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All HBS Web
(2,119)
- Faculty Publications (391)
- January 2015 (Revised April 2015)
- Case
Zeal: Launching Personalized and Social Learning
By: John J-H Kim and Christine S. An
Set in 2014, this case follows John Danner and his team at Zeal as they consider their product development strategy. In February 2013, serial entrepreneurs John Danner and Sanjay Noronha co-found Zeal, an education technology start up providing a web-based, mobile...
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Keywords:
Entrepreneurship;
Education Technology;
MVP;
Product Development;
Product Market Fit;
Monetization Strategy;
SaaS Business Models;
Education;
Personalized Learning
Kim, John J-H, and Christine S. An. "Zeal: Launching Personalized and Social Learning." Harvard Business School Case 315-052, January 2015. (Revised April 2015.)
- January 2015 (Revised May 2018)
- Case
$19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg!
By: David Collis, Ashley Hartman and Aakash Mehta
In February 2014, Facebook announced the acquisition of WhatsApp for $19 billion. WhatsApp, founded in 2009, was a relatively young company that employed only 50 people and earned merely $10 million in revenue in 2013. It was one of many mobile messaging services that...
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Keywords:
WhatsApp;
Facebook;
Mobile Messaging;
Social Network;
Acquisitions;
Value Added;
Strategy Alignment;
Monetization;
Social Platforms;
Technology;
Strategy;
Corporate Strategy;
Acquisition;
Communication Technology;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Value Creation;
Social Media;
Applications and Software;
Digital Platforms;
Communications Industry;
Information Technology Industry
Collis, David, Ashley Hartman, and Aakash Mehta. "$19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg!" Harvard Business School Case 715-441, January 2015. (Revised May 2018.)
- December 2014
- Case
HomeAway: Organizing the Vacation Rental Industry
By: Rory McDonald, Feng Zhu and Cheng Gao
In less than 10 years, cofounders Brian Sharples and Carl Shepherd had transformed HomeAway from just another Internet startup into the world's leading vacation-rental marketplace—a global online platform that links customers seeking vacation-home rentals to the...
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Keywords:
Strategy;
Innovation;
Entrepreneurship;
Technology;
Acquisitions;
Operations Management;
Digital Platforms;
Acquisition
McDonald, Rory, Feng Zhu, and Cheng Gao. "HomeAway: Organizing the Vacation Rental Industry." Harvard Business School Case 615-036, December 2014.
- November 2014 (Revised February 2016)
- Case
DoubleDutch
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Matthew G. Preble
Lawrence Coburn and Pankaj Prasad, co-founders of the event solution startup DoubleDutch, have to make a significant decision about their young company's sales function. DoubleDutch's key product was a mobile application (app) and event management platform that...
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Keywords:
Sales Management;
Selling;
Marketing Management;
Strategy Implementation;
Business Marketing;
Sales Force Management;
Salesforce Management;
Marketing;
Sales;
Marketing Strategy;
Strategy;
Entrepreneurship;
Business Startups;
Technology Industry;
United States;
Europe;
Asia
Cespedes, Frank V., and Matthew G. Preble. "DoubleDutch." Harvard Business School Case 815-044, November 2014. (Revised February 2016.)
- July 2014 (Revised August 2015)
- Case
Qihoo
By: Feng Zhu
Qihoo, one of the largest Internet companies in China today, was founded in 2005. The company started its business by offering a security software product, and quickly dominated the market in China after its unusual move of giving its product away for free in 2009....
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- June 2014
- Teaching Note
Google Glass
By: Thomas Eisenmann
In early 2014, business development executives at Google were formulating a distribution strategy for Glass, a wearable computer that projected information on a display viewable with an upward glance. Options, which were not mutually exclusive, included 1) continuing...
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- April 29, 2014
- Column
Corporate Reporting in the Big Data Era
By: George Serafeim
Advancements in information technology can improve corporate communication with shareholders, but not through incessant data dumps. Instead, companies will more likely be poised for continued success if they use digital platforms for long-term oriented engagement and...
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Keywords:
Integrated Reporting;
Big Data;
Corporate Reporting;
Sustainability;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Corporate Governance;
Accounting;
Reporting;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Corporate Accountability;
Analytics and Data Science;
Information Technology;
Communication;
Financial Reporting;
Business and Shareholder Relations
Serafeim, George. "Corporate Reporting in the Big Data Era." IIRC Blog (April 29, 2014).
- April 2014 (Revised June 2014)
- Case
Google Glass
By: Thomas Eisenmann, Lauren Barley and Liz Kind
In early 2014, business development executives at Google were formulating a distribution strategy for Glass, a wearable computer that projected information on a display viewable with an upward glance. Options, which were not mutually exclusive, included 1) continuing...
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Keywords:
Entrepreneurship;
Technological Innovation;
Distribution Channels;
Strategy;
Partners and Partnerships;
Technology Adoption
Eisenmann, Thomas, Lauren Barley, and Liz Kind. "Google Glass." Harvard Business School Case 814-102, April 2014. (Revised June 2014.)
- March 2014
- Teaching Note
Intuit QuickBooks: From Product to Platform
By: Andrei Hagiu and Elizabeth J. Altman
This case focuses on the challenges and opportunities faced by a successful incumbent organization attempting to transform a large portion of its business from a traditionally product-centric operating mode to a platform-based one that leverages network effects to...
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- February 2014
- Case
BGI: Data-driven Research
By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai
BGI has the largest installed gene-sequencing capacity in the world, and to Zhang Gengyun, general manager of the Life Sciences Division, this represented an opportunity to apply his training as a plant breeder and his early career work as a biochemist to improving...
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Keywords:
Genomics;
Gene Sequencing;
Life Sciences;
Plant Breeding;
Human Genome Program;
Beijing Genomics Institute;
BGI;
Rice Genome;
Technological Innovation;
Innovation Strategy;
Research;
Research and Development;
Science;
Genetics;
Science-Based Business;
Strategy;
Commercialization;
Corporate Strategy;
Information Technology;
Applications and Software;
Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry;
Biotechnology Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
China;
United States
Shih, Willy, and Sen Chai. "BGI: Data-driven Research." Harvard Business School Case 614-056, February 2014.
- January 2014 (Revised May 2015)
- Case
Open English
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Lisa Mazzanti
Open English, a Miami-based startup offering online English language learning services, had more than 30,000 active students across Latin America in 2012. The company had just closed a $43 million financing round in order to rapidly scale its service to the next level....
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Keywords:
Technology Strategy;
Product Management;
Startup;
Online Learning;
Digital Platforms;
Entrepreneurship;
Business Startups;
Technology Industry;
Miami;
Venezuela
Bussgang, Jeffrey J., and Lisa Mazzanti. "Open English." Harvard Business School Case 814-020, January 2014. (Revised May 2015.)
- January 2014
- Case
Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)
Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users...
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- 2014
- Case
Yonyou 2013
By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming and Ziqian Zhao
The case describes how a leading Chinese management software provider Yonyou (formerly known as "UFIDA") disrupted its value chain-based business model to transform itself into a platform provider. The case describes Yonyou's past success, the market forces and...
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Keywords:
Business Models;
ERP;
Platforms;
Strategy;
Transformations;
China;
Information Technology;
Applications and Software;
Digital Platforms;
China
McFarlan, F. Warren, Zheng Xiaoming, and Ziqian Zhao. "Yonyou 2013." Tsinghua University Case, 2014.
- 2014
- Teaching Note
Yonyou 2013 (TN)
By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming and Ziqian Zhao
The case describes how a leading Chinese management software provider Yonyou (formerly known as "UFIDA") disrupted its value chain-based business model to transform itself into a platform provider. The case describes Yonyou's past success, the market forces and...
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Keywords:
Business Models;
ERP;
Platforms;
Strategy;
Transformations;
China;
Information Technology;
China
McFarlan, F. Warren, Zheng Xiaoming, and Ziqian Zhao. "Yonyou 2013 (TN)." Tsinghua University Teaching Note, 2014.
- 2014
- Working Paper
Product to Platform Transitions: Organizational Identity Implications
By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Mary Tripsas
Organizations are increasingly recognizing that value they once derived from offering standalone products can be significantly enhanced if they transition to platform-based businesses that harness the innovative capabilities of complementors. While the competitive...
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Keywords:
Organizational Change;
Organizational Identity;
Ecosystems;
Complementors;
Managing Innovation;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Multi-Sided Platforms;
Innovation and Management;
Organizational Culture
Altman, Elizabeth J., and Mary Tripsas. "Product to Platform Transitions: Organizational Identity Implications." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 14-045, December 2013. (Revised September 2014.)
- October 2013 (Revised December 2013)
- Case
Intuit QuickBooks: From Product to Platform
By: Andrei Hagiu and Elizabeth J. Altman
This case focuses on the challenges and opportunities faced by a successful incumbent organization attempting to transform a large portion of its business from a traditionally product-centric operating mode to a platform-based one that leverages network effects to...
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Keywords:
Business Model;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Digital Platforms;
Competitive Advantage;
Network Effects;
Consumer Products Industry
Hagiu, Andrei, and Elizabeth J. Altman. "Intuit QuickBooks: From Product to Platform." Harvard Business School Case 714-433, October 2013. (Revised December 2013.)
- October 2013
- Case
Oaktree and the Restructuring of CIT Group (A)
By: Victoria Ivashina and David Scharfstein
CIT's prepackaged bankruptcy marked the first time a major financial institution was able to successfully restructure and emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, challenging conventional views that a financial firm could not survive bankruptcy proceedings as a going...
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Ivashina, Victoria, and David Scharfstein. "Oaktree and the Restructuring of CIT Group (A)." Harvard Business School Case 214-035, October 2013.
- October 2013
- Article
Ad Revenue and Content Commercialization: Evidence from Blogs
By: Monic Sun and Feng Zhu
Many scholars argue that when incentivized by ad revenue, content providers are more likely to tailor their content to attract "eyeballs," and as a result, popular content may be excessively supplied. We empirically test this prediction by taking advantage of the...
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Keywords:
Ad-sponsored Business Models;
Media Content;
Blog;
Revenue Sharing;
User-generated Content;
Platform-based Markets;
Blogs;
Business Model;
Digital Platforms;
Commercialization;
Digital Marketing
Sun, Monic, and Feng Zhu. "Ad Revenue and Content Commercialization: Evidence from Blogs." Management Science 59, no. 10 (October 2013): 2314–2331.
- 2015
- Working Paper
Fake It Till You Make It: Reputation, Competition, and Yelp Review Fraud
By: Michael Luca and Georgios Zervas
Consumer reviews are now part of everyday decision-making. Yet, the credibility of these reviews is fundamentally undermined when businesses commit review fraud, creating fake reviews for themselves or their competitors. We investigate the economic incentives to commit...
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Keywords:
Information;
Competition;
Internet and the Web;
Ethics;
Reputation;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Retail Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry
Luca, Michael, and Georgios Zervas. "Fake It Till You Make It: Reputation, Competition, and Yelp Review Fraud." Working Paper. (May 2015. Revise and resubmit, Management Science.)
- September 2013 (Revised November 2013)
- Case
AngelList
By: Ramana Nanda and Liz Kind
In early 2010, Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi posted a list of angel investors on the Venture Hacks blog as a resource for founders looking for funding prior to seeking venture capital. The list quickly evolved into AngelList, a separate matchmaking platform for... View Details
Keywords:
Angel Investors;
Venture Capital;
Entrepreneurial Finance;
Finance;
Entrepreneurship;
Investment;
Financial Services Industry;
United States
Nanda, Ramana, and Liz Kind. "AngelList." Harvard Business School Case 814-036, September 2013. (Revised November 2013.)