HBS Digital Initiative builds community and expertise around digital transformation and tech at Harvard Business School and beyond. We manage this forum to gather and share perspectives from the HBS student community.
Want to learn more about digital transformation? digital.hbs.edu
Firms today are establishing market leadership by mastering digital innovation. For example, the traditional "Mad Men" advertising agencies now have to be able to blend digital products and services with creative strategy. Amazon is as much a retailer and supply chain powerhouse as it is a digital innovator. Similarly, the Netflix business model is heavily reliant on continuously building and enhancing digital products and services to compete against incumbents in the entertainment industry. Ford is realizing that its future competitors are likely to be Facebook and Google and not BMW and Toyota. Meanwhile, Local Motors, an HBS-alum led startup, is using crowdsourcing, digital fabrication and 3D printing to disrupt the automotive industry.
Digital Innovation and Transformation is a Harvard Business School course designed to equip students to confidently help conceive, lead and execute digital innovation initiatives. To enrich the course experience, Professor Greenstein have elected to use this platform for assignments. The goal of using Open Knowledge is to stimulate deeper conversation, cross-pollination between ideas, and inclusion of the global "digital transformation" community.
We invite you to read more and dive in by adding your own thoughts through contributions and comments.
Digital technologies are upending many industries and companies. Think about Uber’s impact on the taxi business or Amazon’s impact on retail stores.
For this assignment, we would like you to identify companies/organizations that you think are winning or losing. Just work on either winners or losers. Please focus on just one organization. Tell us why they are a winner or loser. Discuss elements of how they create and/or capture value that is leading you to call them a winner or loser.
Create an approximately 750-word post to make your contribution on digit.hbs.org by 6pm on Feb 11. Please create appropriate tags for your post including if it is a “winner” or “loser.” Please also respond to and comment on three other posts. Feel free to use graphics, data, videos and links to other sites to corroborate your points.
Background Established in 1793, the Musée du Louvre is one of the world’s largest and most visited museums. Despite its age and size, the Louvre has become one of the most forward thinking and digitally innovative museums, resulting in increasing [...]
Monzo has positioned themselves as a digital-only alternative to traditional consumer banks. Their use of technology has allowed them to offer greater convenience, transparency and service – all at a lower cost. They’re winning, and they’re likely to continue doing [...]
As Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”Coursera is attempting to do just that by providing “world-class learning for anyone, anywhere”.
Mercado Libre, the largest online eCommerce ecosystem in Latin America, has disrupted the retail industry. Its innovative business model has positioned the company as a winner in Latin America, which has been reflected in its impressive growth.
Starbucks Rewards Program generates customer loyalty, increased revenue, and data for the company to create meaningful 1:1 relationships and personalized marketing efforts.
When even iPhones did not exist - is when Burberry started thinking of Digital Transformation. The journey that this 100+ years old company took is inspiring and tells us what a winner looks like in this world of Digital Darwinism.
DJI Overview: from hobbyist to billion-dollar business When Frank Wang incorporated DJI (Da Jiang Innovations) Co in his dorm room in 2006, the market for unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly known as drones) was limited to a few die-hard hobbyist and [...]
Glossier is a digitally native, direct to consumer company that has utilized digital content and an online community to transform the beauty product development process and reduce marketing costs.
SMT has positioned themselves as media incumbents' solution in the race to keep up with technology for sports broadcasting applications. This strategy has made SMT a winner!
Mirror looks like a winner. It is disrupting the home fitness landscape and is poised to impact the healthcare, education, and social media landscapes to name a few.
Sephora is leading the digital-first revolution in the beauty industry. Is digital a strong foundation, or will the company follow the rest of a retail industry and blush in the face of online pure-plays and Amazon?
Can Peloton win as a physical and digital product? Will the community aspects of the experience help it to stay afloat? The app might just eat the bike. Read on.
By applying a technology business model to the healthcare industry, One Medical has successfully aligned incentives of different parties to become a clear winner in digital health.
Flexport is a freight forwarder based out of San Francisco that is digitizing the international freight shipment market. There are a number of reasons why I think they are a #winner in today’s digital world.
The hardware and the software will come from Silicon Valley. But the watch case, the dial, the design, the idea, the crown, that part of the watch will, of course, be Swiss ~ Jean-Claude Biver [1]
