Publications

30 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Tracks of My Tears: Reconstructing Digital Music

or even whether to sell their products via those channels at all if online retailers impose certain bundling policies. I thought the music industry would be an ideal research setting because it is a sector... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music

Program

The Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports

acquiring and developing creative talent and teams Make optimal business arrangements with talent and talent representatives Respond to advances in digital technology Capitalize on the explosive growth of online distribution View Details

Keywords: Media & Entertainment; Media & Entertainment

22 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Humans vs. Machines: Untangling the Tasks AI Can (and Can't) Handle

problem-solving. The researchers designed a task “where consultants would excel, but AI would struggle without extensive guidance,” the paper explains. The BCG consultants in this group first had to understand a company’s distribution View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology; Technology

July – August 2008
Article

Should You Invest in the Long Tail?

By: Anita Elberse

The blockbuster strategy is a time-honored approach, particularly in media and entertainment. When space is limited on store shelves and in traditional distribution channels, producers tend to focus on a few likely best sellers, hoping that one or two big hits will... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Distribution Channels; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Online Technology; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

Program

Driving Digital Strategy

and entrepreneurship Build a more flexible organization that aligns with strategic goals Leverage digital technologies to enhance your operations Understand the impact of various technologies, such as generative AI, IoT, and smart manufacturing on your operations... View Details

Cases Featuring Jeff

Jeff’s involvement with Open Market and Upromise has been the subject of the following cases.

UPromise 2002: Describes a set of decisions confronting the senior management of a company that has established a loyalty rewards program... View Details

October 2011 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Moda Operandi: A New Style of Fashion Retail

By: Mukti Khaire

Moda Operandi is a startup in the fashion industry. The firm organizes online trunk shows of designers' collections, allowing its members to directly order clothes from the collections shown in Fashion Weeks all over the world. Moda Operandi conveys the preorders to... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution Channels; Internet and the Web; Design; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry

Article

Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

We analyze the incentives to divert search for an information intermediary who enables buyers (consumers) to search affiliated sellers (stores). We identify two original motives for diverting search (i.e., inducing consumers to search more than they would like): 1)... View Details

Keywords: Market Intermediation; Search; Two-Sided Markets; Platform Design; Demand and Consumers; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

Program

Aligning Strategy and Sales

strategic asset, this sales channel strategy program will help you enable essential company-wide alignment. By aligning strategy and sales, you will explore new ways to help sales professionals meet their numbers, how to improve your... View Details

March 2010 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Major League Baseball Advanced Media: America's Pastime Goes Digital

By: Anita Elberse and Brett Laffel

In January 2010, Bob Bowman, chief executive officer of Major League Baseball Advanced Media -- MLB's digital arm -- is facing a number of decisions related to its 'app' for Apple's new iPad. What are the best name, price, and set of features for MLBAM's iPad app? The... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Sports Industry

26 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 26

award program decreased plant productivity by 1.4%, and that positive effects from awards are accompanied by more complex employee responses that limit program effectiveness. Download the paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2215922 Do Display Ads Influence Search?... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2005
Case

Handleman Company

By: Janice H. Hammond and Kevin Dolan

Describes the organization and operations of the Handleman Co., an intermediary in the music industry that buys recorded music and resells it to mass retailers such as Wal-Mart. The company provides distribution, inventory management, retail merchandising, and category... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Music Entertainment; Cost Management; Growth and Development; Business or Company Management; Distribution Channels; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Online Technology; Value Creation; Music Industry

19 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 19, 2006

Working PapersSuperstars and Underdogs: An Examination of the Long Tail Phenomenon in Video Authors:Anita Elberse and Felix Oberholzer-Gee Abstract The rise of online channels facilitates the distribution... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jul 2007
First Look

First Look: July 17, 2007

film rental and return patterns of a sample of online DVD rental customers over a period of four months. We predict and find that people are more likely to rent DVDs in one order and return them in the reverse order when should DVDs... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Aug 2016
First Look

August 2, 2016

the optimal capital requirement is around 20%. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51305 The Empirical Economics of Online Attention By: Boik, Andre, Shane Greenstein, and Jeffrey Prince Abstract—In... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Delivering the Digital Goods: iTunes vs. Peer-to-Peer

where the product can be delivered directly online such as software, travel agencies, or media. Indeed, the digitalization of content paired with widespread adoption of broadband Internet is driving a major shift toward digital... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music

16 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million

of experimentation. Taking all these factors into account, a startup can create dozens of ads within just a few days, and learn quickly and cheaply what is most effective to attract suppliers. Uber, for instance, made extensive use of View Details

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira and Michael Blanding; Retail; Transportation; Accommodations

01 Dec 2023
News

Thinking Ahead

Autonomy in and of itself is a reward.” Unlock TikTok Imagine generating $1.7 billion in sales in a 12-hour live stream. That record-setting feat, achieved on the Chinese platform Taobao, belongs to Austin Jiaqi Li, an online influencer... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Illustrations by Chris Gash; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

Forthcoming
Article

Organizational Emplacement as a Response to Digital Threat: The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Ryann Noe

This study reveals how incumbent actors leverage physical place as source of differentiation in response to the threat of digital commoditization. Through a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of the U.S. independent bookselling industry from 1995 to 2019, we outline... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Place Making; Bookstores; Industry Evolution; Digital; Commoditization; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Digital Transformation; E-commerce; Distribution Channels; Civil Society or Community; Value Creation; Retail Industry