Publications

September 2015 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Futbol Club Barcelona

By: Anita Elberse

In June 2015, FC Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu sees his team lift the UEFA Champions League trophy, completing an impressive trophy haul in the 2014-2015 season. Unique for a club of its caliber, five of the starting eleven are products of FC Barcelona's youth... View Details

Keywords: Superstar; Talent; Talent Development And Retention; Talent Management; Marketing; Strategy; General Management; Nonprofit; Marketing Strategy; Talent and Talent Management; Entertainment; Media; Competitive Advantage; Sports; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Barcelona

24 Apr 2014
News

Betting big on star power can be a winning strategy in business—not just show business

Researching the entertainment industry, Anita Elberse, the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration, has found that blockbuster strategies work. Content producers who pursue these strategies make huge investments in a small... View Details

June 2001 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Sampa Video, Inc.

A video rental store is considering offering home delivery service. Management must value the project under different financing strategies and methods, specifically adjusted present value (APV) and weighted average cost of capital (WACC). View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Cost of Capital; Entertainment; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

March 14, 2011
Article

Mistaking Mistrust for Greed: How to Solve the NFL Dispute

By: Deepak Malhotra

Keywords: Entertainment; Sports Industry

Read Now

February 2007
Case

Paul Robertson and the Medici String Quartet

Describes the approach to creative collaboration and leadership adopted by Paul Robertson as leader of one of the most highly regarded string quartets in recent history. Intended to prompt a discussion of a variety of issues surrounding management of creative... View Details

Keywords: Management; Creativity; Groups and Teams; Music Entertainment; Music Industry

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; Technology Industry; India

01 Jun 2001
News

Up Side Story: HBS Show a Sold-Out Success

in love while entertaining the sold-out audience with humor, song, and dance. Each year since 1974, a group of hardworking students has pooled its writing, acting, and production skills to stage a Broadway-style performance that takes... View Details

Keywords: HBS Show; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

March 2011
Teaching Note

The CW: Launching a Television Network

By: Anita Elberse

Teaching Note for 507050. View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Product Launch; Television Entertainment; Telecommunications Industry

01 Dec 2017
News

The Future of VR is Animated Bunnies

the makers of headsets; VR technology producers Samsung and HTC were early investors in the studio. And the entertainment industry is looking to virtual reality as the future of film. Baobab has raised more... View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos

July 2005 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Steven Shaheen

A fictitious private equity firm considers whether to buy the international theme park business of the LEGO Group. Considers the origins of theme parks in the United States; the international expansion of Disney theme parks to Tokyo and Paris since the 1970s; and the... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Globalized Markets and Industries; Globalized Firms and Management; Global Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Germany; Tokyo; Great Britain; Denmark; United States; Paris

Web

Student Clubs | MBA

Coffee and Tea Club Conservative Club Consulting for Impact Club Crimson Parents D Democrats, Liberals, Progressives Club E Education Club Energy & Environment Club Entertainment & Media Club Entrepreneurship Club Entrepreneurship Through... View Details

01 Dec 2013
News

14 for '14

draws the most viewers and revenue (as opposed to just drawing buzz). And everyone in the entertainment industry will keep trying to understand how to best leverage social media—or control it when fans' and... View Details

Keywords: Arts, Entertainment; Arts, Entertainment; Arts, Entertainment; Arts, Entertainment; Arts, Entertainment

March 2011
Teaching Note

Hollywood in India: Protecting Intellectual Property (A) and (B) (TN)

By: Lakshmi Iyer

Teaching Note for 711017 and 711018. View Details

Keywords: Markets; Strategy; Intellectual Property; Crime and Corruption; Film Entertainment; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India

February 2010 (Revised June 2014)
Supplement

CityCenter (C): Turmoil and Choices

By: John D. Macomber

"CityCenter (C)" follows the (A) and (B) cases chronologically. The (C) case explores the decisions facing MGM MIRAGE following a lawsuit by partner Dubai World and suspension of Dubai World's cash contributions to the project in early 2009. Issues include the... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Private Equity; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Decisions; Partners and Partnerships; Conflict and Resolution; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Nevada

Profile

Brian T. Bedol

industry has different characteristics. In the entertainment business there are a lot more entrepreneurs who aren’t called entrepreneurs. These are the television and film producers. They are called... View Details

March 2021
Case

Sky Deutschland - Bidding for Sports Rights (A)

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Sascha L. Schmidt, Renate Imoberdorf and Sebastian Koppers

Carsten Schmidt, CEO of Sky Deutschland, needs to prepare for the auction of German soccer rights. Much was at stake. Not only was soccer the most widely watched sport in Germany, the company had long advertised that only Sky showed “every game, every goal.” In... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Germany

01 Apr 1997
News

Facing the Music

it may be that the music industry will once again turn to new technology to amp itself up, much as it did in the early 1980s with the CD. Last year, entertainment companies experimented with the enhanced CD... View Details

Keywords: Marguerite Rigoglioso

July 2008 (Revised January 2010)
Case

PCCW now

By: Andrei Hagiu and Waishun Lo

In 2007, PCCW had to formulate a strategy for growth of its successful NOW TV platform and its quadruple play implementation outside of Hong Kong. Launched in September 2003 by PCCW (Hong Kong's largest telecommunications operator), NOW TV had swiftly become the... View Details

Keywords: Television Entertainment; Growth and Development Strategy; Multi-Sided Platforms; Technology Platform; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Hong Kong