Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(201)
- Faculty Publications (91)
- August 2014 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
MRC's House of Cards
By: Anita Elberse
In March 2011, Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk, co-chairmen and co-chief executive officers at independent production company Media Rights Capital (MRC), are debating whether to accept a licensing offer from Netflix for their most ambitious project to date, a new... View Details
- August 2014
- Case
Netflix: Designing the Netflix Prize (A)
By: Karim R. Lakhani, Wesley M. Cohen, Kynon Ingram, Tushar Kothalkar, Maxim Kuzemchenko, Santosh Malik, Cynthia Meyn, Greta Friar and Stephanie Healy Pokrywa
In 2006, Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, was looking for a way to solve Netflix's customer churn problem. Netflix used Cinematch, its proprietary movie recommendation software, to promote individually determined best-fit movies to customers. Hastings determined that a... View Details
Keywords: Crowdsourcing; Prizes; Digitization; Algorithms; Recommendation Software; Disruption; Transformation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Sharing; Applications and Software; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States
- October 2013
- Case
Rhythm & Blues
By: Willy Shih
The bankruptcy filing of Rhythm & Hues, who received an Oscar for the arresting visual effects in Life of Pi, raised questions about the challenges faced by the firms like it as well as the broader post-production industry. The rapid pace of technology certainly... View Details
Keywords: Post-production; Visual Effects; Digital; Entertainment; Animation Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Los Angeles
- September 2013 (Revised August 2015)
- Background Note
Leadership and Teaming
By: Ethan Bernstein
Small differences in the leadership of teams can have large consequences for the success of their efforts. Many initiatives fail not because of a fatal error in judgment or insufficient ideas, knowledge, motivation, or capabilities to deliver a solution. They fail... View Details
Keywords: Teams; Teaming; Leadership And Managing People; Leadership; Team Effectiveness; Team Performance; Team Design; Team Leadership; Teamwork; Team Process; Team Function; Team Launch; 60/30/10 Rule; Team Boundary; Distribution Of Leadership Authority; Self-Managed Teams; Virtual Teams; Unbounded Teams; Acts Of Leadership; Execution Teams; Decision Making Teams; Creativity Teams; Team Size; Task Design; Team Timeline; Team Roles; Team Representation; Diversity; Team Familiarity; Collective Intelligence; Team Stages Of Development; Team Coaching; Performance Pressure; X-Teams; Team Focus; Interaction; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Management Systems; Management Style; Management Skills; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Efficiency; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Networks; Social Psychology; Behavior; Conflict and Resolution; Creativity; Social and Collaborative Networks; Satisfaction; Prejudice and Bias; Power and Influence; Personal Characteristics; Familiarity; Cognition and Thinking; Attitudes; Projects; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Knowledge Sharing; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Design; Interpersonal Communication; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Asia; North and Central America; South America; Atlantic Ocean; Central Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; Oceania; West Indies
- 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
- 2012
- Working Paper
Risky Business: The Impact of Property Rights on Investment and Revenue in the Film Industry
By: Venkat Kuppuswamy and Carliss Y. Baldwin
Our paper tests a key prediction of property rights theory, specifically, that agents will respond to marginal incentives embedded in property rights when making non-contractible, revenue-enhancing investments (Grossman and Hart, 1986; Hart and Moore, 1990). Using rich... View Details
- Article
Entry into Platform-based Markets
By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti
This paper examines the relative importance of platform quality, indirect network effects, and consumer expectations on the success of entrants in platform-based markets. We develop a theoretical model and find that an entrant's success depends on the strength of... View Details
- September 2011 (Revised March 2014)
- Case
Brightcove, Inc. in 2007
By: Andrei Hagiu and David B. Yoffie
Brightcove, a technology and services provider to content owners in the Internet television field, aimed to become a media distribution company in its own right. On October 30, 2006, it relaunched its Website—and, in effect, its business. With its new, consumer-facing... View Details
- Apr 2011 - 2011
- Keynote Speech
Digital Technology and Its Impact on the Film Industry
By: Anita Elberse
- September 2010 (Revised March 2011)
- Teaching Note
The Passion of the Christ (A) & (B)
By: Anita Elberse
Teaching Note for 505025 and 505026. View Details
Keywords: Motion Pictures and Video Industry
- July 2010
- Teaching Note
Xanadu on Broadway
By: Anita Elberse
Teaching Note for 508062. View Details
- February 2010 (Revised October 2010)
- Case
YouTube: Time to Charge Users?
By: Anita Elberse and Sunil Gupta
In January 2010, YouTube, the world's largest online video aggregator, was still seeking to become profitable. Was the time right for Google, YouTube's parent company, to charge users seeking to upload content, as some analysts had suggested—and if so, who should be... View Details
- November 2009 (Revised August 2011)
- Case
Warner Bros. Entertainment
By: Gary P. Pisano and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Examines the process used by a major motion picture studio to develop and select movie projects. Warner Bros.' strategy is to focus its efforts on a small number of major "event" films (i.e., films with the potential to generate gross box office receipts of $300... View Details
- October 2009 (Revised June 2010)
- Case
Hulu: An Evil Plot to Destroy the World?
By: Anita Elberse and Sunil Gupta
In July 2009, Jason Kilar, the chief executive officer of Hulu, is debating whether the online video aggregator should move away from a purely advertising-supported model, and whether it should participate in an industry-wide initiative to develop and test... View Details
- June 2009
- Article
Highbrow Films Gather Dust: Time-inconsistent Preferences and Online DVD Rentals
By: Katherine L. Milkman, Todd Rogers and Max H. Bazerman
We report on a field study demonstrating systematic differences between the preferences people anticipate they will have over a series of options in the future and their subsequent revealed preferences over those options. Using a novel panel data set, we analyze the... View Details
- March 2009 (Revised January 2010)
- Case
DreamWorks SKG Inc.: To Distribute or Not to Distribute?
By: Juan Alcacer, David J. Collis and Mary Furey
- March 2009 (Revised January 2010)
- Supplement
The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Inc.: To Acquire or Not to Acquire? An Update
By: Juan Alcacer, David J. Collis and Mary Furey
This four-page update to the case, "The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Inc.: To Acquire or Not to Acquire?" details the Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Pixar, including deal terms, executive appointments, and operating guidelines for the two studios. View Details
- March 2009 (Revised November 2021)
- Case
The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Inc.: To Acquire or Not to Acquire?
By: Juan Alcacer, David J. Collis and Mary Furey
Soon after Robert Iger took over as CEO of the Walt Disney Company in late 2005, he turned his attention toward Pixar, the animation studio with which Disney had worked since 1991 and was responsible for producing hits such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo. Disney's own... View Details
- Nov 2008
- Conference Presentation
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), United Artists, and Tom Cruise: A Case Study.
By: Anita Elberse
- July – August 2008
- Article
Should You Invest in the Long Tail?
By: Anita Elberse
The blockbuster strategy is a time-honored approach, particularly in media and entertainment. When space is limited on store shelves and in traditional distribution channels, producers tend to focus on a few likely best sellers, hoping that one or two big hits will... View Details