Publications

04 Jan 2021
Working Paper Summaries

The Twofold Effect of Customer Retention in Freemium Settings

Keywords: by Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer, and Julian Runge; Video Game; Video Game

10 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 10

http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2009/11/is-it-fair-to-blame-fair-value-accounting-for-the-financial-crisis/ar/1 Cases & Course MaterialsDigital Chocolate Linda A. Hill and Alison Berkley WagonfeldHarvard Business School Case 410-049 Trip Hawkins founded Digital... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2019
Case

Small-Market Teams and Big Stars: The Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo

By: Anita Elberse and Melcolm Ruffin

In October 2019, National Basketball Association (NBA) team the Milwaukee Bucks are about to tip off their first home game in the 2019–2020 NBA season. Peter Feigin, president of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Jon Horst, the league’s youngest general manager, could look back... View Details

Keywords: Superstars; Talent and Talent Management; Sports; Strategy; Sports Industry

15 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 15

Case 512-036 In November 2011, just days before the holiday shopping rush, the senior leadership team of The Home Depot, Inc. (Home Depot), the world's largest home improvement chain, discussed how best to... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

2015
Comment

In the Shadow of the Crowd: A Comment on 'Valve's Way'

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

There are many ways to exercise authority. Perrow (1986), in his review of March and Simon's Organizations (1958), offers a threefold classification of the ways authority can be exercised in organizations: (1) direct, "fully obtrusive" controls such as giving orders... View Details

Keywords: New Forms Of Organizing; Organizational Forms; Non-hierarchical Organizations; Self-organizing Teams; Boss-less Organizations; Organizational Design; United States

Read Now

26 Oct 2010
Working Paper Summaries

When Does a Platform Create Value by Limiting Choice?

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell & Hanna W. Halaburda; Entertainment & Recreation; Technology

04 Nov 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Multi-Sided Platforms

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Julian Wright

January 2020
Case

Ninja: Which Platform Wins Esports' Biggest Star?

By: Anita Elberse and Michal T. Leszczynski

It is July 2019, and the business of esports and gaming is booming. Tyler Blevins—better known as Ninja—has risen to stardom playing the immensely popular shooter game Fortnite. He has become the most followed streamer in the world and, helped by his management company... View Details

Keywords: Esports; Platforms; Superstar; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Internet and the Web; Personal Development and Career; Decision Making; Digital Platforms; Video Game Industry; Video Game Industry

20 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 20

514-048 YouTube for Brands This case examines the changes employed by YouTube to make the massively popular site more attractive to brands. Building from its base of amateur, user-generated content, YouTube had turned to experimenting with professionally made content... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Microsoft Xbox: Changing the Game?

By: Andrei Hagiu

In September 1999, the Microsoft Xbox team was wondering which strategic choices would give it the best chance against the upcoming Sony PlayStation 2. Initially called "Project Midway" within Microsoft, the console project was intended to counter the perceived threat... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Recruitment; Leadership; Management Teams; Multi-Sided Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Production; Strategy; Competition; Expansion; Video Game Industry; Texas

March 2024
Case

Ava DuVernay's Array: Disrupting the Hollywood Film Industry

By: Anita Elberse and Morgan Brewton-Johnson

In February 2023 acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay is filming her latest movie, Origin, a daring adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. With Origin, DuVernay is pioneering a method to finance the endeavor—through a combination of... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Intellectual Property; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Disruption; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

2016
Other Teaching and Training Material

Organizational Behavior Reading: Decision Making

By: Francesca Gino, Max Bazerman and Katherine Shonk

This Reading argues that decision making is systematically flawed and introduces methods to improve decision-making effectiveness. The Essential Reading section covers the rational decision-making model and three important ideas that challenge it: Herbert Simon's... View Details

Keywords: Game Theory; Decision Making

Research Summary

A major area of Professor Torfason's research is the behavior of individual social network structures. He studies the violation of norms – specifically the use of excessive force in conflict situations – within the empirical context of a large online... View Details

04 Dec 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Dynamics of Platform Competition: Exploring the Role of Installed Base, Platform Quality and Consumer Expectations

Keywords: by Feng Zhu & Marco Iansiti; Entertainment & Recreation

28 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Monopolistic Competition Between Differentiated Products With Demand For More Than One Variety

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Video Game; Video Game

17 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 17, 2017

School Case 817-117 King Digital Entertainment Riccardo Zacconi was the co-founder and CEO of King Digital Entertainment, the video game company that had quickly established itself as the world’s leading... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (A)

By: Henry McGee and Aldo Sesia

In 2018, the Hollywood film industry is facing tough headwinds. Fewer and fewer Americans are going to movie theaters, opting instead to watch movies on demand in the comfort of their own homes or on portable devices. Adam Aron, the head of the world’s largest movie... View Details

Keywords: Exhibitors; Movies; Film Entertainment; Disruptive Innovation; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Global Range; Business Model; Motion Pictures and Video Industry