Publications

August 1991 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Gain Sharing at Star Cablevision Group

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Sarah Ann Greene

Describes Star's experiment with gain sharing over a three-year period. Background on the industry and company's history are provided to establish the context for the shift to pay-for-performance. Describes the three different gain sharing programs, the resulting... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Service Delivery; Performance Productivity; Television Entertainment; Compensation and Benefits; Media and Broadcasting Industry

March 1992 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Introduction of FM Radio (A): Finally, A ""Staticless"" Radio

Describes the evolution of radio technology and business from the initial days of wireless telegraphy to the advent, growth, and establishment of amplitude-modulated (AM) radio manufacturing and broadcasting. Begins and ends with a description of a decision the Radio... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Product Design; Product Development; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

August 1986
Case

Cox Cable (B)

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Keywords: Media and Broadcasting Industry

May 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Case

STAR TV (C)

By: J. Peter Williamson and Michael Y. Yoshino

Keywords: Media and Broadcasting Industry

1998
Working Paper

Governance and Risk Taking in the U.S. Cable Television Industry

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Keywords: Governance; Risk Management; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

31 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

State and Local Governments Peer Into the Pandemic Abyss

Kristen Senz is a social media editor and writer for Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. [Image: iStock Photo] Related Reading Working Paper: Surfacing the Submerged State with Operational Transparency in Government Services What... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced earlier this year he was thinking about running for president of the United States, it wasn’t a new idea. Past CEOs seeking the White House have included Carly Fiorina, Ross Perot, Herman Cain, Steve Forbes, Mitt... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

18 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Greed Ruining Private Equity Firms?

successors. The divide among partners has played out in the media in recent years. For example, Weston Presidio reportedly suspended its fund-raising in 2014 after a group of partners left the company to start a new investment firm.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Banking; Financial Services

11 Jun 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching the Next Generation of Energy Executives

You may think that being an energy executive—especially a manager in a leading oil company—might be the easiest job around. Just flip the production switch, and watch gas prices head toward $4 a gallon. But students enrolled in Harvard Business School professor Forest... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Utilities

19 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 19, 2019

from the Negotiations That Wrested the NFL from CBS By: Sebenius, James K. Abstract—A remarkable 1993 negotiation rocked the world of American football with aftershocks that have directly shaped today’s entertainment and media landscapes... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

February 2021 (Revised February 2021)
Case

World of Dreams Entertainment Group: Building a Resilient Business

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Sarah Endline and Michael Norris

In 2021, Ron DeShay, former American Idol producer, is launching his new business venture: World of Dreams Entertainment Group. World of Dreams rethought the existing TV production model, giving audiences more power to directly influence the creation of shows through a... View Details

Keywords: Television Entertainment; Media; Social Issues; Sports; Business Ventures; Digital Platforms; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles

14 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

Understanding Users of Social Networks

near the media hubs (except Atlanta) and far away from those elite opinion-makers in coastal urban areas. “You need to shift your mindset from social media to social strategy.” "MySpace has a PR problem... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Advertising; Publishing

October 2023
Teaching Note

Metaverse Wars

By: Andy Wu and Matt Higgins

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 723-431. Metaverse Wars recaps the development of the metaverse concept and the attendant hype, bringing the narrative up to the summer of 2023 when Meta’s big pivot looked more like a costly misstep than a stroke of strategic genius. In... View Details

Keywords: Metaverse; Strategy; Social Media; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry

16 Feb 2021
Working Paper Summaries

Bollywood, Skin Color, and Sexism: The Role of the Film Industry in Emboldening and Contesting Stereotypes in India after Independence

Keywords: by Sudev Sheth, Geoffrey Jones, and Morgan Spencer; Media & Broadcasting

03 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Ominous Background Music Is Bad for Sharks

Sharks have been stigmatized on screen for decades, from the 1975 movie Jaws, in which a gigantic great white shark terrorizes a resort island off the coast of Massachusetts, to the 2013 movie Sharknado, in which the eponymous spout of shark-infested seawater... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Media & Broadcasting

29 Nov 2022
Cold Call Podcast

How Will Gamers and Investors Respond to Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard?

Keywords: Re: Joseph Pacelli; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting

2013
Chapter

Capturing History: The Case of the Federal Radio Commission in 1927

By: David Moss and Jonathan Lackow

In the study of regulation (and political economy more generally), there is a danger that historical inferences from theory may infect historical tests of theory. It is imperative, therefore, that historical tests always involve a vigorous search not only for... View Details

Keywords: Capture; History By Inference; Economic Theory Of Regulation; Federal Radio Commission; Theory; Economics; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

January 2013
Case

Say on Pay at The Walt Disney Company

By: Ian D. Gow and Gaizka Ormazabal

This case focuses on the lead-up to Disney's 2012 annual meeting where Disney would face a vote on the compensation package of its CEO, Robert Iger. Leading proxy advisory firms were recommending that shareholders reject the proposed compensation. View Details

Keywords: Shareholder Votes; Executive Compensation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States