Publications

July 2022
Teaching Note

Netflix: A Creative Approach to Culture and Agility

By: Ranjay Gulati, Matt Higgins and Allison Ciechanover

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 420-055 and 423-026. View Details

Keywords: Netflix; Corporate Culture; Streaming; Media; Technology; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Leadership Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Technology Industry; California

July 2022
Supplement

Netflix: A Creative Approach to Culture and Agility (B)

By: Ranjay Gulati and Matt Higgins

This (B) case, set in summer 2022, was designed as a companion to "Netflix: A Creative Approach to Culture and Agility," a case set in 2018. The purpose of this brief document is to unlock a discussion around how the Netflix culture can be used to weather new... View Details

Keywords: Netflix; Corporate Culture; Streaming; Media; Technology; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Leadership Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Technology Industry; California

January 2019 (Revised March 2021)
Case

SoundCloud: Subscription Streaming?

By: Ashish Nanda, Eric Van den Steen, Andy Wu, Jeffrey Boyar and Bonnie Bennett Slater

Established in 2007, SoundCloud already boasted the second largest number of active music listeners among all streaming services and was recognized as the go-to platform for new artists by early 2014. Yet, its founders were questioning the robustness of the firm’s... View Details

February 2014
Case

Interview with Joe Kennedy, Pandora Media

By: Willy C. Shih

Joe Kennedy is the emeritus president of Pandora Media. In this interview, he discusses some of the challenges he faced in leading the company. View Details

Keywords: Pandora; Internet Radio; Pandora Media; Streaming; Music Industry; Music Entertainment; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California

2013
Dictionary Entry

Technology and Innovation Management

By: Elizabeth J. Altman, Frank Nagle and Michael L. Tushman

The goal of this annotated bibliography on technology and innovation is to organize and present the most important literature relevant to a scholar seeking to understand and advance the field. It includes articles that are highly-cited and foundational pieces, as well... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Technological Change; Innovation Streams; Organizational Evolution; Executive Leadership; Organizational Architecture; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Organizational Design

September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

STARZPLAY: Shooting for the Stars

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini and Alpana Thapar

In mid-2021, Maaz Sheikh, cofounder and CEO of STARZPLAY, a Dubai-based subscription video on demand (SVOD) provider that catered to the Middle East and North Africa region, was wrestling with how to find the right balance between continued subscriber growth and... View Details

November 2018
Case

Sportradar (A): From Data to Storytelling

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Oliver Gassmann

In 2013, the Swiss sports data company Sportradar debated whether to expand from its core business of data provision to bookmakers into sports media products. Sports data was becoming a commodity, and in the future, sports leagues might reduce their dependence on... View Details

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

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

November 2017
Teaching Note

Amazon.com, 2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402. On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Market Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Competition; Internet; Corporate Strategy; Online Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Hardware; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Technology Networks; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Price; Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

August 2012 (Revised July 2017)
Case

Netflix: Valuing a New Business Model

By: Francois Brochet, Suraj Srinivasan and Michael Norris

In autumn 2011, Netflix was working to right the ship after publicly stumbling through a price hike and strategic shift and then retreat. The company was changing its business model to focus on streaming video service rather than the DVDs by mail that had brought the... View Details

Keywords: Performance Measurement; Online Business; Asset Recognition; Accounting; Performance Evaluation; Online Technology; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States; Canada; Latin America; West Indies

21 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

The $15 Billion Question: Have Loot Boxes Turned Video Gaming into Gambling?

Players have long been able to buy virtual items with real money in video games, such as special weapons and features. But Nintendo raised the ire of parents and regulators in 2018 when it added so-called loot boxes—a virtual lottery for in-game items—to its... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis; Video Game; Media & Broadcasting

23 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

The Vinyl Renaissance: Take Those Old Records Off the Shelf

Streaming accounts for about 85 percent of today’s music consumption, but sales of vinyl records have grown steadily over the past decade, owing to their rediscovery by members of Gen Z who view them as a timeless medium that offers... View Details

Keywords: by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Music

12 Mar 2024
HBS Case

How Used Products Can Unlock New Markets: Lessons from Apple's Refurbished iPhones

Some of Apple’s most loyal customers think nothing of upgrading to the latest iPhone every time one comes out. But what about consumers who can’t splurge on a $1,000 iPhone 15 Pro? And what about the electronic waste that would accrue if people threw away functional... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Electronics; Information Technology

03 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Transforming Manufacturing Waste into Profit

It's been said that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." HBS Assistant Professor Deishin Lee, however, has taken that old adage a step further in her recent working paper Turning Waste into By-Product by showing how it's possible for companies to turn... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

July 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Pricing at Netflix

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg and Amy Klopfenstein

Since its launch in 1998 as “the Amazon.com of DVDs,” Netflix had evolved from a DVD rental company to a video streaming platform and producer of original films and television shows. As the company matured, it regularly increased prices and adjusted its product... View Details

March 2020
Case

Hotstar

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Kairavi Dey

Hotstar was an online video streaming platform owned by Star India Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Walt Disney Corporation. Since its launch in 2015, the platform had grown to offer over 100,000 hours of TV content, movies in nine Indian languages... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Television Entertainment; Disruption; Business Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; India; Mumbai

19 Apr 2021
News

How the Pandemic Revealed the Power of Live Video

June 2020
Supplement

Comcast Corporation (B)

By: Sunil Gupta, Henry McGee and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

The (B) case, set in the summer of 2020, highlights the concern of Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, as the streaming war intensifies. In a short period of time several new streaming services, such as Disney+, Apple TV+, Quibi, and HBO Max were launched and cable subscription... View Details

Keywords: Cable Television; Industry Evolution; Television Entertainment; Disruption; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry