures the electronic “paper” used in e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle, cell phones, and graphic displays... View Details
Keywords: Julia Hanna; e-books; e-reading; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing
  • August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
  • Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin
In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details
Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle
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  • November 2017
  • Teaching Note

Amazon.com, 2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402. On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and... View Details
Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Market Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Competition; Internet; Corporate Strategy; Online Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Hardware; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Technology Networks; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Price; Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle
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  • October 2010 (Revised January 2012)
  • Background Note

Book Publishing in 2010

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett
Legacy book publishers wrangled with ebook retailers over royalty rates, release strategy, and distribution rights as customer demand for cheaper ebooks eroded publishers' profitable print formats. E-readers like Kindle, as well as Apple's iPad that invigorated the... View Details
Keywords: Price; Information Publishing; Books; Disruptive Innovation; Demand and Consumers; Distribution; Strategy; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Publishing Industry
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  • September 2021
  • Case

Worldreader: Helping Readers Build a Better World

By: Marco Bertini, Elie Ofek and Julia Kelley
Founded in 2010, Worldreader was an international nonprofit organization that promoted reading to children around the world. For many years, Worldreader distributed e-readers to under-resourced communities and funded its operations primarily through philanthropic... View Details
Keywords: Subscription Model; Price; Financial Strategy; Education; Early Childhood Education; Learning; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Goals and Objectives; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Markets; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Society; Social Issues; Strategy; Commercialization; Expansion; Segmentation; Education Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America; Europe; North and Central America; South America
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  • 26 May 2015
  • First Look

First Look: May 26

  Publications March 2015 AFP Exchange Well Said: Why Articulating Your Strategy Can Set You Apart. By: Cespedes, Frank V. Abstract—Senior finance managers now operate in an altered c-suite landscape. The executives reporting to the CEO have doubled in the past 30... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
  • 07 Jun 2023
  • HBS Case

3 Ways to Gain a Competitive Advantage Now: Lessons from Amazon, Chipotle, and Facebook

Walk into any local coffee shop, and you might see people using Amazon Kindles—but you’re not likely to spot anyone with a Sony Librie, even though Sony was the first company to make an e-reader in 2004. “It was probably a better... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
  • Research Summary

Overview

By: Feng Zhu
Professor Zhu’s research focuses on the design of platform business models and its impact on platform performance. Platforms have become central to our economy. A platform is a product or service that enables two or more customer groups to interact. For example,... View Details
  • 01 Sep 2009
  • News

Outtakes with Russ Wilcox

thought — being able to carry many complexities in your brain at the same time — is a certain skill that people who grow up reading literature develop. People who read IMs don’t.” Why e-readers are a good thing for civilization: “E-books... View Details
Keywords: Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services
  • 24 Apr 2014
  • News

A World of Reading

David Risher (MBA 1991) cofounded Worldreader to help one million children who today have nothing to read get access to the libraries of the world. The nonprofit has sent one million e-books to more than 13,000 children in Africa. It started with providing View Details
  • 22 Nov 2011
  • News

A Storybook Beginning

Risher: E-reading the African story “Treasure of the Trees” at the Kade Primary School in Ghana. Courtesy David Risher If you’ve just read Curious George Visits the Library and desperately want to get your hands on Curious George Goes to... View Details
Keywords: Elementary and Secondary Schools; Educational Services; Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services
  • 05 Apr 2010
  • Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: iPads, Kindles, and the Close of a Chapter in Book Publishing

professor Bharat Anand give students an introduction to the book publishing business and the emerging landscape of e-readers before presenting them with the conundrums that face Random House CEO Markus Dohle (Dohle succeeded Olson in... View Details
Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Information; Publishing; Entertainment & Recreation
  • 01 Jun 2010
  • News

Three Profs Win McKinsey Award

article in Harvard Business Review, HBS professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih point out that the Kindle 2 e-reader was designed by Amazon’s Lab126 unit in California. But the vast majority of its components are made in China, Taiwan, and... View Details
Keywords: Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing; Manufacturing
  • 19 May 2014
  • Research & Ideas

Why Companies Should Compete for Your Privacy

at times in the form of subsidies. For example, Amazon provides discounts on its e-reader prices for customers who agree to receive targeted ads from Amazon and third-party sellers on their devices. Higher intensity of competition between... View Details
Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products
  • 05 Jul 2011
  • First Look

First Look: July 5

e-books eroded publishers' profitable print formats. E-readers like Kindle, as well as Apple's iPad, that invigorated the digital book market are discussed. Also includes a general overview of book publishing including the K-12 and... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne