Publications

September 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (A)

By: Henry McGee and Aldo Sesia

In 2018, the Hollywood film industry is facing tough headwinds. Fewer and fewer Americans are going to movie theaters, opting instead to watch movies on demand in the comfort of their own homes or on portable devices. Adam Aron, the head of the world’s largest movie... View Details

Keywords: Exhibitors; Movies; Film Entertainment; Disruptive Innovation; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Global Range; Business Model; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

July 1984 (Revised September 1986)
Case

CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (A)

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes a series of decisions confronting Charles Leighton, co-founder and chairman of the CML Group. CML is a successful participant in the leisure time industry with two lines of business: specialty retailing and recreational consumer products. The key issues in... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Going Public; Strategy; Business or Company Management; Cost vs Benefits; SWOT Analysis; Investment Banking; Financing and Loans; Planning; Corporate Finance; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry

21 Sep 2009
News

Harvard Business School Program To Help Media Executives Identify Growth Opportunities In Rapidly Changing Industry

July 2012 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Lyric Dinner Theater (A)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Jim Sharpe

Looking back at five years of losses, Rivka Belzer, a newly minted MBA, steps into her family owned business with their mandate to turn it around or close it. In her first six months, she has made a number of changes, with mixed results, but is beginning to show a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurial Management; Crisis Management; Family Business; Turnarounds; Financial Crisis; Boards Of Directors; Operations Management; Strategy Implementation; Career Planning; Entrepreneurship; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

27 Jan 2022
News

What If TV Isn’t Bad for Us?

September 1995 (Revised April 1999)
Case

Exporting American Culture

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

A large entertainment company, extensively criticized for producing violent, offensive, and anti-social material, is considering whether to sell its material to a semi-illegal operation that is beaming satellite TV into Turkey. The opportunity raises many questions... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Media; Business and Community Relations; Opportunities; Social Issues; Media and Broadcasting Industry

03 Jun 2016
News

Channing Tatum & LL Cool J Are Taking a Course at HBS' Campus

07 Jun 2023
News

My One Case: MBA Class of 2023 Looks Back

December 1984
Article

The Evolution of the Labor Market for Medical Interns and Residents: A Case Study in Game Theory

By: A. E. Roth

Keywords: Labor; Markets; Theory; Games, Gaming, and Gambling

Article

Wage-Employment Contracts

By: Jerry R. Green and Charles M. Kahn

This paper studies the efficient agreements about the dependence of workers' earnings on employment, when the employment level is controlled by firms. The firms' superior information about profitability conditions is responsible for this form of contract governance.... View Details

Keywords: Labor; Wages; Contracts

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October 2021
Case

(180) Days of Quibi

By: David J. Collis and Terrence Shu

Mobile streaming app Quibi was ready to take the entertainment world by storm at its April 2020 launch. Backed by $1.75 billion, influential investors from Hollywood to Wall Street eagerly anticipated early success for this brainchild of Meg Whitman, former CEO of... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Strategy; Business Model; Business Startups; Mobile Technology

Anita Elberse is the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Professor Elberse develops and teaches an MBA course covering the "Businesses of Entertainment, Media, and Sports," which ranks among the most sought-after... View Details

Keywords: entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment; entertainment

January 1995 (Revised June 1997)
Case

Walt Disney Company, 1994: A Tumultuous Year

By: David J. Collis and Elizabeth Wynne Johnson

Focuses on a six-month period in 1994, during which the company experienced a series of dramatic upheavals. The events described include: 1) the sudden death of company president Frank Wells; 2) a health crisis facing Chairman Michael Eisner; 3) the "departure" of... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Startups; Resignation and Termination; Crisis Management; United States