Publications

May 2003
Teaching Note

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc: Rewarding Our People (TN)

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Jaan Margus Elias

Teaching Note for (9-403-008). View Details

Keywords: Entertainment and Recreation Industry

January 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Silverado (A)

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Charles J. Woodard

Silverado has raised $50 million and launched its first product: an Internet-based trivia game with innovative software. In a highly uncertain environment, the young management team must decide whether to continue developing the product and whether to branch out into... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Technological Innovation; Strategic Planning; Internet and the Web; Decision Choices and Conditions; Product Launch; Business Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

June 2002 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Entropia (B)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Sameer Ahuja and Jason Tepperman

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Entertainment and Recreation Industry

March 1977
Case

Peek'n Peak Recreation, Inc. (Revised)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Keywords: Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Find at Harvard

June 1987 (Revised January 1994)
Teaching Note

Suzanne de Passe at Motown Productions (A), (A1), and (B), Teaching Note

By: Linda A. Hill

Teaching Note for (9-487-042), (9-497-015), and (9-494-014). View Details

Keywords: Entertainment and Recreation Industry

September 1984 (Revised January 1986)
Case

Fort Lauderdale Resort and Beach Club

By: William J. Poorvu

Keywords: Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Florida

Find at Harvard

Siegel built the once, small boat maker into one of the largest and most powerful media holding companies. Acquiring two independent television stations with the Chris-Craft acquisition in 1968, Siegel sold the boat business in 1980 and pursued a series of shrewd media... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment & Broadcast Media

Lee Shubert

Shubert and his brothers broke the Klaw-Erlanger Syndicate which controlled 95 percent of all theaters in the United States at the turn of the century. Beginning with a few theaters in New York and Connecticut, the Shuberts went on to build one of the largest theater... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment & Broadcast Media

Pete Rozelle

When Rozelle became NFL commissioner in 1960, the league was a loose structure of autonomous teams. Rozelle, seeing the potential for professional sports as a big business, made two very important changes: consolidation of the NFL and AFL into one league and the... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment & Broadcast Media

Thomas S. Murphy

At the age of 29, Murphy took control of a nearly bankrupt television station in Albany, NY, that would become a launching point for a media empire worth over $5 billion. Through successfully acquiring and integrating over 30 media companies (newspapers, TV and radio... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment & Broadcast Media

Mervyn E. Griffin, Jr.

Griffin co-produced and owned his own talk show - “The Merv Griffin Show,” which during the early 1980s was aired on 115 stations in the U.S. and Canada. “Wheel of Fortune,” Griffin’s most successful show, was by 1984 appearing on 181 stations and earning $92,000 per... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment & Broadcast Media

02 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Where Does Apple Go From Here?

Apple Computer knows how to make headlines. The company is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh and is enjoying the fruits of its launch into the digital entertainment business. In its December quarter, Apple sold 730,000... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

14 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Getting Down to the Business of Creativity

Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Inauguration Day, 1933 Creativity, a quality more traditionally associated with artistic endeavors, has been slow to find... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation

June 2025
Case

Vail Resorts: Responding to Activist Pressure (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

On January 27, 2025, the head of a relatively small hedge fund named Late Apex Partners sent a highly critical letter to the board of directors of Vail Resorts, the world’s largest ski resort operator. In his letter, and the 88-slide presentation that accompanied his... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Capital Budgeting; Corporate Governance; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Leading Change; Valuation; Investment Activism; Climate Change; Management Succession; Financial Management; Risk Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Travel Industry; United States; Australia; Canada

December 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

R/GA: Corporate Venture Studio vs. Accelerator

By: Andy Wu, Grant Son and Aastha Thakkar

New approach to accelerating the development of innovation through corporate venturing by creating partnerships between startup venture and established corporations through the launch of the Global Sports Venture Studios created by R/GA Ventures and the Los Angeles... View Details

March 2016 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Lotus F1 Team

By: Stefan Thomke, Nikolaos Trichakis, Jérôme Lenhardt and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Describes the detailed inner workings of a high performance Formula One (F1) racing team. It shows how Lotus F1 Team has been able to battle bigger rivals in a very fast-moving, highly regulated, and ultra-competitive environment, where winning races can come down to... View Details

Keywords: Formula One; Motor Sport; Racing Cars; Car Development; Supply Chain; Logistics; Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Product Design; Research and Development; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; 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; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

June 2002
Teaching Note

Valuing the AOL Time Warner Merger, TN

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Maddy Kadish

Teaching Note for (9-802-098). View Details

Keywords: Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry