Publications

August 1998 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Disney's "The Lion King" (C): Repeat Performance?

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

Three of Disney's animated films that followed "The Lion King"—"Pocahontas," "Toy Story," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"—were significantly less successful at the box office and in retail sales. Meanwhile, Disney was focusing on developing live-action blockbusters. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Animation Entertainment; Success; Failure; Film Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

January 2022 (Revised February 2022)
Teaching Note

Universal During COVID: The Future of Theatrical Windows

By: Hong Luo, Henry McGee and Carol Lin

The COVID-19 pandemic brought enormous disruption to the movie industry, closing theaters indefinitely by mid-March 2020, halting television and film production, and throwing theatrical release schedules into disarray. Shell had assumed the CEO position at NBC... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Leadership; Decisions; Strategy; Negotiation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

05 Feb 2020
News

Academy Awards Episode: “Parasite” and “American Factory”

September 1999 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Roadside Attractions LLC

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, John T. Gourville and Nicole Tempest

Eric d'Arbeloff, producer of independent films, must decide between two offers for distribution of his new movie, "Trick." The case tracks the assembly of resources and the effects of technological change in the film business. View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Distribution; Technological Innovation; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Film Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

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August 2021
Case

Wymsee

By: Julia Austin, Sarah Mehta and Tom Quinn

Wymsee was a company that aimed to develop a mobile application (app) that would allow television audience members to identify and purchase clothing or accessories worn by characters in the program they were watching, with the Wymsee founders taking a percentage of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Plan; Business Startups; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Acquisition; Product Positioning; Opportunities; Adaptation; Mobile Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

March 2009 (Revised November 2021)
Case

The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Inc.: To Acquire or Not to Acquire?

By: Juan Alcacer, David J. Collis and Mary Furey

Soon after Robert Iger took over as CEO of the Walt Disney Company in late 2005, he turned his attention toward Pixar, the animation studio with which Disney had worked since 1991 and was responsible for producing hits such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo. Disney's own... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Making; Animation Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Contracts; Distribution; Partners and Partnerships; Vertical Integration; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

February 2001
Case

ALWAYSi

By: Paul A. Gompers and Sergio Rattner

Anthony Soohoo, COO at ALWAYSi, an independent film distributor, is preparing projections for the company. Soohoo must decide which revenue streams the company should pursue. The firm is faced with a variety of attractive opportunities. View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Business Strategy; Revenue; Film Entertainment; Strategic Planning; Business Startups; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

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15 Dec 2020
Panel Discussion

Politics and Peace? Evangelicals and U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian Prospects

By: Maya Zinshstein, Abraham Troen, Gregory Khalil and James K. Sebenius

Sponsored by Harvard's Program on Negotiation, I moderated and contributed to a discussion of the film "Til Kingdom Come" among the film's director, producer, and a renowned scholar. View Details

03 Dec 2019
News

What Is The Future Of Work In The Tradable Sector?

November 1992
Case

Process Control at Polaroid (B)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Steven C. Wheelwright

The plant manager of a film production operation wants to create and implement a new approach to quality within the next 12 months. Issues of personnel (and their roles), production processes (and their control), and quality standards must be addressed. View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Job Design and Levels; Management Practices and Processes; Production; Quality; Mathematical Methods

May 19, 2021
Article

Measuring the Impact of #MeToo on Gender Equity in Hollywood

By: Hong Luo and Laurina Zhang

The #MeToo movement has brought issues of sexual harassment and gender inequities to the forefront around the world. But how much of a tangible impact has it had on the experiences of women in the workplace? In this piece, the authors discuss their research that... View Details

Keywords: #MeToo Movement; Gender Equity; Creative Industries; Impact; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Film Entertainment; Social Issues

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January 2021
Case

Cinépolis

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Fernanda Miguel

Two weeks after Cinepolis released a documentary film about corruption, a judge ordered its provisional suspension, claiming it had to be edited before it continued to be shown, against Mexican cinematography laws. Cinépolis, Latin America’s largest movie theater chain... View Details

Keywords: Movies; Entertainment; Corruption; Risk Assessment; Communication Strategy; Crime and Corruption; Decision Making; Film Entertainment; Ethics; Leadership; Risk Management; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Mexico; Latin America; North and Central America

June 1990
Supplement

In the Shadow of the City, Video

Depicts the site and operation of an international development project. A serious conflict has developed between the two principals, an Ethiopian woman and a British entrepreneur. The film shows the stakes involved. View Details

Keywords: Conflict and Resolution

15 Mar 2010
HBS Case

Developing Asia’s Largest Slum

Located in Mumbai, India, Dharavi is home to an estimated 700,000 people living on just 551 acres. Featured in the 2008 Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, Dharavi embodies the characteristics of a slum as defined by the United... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Construction; Real Estate

03 Mar 2014
News

IMD Professors Top Oscars of the Business School World

29 Nov 2009
News

When Names Change to Protect the Future

01 Nov 2010
News

Mark Zuckerberg and Misery as Motivation

September 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Background Note

A Brief History of the U.S. Tobacco Industry Controversy

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Henry McGee

This history of the U.S. tobacco controversy is a reading for a class on "The Insider," a film about whistleblowing in the U.S. tobacco industry, taught in the course, The Moral Leader. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Ethics; United States