Publications

April 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

News Corporation

By: Bharat N. Anand and Kate Attea

In 2001, News Corp. is the smallest of the major media and entertainment conglomerates, but it has the broadest global presence. In an effort to establish a major distribution presence in the United States, News Corp. had looked to acquire DirecTV, the largest U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Conglomerates; Globalization; Distribution; Organizational Culture; Family Ownership; Competition; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; Australia

29 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Beyond Goals: David Beckham's Playbook for Mobilizing Star Talent

Beckham, but there are stars in all sorts of domains, in all sectors of business. You see this with CEOs who become public figures and are stars in and of themselves.” Business increasingly orbits these iconic talents, Elberse says. The sports and View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

September 2023
Supplement

Accelerating with Caution: Forecasting and Managing birddogs’ Growth (B)

By: Mark Egan

As 2017 was drawing to a close, birddogs’ founder and CEO, Peter Baldwin, was working with his CFO Jack Sullivan to prepare for 2018. Their task at hand? To predict the demand for their product in the coming season, determine the appropriate investments in working... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Forecasting and Prediction; Expansion; Production; Apparel and Accessories Industry

02 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 3, 2018

original programming arena where competitors annually spent billions of dollars? Could Hulu navigate potential conflicts with the individual business plans of its owners: Comcast, 21st Century Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros.—some of the most powerful companies in the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2007
Working Paper

A Taste For Obscurity: An Individual-Level Examination of 'Long Tail' Consumption

By: Anita Elberse

Because online retailers are often able to provide products in a more cost-efficient manner than bricks-and-mortar stores, online channels are characterized by a vast assortment of products. Proponents of the "long tail" principle recently argued that the demand for... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Distribution Channels; Product; Renting or Rental; Online Technology; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Retail Industry

2021
Working Paper

Bollywood, Skin Color and Sexism: The Role of the Film Industry in Emboldening and Contesting Stereotypes in India after Independence

By: Sudev Sheth, Geoffrey Jones and Morgan Spencer

This working paper examines the social impact of the film industry in India during the first four decades after Indian Independence in 1947. It shows that Bollywood, the mainstream cinema in India and the counterpart in scale to Hollywood in the United States, shared... View Details

Keywords: Film Industry; Bollywood; Tamil Cinema; Male Gaze; Social Impact; Stereotypes; Oral History; Film Entertainment; Gender; Race; Personal Characteristics; Prejudice and Bias; Business History; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India

Read Now

10 Jul 2023
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2023

entertaining experience during my leisure time. With this thoughtfully curated selection, I look forward to expanding my knowledge, gaining fresh perspectives, and finding moments of relaxation throughout the summer. Hise Gibson is a... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

20 Aug 2024
Interview

Angel City Football Club: A New Business Model for Women’s Sports

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Brian Kenny and Nicole Tempest Keller

Angel City Football Club (ACFC) was founded in 2020 by venture capitalist Kara Nortman, entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, and actor and activist Natalie Portman. As outsiders to professional sports, the all-female founding team had rewritten the playbook for how to build a... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Gender; Franchise Ownership; Business Model; Sports Industry

February 2024
Teaching Note

Accelerating with Caution: Forecasting and Managing birddogs' Growth (A) and (B)

By: Mark Egan

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 224-023 and 224-024. As 2017 was drawing to a close, birddogs’ founder and CEO, Peter Baldwin, was working with his CFO Jack Sullivan to prepare for 2018. A nascent direct-to-consumer apparel brand, birddogs had carved its niche in men’s... View Details

Keywords: Inventory Management; Forecasting Demand; Financial Constraints; Apparel; Startups; Corporate Finance; Forecasting and Prediction; Working Capital; Financing and Loans; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Demand and Consumers; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

28 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, February 28

important implications for many platform firms operating in today’s digital economy. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52315 Harvard Business School Case 717-416 DO & CO: Gourmet Entertainment This case... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Lean Forward Media

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Victoria Winston

Jeff Norton and Michelle Crames, the co-founders of Lean Forward Media, face several options for producing the world's first interactive DVD film for children. Their vision is to build a company whose products simultaneously entertain children, engage them actively in... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Early Childhood Education; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Partners and Partnerships; Opportunities; Creativity

Find at Harvard

29 Aug 2023
Cold Call Podcast

As Social Networks Get More Competitive, Which Ones Will Survive?

Keywords: Re: Felix Oberholzer-Gee; Entertainment & Recreation

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

13 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 13, 2009

Working PapersCPC/CPA Hybrid Bidding in a Second Price Auction Authors:Benjamin Edelman and Hoan Soo Lee Abstract We develop a model of online advertising in which each advertiser chooses from multiple advertising measurement metrics—paying either for each click on... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2009 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Responding to the Wii?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Hanna Halaburda

After years of gaming console industry leadership, how should Sony respond to the overwhelming success of competitor Nintendo's user-friendly Wii over Sony's high-tech PlayStation 3? It was August 2008 and Kazuo Hirai, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Two-Sided Platforms; Industry Structures; Competitive Strategy; Electronics Industry; Video Game Industry

March 2008 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Sony PlayStation 3: Game Over?

By: Elie Ofek

Outlines the challenges faced by Sony with the launch of its PlayStation 3. Information on the 2006 and 2007 holiday seasons and the success of rival consoles is outlined. In addition, the case allows examining the costs and revenues associated with a business model... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Cost; Revenue; Product Launch; Sales; Competition; Hardware; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

June 2020 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Time Out: The Evolution from Media to Markets

By: Kate Barasz and Eva Ascarza

In February 2020, Time Out’s chief executive officer Julio Bruno is evaluating the strategic direction of the company. Over the span of five decades, Time Out — the global media and entertainment brand — had gone from a self-published counterculture publication in... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Media Businesses; Hospitality; Hospitality Industry; Digital; Brands and Branding; Media; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom; United States

December 2009
Article

Media Markets and Localism: Does Local News en Español Boost Hispanic Voter Turnout?

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Joel Waldfogel

Since the dawn of broadcasting, and especially in the past decade, Americans have turned their attention from local to more distant sources of news and entertainment. While the integration of media markets will raise the private welfare of many consumers, critics of a... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Ethnicity; Behavior; Local Range; Journalism and News Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States