Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • May 2018 (Revised February 2019)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

The Powers That Be (Internet Edition): Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Julia Kelley and Nathaniel Schwalb
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:31
ShareBar

Abstract

As of early 2018, five U.S. technology companies—Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft—were among the largest companies in the world. Similarly, three Chinese technology firms—Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, or BAT—had emerged as global players due in part to the protection of China’s “Great Firewall,” which made it more difficult for foreign companies to compete in Chinese markets. As these companies continued to scale by branching into new businesses, such as voice AI and self-driving vehicles, they also faced new and challenging questions about user privacy. The European Union had recently passed the General Data Protection Regulation, a comprehensive set of consumer data protection laws that would require technology companies to make significant changes to their operating model. Meanwhile, social media giant Facebook was facing allegations that Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm, had accessed information on tens of millions of Facebook users without their consent, prompting calls for big technology firms to be more strictly regulated. How would the five U.S. companies and BAT respond to these concerns? And, looking forward, in what ways would these big companies compete with one another, and which would come out ahead?

Keywords

Internet and the Web; Business Ventures; Customers; Analytics and Data Science; Safety; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry

Citation

Rayport, Jeffrey F., Julia Kelley, and Nathaniel Schwalb. "The Powers That Be (Internet Edition): Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft." Harvard Business School Case 818-111, May 2018. (Revised February 2019.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Jeffrey F. Rayport

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

Related Work

    • May 2018 (Revised February 2019)
    • Faculty Research

    The Powers That Be (Internet Edition): Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft

    By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Julia Kelley and Nathaniel Schwalb
Related Work
  • The Powers That Be (Internet Edition): Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Julia Kelley and Nathaniel Schwalb
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College