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Two-sided marketplaces often risk disintermediation: Users may rely on the marketplace to find each other, but then perform related future transactions--or even the current transaction--without the platform's involvement and without paying any fees the platform may charge. This technical note assesses which marketplaces are most vulnerable to disintermediation, and offers a set of strategies marketplaces can implement in order to reduce their vulnerability.

This note profiles the role of the modern chief financial officer (CFO). It presents insights based on a variety of surveys and descriptions of HBS graduates who hold or have held the CFO role. Although the role varies significantly from one organization to another, CFOs are currently responsible for far more than tracking financial figures. The note provides basic information about the responsibilities CFOs face, the paths that lead to the CFO role, the characteristics of CFOs, the compensation of CFOs, and the kinds of things CFOs do when they leave the CFO role.

Analyzing an organization using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) framework generates crucial insights for decisions on major new initiatives. For example, when considering an acquisition or launching a new product or service, a SWOT analysis can raise warnings about customer sensitivities or gaps in expertise; alternatively, it can reveal new lines of business and unmet needs that may lead to new business opportunities. A SWOT analysis also serves as a typical first step in a broader strategic planning process. This technical note focuses on the use of a SWOT analysis in the healthcare sector, including recommendations for key questions to ask when initiating a SWOT analysis and advice for arranging information in a way that supports strategic decision-making.<br><br>The SWOT approach has gained importance in the healthcare sector in recent years due to both market and policy shifts. Healthcare is a site for major reform as policy-makers seek to reduce costs and encourage innovation. Across the developed world and in many developing countries, better strategic decision-making is essential to healthcare providers and finance organizations as they care for ageing populations, seek to reduce the impacts of lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, and work to manage expenses associated with treating chronic diseases. This technical note is ideal for use with product no. 9B16M084.

Analyzing an organization using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) framework generates crucial insights for decisions on major new initiatives. For example, when considering an acquisition or launching a new product or service, a SWOT analysis can raise warnings about customer sensitivities or gaps in expertise; alternatively, it can reveal new lines of business and unmet needs that may lead to new business opportunities. A SWOT analysis also serves as a typical first step in a broader strategic planning process. This technical note focuses on the use of a SWOT analysis in the healthcare sector, including recommendations for key questions to ask when initiating a SWOT analysis and advice for arranging information in a way that supports strategic decision-making. The SWOT approach has gained importance in the healthcare sector in recent years due to both market and policy shifts. Healthcare is a site for major reform as policy-makers seek to reduce costs and encourage innovation. Across the developed world and in many developing countries, better strategic decision-making is essential to healthcare providers and finance organizations as they care for ageing populations, seek to reduce the impacts of lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, and work to manage expenses associated with treating chronic diseases.

This teaching note offers an approach to the evaluation of health care markets globally. The note prepares students with a set of questions about the organization of core elements of the health care system. The organization of these elements can vary across markets, and can vary in terms of the different roles of the public and private sector in financing and delivery of health care services. Overall, the framework provides an opportunity for a structured analysis of any market in health care, and provides students with a comprehensive approach to assessing the current health care market. Students can build from this framework with their own assessments of potential opportunities for business or policy innovation within the market.

Transportation plays a key role in Canada's economy. The first part of the note deals with Canada's transportation network, providing an overview of the transportation services sector and the economic importance of transportation. The second section examines the role of government in Canada's transportation sector, including government policy. The third section describes the characteristics of each of the six main modes of transportation: air, rail, truck, marine, pipeline, and intermodal. The final section addresses the key challenges facing the Canadian transportation sector, including environmental and safety issues.

In 2016, transportation plays a key role in Canada’s economy. The first part of the note deals with Canada’s transportation network, providing an overview of the transportation services sector and the economic importance of transportation. The second section examines the role of government in Canada’s transportation sector, including government policy. The third section describes the characteristics of each of the six main modes of transportation: air, rail, truck, marine, pipeline, and intermodal. The final section addresses the key challenges facing the Canadian transportation sector, including environmental and safety issues.

This note summarizes recent research on how information technology (such as mobile phones or internet) can be used to reduce costs associated with searching for prices, as well as the associated increases in social welfare.

In the past twenty-five years, the world had seen an exponential growth in the number of companies reporting environmental, social and governance (ESG) data. Investor interest in ESG data also grew rapidly. A growing belief that increasing levels of social inequality and natural environment degradation were pressing problems that the capitalist system was failing to resolve had led many stakeholders to advocate for changes in measurement and corporate reporting as a potentially powerful "lever" that could move the discussion from "Reimagining" to "Reshaping" Capitalism. Some suggested that increased transparency could change corporate behavior, increase corporate accountability and lead to better outcomes for employees, customers, the environment and local communities. Others suggested that ESG data were value relevant from an investor standpoint and that firms "doing good would do well." According to this view, investors that used ESG data would be able to make better investment decisions and widespread disclosure of such data would improve market efficiency. However, some commentators doubted the sincerity of company ESG disclosures and suggested that firms that did good were less competitive, and therefore earned lower returns for their shareholders. As the business community entered the second half of the second decade of the twenty first century, whether the widespread adoption of ESG metrics would happen -- and whether, if it did, it would lead to systematic change -- was very much an open question.

This brief note explores the critical issues in modern anti-trust policy.

Communicating persuasively is a critical skill for leaders of any team or organization. Yet, connecting and resonating with an audience can nevertheless be a challenging task. We outline how to effectively mobilize groups through the power of communication. This note will serve leaders and members of diverse groups as they find their voice to inspire, unite, and engage others through messaging. With multiple examples as a backdrop, we highlight four key components of effective messaging in this note: 1) Structuring Messages and the Persuasive Story Pattern; 2) Appealing to the Audience; 3) Persuasively Communicating through Rhetorical Devices; and 4) Delivering Clear and Captivating Messages.

This technical note provides an overview of capital structure policy. Through a series of hypothetical situations and real-world examples, students will gain an understanding of the benefits and costs of debt and equity financing. This note explores the value and cost of capital implications of capital structure policy with the intent to explain why businesses such as Hilton Worldwide and Computer Sciences differ so dramatically in their capital structure policy

NoSQL refers to a new class of database systems used in big data environments. These database systems aim to address some of the limitations of traditional database management systems. This technical note describes the key challenges in traditional database systems and introduces the concept of NoSQL databases. The design for NoSQL databases are also explained with illustrative examples.

Written to accompany the Airtel Zero: Data Pricing Case (A00118), this note is intended to provide supporting information, models and frameworks on the issues of net neutrality in two two sided markets and how these influence the range of options available to price data services in the context of the online data services in the Indian market.

This note discusses inflation linked securities.

While both management and marketing courses detail the importance of having a strategy, there is a dearth of tools available that can help students understand how to create a strategic plan-as well as some of the attributes that make for stronger strategic plans. This technical note describes a tool that can be used to construct a strategic marketing plan. The note helps walk students through the process of constructing a strategic marketing plan and provides examples. This is appropriate for strategy, marketing strategy, brand management, and marketing capstone courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

This technical note is designed to introduce the Creative Brief, a document that plays a crucial role in the process of converting marketing strategy into implementation. Many creatives believe that briefs are generally poorly written, which then leads to poor advertising messages. This note will help strategists better understand the criticality of developing well-crafted, carefully considered, and expertly vetted creative briefs that increase the chance of superior implementation and, ultimately, impact. While this note focuses on a Creative Brief, there are many similar documents (e.g., project briefs and technology briefs) that serve the same bridging purpose. As a result, the insight from the note can be useful in trying to create any document that helps convert strategy into action.

Though the world has recently been described as "flat," we contend that it is also "lumpy." Some managerial practices may be universal (i.e., applicable across all cultures), while others may have to be customized for location. In this technical note, we discuss the application of kaizen principles across cultures. When managers analyze kaizen with cultural values in mind, they may find the key to its practical success, and where relevant values or predispositions do not come naturally, adjustments may benefit from a pragmatism based on cultural fluency.