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All HBS Web
(115,602)
- Faculty Publications (103)
- January 2018 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (A)
By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen and Shirley Sun
ZBJ.com (ZBJ), an online platform that connects knowledge workers to small- and medium-sized enterprises, is China’s largest outsourcing platform. Founded by Mingyue Zhu in 2006, ZBJ had grown into a unicorn with 4,000 employees and a daily transaction volume of RMB15...
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Keywords:
Outsourcing;
Disintermediation;
Digital Platforms;
Information Technology;
Problems and Challenges;
Global Strategy;
Information Technology Industry;
China
Zhu, Feng, Weiru Chen, and Shirley Sun. "ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (A)." Harvard Business School Case 618-044, January 2018. (Revised October 2019.)
- 2017
- Working Paper
Threat of Platform-Owner Entry and Complementor Responses: Evidence from the Mobile App Market
By: Feng Zhu
We examine how app developers on the Android mobile platform adjust their innovation efforts (rate and direction) and value-capture strategies in response to Google’s entry threat and actual entry into their markets. We find that, after Google’s entry threat increases,...
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Keywords:
Platform-owner Entry;
Entry Threat;
Innovation;
Complementors;
Mobile App Industry;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Innovation Strategy;
Market Entry and Exit
Wen, Wen, and Feng Zhu. "Threat of Platform-Owner Entry and Complementor Responses: Evidence from the Mobile App Market." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-036, October 2017.
- Article
Repositioning and Cost-Cutting: The Impact of Competition on Platform Strategies
By: Robert Seamans and Feng Zhu
Organizational structures are increasingly complex. In particular, more firms today operate as multi-sided platforms. In this paper, we study how platform firms use repositioning and cost-cutting in response to competition, elucidate external and internal factors that...
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Keywords:
Platform Strategy;
Repositioning;
Cost-cutting;
Intra-firm Learning;
Multi-Sided Platforms;
Cost Management;
Product Positioning;
Organizational Structure;
Competitive Strategy;
Knowledge Acquisition;
Journalism and News Industry
Seamans, Robert, and Feng Zhu. "Repositioning and Cost-Cutting: The Impact of Competition on Platform Strategies." Strategy Science 2, no. 2 (June 2017): 83–99.
- April 2017 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
Korea Telecom: Building a GiGAtopia (A)
By: Shane Greenstein, Feng Zhu and Kerry Herman
Korea Telecom (KT) has committed $4 billion in investments and R&D to build a GiGAtopia, essentially ushering in the next generation of mobile (5G) and wired infrastructure. CEO Dr. Chang-Gyu Hwang, and his team are considering which areas to prioritize in terms of new...
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Keywords:
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Technological Innovation;
Infrastructure;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Competitive Strategy;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Telecommunications Industry
Greenstein, Shane, Feng Zhu, and Kerry Herman. "Korea Telecom: Building a GiGAtopia (A)." Harvard Business School Case 617-014, April 2017. (Revised January 2020.)
- April 2017 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
edaixi (eWash): Digital Transformation of Laundry Services (A)
By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen, Chuang Chen and Ciwu Lin
Founded in 2013 as a laundry service featuring online ordering for home pickup and delivery, China’s edaixi (eWash) illustrated the online-to-offline (O2O) business model. As yet unclear in 2016 was the optimal way to organize third-party laundry service providers,...
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Keywords:
Laundry;
O2O;
Online-to-offline;
Business Model;
Service Operations;
Ownership Type;
Digital Platforms;
Transformation;
China
Zhu, Feng, Weiru Chen, Chuang Chen, and Ciwu Lin. "edaixi (eWash): Digital Transformation of Laundry Services (A)." Harvard Business School Case 617-034, April 2017. (Revised February 2020.)
- April 2017 (Revised February 2020)
- Supplement
edaixi (eWash): Digital Transformation of Laundry Services (B)
By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen, Chuang Chen and Ciwu Lin
Founded in 2013 as a laundry service featuring online ordering for home pickup and delivery, China’s edaixi (eWash) illustrated the online-to-offline (O2O) business model. As yet unclear in 2016 was the optimal way to organize third-party laundry service providers,...
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Keywords:
Laundry;
O2O;
Online-to-offline;
Service Operations;
Business Model;
Digital Platforms;
Transformation;
Service Industry;
China
Zhu, Feng, Weiru Chen, Chuang Chen, and Ciwu Lin. "edaixi (eWash): Digital Transformation of Laundry Services (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 617-038, April 2017. (Revised February 2020.)
- March 2017 (Revised March 2019)
- Case
Ant Financial (A)
By: Feng Zhu, Ying Zhang, Krishna G. Palepu, Anthony K. Woo and Nancy Hua Dai
Headquartered in Hangzhou (China), Ant Financial has grown into a fintech “Unicorn.” The fintech empire that the company established spanned verticals such as mobile and online payment (Alipay), money market fund (Yu’e Bao), wealth management (Ant Fortune),...
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Keywords:
Growth and Development Strategy;
Global Strategy;
Finance;
Opportunities;
Financial Services Industry;
Technology Industry
Zhu, Feng, Ying Zhang, Krishna G. Palepu, Anthony K. Woo, and Nancy Hua Dai. "Ant Financial (A)." Harvard Business School Case 617-060, March 2017. (Revised March 2019.)
- January 2017 (Revised August 2019)
- Case
X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (A)
By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella
Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace, and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it...
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Keywords:
Ethics;
Competition;
Digital Platforms;
Internet and the Web;
Small Business;
Retail Industry;
Canada
Zhu, Feng, and Angela Acocella. "X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (A)." Harvard Business School Case 617-046, January 2017. (Revised August 2019.)
- January 2017 (Revised August 2019)
- Supplement
X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (B)
By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella
Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it...
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Keywords:
Ethics;
Competition;
Digital Platforms;
Internet and the Web;
Small Business;
Retail Industry;
Canada
Zhu, Feng, and Angela Acocella. "X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 617-047, January 2017. (Revised August 2019.)
- January 2017
- Background Note
Making Virtual Reality Real
By: Feng Zhu, Sarah Mehta and David Lane
This note describes virtual reality and augmented reality technologies and describes the main consumer products on offer in 2016 as well as their manufacturers. It also surveys existing applications of virtual and augment reality technologies.
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Keywords:
Virtual Reality;
Augmented Reality;
Oculus;
Google;
HTC;
Magic Leap;
Microsoft;
Samsung;
Software;
Niantic;
Digital Platforms;
Technology Adoption;
Applications and Software;
Technology Industry
Zhu, Feng, Sarah Mehta, and David Lane. "Making Virtual Reality Real." Harvard Business School Background Note 617-013, January 2017.
- November 7, 2016
- Article
How Wikipedia Keeps Political Discourse from Turning Ugly
By: Shane Greenstein and Feng Zhu
Greenstein, Shane, and Feng Zhu. "How Wikipedia Keeps Political Discourse from Turning Ugly." Harvard Business Review (website) (November 7, 2016).
- November–December 2016
- Article
The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Industry
By: Yongwook Paik and Feng Zhu
Strategy scholars have documented in various empirical settings that firms seek and leverage stronger institutions to mitigate hazards and gain competitive advantage. In this paper, we argue that such “institution-seeking” behavior may not be confined to the pursuit of...
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Keywords:
Patent Wars;
Patent Litigation;
Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement;
Institutions;
Patent Thicket;
Smartphone;
Patents;
Corporate Strategy;
Mobile Technology
Paik, Yongwook, and Feng Zhu. "The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Industry." Organization Science 27, no. 6 (November–December 2016): 1397–1416.
- September 2016 (Revised March 2020)
- Teaching Note
Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model
By: Feng Zhu
Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride, as opposed to the 20%–30%...
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- Summer 2016
- Article
Open Content, Linus' Law, and Neutral Point of View
By: Shane Greenstein and Feng Zhu
The diffusion of the Internet and digital technologies has enabled many organizations to use the open-content production model to produce and disseminate knowledge. While several prior studies have shown that the open-content production model can lead to high-quality...
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Keywords:
Prejudice and Bias;
Internet and the Web;
Balance and Stability;
Operations;
Knowledge Management;
Knowledge Dissemination
Greenstein, Shane, and Feng Zhu. "Open Content, Linus' Law, and Neutral Point of View." Information Systems Research 27, no. 3 (September 2016): 618–635.
- May 2016 (Revised March 2020)
- Case
Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model
By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella
Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride as opposed to the 20-30%...
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Keywords:
Information Technology;
Transportation;
Business Startups;
Business Model;
Transportation Industry;
Boston
Zhu, Feng, and Angela Acocella. "Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model." Harvard Business School Case 616-062, May 2016. (Revised March 2020.)
- Article
Products to Platforms: Making the Leap
By: Feng Zhu and Nathan Furr
Following the path of companies such as Apple and Amazon, more and more firms are trying to become not just product purveyors but also platform providers, facilitating direct connections between customers and other groups. Although launching a platform can generate new...
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Zhu, Feng, and Nathan Furr. "Products to Platforms: Making the Leap." Harvard Business Review 94, no. 4 (April 2016): 72–78.
- 2016
- Working Paper
The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Market
By: Feng Zhu
Strategy scholars have documented in various empirical settings that firms seek and leverage stronger institutions to mitigate hazards and gain competitive advantage. In this paper, we argue that such “institution-seeking” behavior may not be confined to the pursuit of...
View Details
Keywords:
Patent Wars;
Patent Litigation;
Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement;
Institutions;
Smartphone;
Patent Thicket;
Digital Platforms;
Patents;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Globalized Markets and Industries;
Business Strategy;
Telecommunications Industry
Paik, Yongwook, and Feng Zhu. "The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Market." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 14-015, August 2013. (Revised March 2016.)
- November 2015
- Case
Upwork: Reimagining the Future of Work
Upwork, the world's largest freelance talent platform, was the result of a merger between the two leading online freelancing companies in 2014, Elance and oDesk. After the merger, the company operated as Elance-oDesk and continued to manage two online...
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Keywords:
Platforms;
Employment;
Digital Platforms;
Market Transactions;
Business Processes;
Information Technology;
Internet and the Web;
Job Search
Zhu, Feng, Rory McDonald, Marco Iansiti, and Aaron Smith. "Upwork: Reimagining the Future of Work." Harvard Business School Case 616-027, November 2015.
- November 2015
- Article
Cannibalization and Option Value Effects of Secondary Markets: Evidence from the U.S. Concert Industry
By: Victor Manuel Bennett, Robert Seamans and Feng Zhu
We examine how reducing search frictions in secondary markets affects the value appropriated by firms in primary markets. We characterize two effects on primary market firms caused by intermediaries entering secondary markets: the "cannibalization" and "option value"...
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Keywords:
Cannibalization Effect;
Option Value Effect;
Secondary Markets;
Concert Industry;
Craigslist;
Competition;
Distribution Channels;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry
Bennett, Victor Manuel, Robert Seamans, and Feng Zhu. "Cannibalization and Option Value Effects of Secondary Markets: Evidence from the U.S. Concert Industry." Strategic Management Journal 36, no. 11 (November 2015): 1599–1614.
- August 2015 (Revised January 2017)
- Technical Note
From Correlation to Causation
By: Feng Zhu and Karim R. Lakhani
To make sound business decisions, managers must be comfortable with the concepts of correlation and causation. This background note provides an overview of correlation and causation using examples and explains why the former does not imply the latter. It also describes...
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Zhu, Feng, and Karim R. Lakhani. "From Correlation to Causation." Harvard Business School Technical Note 616-009, August 2015. (Revised January 2017.)