Publications

10 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Long-Tail Economics? Give Me Blockbusters!

Blockbusters break sales records and exceed expectations. Around 100 pharmaceutical brands exceed $1 billion in annual sales. Procter & Gamble has 23 such brands. Speed. It's not just the sales volume; it's the speed of the sales... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Entertainment & Recreation; Pharmaceutical

17 Jan 2007
Op-Ed

Learning from Private-Equity Boards

Private-equity boards are typically composed of members with substantial wealth at risk. Private-equity boards know how to structure financial incentives that deter reckless gambling and reward profitable growth. Private-equity boards... View Details

Keywords: by Malcolm Salter; Financial Services

09 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Catching Up With Boards--Jay Lorsch

problems—be it a Hewlett-Packard or more recently Procter & Gamble and JC Penney—is the only alternative firing the CEO and starting over? A: You don't have to fire the CEO. A lot depends on establishing the right kind of working... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

13 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Turning High Potential into Real Reward

into outdoor gear. He builds up a worldwide supply chain by recruiting people who want to gamble that there is a customer need not being met by polyester. NB: For prospective entrepreneurs, what are the key lessons to be learned here?... View Details

Keywords: Re: Joseph B. Lassiter; Consumer Products

16 Aug 2016
First Look

August 16, 2016

U.S. market? Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/516117-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 216-039 Supply Chain Finance at Procter & Gamble In April 2013, Procter & Gamble... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 1977
Article

Utility Functions for Simple Games

By: A. E. Roth

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling

Find at Harvard

26 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

Evolving for Success [Part One]

to use the technology; but it's an elaborate and complex relationship, because these companies themselves also work much more closely together. It is more than Wal-Mart working with Procter & Gamble as a supplier. It's joint planning;... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

1978
Chapter

Power and Position: The Utility of Playing a Simple Game

By: A. E. Roth

Keywords: Power and Influence; Status and Position; Game Theory; Games, Gaming, and Gambling

2023
Working Paper

Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games

By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Julian Runge

One of the most crucial aspects and significant levers that gaming companies possess in designing digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in... View Details

Keywords: Freemium; Retention/churn; Field Experiment; Field Experiments; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Monetization; Monetization Strategy; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Customers; Retention; Product Design; Strategy

Read Now

September 2010
Teaching Note

A Chinese Start-up's Midlife Crisis: 99Sushe.com (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Teaching Note for 309060. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Internet and the Web; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Partners and Partnerships; Competition; Social and Collaborative Networks; Video Game Industry; China

02 Sep 2016
Op-Ed

The Twitter Election

trouble but project an authenticity welcomed by many voters. He is keeping his marketing powder dry until after Labor Day, gambling that Clinton's August advertising blitz will not yet have sealed his fate.Trump is clearly more... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch and Thales Teixeira

08 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Employee Analytics: Productivity Dream or Micromanagement Nightmare?

With more data available than ever before, why would any executive gamble on a hunch—especially for decisions that involve their own employees? An emerging field that uses data to study human behavior at work, “people analytics” is... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

March 2006 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Slots, Tables, and All That Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel

By: Dennis Campbell, Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, Marc Epstein and Joshua Bellin

The MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas had detailed information on loyal gaming customers, but could its information systems also be tailored to nongaming customers? As the nongaming business sectors became increasingly profitable both at the MGM Grand and in Las Vegas... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Accommodations Industry; Nevada

20 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Markets or Communities? The Best Ways to Manage Outside Innovation

Gamble and IBM have learned to do this—others can learn as well. In a similar way there is concern about loss of secrecy. The reality in most industries is that most firms have a reasonably good idea about the core products, services, and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

17 Mar 2021
Working Paper Summaries

Consuming Contests: Outcome Uncertainty and Spectator Demand for Contest-based Entertainment

Keywords: by Patrick J. Ferguson and Karim R. Lakhani

September 1979
Article

An Impossibility Result Concerning n-Person Bargaining Games

By: A. E. Roth

Keywords: Negotiation; Games, Gaming, and Gambling

Find at Harvard

1978
Article

On Stochastic Games with Stationary Optimal Strategies

By: Truman F. Bewley and Elon Kohlberg

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Strategy

Find at Harvard

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; Technology Industry

September 1999
Case

Project Dreamcast: Serious Play at Sega Enterprises Ltd. (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Andrew Robertson

Focuses on the ongoing competitive battles in the global home video game market that is estimated to exceed $15 billion by 1999 in the United States and Japan alone. Describes how Sega Enterprises has redesigned its development processes to create a revolutionary... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Product Development; Business Growth and Maturation; Market Entry and Exit; Sales; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Computer Industry