Publications

28 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

How to Avoid a Price Increase

quantity than raise prices, conclude Harvard Business School marketing professor John Gourville and University of Texas professor Jonathan Koehler. They recently published their findings in a working paper,... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

Research Summary

Capitalism as a System of Governance

My research interest is in further exploration of the analytic utility of an original conception of capitalism as an indirect, three level system of governance for the economic relationships within political entities, and mostly within nation states. This three level... View Details

31 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Encouraging Niche Content in an Ad-Driven World

that could also make niche content more profitable, according to researchers Feng Zhu and Monic Sun. "Many media scholars think this revenue model is detrimental to society because it provides incentive... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Publishing; Publishing; Publishing

March 2025
Case

YouTube: Bidding for NFL Sunday Ticket

By: Anita Elberse and Crystal Yao

In December 2022, Erin Teague, a senior director and the global head of sports, movies and shows at YouTube, technology giant Alphabet Inc.’s video- sharing platform, received the news that Sundar Pichai, the chief executive officer of Alphabet and its subsidiary... View Details

Keywords: General Management; Entertainment; Media; Sports; Marketing; Management; Business Strategy; Bids and Bidding; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

22 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Advertising: It’s Not ‘Mad Men’ Anymore

the twentieth century, companies relied on a "full-service" agency for most or all of their advertising service needs, including both creative development and media planning View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

September 2017 (Revised June 2019)
Case

The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament

By: Anita Elberse and Saskia Van Rheenen

Should the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament gamble most of its player budget on superstar player Rafael Nadal, even after the event’s previous two editions saw Nadal and Roger Federer pull out at the last moment due to injury, leaving the tournament without any... View Details

Keywords: Superstar; Talent; General Management; Marketing; Sports; Media; Entertainment; Talent and Talent Management; Negotiation; Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

28 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Can You Buy Creativity in the Gig Economy?

publishing platform, the site tended to promote those books more aggressively, and in turn, flat-fee books received more views. The message, Zhu says, is simple: “The contractual agreement changes the... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

04 Aug 2011
What Do You Think?

How Dangerous Is Common Sense to Managers?

Summing Up Does Common Sense Impede Change? Common sense is the decision-maker's friend when the decision has to be made rapidly, with a minimum of research or formal theory, with no more than moderate risk or consequences, and by... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 2016
Article

Enhancing the Practical Relevance of Research

By: Michael W. Toffel

This article seeks to encourage scholars to conduct research that is more relevant to the decisions faced by managers and policymakers and addresses why research relevance matters, what relevance means in terms of a journal article, and how scholars can increase the... View Details

Keywords: Research Questions; Relevance; Rigor; Practice-based Research; Research; Communication; Media; Education Industry

SSRN

Read Now

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

more than it charged light users. The original basis for pricing telephone service, including both a fixed monthly charge and a usage charge, represents the same kind of thinking. The person who chose to price advertising services as 15... View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

September 1995 (Revised April 1999)
Case

Exporting American Culture

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

A large entertainment company, extensively criticized for producing violent, offensive, and anti-social material, is considering whether to sell its material to a semi-illegal operation that is beaming satellite TV into Turkey. The opportunity raises many questions... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Media; Business and Community Relations; Opportunities; Social Issues; Media and Broadcasting Industry

17 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

Why a Blended Workforce May Be Key to Lasting Competitive Advantage

In recent years, companies have been anxious about the lack of skilled workers to fill pivotal jobs. But then came COVID-19 and a subsequent recession. The ensuing business turmoil and record-high unemployment may have temporarily distracted companies from their... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph B. Fuller

May 2009 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Daqi

By: Robert C. Pozen, Richard Franklyn Armbrust and Ziquan Zhang

In 2008, Daqi was one of the largest Internet portals for user-generated content and the leading word-of-mouth marketing provider in China. Grace Zhou, Daqi's CEO, was contemplating the risks and benefits of expanding Daqi's services into three new content areas—news,... View Details

Keywords: Information Publishing; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Marketing; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Internet; Information Industry; China

28 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Online Match-Making with Virtual Dates

"Improving Online Dating with Virtual Dates." Frost, now at Boston University, wrote her PhD dissertation at MIT's Media Lab on the topic, discussing the broader issues of impression formation, navigating options, managing... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Publishing

September 1990
Case

Corporate News in the Los Angeles Times

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Norman Klein

Keywords: Media; Newspapers; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry

Find at Harvard

August 2007
Case

New York Magazine

By: Guhan Subramanian and David Chen

Describes the events surrounding the sale of New York Magazine to Bruce Wasserstein in 2003. Wasserstein's last-second cash bid of $55 million surprised other potential buyers and allowed him to win ownership of the magazine. View Details

Keywords: Journals and Magazines; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Negotiation Deal; Publishing Industry; Publishing Industry

January 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Background Note

News in the Digital World: Who Pays?

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

Models to monetizing news in the digital landscape, which is real-time, searchable, sharable, multi-sourced, anytime, and any screen, were emerging in 2010. Could content creators get people to pay for what they watched, read, listened to, and shared online? Were news... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Newspapers; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Online Technology; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry