Publications

June 1990 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Phil Knight: CEO at NIKE--1983

By: Richard E. Walton

An edited, shortened version of Phil Knight: CEO at Nike with parts of Nike (E) integrated into it. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

27 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Family CEOs Spend Less Time at Work

Two years ago, the World Management Survey on organizational leadership reported that firms led by family CEOs (managers related to the family owning the business) are often managed badly, particularly those... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Salt Lake Organizing Committee, The: 2002 Olympics

By: H. Kent Bowen, Bryce LaPierre and Courtney Purrington

After two and a half years of effort, Fraser Bullock, COO of the 2002 Winter Olympics, faced projected deficits and post-9/11 security requirements only five months before the opening ceremony. Summarizes the organizational structure and processes put in place by... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Knowledge Dissemination; Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Planning; Practice; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Sports; System

28 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 28

mandate and management of international trade negotiations. Historically, legitimacy for GATT and later the WTO was understood to derive from expanding membership and success at major trade round negotiations. In the past decade, and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Sep 2015
First Look

September 8, 2015

that exists at the top of organizational hierarchies. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49601 forthcoming Management Science Financing Risk and Innovation By: Nanda, Ramana, and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

June 2019
Teaching Note

The National Hockey League

By: Robert F. Higgins and John Masko

Teaching Note for HBS No. 819-036. View Details

Keywords: Sports; Media; Multinational Firms and Management; Expansion; Strategy; Sports Industry; United States; Canada

June 2021
Teaching Note

Michael Phelps: 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay'

By: Boris Groysberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Michael Norris

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 421-044. In 2020, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 medals in various swimming events, was now retired. As he looked back on his 20+ year athletic career, he considered what had gone into making him the... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Talent and Talent Management; Training; Health; Success; Performance Improvement; Personal Development and Career; Family and Family Relationships; Sports; Competition; Sports Industry; United States; Baltimore; Arizona; Sydney; Athens; Beijing; London

20 Aug 2024
Book

Why Competing With Tech Giants Requires Finding Your Own Edge

products next to Apple’s own products such as charging cables. Anker has also managed to partner with offline retailers Best Buy, Costco, Target, and Walmart and sell through their channels. Through this strategy, Anker has View Details

Keywords: by Feng Zhu; Technology; Information Technology

March 1987 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc.

By: Kenneth A. Merchant, Krishna G. Palepu and Joseph P. Mulloy

Describes a dispute between the owners of the major league baseball teams and the players' union about the profitability of the baseball teams. The issue is important because of the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations. A consultant is brought in to decide... View Details

Keywords: State Ownership; Compensation and Benefits; Entrepreneurship; For-Profit Firms; Accounting; Activity Based Costing and Management; Resource Allocation; Cost Accounting; Cost Management; Labor and Management Relations; Financial Management; Sports; Sports Industry; Kansas

24 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 24, 2007

Sports Illustrated, created the largest media company in the world by the mid-20th century. Luce's flagship magazine, Time, was able to gross over $20 million in sales during its first decade of publication and over $400 million by the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots (A)

By: John R. Wells and Travis Haglock

What happens when an MBA buys a football team and hires a bunch of MBAs and a coach with an economics degree to run it? In this case, a historic three Super Bowls in five years. The end run Bob Kraft (HBS '65) used to acquire the New England Patriots. Why Kraft ignored... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Leadership Style; Sports; Management Teams; Sports Industry; United States

30 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 30, 2019

Sneakers Game “Our goal is to be the kind of start-up that would terrify Nike—if Nike didn’t already own us.” Ron Faris, general manager of S23NYC, a Manhattan-based digital studio owned by sports apparel... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

Lady Gaga, and LeBron James? Which strategies give leaders in film, television, music, publishing, and sports an edge over their rivals? In this book, drawing on my case studies and other research on the worlds of media and sports, I... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 1999 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Life as a Minor League CEO Frank Burke and The Chattanooga Lookouts

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Kirk A. Goldman

A "slice of life" depiction of the range of issues and activities experienced by Frank Burke (HBS MBA 1987), the president of a minor league baseball team (the Chattanooga Lookouts). Raises questions of the applicability of MBA skills in this role and the "quotient of... View Details

Keywords: Happiness; Managerial Roles; Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Marketing; Cost Management; Cost vs Benefits; Operations; Sports; Business Education; Sports Industry; Tennessee

August 2021
Supplement

Dirk Nowitzki: Changing the Game

By: Boris Groysberg

NBA Superstar Dirk Nowitzki was unsure whether the 2018–2019 season would be his last as an NBA player. He had not faced such uncertainty since 1998, when he had navigated a difficult decision regarding the timing of his move to the NBA. He also did not know what he... View Details

Keywords: Career Decisions; Career Journey; ＂Sports Organizations,; Mentoring; Retirement; Sports; Performance; Training; Personal Development and Career; Decision Making; Talent and Talent Management; Sports Industry; United States

01 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

CEOs and Coaches: How Important is Organizational 'Fit?'

overrated when it comes to choosing coaches—and perhaps while choosing top managers as well. A successful coach-team or employee-employer match can be found even when the coach/employee is inexperienced. There are several such examples... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg & Abhijit Naik; Sports

28 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

Football Stars Debate ‘The Social Capital of the Savvy Athlete’

industry. The forum began with a discussion about the marketing power of social media, but quickly evolved into a conversation about race issues in the sports entertainment industry. 'unbelievable Platform' All acknowledged that Twitter... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Sports

October 1985
Article

Further Thoughts on the Power of Alternatives: An Example from Labor-Management Negotiations in Major League Baseball

By: A. E. Roth

Keywords: Cognition and Thinking; Labor and Management Relations; Negotiation; Entertainment; Sports Industry