This case has been designed to explore strategic interactions among organizations with different business models. The case considers how a competitor successfully challenged the incumbent in a platform market defined by strong network effects and high switching costs. The case allows students to...

Patagonia produces high-quality environmentally friendly garments that command significant price premiums. Its environmental mission motivates it not only to donate to environmental causes and reduce the impact of its own production, but also to share its practices with other companies. While...

The fine art auction business has remained a duopoly over its 250 year history. The industry is dominated by Sotheby's and Christie's Inc. Curiously, neither competitor has been able to overtake the other by a notable margin despite the clear network effects of this platform business. As we...

In 2011, HUGE, Inc. is the fastest growing digital agency in the U.S. Its CEO, Aaron Shapiro, is considering a set of novel growth strategies to take his firm to the next level. However, the digital strategy industry in which HUGE has made a name for itself is highly fluid and constantly...

La Fageda is a manufacturer of high-quality, naturally-made yogurts in northern Catalonia, Spain. La Fageda is substantially different from its main competitors such as multinational Danone in that it is a 270-person workers' cooperative with 60 percent of its membership made up of mentally...

After booming in 2007 and early 2008, the offshore drilling industry slumps in 2009. Lower oil prices lead oil companies to reduce drilling budgets, and rig utilization falls from essentially 100% to 70% in some markets. Day rates -- the prices paid for a rig's services -- fall by as much as...

Turbine Inc. is releasing a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, The Lord of the Rings Online, based on the popular film trilogy. The firm's CEO needs to consider market conditions and game characteristics to build a business model for the game: decide which type of consumers to target-the...

Cindy Gallop launched If We Ran the World (IWRTW) in February 2010, as what the tech world called minimum viable product, in order to real-world test Gallop's "business of the future" concept while development was ongoing. IWRTW was conceived to bring together human good intentions with...

The case describes two alternative elective course assignment procedures: Harvard Business School's lottery-based system and Kellogg Graduate School of Management's bidding-based system. The case has been designed to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each system and their desirability (or...

Wojciech Woziwodzki, co-founder, president & CEO of Tequila Mobile SA, a mobile gamers developer, publisher and service provider, had to make some important strategic decisions. Tequila Mobile SA had already decided to shift to a new "free2play" revenue model but needed to decide whether to...