Publications

24 Apr 2023
HBS Case

What Does It Take to Build as Much Buzz as Booze? Inside the Epic Challenge of Cannabis-Infused Drinks

Legalization turned cannabis into a multibillion-dollar industry seemingly overnight, but this hot new market has had more—and more unusual—growing pains than most. Many experts predict significant market expansion ahead as more states... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

New Research Explores Multi-Sided Markets

company that is vertically integrated to some extent into the content that runs on their devices. This can help in their current fight to establish the Blu-ray DVD standard, but has been a significant hindrance, because of internal conflicts of interest, in their... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

20 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

The 5 Strategy Rules of Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs

that no one understood what it did was brilliant," says Yoffie. "That changed the entire structure of the semiconductor industry forever." “They were all in many ways highly imperfect leaders. We didn't want to idealize... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Computer

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

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. These results were in marked contrast... View Details

Keywords: Best Buy; Hubert Joly; Renew Blue; Showrooming; Webrooming; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Marketplaces; Turnaround; Consumer Electronics; Consumer Electronics Accessories; Appliances; Stores-within-stores; Store Experience; Store Size; Store Pickup; Store Management; Delivery; Delivery Models; Amazon; Amazon.com; Pricing Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Cost; Selection and Staffing; Reports; Technological Innovation; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Human Capital; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Media; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution Channels; Infrastructure; Product; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Programs; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Resource Allocation; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; United States; Minnesota; Minneapolis; Saint Paul; St. Paul

16 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

The Outside-In Approach to Customer Service

rather than focus simply on products and sales. And Gulati's research, including interviews with 500 executives spanning industries and geographies, asserts that outside-in success is not confined to any one sector. "I see the move... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products

26 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

How Paid Promos Take the Shine Off YouTube Stars (and Tips for Better Influencer Marketing)

desired outcome.” Deep dive into YouTube The influencer marketing machine is huge and growing. The industry was reportedly valued at $6 billion in 2020 and is projected to climb to $85 billion by 2028, the paper says, citing Globe... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Technology; Media & Broadcasting

27 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 27, 2009

significant challenges. The case pays particular attention to the four men's evolving identities as musical artists and to the tradeoffs that have accompanied their fame and larger social commitments. The case takes up the evolution of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 Jun 2001
What Do You Think?

What’s the Future of the Subscription Model?

information to music in order to sell advertising. As questions are being raised about the ability of telephone service providers, newspapers, and others to sell subscriptions in the future, I recently asked readers what the future of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

July 2011 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Lady Gaga (A)

By: Anita Elberse and Michael Christensen

In September 2009, Troy Carter, manager of up-and-coming pop star Lady Gaga, has to decide on a new course of action now that his artist's planned co-headlining arena tour with hip-hop superstar Kanye West has been cancelled. Carter knows that continuing the tour, but... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Marketing Strategy; Product; Product Development; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Creativity; Music Industry

November 2017
Teaching Note

Amazon.com, 2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402. On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Market Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Competition; Internet; Corporate Strategy; Online Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Hardware; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Technology Networks; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Price; Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

Purchase this supplement:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/311087-PDF-ENG Music and the (Real) World: Thirty Years of MTV Mukti Khaire and Eleanor KenyonHarvard Business School Case 812-041 The case is useful for teaching students the... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

05 Nov 2021
Op-Ed

Is the Business World Finally Ready for the Wisdom of Shibusawa?

he created Japan’s first modern bank, Dai’ichi Bank (First National Bank). Its successor, Mizuho Bank, remains one of Japan’s largest banks. Observers might consider Shibusawa as Japan’s Alexander Hamilton, whose similar pop culture revival culminated in a Broadway... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones and Rei Morimoto; Financial Services; Retail

January 2012 (Revised September 2014)
Supplement

Hip Hop (B): Can't Stop, Won't Stop

By: Mukti Khaire and Kerry Herman

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Music Industry

January 2012
Teaching Note

Lady Gaga (A) and (B)

By: Anita Elberse

Keywords: Arts; Music Entertainment; Music Industry

07 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis

imposed by social distancing by facilitating community, offering empathy, and providing social support. AB InBev joined thousands of museums and performing arts organizations in offering virtual performances, sponsoring the Bud Light Dive Bar Tour: Home Edition... View Details

Keywords: by Jill Avery and Richard Edelman

30 Jun 2021
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2021

Time. Scott Duke Kominers: Pop music and poetry I have the habit of reading three books at a time: a biography, some other non-fiction, and a work of fiction. For biographies, I’ve been on a music kick: I... View Details

Keywords: by Kathryn Haviland

September 2013 (Revised August 2015)
Background Note

Leadership and Teaming

By: Ethan Bernstein

Small differences in the leadership of teams can have large consequences for the success of their efforts. Many initiatives fail not because of a fatal error in judgment or insufficient ideas, knowledge, motivation, or capabilities to deliver a solution. They fail... View Details