Publications

April 2018 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Shanda Family Office

By: Christopher Malloy, Lauren Cohen and Essie Alamsyah

Tianqiao Chen, founder and CEO of Shanda Group, has set up his family office in the U.S. in 2016 after exiting from Shanda's Internet games business in China in 2014, again pioneering an unconventional approach to the management of a family office. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Management; Strategy; Investment; Goals and Objectives; China; United States

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

March 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Technical Note

Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent: The Three Kingdoms of the Chinese Internet

By: Feng Zhu and Aaron Smith

This note provides an overview of the Chinese Internet by describing its leading three companies: Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (BAT). While BAT had previously focused their respective businesses on distinct sectors of the online economy—Baidu for search, Alibaba for... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet; Information Technology Industry; China

22 Feb 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Dynamic Effects of Bundling as a Product Strategy

Keywords: by Timothy Derdenger & Vineet Kumar; Video Game

December 2004 (Revised July 2008)
Case

Delaware Worldwide Corporation

By: Ronald W. Moore

Discusses the bankruptcy reorganization process, with an emphasis on valuation and capital structure. Serves as the basis for a bankruptcy reorganization game that has been used for many years in Creating Value Through Corporate Restructuring, a second-year finance... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Valuation

July 2004 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Sony EyeToy

By: Anita Elberse and Youngme E. Moon

In early 2004, less than a year after its launch, Sony's EyeToy, a unique video gaming concept, had become a tremendous success across Europe. Developed for use with Sony's PlayStation 2 console, the revolutionary technology allowed users standing in front of a small... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Software; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

2013
Working Paper

NBC and the 2012 London Olympics: Unexpected Success

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Vadim Kogan

"The 2010 Vancouver Winter Games lost $223 million, astonishing for a 17-day event. Next year's London Summer Games, which cost a record Olympic rights fee of $1.18 billion, are expected to lose at least as much..." wrote Richard Sandomir in The New York Times. "NBC... View Details

Keywords: Success; Profit; Sports; Failure; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Vancouver; Beijing; London; Brazil; Russia

Read Now

January 1993 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Adventurous Computer Games, Inc.

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A new company producing computer games must begin to capitalize computer software development cost. To do so requires a cost accounting system, decisions about which costs to capitalize, and how to match costs to future revenues. Teaches accounting standards for... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Applications and Software; Cost Accounting; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry

April 1996 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Jason Bosworth

By: William J. Poorvu and John H. Vogel Jr.

Jason Bosworth is a real estate investor who wants to purchase apartments for a $300 million limited partnership in which he is the general partner. This case is part of a negotiation game simulation that includes Sunshine Villas, Silver Lane Apartments, and Major... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Property; Negotiation Tactics; Partners and Partnerships; Management; Real Estate Industry

Teaching Interest

Changing the Game: Negotiation and Competitive Decision Making

By: Guhan Subramanian

High-stakes business negotiations challenge your wits, your confidence, and your capacity for clear reasoning under intense pressure. Changing the Game leverages the latest research to your advantage, helping you prepare for complex... View Details

February 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Case

Golden Age of Home Video Games, The: From the Reign of Atari to the Rise of Nintendo

Details events in the home video-game industry from the late 1970s until the early 1990s. Tells the story of the rise and fall of Atari Corp., the dominant player in arcade and home video games in the 1970s and early 1980s. During this period, Atari became the fastest... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Value Creation; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Video Game 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; Journalism & News; Publishing

October 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Pete Carroll: Building a Winning Organization through Purpose, Caring, and Inclusion

By: Ranjay Gulati, Matthew Breitfelder and Monte Burke

Competing at the highest levels of the National Football League (NFL) requires tremendous skill, dedication and persistence. The most successful coaches in the NFL know how to draw out a higher level of performance and consistency from their players. This is typically... View Details

Keywords: National Football League; Leadership Style; Organizational Culture; Mission and Purpose; Relationships; Performance; Success; Sports; Sports Industry

Article

Changes in Negative Reciprocity as a Function of Age

By: Yoella Bereby-Meyer and Shelly Fiks

Standard economic models assume people exclusively pursue material self-interests in social interactions. However, people exhibit social preferences; that is, they base their choices partly on the outcomes others obtained in a social interaction. People care about... View Details

18 Sep 2018
Working Paper Summaries

After the Carnival: Key Factors to Enhance Olympic Legacy and Prevent Olympic Sites from Becoming White Elephants

Keywords: by Isao Okada and Stephen A. Greyser; Sports

January 2008 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Glass Egg Digital Media

Glass Egg is an outsource games development firm in Vietnam. They are able to offer brand-name publishers-Microsoft EA, Atari-significant cost savings in the development of art assets for their video games. However, the firm's management find themselves at a point at... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Product Development; Organizational Structure; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

November 2009
Article

Fast or Fair? A Study of Response Times

This paper uses a modified dictator game to investigate the relationship between response times and social preferences. We find that faster subjects more often chose the option with the highest payoff for themselves. Moreover, our within-analysis reveals that, for a... View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Time Management; Social Issues; Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Profit

29 Aug 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Unraveling Yields Inefficient Matchings: Evidence from Post-Season College Football Bowls

Keywords: by Guillaume R. Fréchette, Alvin E. Roth & M. Utku Ünver; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation; Media & Broadcasting

February 1995
Case

Promus Companies, The: Harrah's Casinos

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Provides an overview of the U.S. gambling industry and the rapid expansion of gambling beyond Nevada and New Jersey since 1988. Focuses on Harrah's, a traditional top-tier casino company, which was the first to aggressively expand into emerging gaming markets and that... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Las Vegas; New Jersey