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- October 2022
- Case
Volt Lines: Leading a B2B Service Provider through a Crisis (A)
By: Navid Mojir and Gamze Yucaoglu
Volt Lines was a next-generation transportation service in Istanbul, Turkey. The company was trying to disrupt the traditional corporate transportation market by developing software that allowed it to offer subscription-based transportation. Under the subscription...
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Keywords:
Business To Business Marketing;
B2B Marketing;
B2B Pricing;
Subscription Model;
Crisis Marketing;
Startup;
Service Management;
Information Technology;
Transportation;
COVID-19 Pandemic;
Disruptive Innovation;
Digital Platforms;
Business Model;
Price;
Crisis Management;
Opportunities;
Transportation Industry;
Technology Industry;
Turkey
- 2022
- Working Paper
You've Got Mail! The Late 19th Century U.S. Postal Service Expansion, Entrepreneurship, and Firm Performance
By: Astrid Marinoni and Maria P. Roche
We analyze the impact of the US Postal Service's western expansion in the late 19th century, a major institutional innovation, on entrepreneurship and its heterogeneous influence on firm performance. Exploiting a novel dataset constructed from digitized archival...
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- June 2022
- Case
Zalando: Becoming the Starting Point for Fashion
By: Antonio Moreno, Leela Nageswaran, Emilie Billaud and Federica Gabrieli
Born in 2008 as a small startup selling flip flops, by mid-2021 Zalando had turned into an online fashion company with an assortment of more than 4,500 international brands, 45 million active customers, and a presence in 23 European markets. An essential component in...
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Keywords:
Transition;
Customer Value and Value Chain;
Digital Platforms;
Distribution;
Order Taking and Fulfillment;
Infrastructure;
Logistics;
Service Operations;
Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Fashion Industry;
Apparel and Accessories Industry;
Beauty and Cosmetics Industry;
Distribution Industry;
Retail Industry;
Service Industry;
Shipping Industry;
Technology Industry;
Europe
- March 2022 (Revised August 2022)
- Case
Proximie: Using XR Technology to Create Borderless Operating Rooms
By: Ariel D. Stern and Alpana Thapar
In mid-January 2022, Nadine Hachach-Haram, founder and CEO of Proximie, was thinking about the company’s growth plans. Launched in 2016, Proximie was a platform that enabled clinicians, proctors, and medical device company personnel to be virtually present in operating...
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- February 2022 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
Buddy Valastro: Cake Boss
By: Boris Groysberg, Evan M.S. Hecht and Katherine Connolly Baden
Buddy Valastro, celebrity baker and business owner, inherited his father’s bakery—Carlo’s Bake Shop of Hoboken, New Jersey—at the age of seventeen. He had willed the shop to survive and gone on to fame through his television show, “Cake Boss”—the name most people now...
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Keywords:
Bakery;
Entrepreneur;
Scalability;
Digital;
Systems;
Process Improvement;
Team Effectiveness;
Team Building;
COVID-19 Pandemic;
Food;
Entrepreneurship;
Family Business;
Crisis Management;
Change Management;
Leadership;
Creativity;
Operations;
Groups and Teams;
Brands and Branding;
Food and Beverage Industry;
United States
- January 2022 (Revised August 2022)
- Case
Geely SEA: New Electric Vehicle Platforms
By: Willy C. Shih and Shu Lin
Kent Bovellan, the Chief Engineer and Head of the Vehicle Architecture Center for Geely Holding, the Hangzhou, China headquartered global automotive group, was debating the platform choice for an upcoming "D" segment midsized battery electric vehicle (BEV). He had led...
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Keywords:
Product Innovation;
Product Architecture;
Product Engineering;
Platform Design;
Platform Strategy;
Information Infrastructure;
Digital Platforms;
Information Technology;
Product Design;
Product Development;
Cost Management;
Decision Making;
Competitive Strategy;
Industry Structures;
Auto Industry;
China;
Sweden
- 2021
- Chapter
Digital Infrastructure
By: Shane Greenstein
What determines the supply of innovative digital infrastructure and how does variance in supply shape the performance of digital services? The essay reviews research into the economic impact of deployment, innovation, and adoption of digital infrastructure. It...
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Keywords:
Information Technology;
Infrastructure;
Economics;
Policy;
Research;
Analysis;
United States
- June 2021
- Case
Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A)
By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards
In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not...
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Keywords:
Agility;
Ecosystem;
Innovation Ecosystems;
Crowdsourcing;
Open Innovation;
Partnership;
Government;
Collaboration;
Co-creation;
Purpose;
Impact;
Social Impact;
Movement;
Organizational Behavior;
Organizational Ambidexterity;
Ambidexterity;
Culture;
Culture Change;
Global Teams;
Experimentation;
Space;
Airline Industry;
Start-up;
Platform Business;
Platform Strategy;
Platform;
Digital;
Robotics;
Robots;
Mobility;
Strategy;
COVID-19;
Intrapreneurship;
Public-private Partnership;
XPRIZE;
Space Industry;
Avatar;
Telepresence;
Innovation Lab;
Innovation and Invention;
Technological Innovation;
Partners and Partnerships;
Collaborative Innovation and Invention;
Alignment;
Leadership;
Leading Change;
Diversity;
Organizational Culture;
Change Management;
Entrepreneurship;
Digital Platforms;
Transportation Industry;
Aerospace Industry;
Japan
- June 2021
- Case
Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A) (Abridged)
By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards
In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not...
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Keywords:
Agility;
Ecosystem;
Innovation Ecosystems;
Innovation;
Crowdsourcing;
XPRIZE;
Open Innovation;
Partnership;
Government;
Collaboration;
Co-creation;
Purpose;
Impact;
Social Impact;
Movement;
Organizational Behavior;
Organizational Ambidexterity;
Ambidexterity;
Culture;
Culture Change;
Global Teams;
Experimentation;
Space;
Space Industry;
Airline Industry;
Start-up;
Platform Business;
Platform Strategy;
Platform;
Digital;
Robotics;
Robots;
Avatar;
Telepresence;
Innovation Lab;
Mobility;
COVID-19;
Intrapreneurship;
Public-private Partnership;
Innovation and Invention;
Technological Innovation;
Partners and Partnerships;
Collaborative Innovation and Invention;
Alignment;
Leadership;
Leading Change;
Diversity;
Organizational Culture;
Change Management;
Strategy;
Entrepreneurship;
Digital Platforms;
Transportation Industry;
Aerospace Industry;
Japan
- 2022
- Working Paper
Cloud Adoption and Digital Transformation: The Paradoxical Role of Enterprise Data Architecture
By: Sam (Ruiqing) Cao and Marco Iansiti
Large traditional conglomerates increasingly invest in cloud infrastructure through adopting Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) products, which facilitates digital transformation but creates complex interdependent systems spanning...
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- April 2021
- Case
Transforming BlackBerry: From Smartphones to Software
By: Ranjay Gulati and Nicole Tempest Keller
On the verge of failure, BlackBerry brought in John Chen as CEO in 2013 to orchestrate a bold turnaround of the company. Once an iconic leader in the smartphone market, BlackBerry was best known for its tactile QWERTY keyboard, strong security, and a focus on business...
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Keywords:
Pivot;
Managing Change;
Turnaround;
Smartphone;
Change Management;
Leading Change;
Transformation;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Digital Platforms;
Change;
Information Infrastructure;
Applications and Software;
Competitive Strategy;
Cybersecurity;
Technology Industry;
Transportation Industry;
Canada
- April 2021 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
IBM: Design Thinking
By: Srikant M. Datar, Amram Migdal and Paul Hamilton
This case describes the 2012-2020 effort at IBM to implement design thinking throughout the company and hire thousands of designers to serve on every product team alongside technical engineers and developers and product managers. IBM’s design transformation is told...
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Keywords:
Business Ventures;
Business Divisions;
Business Units;
Business Organization;
Change;
Change Management;
Transformation;
Competency and Skills;
Talent and Talent Management;
Design;
Human Resources;
Recruitment;
Selection and Staffing;
Innovation and Invention;
Collaborative Innovation and Invention;
Innovation and Management;
Innovation Strategy;
Jobs and Positions;
Job Design and Levels;
Leading Change;
Management;
Business or Company Management;
Goals and Objectives;
Management Practices and Processes;
Operations;
Product;
Product Design;
Product Development;
Organizations;
Business Processes;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Organizational Design;
Organizational Structure;
Strategy;
Adaptation;
Adoption;
Technological Innovation;
Information Infrastructure;
Information Technology;
Technology Industry;
Information Technology Industry;
United States
- March 2021
- Supplement
Facebook's Libra (B): The Privatization of Money?
This case addresses the events that took place following the conclusion of the case “Facebook’s Libra (A): The Privatization of Money?” In October 2019, several months after the conclusion of the A case, multiple members of the Libra Association announced that they...
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Keywords:
Blockchain;
Cryptocurrency;
Accounting;
Economics;
Money;
Governance;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Policy;
Governance Controls;
Innovation and Invention;
Innovation Strategy;
Technological Innovation;
Disruptive Innovation;
Information Technology;
Digital Platforms;
Information Infrastructure;
Technology Industry;
Europe;
Switzerland;
United States;
California
- February 2021 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Brainlab: Imaging a MedTech Future
By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Gregory P. Licholai and Federica Gabrieli
Can Brainlab, a privately held firm, compete with giants like Medtronic and Amazon in delivering the Digital Operating Room of the future? The CEO is pondering solutions for secure exchange of medical information, pricing a new robotic imaging device, and reorganizing...
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Keywords:
Surgery;
Robotics;
Health Care;
Private Healthcare;
Pricing;
Technology Platform;
Acquisition;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Corporate Strategy;
Corporate Entrepreneurship;
Health Care and Treatment;
Health;
Innovation and Invention;
Innovation and Management;
Innovation Strategy;
Technological Innovation;
Applications and Software;
Information Infrastructure;
Information Technology;
Digital Platforms;
Health Industry;
Europe;
Germany;
Munich
- February 2021
- Teaching Plan
Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Amy Klopfenstein
This teaching plan serves as a supplement to the case “Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?” HBS 820-098. The case explores the tension between two different financing and expansion plans for a startup, and explores issues related to business model pivots and industry...
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Keywords:
Business Ventures;
Business Model;
Business Plan;
Business Startups;
Entrepreneurship;
Decision Making;
Decisions;
Judgments;
Ethics;
Geography;
Geopolitical Units;
Finance;
Investment;
Markets;
Market Entry and Exit;
Demand and Consumers;
Media;
Society;
Urban Development;
Sustainable Cities;
Information Technology;
Information Infrastructure;
Digital Platforms;
Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Expansion;
Relationships;
Capital;
Venture Capital;
Advertising Industry;
Technology Industry;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
North and Central America;
United States;
Massachusetts;
Cambridge
- February 2021
- Article
Platform Diffusion at Temporary Gatherings: Social Coordination and Ecosystem Emergence
By: Tommy Pan Fang, Andy Wu and David R. Clough
Software platforms create value by cultivating an ecosystem of complementary products and services. Existing explanations for how a prospective complementor chooses platforms to join assume the complementor has rich information about the range of available platforms....
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Keywords:
Innovation Ecosystems;
Technology Diffusion;
Hackathon;
Contagion;
Software Applications;
Software Development;
Software Engineering;
Technology Strategy;
Technology Adoption;
Technological Innovation;
Information Infrastructure;
Innovation Strategy;
Digital Platforms;
Network Effects;
Applications and Software;
Information Technology;
Technology Industry;
Computer Industry;
Information Technology Industry;
Video Game Industry
- January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
Jumia's Path to Profitability
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Gamze Yucaoglu
The case opens in September 2019 as Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, co-founders and co-CEOs of Jumia, the leading Pan-African e-commerce platform, are contemplating the company’s path to profitability in the aftermath of a fragile investor sentiment, as the company...
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Keywords:
Retail;
Business Models;
Business Model;
Business Startups;
Emerging Markets;
For-Profit Firms;
Strategy;
Digital Platforms;
Information Technology;
Technology Adoption;
Value Creation;
Globalization;
Entrepreneurship;
Competition;
Expansion;
Logistics;
Profit;
Resource Allocation;
Diversification;
Corporate Strategy;
Retail Industry;
Technology Industry;
Africa
- May 2020 (Revised December 2022)
- Case
Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Amy Klopfenstein and Amram Migdal
In November 2019, Sandra Richter, co-founder and CEO of Soofa, a network of advertising-supported digital bulletin boards, must decide between two different fundraising and expansion plans for her company. One plan entails raising $15 million in a Series A round and...
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Keywords:
Business Ventures;
Business Model;
Business Plan;
Business Startups;
Entrepreneurship;
Decision Making;
Decisions;
Ethics;
Geography;
Geopolitical Units;
Finance;
Investment;
Markets;
Market Entry and Exit;
Demand and Consumers;
Network Effects;
Media;
Society;
Urban Development;
Sustainable Cities;
Information Technology;
Information Infrastructure;
Digital Platforms;
Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Expansion;
Relationships;
Partners and Partnerships;
Capital;
Venture Capital;
Advertising Industry;
Technology Industry;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
North and Central America;
United States;
Massachusetts;
Cambridge
- January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
- Case
Huawei: A Global Tech Giant in the Crossfire of a Digital Cold War
By: William C. Kirby, Billy Chan and John P. McHugh
By 2020, Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei, had transformed the small telephone switch manufacturer he founded in 1987 into a $120 billion telecommunications company poised to lead the lucrative rollout of fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks. However, an emerging...
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- 2019
- Working Paper
Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 17 The Wintel Standards-based Platform
The purpose of this chapter is to use the theory of bottlenecks laid out in previous chapters to better understand the dynamics of an open standards-based platform. I describe how the Wintel platform evolved from 1990 through 2000 under joint sponsorship of Intel and...
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