Publications

December 2020
Case

Tencent: Combining Technology and Culture

By: Elie Ofek, Billy Chan and Dawn H. Lau

Tencent, one of the largest Internet conglomerates in China, had a vision to become a "Tech+Culture" firm. With dominant market shares in online games and social networking, it had built a vast Internet-based entertainment ecosystem, and was now focused on cultural... View Details

Keywords: Media Franchise; Marketing; Market Entry and Exit; Product Launch; Strategy; Culture; China

September 2020
Case

Apple Bets on Augmented Reality

By: Rory McDonald, David Lane and Mel Martin

In 2020, augmented reality (AR) was still a nascent technology with blockbuster potential, one which Apple was actively developing as its iPhone franchise waned. But the emergence of AR was uneven, including the disappointing Google Glass and the unexpected viral... View Details

Keywords: Augmented Reality; Industry Structures; Product Development; Commercialization; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry

Many blockbuster products and services that have redefined the global business landscape are built around platforms that tie together two distinct groups of users in a network. Examples include credit cards that link consumers and merchants; operating systems that... View Details

January 2011 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (Abridged)

By: Anita Elberse

The management team of Marvel Enterprises, known for its universe of superhero characters that includes Spider-Man, the Hulk, and X-Men, must reevaluate its marketing strategy. In June 2004, only six years after the company emerged from bankruptcy, Marvel has amassed a... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Intellectual Property; Rights; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

March 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Gilead Mexico

By: Michael Chu and V. Kasturi Rangan

With a breakthrough cure for Hepatitis C listing in the U.S. at $1,000/pill, Gilead must now solve the issue of making it available to patients across the world, much as it did for its blockbuster HIV/AIDS antiretrovirals. For Erik Musalem, the new general manager of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Price; Strategy; Management; Pharmaceutical Industry; Mexico

June 2004
Case

Aventis SA (A): Planning for a Merger

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Eight executives at Hoechst and Rhone-Poulenc must make four crucial decisions on the eve of merging their companies to become Aventis--what would become the world's third largest pharmaceutical firm. In addition to formulating a vision and strategy, the two firms must... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Horizontal Integration; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Henry McGee joined the HBS faculty in 2013 after retiring as President of HBO Home Entertainment, the digital and DVD program distribution division of Home Box Office, the pioneering premium television company. A member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit,... View Details

Keywords: television; motion pictures; media; e-commerce industry; entertainment; broadcasting; distribution; health care; journalism; wholesale; arts; nonprofit industry

28 Jun 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Film Rentals and Procrastination: A Study of Intertemporal Reversals in Preferences and Intrapersonal Conflict

Keywords: by Katy Milkman, Todd Rogers & Max H. Bazerman; Entertainment & Recreation

2008
Chapter

Where is the Pharmacy to the World? Pharmaceutical Industry Location and International Regulatory Variation

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

A consumer-oriented model for drug development and use has attracted attention in recent years as an alternative to the much-maligned approach of mass-marketing blockbuster drugs. In a parallel development, patients and disease-based organizations have assumed greater... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Testing and Trials; Demand and Consumers; Pharmaceutical Industry; European Union; Germany; United States

11 Feb 2017
News

Mass entertainment in the digital age is still about blockbusters, not endless choice

2009
Working Paper

Where Is the Pharmacy to the World? International Regulatory Variation and Pharmaceutical Industry Location

By: Arthur Daemmrich

A consumer-oriented model for drug development and use has attracted attention in recent years as an alternative to the much-maligned approach of mass-marketing blockbuster drugs. In a parallel development, patients and disease-based organizations have assumed greater... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Disorders; Health Testing and Trials; Power and Influence; Competitive Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; European Union; Germany; United States

Read Now

08 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 8

just a fluke? Was Marvel's success dependent on a limited set of blockbuster characters, most notably Spider-Man, and should Marvel continue to capitalize on those characters? Or was it time to seek growth in a larger set of lesser known... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Jul 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Envelopment

Keywords: by Thomas Eisenmann, Geoffrey Parker & Marshall Van Alstyne; Technology

August 2007 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Grand Central Publishing

By: Anita Elberse

In April 2007, Grand Central's publisher Jamie Raab and editor Karen Kosztolnyik were involved in a frantic bidding war for a proposed book on the life of cat Dewey, billed as the feline answer to the best-selling "Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Product Launch; Bids and Bidding; Product Development; Publishing Industry