Microsoft's Search

Jan W. Rivkin; Eric J. Van den Steen

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Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2009

Microsoft's Search

by Jan W. Rivkin and Eric J. Van den Steen

Abstract

In 2008, executives at Microsoft must decide how to compete against Google in the market for Internet search and advertising. The case describes how Microsoft has responded to a set of competitive threats in the past, how Google has gained a dominant position in Internet search and advertising, and what Microsoft has done so far in its as-yet-unsuccessful effort to catch up with Google. The case then challenges students to construct a strategy that will allow Microsoft to achieve its objectives in the evolving market for search and advertising.

Keywords: Online Advertising; Competitive Strategy; Internet; Search Technology; United States;

Format: Print

18 pages

Educators Purchase

Citation:

Rivkin, Jan W., and Eric J. Van den Steen. "Microsoft's Search." Harvard Business School Case 709-461, January 2009.

About the Authors

Jan W. Rivkin

C. Roland Christensen Professor of Business Administration
Senior Associate Dean, Chair, MBA Program

Strategy

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Eric J. Van den Steen

Royal Little Professor of Business Administration

Strategy

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Chapter | The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management | 2018

Irreversibility

Eric J. Van den Steen and Pankaj Ghemawat

Citation:
Van den Steen, Eric J., and Pankaj Ghemawat. "Irreversibility." In The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. Continuously updated edition, edited by Mie Augier and David J. Teece. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. Electronic. View Details

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Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2019

Birds of a Feather ... Enforce Social Norms? Interactions Among Culture, Norms, and Strategy

Hongyi Li and Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper analyzes how shared beliefs and preferences (or values) cause the emergence of social norms; why people may enforce norms that go against their own beliefs and preferences/values; and how this may cause a disconnect to develop between the organization's norms and its underlying beliefs and preferences. We further show, among other things, that such social norms are more likely in attractive organizations, for behaviors that have modest personal consequences, and in organizations where employees depend on others' choices to a moderate degree. We finally discuss how these mechanisms help our understanding of culture change and of the interaction between culture and strategy. We argue that culture is not only an input to strategy, but also a substitute and a potential competitor.

Keywords: strategy; culture; norms;

Citation:
Li, Hongyi, and Eric J. Van den Steen. "Birds of a Feather ... Enforce Social Norms? Interactions Among Culture, Norms, and Strategy." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-045, October 2019. View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018 (Revised August 2019)

Amazon's HQ2 (A)

Karen Mills and Jan W. Rivkin

In September 2017, the Internet giant Amazon announced that it aimed to open a second headquarters in some city other than Seattle, its current home base. By 2032, the company projected, this “HQ2” would be home to as many as 50,000 high-paying tech jobs and up to $5 billion of investment. The company invited North American cities to submit proposals to be the site of HQ2. The announcement set off a flurry of activity across the continent as civic leaders scrambled to prepare proposals by Amazon’s deadline. The case allows students to debate what companies should ask of cities and what cities should ask of companies.

Keywords: economic development; headquarters; local government; incentives; Business Headquarters; Business and Government Relations; Development Economics;

Citation:
Mills, Karen, and Jan W. Rivkin. "Amazon's HQ2 (A)." Harvard Business School Case 718-494, February 2018. (Revised August 2019.) View Details

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Microsoft's Search

Abstract

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