Publications

29 Sep 2022
Op-Ed

Inclusive Leadership Advice: Get Comfortable With the Uncomfortable

Gibson. To help us, we brought on stage a group of performers from Second City, the Chicago-based company that established the first ongoing improvisational theater troupe. Second City is the place where Tina Fey, Bill Murray, and many... View Details

Keywords: by Francesca Gino

16 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business

ways to overcome all three barriers. For example, cinemas have identified a concrete, helpful customer behavior—silencing phones before the movie begins. A simple reminder that demonstrates why it matters to everyone in the theater is all... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Research Summary

Overview

Grant uses a combination of laboratory and field experiments to harness consumers' cognitive and affective resources to increase their well-being. Consumers make countless daily decisions in the pursuit of happiness -- whether and how to spend or save their money, what... View Details

Keywords: Well-being; Judgment And Decision Making; Health; Prosocial Behavior

03 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

The Box Office Power of Stars

of that product. That can work in a variety of ways. For example, in the case of films, powerful actors and actresses can help guarantee financing and push a movie through the development process; they can aid in generating interest from View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Entertainment & Recreation; Motion Pictures & Video

05 Jul 2021
What Do You Think?

Do Companies Really Need Chief Experience Officers to Know Their Customers?

Employees (New York: The Free Press, 2003), p. xvi. B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, The Experience Economy: Work is Theater & Every Business a Stage (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1999). Laura Starita, “3 Key Findings... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2000
Case

People's Light and Theatre Company, The

Describes in operational detail the activities involved in creating a collaborative and artistic product. Parallels to companies in dynamic industries emerge from the management philosophies and artistic methods of the case protagonist, Artistic Director Abigail Adams. View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Service Operations; Business Strategy; Theater Entertainment; Fine Arts Industry

September 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Ming Min Hui at Boston Ballet

By: Edward H. Chang, David Allen and Annelena Lobb

This case asks how Ming Min Hui, the newly appointed executive director of Boston Ballet, should ensure that the company stays true to its art form yet relevant to its times. Hui stood out among ballet leaders as a young, Asian American woman with a Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Change; Diversity; Gender; Race; Theater Entertainment; Leadership; Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Music Industry; United States; Massachusetts; Boston

30 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 30, 2019

Harvard Business School Case 319-013 Jackie Taylor: The Black Ensemble Theater Jackie Taylor, an African American social entrepreneur, founded the Black Ensemble Theater in 1976. Since the ensemble’s... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

31 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

Rethinking Marketing’s Conventional Wisdom

to friends. The case is about the marketers' decisions regarding what to do with these films: They could put them on DVDs, or run them in movie theaters before feature films, or do any number of other things. Q: What's the takeaway from... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Service

09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Incentives and Operational Excellence

go to theaters and count the number of ticket stubs. Smarter Pricing A completely different interorganizational control problem was solved by the Fortune 500 medical supply distributor, Owens & Minor, Inc. According to Narayanan,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

July 2019 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Backstage at Boston Ballet

By: David G. Fubini, Ryan Raffaelli, Begum Agca Okutgen and Julia Kelley

This case asks students to consider how to prioritize goals when placed in a new leadership role. In August 2014, Meredith “Max” Hodges became the youngest Executive Director (ED) in the Boston Ballet’s 51-year history. In her first year, she was able to claim several... View Details

December 2014 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Dalian Wanda Group: The AMC Entertainment Acquisition (A)

By: Willy Shih

When Dalian Wanda Group of China announced its plan to acquire the AMC Entertainment theatrical exhibition chain in the United States, many people in the U.S. were mystified. Unlike China where theatrical exhibition was experiencing rapid growth, the U.S. market was... View Details

Keywords: Dalian Wanda Group; AMC Entertainment; Wang Jianlin; Theater Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Foreign Direct Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; China; United States

September 2015 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Wanda Studios Qingdao

By: Henry McGee and Willy Shih

Wang Jianlin, founder and Chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group (Wanda), kept close tabs on one of his flagship projects going up on the shores of the Yellow Sea. There construction was underway on Wanda Studios Qingdao, the largest film and production facility in the... View Details

Keywords: Dalian Wanda Group; AMC Entertainment; Wang Jianlin; Movie Industry; Vertical Specialization; Film; Film Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Entertainment; Vertical Integration; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; China; United States

June 1988
Case

American Repertory Theatre--1988

American Repertory Theatre (ART) is one of the premier resident theatres in the United States. ART has been successful in following its vision, which is to advance the art of theatre by creating an ideal working environment for artists and promoting very high quality... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Success; Theater Entertainment; Fine Arts Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

November 1997 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Cinemex

By: James L. Heskett

The founders of Cinemex, the largest capitalized venture start-up in Mexican history, are debating several issues concerning the operations of their new chain of motion picture theatres in Mexico City. The first concerns whether some seats should be left unsold to... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Service Operations; Debates; Venture Capital; Customer Satisfaction; Advertising; Investment; Theater Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Mexico City