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• Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2017 (Revised June 2019)

  Dianrong: Marketplace Lending, Blockchain, and 'The New Finance' in China

  Christopher J. Malloy, Lauren H. Cohen and Anthony K. Woo

  This case examines the strategic positioning of Dianrong, one of the largest online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms in China, in its attempt to become a foundational player in the expansion of the FinTech sector in Asia. Dianrong had recently announced the acquisition of the asset-origination operations of Shanghai-based Quark Finance, augmenting Dianrong’s asset management and credit evaluation capabilities across China, as well as a new initiative to develop the first blockchain platform for supply chain finance in China. The goal was to provide capital to smaller suppliers in the supply chain, and provide enhanced visibility and transparency of supply chains for large multinational manufacturers. The company had also made several recent forays into other related sectors, with their creation of “DR Group” as an umbrella corporate structure that included all wholly-owned businesses, joint ventures, and partnerships. This rebranded group structure encompassed the various aspects of “The New Finance,” leveraging FinTech innovation to deliver value for borrowers, lenders, and investors. Case protagonist Soul Htite, Founder and CEO of Dianrong, and the former CTO of Lending Club, must decide how to execute on the firm’s aggressive diversification plan. Recent advances at the company, while promising, were complicated by the uncertainties in the political and regulatory landscape. How should the company leverage its advantage in technology and position itself in the market? Which sectors within its larger umbrella structure were the most promising avenues to focus on? Was Dianrong tackling too many sectors and problems at once? Htite’s view was that in order to truly succeed in China a technology company had to “create” much of the ecosystem and infrastructure oneself, as opposed to in the US where companies could simply “provide add-ons” to existing firms and capabilities. But the reality of trying to excel in so many different areas was daunting.

  Keywords: Financing and Loans; Online Technology; Supply Chain; Finance; Innovation and Invention; Competition; Product Positioning; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; China;

  Citation:

  Malloy, Christopher J., Lauren H. Cohen, and Anthony K. Woo. "Dianrong: Marketplace Lending, Blockchain, and 'The New Finance' in China." Harvard Business School Case 218-043, September 2017. (Revised June 2019.)  View Details

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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2019

  A Compact, Logical Approach to Large-Market Analysis

  Yannai A. Gonczarowski, Scott Duke Kominers and Ran I. Shorrer

  In game theory, we often use infinite models to represent "limit" settings, such as markets with a large number of agents or games with a long time horizon. Yet many game-theoretic models incorporate finiteness assumptions that, while introduced for simplicity, play a real role in the analysis. Here, we show how to extend key results from (finite) models of matching, games on graphs, and trading networks to infinite models by way of Logical Compactness, a core result from Propositional Logic. Using Compactness, we prove the existence of man-optimal stable matchings in infinite economies as well as strategy-proofness of the man-optimal stable matching mechanism. We then use Compactness to eliminate the need for a finite start time in a dynamic matching model. Finally, we use Compactness to prove the existence of both Nash equilibria in infinite games on graphs and Walrasian equilibria in infinite trading networks.

  Keywords: Markets; Analysis; Game Theory;

  Citation:

  Gonczarowski, Yannai A., Scott Duke Kominers, and Ran I. Shorrer. "A Compact, Logical Approach to Large-Market Analysis." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-127, June 2019.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2019 (Revised June 2019)

  Ariadne Labs: Building Impactful Partnerships

  Ariel D. Stern and Sarah Mehta

  In September 2018, the executive team at Ariadne Labs (Ariadne), a Boston-based organization dedicated to improving health systems through the discovery and implementation of simple tools, faced a number of strategic decisions. Chief among them, the seven-year-old organization needed to determine how it might establish and shepherd successful partnerships with a wide range of diverse entities—ranging from major international public health organizations like the World Bank to small non-profit implementing organizations.

  Keywords: Health; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Partners and Partnerships; Health Industry; Boston;

  Citation:

  Stern, Ariel D., and Sarah Mehta. "Ariadne Labs: Building Impactful Partnerships." Harvard Business School Case 619-017, April 2019. (Revised June 2019.)  View Details

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