Digital Winners & Losers

February 01, 2018

Read The Full Prompt

Digital technologies are upending many industries and companies. Think about Uber’s impact on the taxi business or Spotify’s impact on music downloads and the record industry.

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 500-750 word post to make your contribution on d3.harvard.edu/platform-digit by 6pm on Feb 1. 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 per module. Feel free to use graphics, data, videos and links to other sites to corroborate your points.

Selected posts will be discussed in class and also featured on the HBS Digital Initiative website.

Please prepare a 2-3 min summary of your blog post before class.

Submitted (83)

Amazon
Walter
Posted on February 1, 2018 at 5:50 pm
Overview of Amazon's platforms and core concepts that drive their successful delivery and capture of value.
BioWare: Fallen Angel
Chris
Last modified on April 9, 2018 at 9:42 pm
As this once-proud studio pushed to extract more value from its player base, its capacity to create value with hit games has fallen into decline.
Will the innovation of e-cigarettes erode NYC’s public health gains from anti-smoking policies?
PH
Posted on February 1, 2018 at 5:39 pm
NYC cut teen smoking in half from 2001 to 2011, but the innovation of e-cigarettes threatens those gains. The city must act quickly to fight a potentially deadly digital disruption.
Transformation of Big Blue
AyhanSebin
Last modified on August 29, 2019 at 10:49 pm
Decline of IBM since 1980s due to being disrupted by software and internet companies.
YouTube TV: On Top of the Over the Top World
Ross Galloway
Posted on February 1, 2018 at 5:44 pm
To combat cord cutting, traditional and digital TV distributors have launched services bringing TV to customers over the internet - or "over the top". YouTube's existing user generated content allows it to license fewer networks for its TV service and [...]
What Retail Apocalypse? Farfetch and the Store of the Future
MM
Last modified on February 1, 2018 at 7:07 pm
As the death knell sounds for traditional fashion retailers, the UK-based digital native is making considerable strides both on- and off-line.
SpotHero Kicks Parking Frustrations to the Curb
PD
Last modified on February 1, 2018 at 5:52 pm
SpotHero's platform has alleviated information asymmetry issues for parkers while also helping garages fill their unused capacity.
Palo Alto Networks: Riding the Digitization Wave
HBS123
Posted on February 1, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Rapid digitization has created many opportunities but also enabled the rise of cybercrime activity, allowing firms like Palo Alto Networks to create tremendous value for the global economy
BlackBerry’s Fall from Grace
HC
Last modified on February 1, 2018 at 4:11 pm
In the late-2000s, Research in Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry smartphone was seemingly everywhere and looked like it was here to stay. However, by the end of 2013, BlackBerry’s market share had fallen off a cliff to under 1%. What happened? How [...]
Not just Nokia – Another mobile phone loser in “Galapagos islands”
Taka
Last modified on February 1, 2018 at 4:54 pm
Fujitsu, which used to be a top mobile phone manufacturer in Japan, reduced its market share rapidly and had to sell its mobile phone business. What made it left behind the technological shift in the industry?
From a Presidential Campaign to a Data Analytics Start-Up – Civis Analytics
EAP
Last modified on February 1, 2018 at 5:52 pm
Effectively harnessing data analytics and machine learning allow campaigns and companies to improve the ROI of marketing costs and to gain deeper insight into consumer data to make better business decisions.