Publications

November 1986 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Suzanne de Passe at Motown Productions (A)

By: Linda A. Hill

Illustrates: 1) the impact of a manager's leadership style on corporate culture, direction, and performance; 2) the concept of fit between leadership style and the requirements of situations in which managers find themselves; and 3) the need for managers to adapt their... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Race; Organizational Culture; Leadership Style; Gender; Management Teams; Change Management; Situation or Environment; Creativity; Relationships; Music Industry; Music Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (A)

By: Marco Di Maggio, Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Snap, the disappearing message app, went public at $17 per share on March 2, 2017, making its two 20-something founders the youngest self-made billionaires in the country. Over the next three weeks, 14 analysts made investment recommendations on Snap: two with buy... View Details

01 Jun 2003
News

Respond to a Worthy Cause

Respond and Respond II, and Sonya Brown and Michelle Dietz (both MBA ’02). After the success of the first CD, last year Devereaux asked the HBS View Details

Keywords: Michael Watkins; Arts, Entertainment

May 2020 (Revised November 2021)
Supplement

Valuing Peloton

By: E. Scott Mayfield

Peloton Interactive, a well-known unicorn in the connected fitness space, had gone public with a market capitalization of over $8.0 billion. In the weeks following its public debut, Peloton’s stock price fell by over 25%. Taylor Knox, a stock analyst and enthusiastic... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Risk and Uncertainty; Stocks; Price; Valuation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

March 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Caesars Entertainment: CodeGreen

By: George Serafeim, Robert G. Eccles and Tiffany A. Clay

The case describes the development of Caesar's sustainability initiative program, the effect of the initiative on employee engagement and motivation, and on customer satisfaction. View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Employees; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Motivation and Incentives; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

March 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

AMC: The Zero Revenue Case

By: C. Fritz Foley and Donal O'Cofaigh

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic put theatre company AMC’s already perilous financial situation under even further strain. The company’s high levels of debt resulted in a monthly cash-burn which left it facing an imminent Chapter-11 filing in the absence of... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Public Equity; Stock Shares; Health Pandemics; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

August 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Wii Encore?

By: Andrei Hagiu

Nintendo faced huge difficulties in July 2011. Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox had caught up with the innovative motion-sensing controllers of the original Wii. And the new Nintendo 3DS handheld console had experienced a very disappointing start. Moreover,... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Innovation Strategy; Two-Sided Platforms; Brands and Branding; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

April 2007
Compilation

AOL/Time Warner: To Merge or Demerge?

By: David J. Collis and Troy Smith

This is a compilation of four analyst reports about the AOL/Time Warner merger of 2001. The first half cites three reports released in 2000, around the time the merger was announced, which give the logic and justifications for the merger. The second half is taken from... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Reports; Business Divisions; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

01 Mar 2007
News

The Life of Bailey

For most executives, looking good and being fit are personal and professional goals. But as Richard Bailey (MBA ’81) notes, the business lifestyle, especially travel, often gets in the way. “Combine jet lag... View Details

Keywords: fitness; physical exercise; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries

September 1992
Case

Star Cablevision Group (A): Harvesting in a Bull Market

By: William A. Sahlman

First case in a series of six cases that follow the experience of a cable television company as it adjusts to the rapid rise and precipitous decline of the stock market in the late 1980s. In this case Don Jones, the company's founder and owner, sees the rise in public... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Finance; Financial Markets; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; SWOT Analysis; Wealth; Business Cycles; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

July 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Ottawa Voyageurs, The

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Scott Baldwin, Chris Strong, Andrew Feng, Eliza Moody and David Ager

Manuel Tertuliano, head coach of a professional soccer club, must make some difficult decisions about the compensation of six of his players. Specifically, he must decide how to allocate $850,000 among these six players in a way that will benefit his team, which has... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Compensation and Benefits; Performance; Motivation and Incentives; Sports; Groups and Teams; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Canada

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

11 Oct 2018
Cold Call Podcast

Baseball’s Billy Beane Shows Companies the Power of Data

Keywords: Re: Srikant M. Datar; Entertainment & Recreation

December 2004 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Hasbro Games -- POX (A)

By: David B. Godes and Elie Ofek

Hasbro's newest toy is so unique it requires a unique launch strategy. Comparing traditional media (TV, print) with a non-traditional viral campaign, Matt Collins must weigh the risks and benefits of doing things the way they've always been done or blazing a new path... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Cost vs Benefits; Marketing Strategy; Advertising Campaigns; Product Launch; Innovation and Invention; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

26 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms for Travelers, Less Revenue for Hotels

Airbnb wasn't an option" Competition between traditional hotels and Airbnb is intensifying. Last Friday, Airbnb announced it is expanding its "experiences" offerings to an additional 1,000 cities. Meanwhile, the lodging... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Travel

April 2018
Case

Wilderness Safaris: Ecotourism Entrepreneurship

By: James E. Austin, Megan Epler Wood and Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard

Wilderness Safaris sees itself as a conservation company that is built on a business model of providing high-end, premium-priced wildlife safaris in various locations in Africa. Dependent on functioning, healthy ecosystems for its long-term survivability as a business,... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Conservation Planning; Corporate Social Responsibility; Ecotourism; Strategy; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Tourism Industry; Tourism Industry; Tourism Industry; Africa; Botswana

22 Sep 2016
Cold Call Podcast

Innovation Under Constraint: Constructing a Turnaround at Lego

Keywords: Re: Jan W. Rivkin & Stefan H. Thomke; Entertainment & Recreation

June 2008
Case

Threadless: The Business of Community (Instructor's Version)

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Zahra Kanji

The instructor version of Threadless includes the Threadless student version multimedia case as well as four additional videos that can be used to enhance class discussion. The first video presents community reaction to the proposal from the large retailer. The next... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Decisions; Strategic Planning; Society; Entertainment and Recreation Industry