Sharpening Your Skills: Online Marketing
| Published: | February 9, 2012 |
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| Feature: | Sharpening Your Skills |
| Forum: | open for comment; 0 Comments posted |
In this collection from our archives, Harvard Business School faculty discuss the latest research on online marketing techniques, including consumer reviews, video ads, loyalty programs, and coupon offerings.
Published in 2011
Quantity vs. Quality: Exclusion by Platforms with Network Effects
| Author: | Andrei Hagiu |
|---|---|
| Published: | September 9, 2011 |
| Paper Release Date: | May 2011 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Many well-known platforms regulate access and transactions even though excluded users would be willing to pay the "price of admission." For example, Apple routinely excludes certain application developers from its highly popular iPhone store, and videogame console manufacturers such as Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo restrict access to a select set of game developers. Exclusion is oftentimes a necessary strategic instrument, which allows platforms to trade off the quantity versus the "quality" of users. Andrei Hagiu's paper builds a simple strategic model that formalizes the choices of possible exclusion policies and discusses the potential gains and losses of exclusion.
To Groupon or Not to Groupon: The Profitability of Deep Discounts
| Authors: | Benjamin Edelman, Sonia Jaffe, and and Scott Duke Kominers |
|---|---|
| Published: | August 2, 2011 |
| Paper Release Date: | June 2011 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
For consumers, online discount vouchers (like those offered by Groupon.com) have obvious appeal: discounts as large as 90 percent. But for retailers offering the deals through the site, does the publicity compensate for the deep hit to profit margins? This paper sets out to help small businesses decide whether it makes sense to offer discount vouchers. Research was conducted by Harvard Business School professor Ben Edelman, Business Economics PhD candidate Scott Duke Kominers, and by Sonia Jaffe of the Harvard University Department of Economics.
Immigrant Innovators: Job Stealers or Job Creators?
| Published: | August 1, 2011 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
| Forum: | open for comment; 32 Comments posted |
The H-1B visa program, which enables US employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers for three years, is "a lightning rod for a very heated debate," says Harvard Business School professor William Kerr. His latest research addresses the question of whether the program is good for innovation, and whether it impacts jobs for Americans.
Non-competes Push Talent Away
| Published: | July 11, 2011 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
| Forum: | open for comment; 8 Comments posted |
California is among several states where non-compete agreements are essentially illegal. Is it a coincidence that so many inventors flock to Silicon Valley? New research by Lee Fleming, Matt Marx, and Jasjit Singh investigates whether there is a "brain drain" of talented engineers and scientists who leave states that allow non-competes and move to states that don't.
Japan Disaster Shakes Up Supply-Chain Strategies
| Published: | May 31, 2011 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
| Forum: | open for comment; 15 Comments posted |
The recent natural disaster in Japan brought to light the fragile nature of the global supply chain. Professor Willy Shih discusses how companies should be thinking about their supply-chain strategy now.
Building a Better Board
| Published: | May 11, 2011 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
| Forum: | open for comment; 9 Comments posted |
While corporate board members take their jobs more seriously than ever, they are not necessarily as helpful or effective as they could be, says HBS senior lecturer Stephen Kaufman. He recently sat down with HBS Working Knowledge to discuss what he considers to be the biggest practical issues facing boards today.
Teaching a 'Lean Startup' Strategy
| Published: | April 11, 2011 |
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| Feature: | Lessons from the Classroom |
| Forum: | closed | 56 Comments posted |
Most startups fail because they waste too much time and money building the wrong product before realizing too late what the right product should have been, says HBS entrepreneurial management professor Thomas R. Eisenmann. In his new MBA course, Launching Technology Ventures, Eisenmann introduces students to the idea of the lean startup—a methodology that has proven successful for many young high-tech companies.
Platform Competition under Asymmetric Information
| Authors: | Hanna Halaburda and Yaron Yehezkel |
|---|---|
| Published: | March 22, 2011 |
| Paper Release Date: | February 2011 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Research by Hanna Halaburda (Harvard Business School) and Yaron Yehezkel (Tel Aviv University) shows how pricing, profits, and market efficiency are affected in two-sided markets, such as with smartphone and video game platforms, when users and developers do not know the utility or costs associated with the platform until they join.
Managing the Open Source vs. Proprietary Decision
| Published: | March 2, 2011 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
| Forum: | open for comment; 2 Comments posted |
In their new book, The Comingled Code, HBS professor Josh Lerner and London School of Economics professor Mark Schankerman look at the impact of open source software on economic development. Our book excerpt discusses implications for managers.
Agglomerative Forces and Cluster Shapes
| Authors: | William R. Kerr and Scott Duke Kominers |
|---|---|
| Published: | January 28, 2011 |
| Paper Release Date: | December 2010 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
HBS professor William R. Kerr and doctoral candidate Scott Duke Kominers develop a theoretical model for analyzing the forces that drive agglomeration, or industrial clustering. It is rare that researchers systematically observe the forces like technology sharing, customer/supplier interactions, or labor pooling that lead to firm clustering. Instead, the data only portray the final location decisions that firms make (for example, firms that utilize one type of technology are clustered over 50 miles, while those using another technology are clustered over 100 miles). The researchers' model identifies how these observable traits can be used to infer properties of the underlying clustering forces.
Is Groupon Good for Retailers?
| Published: | January 10, 2011 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
| Forum: | open for comment; 57 Comments posted |
For retailers offering deals through the wildly popular online start-up Groupon, does the one-day publicity compensate for the deep hit to profit margins? A new working paper, "To Groupon or Not to Groupon," sets out to help small businesses decide. Harvard Business School professor Benjamin G. Edelman discusses the paper's findings.
Published in 2010
HBS Faculty on 2010's Biggest Business Developments
| Published: | December 27, 2010 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Three Harvard Business School professors—former Medtronic chairman and CEO Bill George, economist and entrepreneurship expert William Sahlman, and innovation and strategy authority Rosabeth Moss Kanter—offer their thoughts on the most significant business and economic developments of 2010.
Sponsored Links' or 'Advertisements'?: Measuring Labeling Alternatives in Internet Search Engines
| Authors: | Benjamin Edelman and Duncan S. Gilchrist |
|---|---|
| Published: | November 30, 2010 |
| Paper Release Date: | November 2010 (Revised January 2011) |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
In processing a search for a particular phrase, Internet search engines generally offer two types of results: the algorithmic results, which a search engine selects based on relevance, and the "sponsored links," for which advertisers pay. The latter often occupy prominent screen space. But does the average web surfer realize that they are advertisements? In an online experiment, Harvard Business School professor Benjamin Edelman and doctoral candidate Duncan S. Gilchrist show that "sponsored link" is too vague a term for some users to understand, and that "paid advertisement" is a label that better clarifies the nature of the link. They call on the FTC to compel search engines to improve their disclosures.
Growth Through Heterogeneous Innovations
| Authors: | Ufuk Akcigit and William R. Kerr |
|---|---|
| Published: | November 23, 2010 |
| Paper Release Date: | October 2010 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Economists have long recognized that innovation is central to economic growth and development. But as a profession, economics is just beginning to model the many types of innovations that exist and the amazing heterogeneity in the firms that conduct research and development--from General Electric to Silicon Valley start-ups. This paper provides theoretical and empirical evidence surrounding how firm size influences the types of R&D undertaken, with particular focus on choices to pursue exploration R&D (capturing new product lines) versus exploitation R&D (refining current product lines internally). From the choices made by individual firms and new entrepreneurs, the model then builds to consider aggregate economic growth. Research was conducted by Ufuk Akcigit of the University of Pennsylvania and William R. Kerr of Harvard Business School.
Data.gov: Matching Government Data with Rapid Innovation
| Published: | November 16, 2010 |
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| Feature: | Lessons from the Classroom |
Data.gov is a young initiative of President
How IT Shapes Top-Down and Bottom-Up Decision Making
| Published: | November 1, 2010 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
| Forum: | open for comment; 15 Comments posted |
What determines whether decisions happen on the bottom, middle, or top rung of the corporate ladder? New research from professor Raffaella Sadun finds that the answer often lies in the technology that a company deploys.
The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization
| Authors: | Nicholas Bloom, Luis Garicano, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen |
|---|---|
| Published: | October 28, 2010 |
| Paper Release Date: | 9/26/2010 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
At what point in the corporate food chain are big decisions made? It depends on technology, according to new research, which finds that information-based software will help to push decisions further down the corporate ladder, whereas communication technologies will push decisions up to the top. Research was conducted by Nicholas Bloom of Stanford University; Assistant Professor Raffaella Sadun of Harvard Business School; and Luis Garicano and John Van Reenen of the London School of Economics.
When Does a Platform Create Value by Limiting Choice?
| Authors: | Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Hanna W. Halaburda |
|---|---|
| Published: | October 26, 2010 |
| Paper Release Date: | September, 2010 (Revised January, 2011) |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Platforms such as video games and smartphones need to attract users, and the best way to do so is to offer more and more applications. Is there ever a point where a platform should limit the variety available? Researchers Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Hanna Halaburda observe that in many situations users enjoy consuming applications together. When such consumption complementarities are present, users may benefit if the platform limits choice. With fewer applications to choose from, it is easier for users to take full advantage from shared consumption.
What Is Customer Opinion Good For?
| Published: | August 5, 2010 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 73 Comments posted |
Summing Up: Are customer wishes irrelevant when creating a new product? Jim Heskett's readers say it depends on the product, on market goals, and where you are in the development cycle. (Online forum has closed; next forum opens September 2.)
