Publications

August 2011
Supplement

Better World Books Video

By: Michael I. Norton, Fiona Wilson, Jill Avery and Thomas Steenburgh

This video contains an interview with David Murphy, CEO of Better World Books. Topics discussed include: the opportunities and constraints offered by having a social mission, an update on the company, and the future of Better World Books. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Management Teams; Business Model; Social Enterprise; Publishing Industry

August 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Driving Sustainability at Bloomberg L.P.

By: Christopher Marquis, Daniel Beunza, Fabrizio Ferraro and Bobbi Thomason

Describes the addition of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance indicators to the Bloomberg terminal. The initiative grew out of Bloomberg's broader sustainability initiatives and is an example of how committed employees can create positive social... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Knowledge Dissemination; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Publishing Industry; New York (city, NY)

June 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Continental Media Group: Business Highlights

By: Robert L. Simons and Kathryn Rosenberg

Continental Media Group has a series of business reviews struggling to achieve profitability. This case focuses on the use of management control systems to identify emerging opportunities and the formulation of new strategies. The interactive system used by top... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Governance Controls; Management Systems; Risk Management; Business Strategy; Publishing Industry

March 2007 (Revised October 2008)
Case

The New York Times Co.

The Sulzberger family owns 20% of the New York Times Co. (NYT) but controls 70% of the board through a dual-class share structure. At the company's April 2006 annual shareholder meeting, Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) and other investors, holding 28% of... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Investment Activism; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Publishing Industry; New York (city, NY)

September 2006
Teaching Note

The Pellegrins (TN) (A) and (B)

By: John A. Davis and Courtney Sampson

Teaching Note to (899-009) and (899-010). View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industry

February 2001
Case

BarnesandNoble.com (B)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dickson Louie and William A. Sahlman

At the end of 1998, Jonathan Bulkeley, the newly-named CEO of barnesandnoble.com, is faced with a challenge. As the second leading online bookseller behind Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com must build its market share. With Forrester Research predicting that the online... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Publishing Industry

August 1999 (Revised October 2002)
Teaching Note

Xerox: Book-in-Time TN

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Teaching Note for (9-599-119). View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industry

May 1975 (Revised September 1977)
Case

Exemplar Bookbinding Co. (Revised)

By: Wickham Skinner

Keywords: Publishing Industry

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September 1994
Supplement

Time Life, Inc. (B)

By: David A. Garvin and Jonathan West

Provides a brief update to the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industry

09 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

Read All About It: Digital CEO Buys Traditional Media!

With the sale of the Washington Post to Jeff Bezos, the newspaper enters a crucial phase in its 136-year history amid disruptive changes in communications, technology, and reader habits. According to HBS professors Bharat Anand and David Collis, both experts in... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Publishing; Publishing

19 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Rupert Murdoch and the Seeds of Moral Hazard

The News Corporation/News of the World scandal has been described as a case study in bad management. What was there about the company's organizational culture that led to "Murdoch's Mess"? Professor Michel Anteby, who studies how meaning is built at work and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Publishing; Publishing

20 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Users Love Ello, But What’s the Business Model?

As yet, there is no foolproof way to monetize social capital. If there were, Ello would be well on its way to financial success. The upstart social networking site set the internet abuzz recently by introducing an ad-free platform, and the sheer amount of attention it... View Details

Keywords: Re: John A. Deighton & Sunil Gupta; Publishing; Publishing

11 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

Marissa Mayer Should Bridge Distance Gap with Remote Workers

Marissa Mayer's decision to ask Yahoo! employees to work from offices rather than at home has at least two potentially negative consequences, one for her and one for her employees. But she can mitigate both by linking personal and professional identity for herself and... View Details

Keywords: by Lakshmi Ramarajan; Publishing; Publishing

May 2009 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Daqi

By: Robert C. Pozen, Richard Franklyn Armbrust and Ziquan Zhang

In 2008, Daqi was one of the largest Internet portals for user-generated content and the leading word-of-mouth marketing provider in China. Grace Zhou, Daqi's CEO, was contemplating the risks and benefits of expanding Daqi's services into three new content areas—news,... View Details

Keywords: Information Publishing; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Marketing; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Internet; Information Industry; China

January 2018
Article

The Central and Unacknowledged Role of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the Design and Execution of Medical Device Pivotal Trials

By: Aaron V. Kaplan and Ariel D. Stern

The introduction of new medical devices has transformed cardiovascular care in recent decades. Devices, such as heart valves, pacemakers, stents, ventricular assist devices, and implantable defibrillators, have prolonged and improved the quality of life for millions of... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Business and Government Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Information Publishing; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

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March 1993
Background Note

Stages Theory, The: A Framework for IT Adoption and Organizational Learning

By: Richard L. Nolan, David Croson and Katherine Seger

Describes Professor Richard Nolan's Stages Theory of Information Technology adoption by organizations. View Details

Keywords: Information; Body of Literature; Information Management; Information Publishing; Adoption; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Decision Making; Information Technology Industry

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14 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

Understanding Users of Social Networks

If the ongoing social networking revolution has you scratching your head and asking, "Why do people spend time on this?" and "How can my company benefit from the social network revolution?" you've got a lot in common with Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Publishing; Publishing

August 2011
Supplement

John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, In-Class Comments, 2/11/11

By: David Garvin

In January 2010, John Fahey, president, CEO, and chairman of the board of trustees' executive committee of the Washington, D.C.-based National Geographic Society (NGS), must decide how best to organize the 121-year old mission-driven organization for a world of... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Brands and Branding; Sales; Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Web Sites; Publishing Industry; Washington (state, US)