Publications

November 2017
Teaching Note

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-455. On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales.... View Details

fall 2001
Article

Structuring Loan Syndicates: A Case Study of the Hong Kong Disneyland Project Loan

By: Benjamin C. Esty

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Borrowing and Debt; Entertainment; Hong Kong

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February 2007
Case

Update: The Music Industry in 2006

By: John R. Wells and Elizabeth Raabe

The global recorded music industry was undergoing a major transition in 2006. Sales had been declining for a decade, and consumers were buying music in new formats and through different distribution channels. CD sales still accounted for the majority of revenues, but... View Details

Keywords: History; Arts; Music Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Market Timing; Performance Evaluation; Trends; Music Industry

August 2005 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Can Bollywood Go Global?

By: Geoffrey Jones, Namrata Arora, Surachita Mishra and Alexis Lefort

Considers the opportunities and challenges facing Indian film producers in accessing the global film market. Provides a historical context by describing the history of the cinema and the rise of Hollywood to global dominance by the 1920s. Although film industries... View Details

Keywords: History; Competition; Film Entertainment; Globalized Markets and Industries; Product Development; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India

October 2019
Case

Street Symphony: Making Human Connections Through Music

By: Rohit Deshpandé

To Vijay Gupta, music was sacred. A highly accomplished and renowned violinist with The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gupta believed the act of making and performing music was a deeply spiritual practice — one that had the power to heal audiences and musicians... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Issues; Business and Community Relations; Music Entertainment; Human Needs; Music Industry; Los Angeles; California; United States

October 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Strategic Inflection: TiVo in 2005

By: David B. Yoffie, Pai-Ling Yin and Barbara Mack

In the late 1990s, TiVo pioneered the digital video recorder (DVR), a new consumer electronics category. By 2005, the company was the clear leader in technology and installed base. It had also built extraordinary loyalty among its customers. However, TiVo lost a half... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Competition; Partners and Partnerships; Information Infrastructure; Television Entertainment; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

Portrait Project

Dan Shanoff

lucrative—but unsatisfying—career, but what I'm actually good at, what I love, is entertaining everyone with words. Fortunately, that means I can work anywhere. My first choice is at home. Picture me cranking out "dramedy"... View Details

25 Apr 2014
News

Taking up the issue of climate change

vice chair. He and his wife also cofounded the Environmental Media Association, which encourages environmental awareness in the entertainment industry. "We believe that the overwhelming environmental issue facing the world right now is... View Details

24 Apr 2014
News

In the business of empowering women entrepreneurs

firm’s fiduciary responsibility to investors. Dodi’s past entrepreneurial experiences as cofounder of MTV Europe and CEO of AOL’s Entertainment Asylum keep her focused on the bottom line. She points to research that indicates gender... View Details

April 2008
Background Note

Broadband and Video Games: Playing and Winning Together

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

This note examines the relationship between video gaming devices (console, handhelds, mobile and PC) and gaming software development. The impact of broadband, wireless technologies and other innovations are also presented. View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Innovation and Invention; Relationships; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

22 Jun 2022

Entertainment, Media & Sports at HBS

Wonder what an MBA could do to help with your professional growth? Hear from alumni in the entertainment & media industry as they reflect on their MBA experience. Click to see alumni profiles of featured panelists. View Details

September 1999
Case

Project Dreamcast: Serious Play at Sega Enterprises Ltd. (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Andrew Robertson

Focuses on the ongoing competitive battles in the global home video game market that is estimated to exceed $15 billion by 1999 in the United States and Japan alone. Describes how Sega Enterprises has redesigned its development processes to create a revolutionary... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Product Development; Business Growth and Maturation; Market Entry and Exit; Sales; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

October 2003
Article

Relative versus Absolute Speed of Adjustment in Strategic Environments: Responder Behavior in Ultimatum Games

By: David J. Cooper, Nick Feltovich, Alvin E. Roth and Rami Zwick

Keywords: Strategy; Behavior; Games, Gaming, and Gambling

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01 Jun 2024
News

Turning Point: On the Line

staff of Truth Be Told (Apple) at Disney. What made it so bizarrely poetic is that Disney was where this freshly minted Harvard MBA had begun his entertainment industry career. I’d long dreamt of living a creative life. I was always the... View Details

Keywords: labor strike; television; media; unions

18 Nov 2014
News

Making the learning process fun for children

A passion for working in the entertainment industry to benefit children led Christina Hsu (MBA 2004) to the educational game company JumpStart, which develops new ways for kids to learn and have fun at the same time. (Published November... View Details

June 2024
Teaching Note

Roku 2021

By: David B. Yoffie

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-480. This case is used to explore the strategic concept of "look forward, reason back." Roku in 2021 is trying to figure out the future of television and streaming media. Students are asked to provide a vision for television and... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Television Entertainment; Forecasting and Prediction; Decision Choices and Conditions; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Media and Broadcasting Industry

June 2004 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Scientific-Atlantia (S-A), a leading manufacturer of cable TV equipment, is confronting strategic challenges in mid-2004. For decades, cable operators have faced high switching costs that have locked them into exclusive supply relationships with either S-A or its... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Competition; Industry Structures; Television Entertainment; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Manufacturing Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry