Publications

November 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

EbonyLife Media (A)

By: Andy Wu, Feng Zhu, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal

Founded by Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu in 2012 with a mission to bring high-quality African stories to the world, EbonyLife was the company behind many of Nigeria’s biggest films and TV shows. The company began as a television channel on the Africa-wide direct broadcast... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Consumer Behavior; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Nigeria; Africa

12 Feb 2015
Video

Collective Genius

March 2017 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Reawakening the Magic: Bob Iger and the Walt Disney Company

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and Buzz Lightyear strolled down Main Street at the grand opening of Hong Kong Disney in the fall of 2005, pausing to snap selfies with enthusiastic children in Mickey Mouse ears. Bob Iger, newly appointed CEO of The Walt Disney Company,... View Details

Keywords: Franchise Management; Brand Management; Culture Change; Business Units; Acquisition Strategy; Technological Change; Disney; ESPN; Cord-cutting; Bob Iger; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Integration; Media; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Consumer Products Industry

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

The Power of Stars: Do Stars Drive Success in Creative Industries?

Keywords: by Anita Elberse; Entertainment & Recreation; Motion Pictures & Video; Financial Services

September 2024
Case

Barbie: Reviving a Cultural Icon at Mattel (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek, Ryann Noe and Sarah Mehta

The 2023 release of live-action film Barbie, and its accompanying marketing blitz, incited a worldwide Barbie craze. Suddenly Barbie was everywhere, a celebrated icon reinstated at the forefront of cultural conversation. This goodwill stood in contrast to decades of... View Details

Keywords: Gender; Intellectual Property; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Public Opinion; Business Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

February 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Mibanco: Meeting the Mainstreaming of Microfinance

By: Michael Chu and Gustavo A. Herrero

Mibanco, Peru's leading microfinance bank, faces intense competition as the banking industry rushes into low income segments. Companion video clips bring into the classroom the contemporary reality of a world-class microfinance institution, where the unpaved streets... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Profit; Business History; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Service Operations; Performance; Competition; Banking Industry; Peru

January 2025 (Revised March 2025)
Case

DJI- Striving for Innovation Amid Contestation

By: William C. Kirby and Daniel Fu

DJI was founded in a college dorm room in Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong. By 2020, DJI, a company manufacturing drones, occupied a 77% share of consumer drone sales in the United States with a wide array of clients including law enforcement and government agencies. Its... View Details

Keywords: Drones; Hong Kong; China; Chinese Manufacturing; Chinese Dream; China's Political Economy

19 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 19, 2007

operations? 2) What might be the intellectual added value of such a perspective? 3) What are the basic elements of behavioral operations research? Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-096.pdf Film Rentals and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Sep 2019
News

New research proves that Franklin Leonard is a genius

Code.org

During a break after starting and selling several successful technology based startups, Hadi Partovi decided to make a short film to inspire students to learn computer science. “Code.org started as a hobby project,” Hadi said. “I had helped pay my way through... View Details

August 2016
Article

The Role of (Dis)similarity in (Mis)predicting Others' Preferences

By: Kate Barasz, Tami Kim and Leslie K. John

Consumers readily indicate liking options that appear dissimilar—for example, enjoying both rustic lake vacations and chic city vacations or liking both scholarly documentary films and action-packed thrillers. However, when predicting other consumers’ tastes for the... View Details

Keywords: Perceived Similarity; Prediction Error; Preference Prediction; Self-other Difference; Social Inference; Cognition and Thinking; Perception; Forecasting and Prediction

Kym Lew Nelson joined the NOM unit of the Harvard Business School as a Visiting Lecturer in January of 2020. In July of 2020, she became a Senior Lecturer in the Negotiations unit. Prior to joining the faculty, Kym was a guest lecturer in the Negotiations class at... View Details

2019
Working Paper

Judgment Aggregation in Creative Production: Evidence from the Movie Industry

By: Hong Luo, Jeffrey T. Macher and Michael Wahlen

This paper studies a novel, light-touch approach to aggregate judgment from a large number of industry experts on ideas that they encounter in their normal course of business. Our context is the movie industry, in which customer appeal is difficult to predict and... View Details

Keywords: Judgment Aggregation; Creativity; Film Entertainment; Judgments; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

SSRN

09 Jan 2012
Working Paper Summaries

When to Sell Your Idea: Theory and Evidence from the Movie Industry

Keywords: by Hong Luo; Entertainment & Recreation

August 2014
Teaching Note

Peter Guber: The 'Me' vs. 'We' Brand

By: Stephen A. Greyser, William Ellet and Nelson Gayton

Well-known film producer Peter Guber must decide whether to commit to a time-consuming personal project. He is about to sign a contract for a business book in which he will share what he has learned in his long career. At the same time, he is keenly aware of problems... View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

August 2014
Case

Peter Guber: The 'Me' vs. 'We' Brand

By: Stephen A. Greyser, William Ellet and Nelson Gayton

Well-known film producer Peter Guber must decide whether to commit to a time-consuming personal project. He is about to sign a contract for a business book in which he will share what he has learned in his long career. At the same time, he is keenly aware of problems... View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

September 2024
Case

Leadership for Stretch Goals: Inspiring Employees to Achieve the Impossible at Charter Next Generation

By: Ethan Rouen and Elisabeth Powell

In 2023, Kathy Bolhous, CEO of Charter Next Generation (CNG), set out to achieve an ambitious "Moonshot"—increasing profits by $100 million within three years, purely through internal innovations and efficiency gains, without layoffs or new revenue streams. After years... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Employee Ownership; Motivation and Incentives

October 2021
Article

Judgment Aggregation in Creative Production: Evidence from the Movie Industry

By: Hong Luo, Jeffrey T. Macher and Michael Wahlen

We study a novel, low-cost approach to aggregating judgment from a large number of industry experts on ideas that they encounter in their normal course of business. Our context is the movie industry, in which customer appeal is difficult to predict and investment costs... View Details

Keywords: Judgment Aggregation; Quality Uncertainty; Creative Industry; Project Evaluation And Selection; Creativity; Film Entertainment; Judgments; Motion Pictures and Video Industry