Publications

August 2021
Case

Wymsee

By: Julia Austin, Sarah Mehta and Tom Quinn

Wymsee was a company that aimed to develop a mobile application (app) that would allow television audience members to identify and purchase clothing or accessories worn by characters in the program they were watching, with the Wymsee founders taking a percentage of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Plan; Business Startups; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Acquisition; Product Positioning; Opportunities; Adaptation; Mobile Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

Video

Microfinance in the Classroom

March 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Case

UFO Moviez—Gentle Disruption

By: Hong Luo, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Saloni Chaturvedi

UFO Moviez is an Indian technology services provider that enables low-cost, digital delivery of films to cinemas. UFO’s satellite-based technology enables a significantly wider release of films compared to traditional analog prints and standard, higher-resolution... View Details

Keywords: Film Entertainment; Information Technology; Distribution; Disruption; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India

17 Oct 2017
First Look

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

high impact entrepreneurship movement as a tool for economic development in countries around the world. In 2010, Jaime was named an Endeavor Entrepreneur. This case can accompany HBS Case No. 817-073, “MIA: Profit at the Base of the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2013
Article

Unconscious Thought Reduces Intrusion Development: A Replication and Extension

By: Julie Krans, Dorte Janecko and Maarten W. Bos

Background and Objectives: Intrusive images after a traumatic event, a hallmark feature of post-traumatic stress disorder, are suggested to develop because the trauma memory is disorganized and not integrated into autobiographical memory. Unconscious Thought... View Details

Keywords: Health Disorders; Cognition and Thinking

Read Now

January 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Course Overview Note

'Made in India': Human Capital at the Base of the Pyramid (TN)

By: Michel Anteby, Felicia Khan and John Ng

This teaching note, used in conjunction with excerpts from the 2010 documentary film "Made in India" (directed and produced by Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha) provides students with an opportunity to explore what constitutes human capital and the moral issues... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; India; United States

May 2017 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Raj Kapoor: The Socialist Showman

By: Geoffrey Jones and Snigdha Sur

This case examines the career of Raj Kapoor, the legendary Bollywood filmmaker of the postwar decades. It explores how Kapoor built RK studios after 1948 by releasing a series of movies that combined romance with social messages focused on the fate of the common man in... View Details

Keywords: Film Entertainment; History; Personal Development and Career; Social Issues; Gender; Problems and Challenges; Values and Beliefs; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India; Soviet Union

31 May 2016
First Look

May 31, 2016

additively separable in its state variables, leading to conquering the curse of dimensionality and the opportunity to manage the supply chain using independently acting managers. We develop conditions under which myopic policies are... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2021 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Walt Disney: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case describes the rise of Walt Disney, founder of the worldwide entertainment company. The case describes how Disney, as a young artist, created memorable figures such as Mickey Mouse and went on to produce Academy-award-winning films and build the world’s most... View Details

Keywords: Creativity Teams; Entertainment Industry; Family; Entertainment; Creativity; Personal Characteristics; Business Startups; Work-Life Balance; Personal Development and Career; Success; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

24 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 24, 2018

develop an active customer base, focusing on two questions. First, how does the way that customers use the service postadoption to meet their own needs (personal usage) and to interact with one another (social usage) vary across customer... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

March 2007 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Fujifilm: A Second Foundation

Fujifilm was the second largest manufacturer of photographic film in the world when digital imaging began to substitute for its core business. In contrast to some photography incumbents, such as Polaroid, Fuji had a relatively successful transition to digital imaging.... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Transition; Mission and Purpose; Globalized Markets and Industries; Opportunities; Electronics Industry; Technology Industry

06 Oct 2016
Blog Post

An Interview with Corporate Relations Director, Cathy Hutchinson

based film and television production company. Getting my MBA at Kellogg brought me halfway back to New England and then family brought me all the way back home. I’ve been working at HBS for the past 11 years.Tell us about your role in... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Entertainment / Media / Sports

09 Jan 2012
Working Paper Summaries

When to Sell Your Idea: Theory and Evidence from the Movie Industry

Keywords: by Hong Luo; Entertainment & Recreation

August 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Background Note

Competency-Destroying Technology Transitions: Why the Transition to Digital Is Particularly Challenging

By: Willy Shih

Some technology transitions are exceedingly difficult for incumbent firms to execute. The bankruptcy filing by the Eastman Kodak Company highlighted the difficulty companies faced when their core business transitioned from an analog to a digital world. Kodak's business... View Details

19 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 19, 2007

operations? 2) What might be the intellectual added value of such a perspective? 3) What are the basic elements of behavioral operations research? Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-096.pdf Film Rentals and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Kym Lew Nelson

Kym Lew Nelson joined the NOM unit of the Harvard Business School as a Visiting Lecturer in January of 2020. In July of 2020, she became a Senior Lecturer in the Negotiations unit. Prior to joining the faculty, Kym was a guest lecturer in the Negotiations class at... View Details

March 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Nigeria: Africa's Giant

By: Marlous van Waijenburg

"Nigeria: Africa’s Giant" delves into the economic development and state building record of Africa’s most populous country. Despite being one of the continent’s largest oil-exporters, Nigeria’s economy has been struggling, and poverty is widespread. The country’s... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Developing Countries and Economies; Government Administration; Poverty; Africa; Nigeria

October 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Production I.G: Challenging the Status Quo

By: Andrei Hagiu, Tarun Khanna, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Masako Egawa and Chisato Toyama

In July 2006, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa wondered how he could further enhance the success and visibility of his animation production company headquartered in Tokyo, Production I.G. For the year ended May 2006, Production I.G. had sales of 5,439 million yen ($47.3 million),... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Advantage; Markets; Animation Entertainment; Going Public; Growth and Development Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Tokyo